Narrow Results

Against the backdrop of increasing research on the optimization and application of intelligent technology, this study reviews the relevant literature from the perspectives of machine intelligence and intelligent systems, aiming to offer new research ideas for achieving sustainable agricultural development. By analyzing 1,611 Chinese and foreign literatures from 2000 to the present, we have found that research in the field of machine intelligence and intelligent systems has experienced a three-stage development pattern of fluctuating upward, explosive growth, and slowing down through adjustment, reaching a peak in 2022. China, India, and the United States are the main countries conducting research in this field. Although cooperation among countries is frequent, collaboration between authors is less common, and academic connections are relatively weak. Currently, the field of intelligent systems is moving toward diversified development. Researchers can further enhance studies in the interdisciplinary areas of intelligent technology, laying the foundation for the application of intelligent systems and machine intelligence in sustainable agriculture.

The aim of long-term mine planning (LTMP) is two-fold: to maximize the net present value of profits (NPV) and determine how ores are sequentially processed over the lifetime. This scheduling task is computationally complex as it is rife with variables, constraints, periods, uncertainties, and unique operations. In this paper, we present trends in the literature in the recent decade. One trend is the shift from deterministic toward stochastic problems as they reflect real-world complexities. A complexity of growing concern is also in sustainable mine planning. Another trend is the shift from traditional operational research solutions — relying on exact or (meta) heuristic methods — toward hybrid methods. They are compared through the scope of the problem formulation and discussed via solution quality, efficiency, and gaps. We finally conclude with opportunities to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI)-based methods due to paucity, multiple operational uncertainties simultaneously, sustainability indicator quantification, and benchmark instances.

Three-dimensional (3D) printing has bought much enthusiasm for medical applications. The upgraded quality with the use of 3D printing has gained detailed clinical and associated results. This paper bridges the available writing, based on literature, about the capability of 3D printing innovation in medical applications. 3D printing can build highly complex individualized medical parts/tools/inserts, etc., with improved results and increments financial plausibility. This innovative approach offers a potential level of openness that is fundamental for remote and asset restricted areas where human services are frequently constrained. The 3D printing-based advances immensely affect the reproduction of terrible wounds, facial and appendage prosthetic improvement, and headways in biologic and manufactured inserts. It is identified from the available literature that 3D printing is being incorporated successfully in medical cases for improved medical results. Its applications fluctuate from anatomical models for study/training purposes to fully functional implantable body parts/organs.

Today, supply chain operations have entered the Industry 4.0 era. Technologies, such as blockchain, big-data, artificial intelligence, additive manufacturing and cloud-computing, are all hot topics. Motivated by their importance, in this paper, we conduct a review of the closely related literature in the well-established mainstream operational research (OR) journals. From our research, we first examine the OR literature on Industry 4.0 related studies. Then we classify the technology-operations-related literature into three major categories, namely, information technologies for supply chain operations, technologies for sustainable operations, and technologies for production operations. Various less popular areas on technology-driven operations in supply chains, namely, technology licensing and outsourcing (TLO), online data, and risk, finance and security (RFS), are also examined. From the reviews, we identify the major research gaps. After that, we establish a future research agenda. We believed that this paper lays the foundation for further OR studies on technology-driven supply chain management in the Industry 4.0 era.

The vehicle routing problem (VRP) and its variants are a class of network problems that have attracted the attention of many researchers in recent years, owing to their pragmatic approach to solving issues in logistics management. Most surveys/reviews of the extant literature often focus on specific variants or aspects of the VRP. However, a few reviews of the overall VRP literature are available. The focus of these papers is to identify which VRP literature characteristics are the most popular in recent studies. To this end, we analyze 229 articles published between 2015 and 2017. We provide a systematic literature review evaluating the Scenario Characteristics and Problem Physical Characteristics that are most frequently addressed by VRP researchers, the Type of Study and Data Characteristics that they address, the most cited works that constitute the theoretical pillars of the field, and details of three specific problem variants that have been studied extensively in recent years and their opportunities for future research.

