Search results

The concept of smart city has recently become more topical in academic and policy discussions. This idea is considered a complex, non-consensual subject since its definition has not yet been agreed upon by most authors in the relevant fields. The need to identify and measure smart city indicators has also given rise to many different evaluation procedures. However, the available frameworks have yet to overcome challenges in structuring and measuring all the evaluation parameters of the cities in question. Thus, methods still need to be developed and applied that can structure criteria used to assess smart city success.

This study sought to show cognitive mapping's tangible usefulness as an expedient tool for strategic analysis, using smart cities as a complex object of study. To this end, various cognitive maps were constructed and compared using the Strategic Options Development and Analysis (SODA) approach.

Cognitive mapping's advantages and limitations in the strategic visualization research context are analyzed and discussed.

The authors know of no prior work reporting comparative analysis of this methodological approach in the same research context.

The purpose of this study is to achieve the dynamic model of outsourcing success factors in project-based companies.

This study is descriptive-survey in terms of method and practical in terms of purpose. To achieve the dynamic model of outsourcing success, 1,000 outsourcing articles published in high-status journals from 2017 to 2019 were first text-mining. Then, using the clustering technique, the factors affecting the success of outsourcing were obtained. To achieve the key variables, the variables obtained by interpretive structural modeling (ISM) were then leveled. Then, the strategic options development and analysis (SODA) technique has been used to achieve a consensus and coordination on factors relationships. Finally, the dynamic model of outsourcing success in GHODRAT CONTROL PARS Company has been modeled and implemented.

In total, five clusters and nine factors were extracted (strategy, management, performance, market, R&D, supplier, product, organizational data and outsourcing findings). In central and domain analysis, two factors, “Strategy” and “R and D,” were recognized as factors that have the most interaction and centrality. The result of the dynamic model indicate that the organization will significantly reduce the construction time of the power plant by improving the “R and D” factor.

In this study, various techniques have been combined. Therefore, one of the aspects of innovation in the present study is the combination of methods that have not been used earlier. The second aspect of this study’s innovation is using SODA technique to design the dynamic model of outsourcing success factors. Given that the scope of this study is the component affecting the success of outsourcing, so extensive research has been conducted in the field of articles worked in the field of outsourcing to get a comprehensive view of the components affecting the success of outsourcing, which has not been reviewed in other articles. In this study, in addition to identifying the effective factors, their identified and also how these variables affect the successful performance of outsourcing in the form of a dynamic model, and then analyzed.

Describes the non‐prescriptive approach which the authors have used successfully as the basis for their interventions as culture‐change consultants and management development practitioners in the UK public sector. The requirement has been to help top management to develop an effective strategic‐change management process to achieve organizational transformation. Key elements of the approach are: simultaneous interventions at the levels of top‐team dynamics, cultural values and strategic planning; the collaborative management of an interactive top‐down/bottom‐up process; and the application of a unique combination of technologies in the cultural values survey (CVS) and strategic options development and analysis (SODA).

The prosthodontics sector is facing major challenges because of scientific and technological advances that imply a clearer definition of lines of action and decision making processes. Measuring quality of service in this sector is a complex decision problem since the perceptions of three main players need to be considered: patients, dentists and dental technicians. This study sought to develop an artificial-intelligence-based (AI-based) method for assessing service quality in the dental prosthesis sector.

Using strategic options development and analysis (SODA), which is grounded on cognitive mapping, and the measuring attractiveness by a categorical based evaluation technique (MACBETH), a constructivist decision support system was designed to facilitate the assessment of service quality in the dental prosthesis sector. The system was tested, and the results were validated both by the members of an expert panel and by the vice-president of the Portuguese association of dental prosthesis technicians.

The methodological process developed in this study is extremely versatile and its practical application facilitated the development of an empirically robust evaluation model in this study context. Specifically, the profile analyses carried out in actual clinics allowed the cases in which improvements are needed to be identified.

Although already applied in the fields of AI and decision making, no prior work reporting the use of SODA and MACBETH for assessing service quality in the prosthodontics sector has been found.

This study was developed in response to the need to develop age-friendly smart living environments due to the complex demands placed on society by the ageing of the population. This study aims to analyse the potential that knowledge visualisation offers collaborative decision-making applied to the development of a multiple criteria framework supporting knowledge management (KM) through knowledge collaboration (KC) and knowledge sharing (KS) in the context of regional innovation systems (RIS).

Using a socio-technical approach, knowledgeable and experienced representatives of RIS innovation actors were brought together to develop a constructivist multiple criteria framework that integrates knowledge visualisation and collaborative decision-making techniques (i.e. cognitive mapping and system dynamics).

The study introduces a multiple criteria model supporting KM encompassing conditions and practices of RIS innovation actors facilitating and encouraging KC and KS. The potential for knowledge visualisation in collaborative decision-making is explored in great depth and illustrated in a case study setting.

The panel members who participated in this study consider our methodological proposal to be extremely versatile and see great potential for further applications in RIS contexts.

The combined use of cognitive mapping and system dynamics according to the strategic options development and analysis (SODA) approach offers a holistic and well-informed perspective on the issue in question. The literature reports no prior work of this methodological combination in the same research context.

Gazelle companies are characterized by rapid growth in a short time. Identifying the determinants of this exponential expansion is important as these firms have a significant impact on the economy. They generate increased employment and investment by investors interested in new opportunities. Previous studies have failed to reach a consensus about what fosters high growth in gazelle companies as each firm’s geographical, political and economic context is different. The present research uses cognitive mapping and interpretive structural modeling (ISM) to overcome the limitations of prior investigations and identify factors that can potentially accelerate growth in gazelle companies.

Two sessions were held with an expert panel with knowledge about and experience with these firms. In the first session, data were collected to create a group cognitive map, while the second meeting comprised ISM-based analyses of the high-growth determinants identified and the causal relationships between them. A final consolidation session was held to discuss the results with two members of the Committee for Central Region Coordination and Development (i.e. Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional do Centro – a public entity that grants gazelle awards in Portugal).

The analysis system created was tested, and the results demonstrate that the dual methodology used can increase our understanding of the dynamics of high-growth determinants and lead to more informed and potentially better evaluations of gazelle companies. Indeed, once high-growth determinants in gazelle companies are understood, this information can help other firms implement the same business model to achieve similarly rapid growth. The strengths and shortcomings of this new structured analysis model are also analyzed.

The authors know of no prior work reporting the integrated use of cognitive mapping and ISM in this study context.

This special “Anbar Abstracts” issue of the Journal of Product & Brand Management is split into ten sections covering abstracts under the following headings: Marketing strategy; Customer service; Pricing; Promotion; Marketing research; Product management; Channel management; Logistics and distribution; New product development; Purchasing.