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Article
Publication date: 31 May 2013

Mostafa Jafari, Peyman Akhavan, Hamid Reza Zarghami and Naser Asgari

The purpose of this paper is to explore the efficacy of 40 inventive principles of TRIZ for developing researchers' innovative capabilities and to evaluate the extent of…

1954

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the efficacy of 40 inventive principles of TRIZ for developing researchers' innovative capabilities and to evaluate the extent of application of “40 inventive principles” by inventors in the Research Center of Intelligent and Signal Processing (a successful research center that is producing new products in the field of signal processing and medical engineering).

Design/methodology/approach

A range of relevant literature is explored initially. A questionnaire about 40 inventive principles of TRIZ was developed based on literature review. Finally, a data analysis including descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analysis was designed by using SPSS software.

Findings

The results showed that about 71 percent of the researchers have employed TRIZ above the average in their innovative products. Also these studied researchers used TRIZ principles unintentionally. Therefore, if this research center and similar institutes want to make full use of their researchers' abilities, they can facilitate innovation through offering courses on TRIZ, the principles of TRIZ and its other tools to them.

Originality/value

This study is probably the first to provide an exploring of TRIZ inventive principles applications through a research center.

Details

Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, vol. 24 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-038X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 September 2014

Umesh Sharma, Stewart Lawrence and Alan Lowe

The purpose of this paper is to explicate the role of institutional entrepreneurs who use accounting technology to accomplish change within a privatised telecommunications…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explicate the role of institutional entrepreneurs who use accounting technology to accomplish change within a privatised telecommunications company.

Design/methodology

The case study method is adopted. The authors draw on recent extension to institutional theory that gives greater emphasis to agency including concepts such as embeddedness, institutional entrepreneurs and institutional contradiction.

Findings

As part of the consequences of new public management reforms, we illustrate how institutional entrepreneurs de-established an older state-run bureaucratic and engineering-based routine and replaced it with a business- and accounting-based routine. Eventually, new accounting routines were reproduced and taken for granted by telecommunications management and employees.

Research Limitations/implications

As this study is limited to a single case study, no generalisation except to theory can be made. There are implications for privatisation of state sector organisations both locally and internationally.

Originality/value

The paper makes a contribution to elaborating the role of institutional entrepreneurs as agents of change towards privatisation and how accounting was used as a technology of change.

Details

Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, vol. 11 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1176-6093

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 June 2016

Arash Shahin, Elham Bagheri Iraj and Hossein Vaez Shahrestani

– The purpose of this paper is to propose an innovative solution for prioritizing “Whats” and “Hows” and resolving contradictions among “Whats” in House of Quality (HoQ).

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose an innovative solution for prioritizing “Whats” and “Hows” and resolving contradictions among “Whats” in House of Quality (HoQ).

Design/methodology/approach

Prioritization of the influence of the weights in correlation matrices of “Whats” and “Hows” (i.e. top roof and side roof) of HoQ and integration with TRIZ contradiction matrix have been studied. Explained through a case example of banking services, initially, contradictions among requirements of 180 customers have been identified by side roof matrix and then, the 12 by 12 non-technical contradictions matrix of service TRIZ have been used to suggest principles for resolving contradictions.

Findings

Findings imply that the use of roof and side roof weights can influence the priorities of “Whats” and “Hows.”

Research limitations/implications

Findings may assist researchers and practitioners in resolving ambiguity of the voice of customers, which in turn make the results of HoQ more accurate.

Originality/value

A new approach has been proposed in this paper for resolving contradictions of customer requirements by service TRIZ and adjusting priorities of “Whats” and “Hows” in HoQ.

Article
Publication date: 14 September 2015

Silvio Carlo Ripamonti and giuseppe scaratti

The purpose of this paper is to explore the enactment of safety routines in a transshipment port. Research on work safety and reliability has largely neglected the role of the…

1619

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the enactment of safety routines in a transshipment port. Research on work safety and reliability has largely neglected the role of the workers’ knowledge in practice in the enactment of organisational safety. The workers’ lack of compliance with safety regulations represents an enduring problem that often involves first-level managers, who are willing to turn a blind eye toward divergent practices. The CHAT conceptual vocabulary and theoretical model is used to explore this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

A grounded, empirical study in a large transshipment port in the Mediterranean area is conducted. Ethnographic methods including participant observation and interviews are used, and emerging data are analyzed through an interpretive methodology. The paper explores 30 employees’ narrated accounts of how safety rules are enacted or infringed while living and working in the field in a transshipment port. Data obtained through organisational shadowing provided secondary data. Interview data were analyzed using content analysis, using a CHAT framework. Constant comparison and theoretical sensitivity were pursued through an iterative analysis process.

Findings

This study documented the critical role the workers’ knowledge played in practice in ensuring the efficient functioning of the port, and evidenced that the disconnect between safety procedures and technical productivity standards is the most important factor determining the erratic compliance with prescribed procedures. The selective application of safety norms was deliberate in nature, collectively shared and culturally regulated.