Symmetric and asymmetric cryptographic algorithms are used for a secure transmission of data over an unsecured public channel. In order to use these algorithms in real-time applications, many flexible hardware architectures have been proposed and implemented with multiple design constraints. Therefore, a systematic study is required to analyze various implementation approaches. This paper has focused on the identification and classification of recent research practices pertaining to the flexible hardware implementation of cryptographic algorithms. We have used Systematic Literature Review (SLR) process to identify 51 research articles, published during 2008–2017. The identified researches have been classified according to three design approaches: (1) crypto processor, (2) crypto coprocessor and (3) multicore crypto processor. Consequently, a comparative analysis of various cryptographic algorithms in terms of flexibility, throughput, area, power and implementation technology has been presented. A comprehensive investigation of flexible architectures for implementing cryptographic algorithms facilitates researchers and designers of the domain to select an appropriate design approach for a particular algorithm and/or application according to their needs.

While the UN’s proclaimed decade of family farming (2019-2029) unfolds, management research has still not sufficiently explored the enterprising family in agriculture. Our article aims at exploring the literature on agricultural family businesses in the field of management sciences, towards suggesting future research directions. We present an overview of the definitional efforts and specificities of these family businesses, followed by a systematic literature review over the past decade. Our analysis identifies three clusters of dimensions that underpin the existing knowledge: entrepreneurial behavior, succession process, and psychological dynamics, in relation with three major outcomes that are growth, resilience, and continuity. Building on the existing research limitations and the current research trends, we craft a comprehensive agenda for scholars to advance our understanding of enterprising families in agriculture.

Enterprise architecture (EA) is a description of an enterprise from an integrated business and IT perspective intended to improve business and IT alignment, and is used in the majority of large companies. However, despite that EA was established as an independent discipline long ago, a commonly accepted “big picture” in EA research is still missing. As a result, the scope of the EA discipline is vague, the extent of diversity in EA publications is poorly understood and the progression of the EA research stream over time is unclear. In this paper I conduct a comprehensive EA literature review covering 1075 publications aiming to structure, clarify and consolidate the whole EA research stream. I analyze the distribution of the EA research stream by time, source, research methodology and attitude, code all the issues discussed in EA publications into 42 narrow EA-related topics and 11 broader themes, establish the conceptual relationship between them and present a picture of the EA discipline “on a page”. Moreover, I classify all EA-related topics into four categories according to their lifecycles helping future EA researchers to better understand the evolution of the EA discipline and make the maximum contribution to it.

The controlling design condition in thin metal silos is generally buckling under axial compression. This compression is often assumed to be uniform but in many practical cases several failure modes interact as a result of a rather more complex pattern of stresses. Small silos are often supported on several columns with local brackets attached to the sides of the shell. Failure occurs with an interaction between buckling and yielding under a stress regime involving a combination of membrane and bending stresses developed by the applied loads. This paper firstly reviews the literature relevant to bracket supported silos and exposes the limitations in the available design guidance. The results of a series of finite element analyses are then presented to describe the underlying structural behaviour. It is shown that material and geometric non-linearity both play an important role in the behaviour of discretely supported silos. It is also established that the degree of bracket eccentricity is an important factor in determining the mechanism of failure and the associated strength of the silo. Finally, comparison is made between the numerical results and existing design guidelines.

The evaluation and selection of enterprise software has become increasingly difficult for decision makers due to a large number of software products available for many applications. Therefore, systematic and repeatable approaches are needed in order to select the appropriate product that best meets the customer requirements. In this paper, we present a literature review and classification of enterprise software selection approaches from the period 1982–2007. In addition to classifying the selected approaches by functional perspective, the decision-making methods used by these approaches in the generic phases of software selection process are also presented. Results are summarized with comprehensive classification tables. This study is intended as a source for academics and practitioners alike interested in software selection problem, especially those who want to see alternative decision-making techniques that can be used to support the every single step of software selection process.

