Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-96).

Thesis (M.S. in Management of Technology)--Vanderbilt University, May 2006. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S. in Management of Technology)--Vanderbilt University, May 2006. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Over the past decade, firms in the auto industry have focused much of their attention on new product development performance. This paper reports on a follow-up study to Clark and Fujimoto's research on product development performance in the 1980s. We find that US and European firms have made significant strides in meeting Japanese product development performance. Driving this improvement have been changes in the use of suppliers, in overlapping phases of the development process, and in the type of project management system used. We also find that Korean auto makers are relatively efficient in terms of lead time and engineering productivity, although final design quality is lower. The narrowing of the competitive gap in the management of individual projects may point to product line performance as a future driver of competitive advantage. / Draft

The present study attempts to fill a gap in the literature by exploring the physical and economic forces that influence the dynamic path of hybrid seed pricing for a broad acre crop over time. Of the physical and economic forces influencing the dynamic path of hybrid development, the sequential and cumulative nature of crop development is particularly discussed. Specifically, the canola hybrid seed industry in Canada is studied. This study will have particularly important implications for industries that are considering stronger intellectual property rights inside and outside Canada. The model presented in Chapter 2 makes a significant contribution to the “product variety” literature. While Chamberlinian models are confined to one representative consumer and location models are not very helpful in analysis of more than two characteristics, the model developed in Chapter 2 incorporates differentiated buyers and multiple characteristics. Schumpeter’s temporary market power can be derived from new characteristics embodied in old products. Results show that more progressive industries are likely to have a smaller equilibrium number of firms and shorter product cycles, ceteris paribus. Chapter 3 endogenizes rate of yield potential growth as a function of firms’ initial investment. Results show that greater investment productivity results in fewer varieties in the market, shorter product cycles, higher prices, higher profit levels, lower optimal investment, and higher consolidation. Also, it is shown that if increased differentiation creates enough space in the market for a new entrant, then entry of a new rival will increase competition and may result in a decrease in the incumbents’ profit. Chapter 4 uses data from Canadian canola industry to empirically test some of the propositions discussed in Chapter 2. Results confirm that as a variety becomes more specific its market share decreases. It is also shown that degree of specificity is a proper measure of adaptability for seed varieties as it provides high explanatory power in the regression models and also can be used to make direct economic interpretation. Chapter 5 presents a conclusion, policy implications, and potential approaches for future research.

Orientador: Franco Giuseppe Dedini / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecanica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-12T21:14:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Zirondi_Micael_M.pdf: 4539646 bytes, checksum: e3a4d0b7b2e65cd126cfdfeafd565ed0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Resumo: Um ambiente de desenvolvimento de produtos é um sistema complexo, com múltiplas interações entre políticas, práticas, estruturas de trabalho, recursos materiais e pessoas. Em um mercado cada vez mais exigente e competitivo, sua melhoria é essencial para o êxito das empresas e para satisfazer as necessidades dos consumidores. Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo contribuir na melhoria do ambiente de desenvolvimento de produto, através da aplicação do Thinking Process, uma abordagem sistêmica que utiliza os fundamentos do processo do raciocínio lógico da metodologia da teoria das restrições (Theory of Constraints). Esta pesquisa explora as potencialidades do Thinking Process em duas situações: uma "ampla" e outra "específica". A primeira mostra os fatores de ineficiências do processo de desenvolvimento de produto; identifica suas "causas raízes" e propõe soluções sistêmicas para superação dessas ineficiências. A segunda aplicação utiliza a metodologia do Thinking Process como ferramenta para auxiliar o desenvolvimento técnico de um produto, no caso, uma lavadora de roupas para o mercado chinês. A seqüência processual da metodologia aplicada em situações muito distintas dentro do ambiente de desenvolvimento de produto confirmou o seu potencial de aplicabilidade, prevalecendo o caráter sistêmico da metodologia no entendimento do todo, eliminando-se o caráter deficiente provocado pela fragmentação dos sistemas / Abstract: A product development environment is complex with multiples interactions between policies, practices, job structures, materials and people resources. In a more demanding and competitive market, product development process improvement is essential for any company's success and customer satisfaction. This research objective is to give a contribution to improve the environment of product development, through the application of Thinking Process, a systemic approach that uses the foundations of the logic thinking applied at Theory of Constraints. This research explores the potentialities of the Thinking Process in two different situations: "general" and "specific". First one shows the factors of inefficiency of the product development process; identifies "root causes" and proposes systemic solutions for overcoming inefficiencies. The second application utilizes the Thinking Process methodology as a tool to help the technical development of a product, in the case, one wash machine for the Chinese market. Process sequence of the methodology applied in very distinct situations within the environment of product development has confirmed its potential of applicability, prevailing the systemic aspect of the methodology in the overall understanding, eliminating the lack of efficiency caused by the fragmented systems / Mestrado / Mecanica dos Sólidos e Projeto Mecanico / Mestre em Engenharia Mecânica