Research limitations/implications

This contribution fails to address probably the most important aspect of the activity theoretical approach: its developmental orientation. The initial analysis intervention was meant to lead to a longitudinal process of expansive learning and development in the activity system. The authors had planned to initiate a cycle of expansive learning laboratories involving representatives of the dockworkers, the port management and the safety certification firm, but this had to be postponed to an undefined time due to the significant changes occurred in the international maritime cargo industry and the decision of the multinational company who owns the transshipment port to cut down its cargo traffic and privilege other ports in the Mediterranean area.

Practical implications

The practical implications of the case study concern the conception and design of safety training and management for the port organisation. By acknowledging the disconnect between espoused safety routines and the constraints and affordances of the workers’ everyday work practice, it is suggested that safety training could be more effective if it engaged the workers (or first-level supervisors) in the fine tuning of safety regulations. Workplace learning opportunities could enable the workers to learn and construct situated safety practices.

Social implications

This paper seeks to highlight how the consideration of local knowledge and context-dependent practices can achieve better comprehension of situated application of safety norms.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to understanding the complexity of enacting and translating safety procedures into everyday work practices.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 27 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 July 2013

Dalibor Petković, Mirna Issa, Nenad D. Pavlović and Lena Zentner

The essence of the conceptual design is getting the innovative projects or ideas to ensure the products with best performance. It has been proved that the theory of inventive…

Abstract

Purpose

The essence of the conceptual design is getting the innovative projects or ideas to ensure the products with best performance. It has been proved that the theory of inventive problem solution (TRIZ) is a systematic methodology for innovation. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the design of an adaptive robotic gripper as an engineering example to show the significance and approaches of applying TRIZ in getting the creative conceptual design ideas.

Design/methodology/approach

Gripping and holding of objects are key tasks for robotic manipulators. The development of universal grippers able to pick up unfamiliar objects of widely varying shapes and surfaces is a very challenging task. The requirement for new adaptive grippers is the ability to detect and recognize objects in their environments.

Findings

The main aim of this work is to show a systematic methodology for innovation as an effective procedure to enhance the capability of developing innovative products and to overcome the main design problems. The TRIZ method will be utilized in order to eliminate the technical contradictions which appear in the passively adaptive compliant robotic gripper.

Originality/value

The design of an adaptive robotic gripper as an engineering example is illustrated in this paper to show the significance and approaches of applying TRIZ in getting the creative conceptual design ideas.

Details

Assembly Automation, vol. 33 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-5154

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 December 2018

Nizar Mohammad Alsharari, Riyad Eid and Ali Assiri

This paper aims to explain institutional contradictions in the balanced scorecard (BSC) implementation process between organizations, which successfully implemented BSC. The…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explain institutional contradictions in the balanced scorecard (BSC) implementation process between organizations, which successfully implemented BSC. The purpose of this paper is to identify a comprehensive set of potential determinants influencing the successful implementation of BSC.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is an exploratory investigation into the BSC implementation based on a dialectical perspective. It uses the triangulation of data collection including interviews, documents and surveys. This also includes a comprehensive scrutiny of the relevant literature; a comprehensive analysis of case studies of BSC implementations in four organizations; and interviews and documents evidences that have already implemented or are in the process of implementing BSC.

Findings

The BSC was successfully implemented in the organizations, when the accounting systems introduced in these organization had already been institutionalized, that is, accepted and used on day-to-day basis. The dialectical perspective postulates that for change to become institutionalized in the organization, it needs to overcome the problem of embedded agency. This process of change is possible due to the accumulation of institutional contradiction that enables human praxis to introduce change (Seo and Creed, 2002).

Research limitations/implications

There is a need to empirically test and refine the proposed factors and explore relationships among the various variables by collecting data from organizations that have already implemented BSC.

Practical implications

The findings of this study are important and relevant to all the different-sized organizations in the different sectors and industries. This study also makes a significant contribution to society in general.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the literature on organizational and accounting change that emphasis the crucial role that institutional contradiction plays in the process of BSC implementation. The findings of this study will help management in making crucial decisions and in resource allocations that are required to make the BSC implementation a success.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 27 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 August 2017

Zhikun Ding, Shuanglong Jiang, Fungfai Ng and Menglian Zhu

The quantity of construction technology innovations in patent database grows at a high speed. More challenging technical problems require knowledge workers to make full use of the…

Abstract

Purpose

The quantity of construction technology innovations in patent database grows at a high speed. More challenging technical problems require knowledge workers to make full use of the huge existing technology innovation knowledge base to propose new innovative solutions. Hence, it is critical to deliver the right knowledge to the right people at the right time. To improve innovation efficiency and effectiveness, this research explores the development of a new patent knowledge management system to satisfy the increasing demand of construction innovations.

