Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 2000? / Bibliography: leaves 203-219.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2009. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2007. / "Graduate Program in Electrical and Computer Engineering." Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-99).

Thesis (M.Eng.) - Carleton University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-84). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Notre Dame, 2005. / Thesis directed by Philip E. Mirowski for the Department of Economics. "December 2005." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 152-165).

Modern lifestyles in the developed regions of the world operate beyond our planet's resource capacity. Over-consumption has not only proven detrimental for the environment, but has also undermined our capacity to achieve deep life satisfaction and societal well-being. Embracing more sustainable ways of consuming and producing is key in order to foster the conditions for humanity to flourish. Strategies for disrupting the dominant consumption patterns lie within the next challenges, as adoption of sustainable innovation is still disappointingly low and needs to be accelerated. Design for Sustainability has contributed important technological advances to improve production and life cycle efficiency (i.e. eco design, cradle to cradle). However, it is increasingly recognised that sustainability is not just a technical matter, but ultimately a cultural issue. One of the problems is that people perceive sustainability as a loss, rather than a gain. Therefore, to drive demand, there is urgency to better understand users aspirations and expectations, i.e. the cultural and socio-symbolic aspects of consumption that influence decision-making. This thesis argues that the perceived value of sustainable innovations can be enhanced by paying more attention to the elaboration of meanings or symbolic value they bring to bear for the user, which can be achieved by strategically framing innovations using high-value contextual signifiers (cultural codes). Drawing on cognitive science, cultural studies and applied semiotics, this research contributes a theoretical framework and case studies of how these theories can support the design process in mapping sociocultural contexts, in order to elaborate sustainable innovations that are perceived as aspirational and relevant. The theory is applied to the case of sustainable Product-Service Systems (PPS bottom-up social innovations) due to the opportunities these pose for systemic disruption, and the cultural barriers for adoption. Through a series of Participatory Action Research interventions, the investigation developed three case studies of how of the framework may benefit sustainable PSS value proposition framing and design, with one application in the context of design education to support the development of designers critical and sociocultural deconstruction capacity and skills. Finally, in exploring the potential that cultural codes offer to improve the design and value proposition of sustainable innovations, this thesis contributes and advances a new perspective for understanding symbolic aspects of consumption, and highlights opportunities for sustainable design to have greater influence in societal transformation.

abstract: Most advanced economies have evolved into service economies with the majority of their activity and jobs being in the service sector. The manufacturing sector is also going through a similar shift towards services. Manufacturers are increasingly complementing their products with new services in order to satisfy a broader array of customer needs and increase the value of their offerings. This shift has offered significant opportunities to the sector and the success of major firms such as IBM, Caterpillar, and Rolls-Royce in competing through services has been remarkable. Despite the increased importance of services in the manufacturing sector, the academic literature is yet to investigate the many questions that arise under this new manufacturing paradigm. Perhaps for the same reason study of servitization is listed as a research priority in recent publications both in the field of service operations management and in the field services marketing. This dissertation covers three essays aimed at disentangling multiple aspects of the role of services in the manufacturing sector. The literature on the drivers and implications of transition towards services in manufacturing firms is limited. The three studies in this dissertation aim at shedding light on this issue. Specifically, the first essay looks at the innovation benefits of service transactions with customers. This paper demonstrate the value of services in getting manufacturers closer to customers and allowing them glean useful information from their service interactions. The second essay investigates the antecedents of service strategy adoption. We suggest that the extant diversification theory does not fully explain servitization and this phenomenon represents a unique type of diversification, which is likely driven by different factors. Through econometric analysis of financial data over a 27-year period, this study explores characteristics of product, firm resources, competition, and industry that encourage adoption of service strategies in manufacturing sector. Finally, the third essay takes a deeper dive and focuses on dealerships, as service centers, in the automobile industry. It investigates the role of dealerships in the success of automakers and explores dealership traits that are critical for market success of an automobile brand. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2018

In the design of the third generation of multi-media wireless networks, we are primarily concerned with the greatly varying information source rates, the quality requirements of various traffic types, the characteristics of the wireless environment, as well as the complexity and cost. Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) cellular system is one of the most important candidates for supporting the future universal communications services. The objective of this research is to improve the capacity and the quality of service (QOS), as well as to reduce the complexity of cellular CDMA with integrated services, through improving or optimizing the design of system level operations. To facilitate the system performance and capacity evaluation, the multi-cell multi-user interference is analyzed through a new approach. The area averaged probability density function (PDF) of interference power from one active user is evaluated. The Gamma distribution is proposed for modelling the area averaged PDF of the interference power. An efficient method for evaluating system performance is developed. Differing from the Gaussian approximation, this method is very effective and accurate for both a large number and a small number of users. In this research, differing from the distance membership determination, the statistical effect of handoff is considered. The effects of soft handoff operation on multi-cell multi-user interference are analyzed. Membership statistics which are determined by soft handoff are investigated. A simple binomial model is proposed for modelling the distribution of the number of users belonging to a base station. Considering the call arrival statistics, user membership statistics and a finite number of channels available at a base station, we evaluate the call blocking/dropping rate. The minimum number of channels required at a base-station, which ensures a specified quality of service at a given capacity requirement, is determined. System capacity is further evaluated considering both outage probability limited by interference and call blocking/dropping rate limited by finite number of channels. A pilot assisted channel allocation method is proposed to minimize the number of channels required at a base station. Based on the analysis of a CDMA cellular system with a single traffic type, the design issues in developing a multi-media wireless networks are further discussed. The capacity of a CDMA cellular system with high quality requirements and mixed stream and packet types of traffic is assessed. The impact of the choice of a line rate (bit transmission rate through channel) on the system capacity is investigated. It is also shown that the power allocated to different types of traffic can be optimized to achieve maximum capacity. The optimum power allocation suggests that the power assignments to different traffic types are mainly determined by their quality requirements. / Graduate