Site selection is a multi-dimensional optimization problem that influences a wide variety of stakeholders from local communities and authorities to governments, environmental protection agencies, etc. Locating an energy project as well as transportation infrastructure projects, for instance, are of great strategic importance and are connected to the top-level regulations and policy levels. These problems are significant from strategic levels to the productivity of a single construction project level, from energy to transportation and from infrastructure to residential buildings.

A large number of publications in this field of study prove this significance. However, regarding the variety of applications, managerial decision levels, and the growing number of studies, it is important to comprehend the latest trends and conclude an appropriate research path in this field.

This study is mainly focused on the application of MADM methodologies on locating problems by which many studies are carried out and have a high coincidence with the locating problem environment. Consequently, 425 studies are considered in this study, and 217 more relevant papers are selected for the subsequent reviews. Based on the results, Energy projects are by far the most frequent field of study in this regard which are considered as renewable and nonrenewable categories. Also, environmental planning and sustainable site selection are of secondary importance.

Due to increasing environmental regulation and customers’ demand for environmentally friendly products, organizations have been required to adopt sustainable manufacturing practices by implementing clean technology (Cleantec) to manufacture green products. By adopting environmental practices, organizations can also achieve qualitative and quantitative benefits that help them remain competitive in the market while meeting governmental environmental policies, such as lowering energy and the cost of materials. The significant number of articles addressing sustainability in manufacturing published in the past few years attests to the importance of the topic. However, not many studies have been developed to understand the decision-making process in sustainable manufacturing. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to conduct a systematic literature review on the application of multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) methods in sustainable manufacturing. A total of 158 papers, published between 2009 and 2018, met the criteria set in the research methodology. The 158 papers were then analyzed and classified into seven categories: (i) SM domain, (ii) activity within the organization, (iii) decision goals, (iv) decision-makers involved (group or individual), (v) uncertain data, (vi) SM aspects (social, environmental, and economic), and (vii) MADM methods. Among the results, we identified that AHP is the most applied MADM method and, regarding the activities of the organization, MADM methods have been the most frequently applied to strategy management and supply chain. We also identified a tendency to consider uncertain and imprecise data in the decision-making process. Another result is that all the three domains — economic, environmental and social — were considered in most of the papers, followed by the combination of the economic and environmental perspectives. In the conclusion, some recent trends and future research directions are highlighted.

This document critically reviews the papers that investigated the impact of funding on scientific output and on scientific collaboration. For the output, the focus is on the number of articles as a measure of the scientific productivity and the number of citations that a paper received as an indicator of the quality. Various methodological approaches have been adopted (e.g. bibliometrics (a set of methods to analyse the scientific literature quantitatively), statistical analysis) for this purpose. Reviewing the literature revealed that although the general assumption of the positive effect of funding on scientific development is completely (or partially) acknowledged in some studies, one can also find some contradictory results. In addition, we note that analysing the impact of funding on scientific output has attracted more attention of the researchers while investigating the impact of funding on collaboration has been only recently taken into consideration. The paper concludes by comparing the major results and methodologies of the reviewed studies while highlighting the research gaps.

The purpose of the study is to exhibit total useful contents into the knowledge management enablers (KMEs) for knowledge management (KM) implementation. The literature review covers an exhaustive analysis of KMEs in KM implementation with the existing parameters as well as those which are not being covered in past investigations of KMEs. This study is for analysing the effects of KMEs in KM implementation within academics and industries in the last 20 years. The design of the study is based on exhaustive literature review of KMEs for KM implementation of 148 papers selected through an organised procedure, from about 1050 research investigations till August 2017. The findings reflect a deep interest in incorporating KMEs in KM implementation. They also indicate the model of survey scored better among all the research methods used in the domain as per major findings. In broad terms, most of the research is interpretative in nature and provides a framework for hypothetical analysis. The assessment just provides outline of statistics which is easy to identify for academicians as well as practitioners and offers improved insights on the present condition of study in support of KM implementation.