Design/methodology/approach

TRIZ-based patent knowledge management system (TPKMS) development involves the integration of construction patent knowledge management, theory of inventive problem-solving (TRIZ) theory, database techniques and computer programing technology. The contradiction matrix in TRIZ theory serves as the patent knowledge extraction framework, while SQL Server 2000 database management system is employed to manage the extracted patent knowledge, TRIZ and user account information. Visual C++ 6.0 is adopted as the development tool.

Findings

The developed system to manage construction patent knowledge integrates TRIZ with the database design, enabling the system users to be more problem-focused, systematic and efficient. The system provides a heuristic environment to help improve the innovation effectiveness by motivating knowledge workers’ innovative thinking. Further development of the system is proposed in the context of the age of big data.

Originality/value

A new TRIZ-based patent knowledge management system for construction technology innovation was developed.

Details

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, vol. 15 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1726-0531

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 July 2017

Dong-Shang Chang, Shu-Ming Liu and Yi-Chun Chen

The purpose of this paper is to find the key innovative principles for evaluating the long-term care (LTC) cloud system by exploring contradictory and complex points in its…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to find the key innovative principles for evaluating the long-term care (LTC) cloud system by exploring contradictory and complex points in its development.

Design/methodology/approach

The theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ) and the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) approaches are integrated to resolve complex contradictions in the system. The heuristic reasoning of TRIZ is applied to obtain innovation principles for an LTC cloud mining system. However, the importance and feasibility of these innovative principles require further assessment. In this study, DEMATEL is employed to clarify the complex relationships among the principles and evaluate their key influences.

Findings

This paper identifies six primary contradictions and derives 25 innovative principles for the resolution of these conflicts. Further analysis confirms three key innovative principles. First, the government should consider the overall planning of the cloud system platform, followed by the participation of other medical and LTC institutions. Second, the information capability of LTC institutions should be unified by recording the pathology data of care recipients to create an information exchange system. Third, LTC institutions should act in cooperation with medical institutions to provide professional medical capabilities.

Originality/value

The contributions of this paper are two-fold. First, this study provides an integrated methodology integrating the TRIZ and DEMATEL approaches to resolve LTC problems. Second, this research identifies the key innovative principles for developing an LTC cloud system in Taiwan.

Details

Industrial Management & Data Systems, vol. 117 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-5577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 May 2016

Jia-Yen Huang and Shih-Tian Siao

This paper aims to propose an integrated bionic optimal design system to assist engineers in bionic design tasks. In this age of ecological awareness and sustainability, engineers…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to propose an integrated bionic optimal design system to assist engineers in bionic design tasks. In this age of ecological awareness and sustainability, engineers are increasingly applying bionics to their product designs. A recent surge of research on bionics has presented new opportunities and challenges. To deal with these challenges, an integrated design system equipped with the capabilities of conducting biologically inspired design, solving technical contradictions, optimizing design parameters and verifying design effectiveness is required.

Design/methodology/approach

This study proposes a two-level analysis to help decision makers conduct multi-faceted observation and assessment on conceptual bionic design. The contradictions incurred when transferring biological principals to engineering design are solved using BioTRIZ, and the conceptual design is then created. This study conducts computer-aided engineering analysis, incorporating the Taguchi method and TOPSIS method, to obtain the optimal design of bionic products.

Findings

The proposed design process focuses on improving the product structure instead of changing the materials, and thus, the authors are able to put the goals of saving energy, environmental protection and sustainability into practice.

Practical implications

Through the design and analysis processes, the authors prove that their designed bionic-fan can effectively enhance operational efficiency and reduce the aerodynamic noise. The system can provide a practical tool for engineers intending to accomplish complete designs and verifications using bionics.

Originality/value

Most existing design methodologies that have attempted to combine biology with engineering design have fallen short in their level of thoroughness. This study proposes a complete bionic design system by integrating the processes of bionic-inspired design, optimization and verification.

Details

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1726-0531

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 June 2022

Ali Mohammadi, Jiami Yang, Yuri Borgianni and Yong Zeng

The purpose of this paper is to analyze theory of inventive problem-solving (TRIZ) in terms of knowledge, skill, workload and affect to understand its effectiveness in enabling…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze theory of inventive problem-solving (TRIZ) in terms of knowledge, skill, workload and affect to understand its effectiveness in enabling designers to achieve their optimized mental performance.

Design/methodology/approach

TASKS framework, which aims to capture the causal relations among Task workload, affect, skills, knowledge and mental stress, is adopted as our methodology. The framework supports the analysis of how a methodology influence designer’s affect, skills, knowledge and workload. TRIZ-related publications are assessed using the TASKS framework to identify the barriers and enablers in TRIZ-supported design.

Findings

TRIZ has limitations on its logic and tools. Nevertheless, it could create a beneficial impact on mental performance of designers.

Originality/value

This paper provides a theory-driven TRIZ usability analysis based on the materials in the literature following the TASKS framework. The impact of TRIZ, as an enabler or a barrier, has been analyzed in accomplishing a design task.

Details

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology , vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1726-0531

Keywords

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