Certamente, uma palavra de destaque em gestão é inovação. Entretanto, sua compreensão ainda se dá predominantemente sob uma perspectiva tecnológica, portanto com um produto manufaturado como elemento central. Dessa forma, setores relevantes da economia de um país, como os serviços, muitas vezes apresentam dificuldades em compreender e aplicar a inovação em seu ambiente de negócios. Estudar o ambiente de negócios em serviços é estudar os sistemas de serviços nele existentes. Nesta tese, o autor desenvolve uma melhor compreensão sobre o tema inovação em serviços e propõe um modelo a partir da perspectiva do marketing de serviços. O trabalho de pesquisa tem início com uma revisão teórica em cinco grandes temas: (i) inovação, (ii) inovação em serviços, (iii) inovação sob a perspectiva do marketing, (iv) marketing de serviços e (v) inovação a partir da perspectiva do marketing de serviços. Por intermédio da revisão teórica, dez categorias de análise foram identificadas, sendo utilizadas na composição de um roteiro de pesquisa semiestruturado, posteriormente aplicado em campo. A metodologia de pesquisa selecionada é do tipo exploratória, com abordagem qualitativa, e a organização estudada foi o Costão do Santinho - Resort, Golf e Spa, localizado em Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, caracterizando assim um Estudo de Caso Único Integrado. As fontes de evidência utilizadas foram de entrevistador observador, entrevistas em profundidade com os gestores, documentação e evidência física. No desenvolvimento do estudo, dez categorias de análise detalham o caso e, por meio delas, há a proposição de um modelo de inovação em serviços a partir da perspectiva do marketing de serviços. Nas conclusões, o autor apresenta as contribuições do estudo, assim como identifica as limitações de campo e faz sugestões para estudos futuros. / Certainly, the word \"innovation\" is highlighted in management. However, one´s understanding about it has come predominantly from a technological perspective and, therefore, having a manufactured product as the central element. Thus, managers from industries that are relevant to the economy of countries, such as services, often have difficulties in understanding and applying innovation to their businesses\' environments. And studying the business environments in the service industry is to study the service systems within them. In this thesis, the author develops a better comprehension on the subject of service innovation and proposes a framework from the perspective of service marketing. It starts with a theoretical review of five large topics: (i) innovation; (ii) service innovation; (iii) innovation from a marketing perspective; (iv) service marketing and (v) innovation from a perspective of service marketing. As a result of the theoretical review, ten categories for analysis were identified, which were then used for creating a semi-structured interview guide that latter was applied into field research. The methodology used was that of an exploratory research and a qualitative approach. The organization studied was Costao do Santinho - Resort, Golf and Spa, located in Florianopolis, in the State of Santa Catarina, what categorizes the research as a Single Integrated Case Study. The sources of evidence used were in-depth interviews with managers, observing interviews, documentation and physical evidence. Along the thesis, the case is detailed into ten categories of analysis and, through them, the author proposes a framework for service innovation from a service marketing perspective. The author concludes by presenting the contributions of the study as well as by identifying its field limitations and suggestions for further studies.

Background: Service industries have grown extensively over the past few decades on the back of globalized business trends. With increasing competition, product firms are struggling on product sales alone. Hence, both products and services are being bundled into what is known as offerings. Moreover, firms are looking into how they can improve their offerings to meet customer needs with the help of smart products. Smart products are described as products able to communicate and interact with other electronic devices as well as being self aware. One of these examples is conditional monitoring whereby the product is houses built in sensors to communicate with a back end ERP system providing the supplier a transparent view and real-time update into the status and service needs for both the product and customer. Purpose: The aim of this thesis is to explore how smart products can help leverage services for product firms moving towards a service focus. Method: In addressing the purpose a case study strategy was applied. An inductive approach was used, and interviews were conducted with two Swedish manufacturers, SKF and Atlas Copco. SAP, a software provider was also interviewed. Lastly, a qualitative approach was used and secondary data was collected through annual reports, as well as public company information. Conclusions: Smart products show the capability of being able to record, transmit and act upon their behavior and usage. One major finding from the thesis is that smart products enable product firms to extend their service portfolios from a transactional to a relational standpoint through real time information feeds. This includes asset maintenance as well as monitoring and visibility into client operations. In addition, traditional product firms help product firm’s move towards a service strategy. Another finding of the thesis is that information visibility shows a positive co-relation with the service provider’s ability to take on more risk increasing service revenues and customer lock in and increase value co-creation. On the other hand smart products show to be challenging to product firms new to service development. These challenges include increasing initial infrastructure costs and high level of maintenance and complexity of the smart products.