The new product development (NPD) process is frequently described as a sequence of information processing activities, but "information in NPD" occupies a broader conceptual space than the reduction of uncertainty. This article reviews the area of "information in NPD" by examining the literature on environmental scanning, market orientation, gatekeepers, cross-functional integration, and information use. It is argued that we can understand the process of managing information in terms of three steps: Acquiring, sharing and using. A tentative framework for this area is proposed, and managerial implications resulting from this literature review and tentative frame are outlined and presented.

This paper presents a literature review discussing empirical as well as conceptual papers concerning the CTO — the Chief Technology Officer — his tasks, responsibilities and authority and his relations with other corporate functions. It further presents first results of a CTO survey conducted in the Japanese electrical engineering industry in the fall of 2006. Based on both, a set of propositions is presented which the authors test via a large forthcoming empirical study in the same industry.

Introducing "product platforms" in companies to achieve competitive advantages, like decreased costs and increased product variety, is a widely recognized strategy in research and industry. Nevertheless, there are certain challenges involved in developing product platforms. In order to address this complexity, we focus on the decision-making perspective of platform development in this paper. Based on a systematic literature review, we identify the decisions in product platform development projects (PPDP) and categorize them. We identified 21 decisions that are made within PPDP, which represent a greater scope of decisions than presented in the literature sources reviewed. The plausibility of these platform project decisions is illustrated with a case study of a perennial platform development project within the automotive supply industry. While most of the literature sources only mention very few decisions, the case study shows the complexity and high number of decisions required for an actual PPDP. In addition, it also recognizes all of the prior reviews of the decisions identified. Unlike in the literature, the decisions in the case study were made over a certain period of time. Therefore, we propose that the dynamics of the decision-making process in PPDP have to be taken into account. The set of PPDP decisions identified will help project managers to structure future PPDPs better and support researchers in building related product platform models.

Developing culture and creative industry has become an important agenda for the Chinese government in terms of building an innovation-oriented economy that is supported by culture and creativity. Research on culture and creative industry in China also appeared in various policy documents as well as academic journals and publications in recent years, although there is no uniform classification on what “culture and creative industry” should encompass. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive and critical review on the current status of culture and creative research in China and identify the extent to which the current research reflect and support on China’s new economic development strategy underpinned by culture and creativity. By selecting and reviewing literatures from China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database, it has been identified that current research on culture and creativity tends to focus on developed cities/regions using descriptive approach and issues are discussed at conceptual and macro-level. On one hand, our findings support the general trends of growth and significance of culture and creative industry in China. On the other hand, we also identify the lack of systemic review and comprehensive research in this area hinders the process of strategic decision-making by the government and organizational performance in the industry. We recommend that more critical review and in-depth research through multi-disciplinary approach should be supported in order to provide comprehensive understanding on the development and trends of culture and creative industry in China and inform government policies.

While scholars have long emphasized the role of firms’ CEOs in shaping innovation outcomes, the question of underlying mechanisms remains widely unanswered. In light of this, we stress that the relationship between organizational aspects (e.g. resource allocation or culture) and product innovation should not mark the end of an intellectual quest. Instead, these enablers are also particularly contingent upon the corporate leaders. Based on 81 empirical studies, we reveal the impact of CEO characteristics (demographics, personality, and cognition) and leadership on firm-level variables that enable product innovation. Finally, we outline fruitful avenues for future research and provide managerial implications.

Crowdfunding is an innovative financial instrument that is continuously gaining importance in research and practice. In order to promote the economic and theoretical discussion on this topic, a systematic overview of the literature is essential. The present work represents a literature-based research on crowdfunding to determine which research topics have been addressed so far and whether or not a focus has been developed on a particular topic, research stream, and model. The literature review identified 90 scientific papers, published between 2011 and 2016. The study consequently develops seven research areas: individual, managerial, legal, platform-based, sustainability-based, innovation-related, and conceptual. Through this conceptualization and the presentation of the current state of the research as well as the determination of the future research potential, this work is relevant for the academic debate on the organizational implications on crowdfunding. In addition, the review supports practitioners, or in particular crowdfunding initiators, to understand how crowdfunding mechanisms function and to deduce consequences for successful crowdfunding.