The industrial structure of many European countries is dominated by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Although SMEs consider the new product development process fundamental for the success in the global market, the level of formalisation of the innovation process is very low (Slywotzky et...

This study proposes the theory of technological parasitism that may be useful for bringing a new perspective to explain and generalize the evolution of technology directed to sustain competitive advantage of firms and nations. Technological parasitism explains the relationship of mutualistic...

This study investigates the failure in project management due to bounded rationality of organizations in the presence of complex and uncertain environments. Examples of failure in project management are described from pharmaceutical sectors (e.g., antibody drugs for Alzheimer’s disease), space...

The industrial structure of many European countries is dominated by small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Although SMEs consider the new product development (NPD) process fundamental for success in the global market, the level of formalisation of the innovation process is very low. Moreover, if...

This paper examines the centralised monitoring of an upstream supply chain (USC) in the context of a mass customisation production system. We propose an adaptation of the material requirement planning framework to manage demand uncertainty at each stage of the USC. New analytical relations that...

The standardization of partially substitutable components destined to meet a set of needs is studied. The monocriterion approach to standardization proposed in the last century is highlighted by taking into account several criteria and an economic valorization through modeling by linear...

In an upstream supply chain dedicated to the mass production of customized products, many sources create production instability: the level and structure of production in the final assembly line, variability of lead times, quality issues, packaging and loading constraints on transportation,...

In an upstream supply chain (USC) dedicated to the mass production of customized products, decentralized management is possible and performing in the steady state, if all the links that precede the final assembly line use periodic replenishment policies. These policies require appropriate safety...

Several formulations to the mixed-model assembly line have been proposed in the literature. Such a problem is concerned with the production of a variety of product models. Vehicles fall into that category. The underlying assumptions of those models are often restrictive, therefore limiting their...