Abstract The Finnish chemical forest industry has undergone a profound structural change over the past two decades. The basic industry is increasingly focusing its product development investments on its own products and operations while the development of processes and process machinery is left to specialised companies. At the same time the purchases of the pulp and paper industry are becoming larger: there is a shift from single device purchases to larger functional units. This research studies the Finnish process machinery industry serving the needs of the pulp and paper industry and its product development environment and strategies, and evaluates the ability of selected case companies to design integrated process solutions. Particularly the role of measurement and automation technology in these solutions is under closer scrutiny. Aspects of product life cycles and technology management, together with various procedures and operating models for innovation and product development processes, are discussed on the basis of the literature. The empirical part of the research was carried out as a case study with several Finnish companies manufacturing machinery and equipment for the chemical forest industry. The results show that the strategies of the studied industry are still very much dominated by the traditional emphasis on machinery design and construction. The change in the customers' purchasing behaviour towards ever larger units and functions is reflected particularly as increasingly large delivery projects. The units required by the customers are put together in the project phase, using parts and components developed in isolation from each other. There is very little evidence of actual product development, design or producing of integrated process solutions. In those cases where the design work has explicitly aimed at an integrated functional unit, the result has been a process that the customer can easily purchase and where the supplier's expertise in processes and process control is already included in the package. Designing integrated process solutions takes more than technical expertise and capability: the strategy, organisation, and product development process of the supplier company must support the integration of different technologies and expertise areas in the product. Instead of the traditional serial product development it is imperative that the questions of process design, process machinery, and process control are treated and solved simultaneously. The in-house expertise and networking of research and development must be promoted in such a way that the capabilities necessary to include the required technologies and expertise areas in a product project are already available when the product is being specified and designed.

No description available.

Un simple regard porté sur la vie quotidienne suffit pour prendre conscience autant de la diversité des contrats que de la multitude des choses dangereuses qui nous entoure. La diversité contractuelle qui apparaît clairement dans le Code Civil et plus largement dans le droit civil, s’est aussi développée dans le droit commercial et plus amplement dans le droit des affaires. Quant aux choses dangereuses, comme souvent évoquée par la doctrine, elles sont de plus en plus considérées comme étant omniprésentes dans la société contemporaine. Les choses dangereuses peuvent être l’objet de tous les contrats qui existent et il ne fait pas de doute que l’intervention de ces dernières dans les contrats produit des effets autant sur leur formation que sur leur exécution. La présente recherche a donc pour objectif de déterminer quels sont ces effets dès lors que les choses dangereuses sont introduites volontairement ou non dans les contrats privés. Avant d’analyser lesdits effets, il s’est avéré nécessaire de définir au préalable et façon juridique, la notion de “chose dangereuse”. Cette définition a facilité l’étude de l’influence qu’exercent les choses dangereuses sur les contrats. L’analyse de ladite influence a permis d’élaborer un ensemble de règles pouvant s’appliquer, nos pas de façon sectorielle, mais d’une manière globale à tous les contrats portant sur les choses dangereuses. La détermination de cet ensemble de règle a pour objectif d’ assurer une gestion globale et efficace du danger (ou du risque) des choses dans le contrat. / A simple outlook on daily life is enough for becoming aware of the diversity of the contracts as well as the multitude of dangerous things which surround us. The contractual diversity which appears in the Civil Code and more widely in civil law, is also developed in commercial law and more generally in business law. As for dangerous things, like often mentioned by the doctrine, they are increasingly considered to be ubiquitous in the contemporary society.Dangerous things can be part of all contracts as diverse they may be. But there is no doubt that the intervention of dangerous things in contracts does not let them free and it has inevitably effects as much on their training as on their execution. That is the reason why which explains the choice of this subject. We intend to find what are the effects produced by dangerous things when they are intentionally or unintentionally introduced into private contracts.Before analyzing those effects, it was necessary to define first, legally speaking, the concept of "dangerous thing". Indeed, this definition facilitates the study of the influence of dangerous things on the contracts which concern them. The analysis of that influence of dangerous things will help to develop a set of rules that could be applied to all contracts relating to dangerous things.The purpose of this analysis is to explore ways to ensure comprehensive management of risk in the contract, which can be easily transposed to all contracts relating to dangerous things.

The thesis titled Analysis of the integration of product placement in the audiovisual work "I wake up yesterday," focuses on the use of marketing tools product placement in this particular film. The theoretical part defines the issues and their types of promotion. Characteristics of effective legislation in the Czech Republic and related European Union regulations. Pricing for product placement and the possibility of measuring effectiveness. The practical part deals with concrete examples on the matter after legalization in the Czech Republic. The work deals with the number of occurrences of brands in the audiovisual work. Furthermore, the work focuses on, whether product placement was used in accordance with the law and what proportion of occupied product placement in the total broadcast time. What percent was used for active or passive product placement and the share of the dominant and nondominant expresses shot on the product. Furthermore, it is also concentration on realism brands.