Skip to main content
Top

2014 | Book

Managing Complexity

Challenges for Industrial Engineering and Operations Management

insite
SEARCH

About this book

This book presents papers by experts in the field of Industrial Engineering, covering topics in business strategy; modelling and simulation in operations research; logistics and production; service systems; innovation and knowledge; and project management. The focus of operations and production management has evolved from product and manufacturing to the capabilities of firms and collaborative management. Nowadays, Industrial Engineering is concerned with the study of how to design, modify, control and improve the performance of complex systems. It has extended its scope to any physical landscape populated by social agents. This raises a major challenge to Industrial Engineering: managing complexity. This volume shows how experts are dealing with this challenge.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter

Management

Frontmatter
Looking at the Future of Industrial Engineering in Europe

The paper aims at identifying competence required to Industrial Engineers to face with current and future challenges of the EU. In order to properly address the topic, a reference framework is proposed. The framework provides a context analysis of major industrial and societal challenges which affect grand challenges as identified by the European ‘2020’ strategy. Knowledge exploitation of Key Enabling Technologies and Sustainable Urban Development are considered major industrial and societal challenges which, in turn, are significant opportunity of growth for industry. Major gaps between industry needs and competence provided by Industrial Engineering (IE) curricula are identified. A multi-university collaborative network could be the appropriate answer to bridge educational gaps and pursue a unifying view of IE in the EU, respecting educational and industrial traditions of different Countries of the European Higher Educational Area (EHEA).

Giovanni Mummolo
A “Collaborative Me” Crossroad: Individual Beliefs and the Adoption of Corporate Blogs

Collaboration has become an essential process to improve business performance. Firms need to enhance innovation, and this is where 2.0 collaborative tools are expected to play a key role. Corporate weblogs are one of the main 2.0 tools that have raised more interest among managers, due to their ease of use and potential to bring together employees and partners who have to collaborate in order to achieve a common goal. However, individuals’ reactions to the use of such new systems may differ, which in turn might lead to rejection of corporate blogs. Thus, the objective of this exploratory research is to study the influence of individuals’ beliefs in the adoption of corporate weblogs; more specifically, the factors discussed in this research are self-efficacy, personal outcomes expectations and anxiety. In order to assess predictive ability for the exploratory research model, we have developed a theory grounded model, which has been validated with data from 70 employees from the Information Technology department of a large industrial Spain-based company. Findings from the results show that perceived usefulness is predicted by anxiety and personal outcomes expectations, perceived ease of use is predicted by blog anxiety, and behavioral intention to use corporate blogs is predicted by perceived usefulness.

Pedro Fernández-Cardador, Ángel Hernández-García, Santiago Iglesias-Pradas
Towards Strategic Project Management

This paper focuses on the application of the Dynamic Capabilities framework to Project Management discipline. A review of project management literature illustrates the new project and project managers’ conceptualization and the shift towards a more strategic perspective. Commonalities and overlaps between project management and dynamic capabilities approach are highlighted both from a theoretical and professional point of view. The findings indicate the closeness between project management and dynamic capabilities by creating an integrative framework useful both for top and project managers. Besides, we show the potential benefits of the application of strategic management theories to Project Management.

Víctor Hermano, Natalia Martín-Cruz
The Impact of Innovation Management Techniques on Radical Innovation: An Empirical Study

While research in innovation management has provided many insights into specific aspects of innovation, the encompassing problems confronting general managers, especially managers of small and medium-size firms, have been overlooked in the development of innovation management techniques and tools. This paper analyses the way innovation management techniques (IMTs) influence innovation in firms. Specifically, this paper focuses on studying the role of IMTs in radical innovation. To this end, we propose a specific model of analysis, tested in a sample of more than 500 Spanish companies. Research results highlight that different sets of IMTs relate to radical and incremental innovation in different ways, and that therefore companies seeking radical innovation look for certain IMTs rather than others. This empirical study will help managers and practitioners to understand the role of IMTs in structuring radical innovation strategy, as well as researchers to focus on the role of such IMTs in innovation.

Juan Ignacio Igartua, Nekane Errasti, Jaione Ganzarain
The Logical Framework Approach and Worker Commitment

The main objective of this paper is to present the logical framework approach (LFA) as a tool that prepares companies and workers to implement continuous improvement programs. This methodology encourages worker participation in different steps in order to reach consensus in the organization. In addition, the application of LFA improves the capabilities of workers in areas such as participatory analysis, problem analysis and objectives analysis. These capabilities are necessary in any continuous improvement program. The paper also presents the results of applying LFA in two different companies.

Carmen Jaca, Luis Paipa-Galeano, Elisabeth Viles, Ricardo Mateo, Javier Santos
New Technologies and Entrepreneurial Intention

New technologies are powerful tools to create, disseminate, articulate, and exploit knowledge. Entrepreneurs use these technologies to promote the creation of new ventures. However, recent studies demonstrate that new technologies are not sufficient to enhance the process of venture creation. We use the fundamentals of the theory of planned behavior to understand the impact of new technologies on entrepreneurial intention. Empirical literature related to university students shows that entrepreneurial intention is dependent on attitudes toward entrepreneurship, social norms, and self-efficacy. We therefore evaluate an empirical model in a sample of students enrolled in the 2012–2013 academic year in the University of Valladolid (Spain).

Natalia Martin-Cruz, Ana Isabel Rodriguez-Escudero
Return of Equity Issues in the Spanish Stock Market from the Investor’s Perspective, During the 1997–2012 Period

Is it profitable for an investor, from a risk-return perspective, to acquire a stake in a quoted company when a capital increase is announced? This paper analyses the return obtained from the investment in equity issues with cash contribution and pre-emptive rights, aimed at funding corporate activities: acquisitions, investments in new facilities and/or strengthening the balance sheet of the companies undertaking the equity issue. During the 16 years covered by the study, the results show a negative average excess risk-adjusted return of almost 5 %, from the moment that the equity offer is announced until the completion of the preferential subscription period. To obtain this excess return, the difference between the nominal Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and the expected return, using the CAPM, is computed for each equity issue. The intention behind this method is to eliminate the effects of time and any other possible effect on the stock price during the period of the analysis. The results from this article are consistent with the Pecking Order theory for the Spanish Stock Market also six months after the preferential subscription period. However, there is a positive return after three months.

Javier Parreño, Felipe Ruiz, Félix Roux
Sustainable Balanced Scorecard: Practical Application to a Services Company

We have developed, in partnership with a consulting firm, a tool that provides two basic goals: (1) The integration of the planning of Social Responsibility (CSR) with the strategic and operational planning of the company (BSC), in our case based on a patented management model with 7 + 1 levels, and (2) Monitoring the management of the CSR according to the activity carried out by the organization. This has allowed us to evaluate/test the quality and adaptability of the developed tool, identifying their strengths and weaknesses, areas for improvement and future lines of research or work.

Alfonso Redondo Castán, José Antonio Pascual Ruano, Angel Manuel Gento Municio, Javier Muñoz Sanz
Predisposition of Workers to Share Knowledge: An Empirical Study

Our objective is to determine the factors and obstacles that either contribute or complicate knowledge exchange between workers. This research area is new in Spain, as only three references have been found for firms in China and North America. In our approach to this topic, we apply concepts of a sociological, psychological, and motivational nature, which affect knowledge exchange and sharing and allow us to justify the theoretical basis of this study, as well as its purpose and its organizational benefits. A detailed survey was prepared for the empirical research with 21 questions given to a sample of 557 workers from firms in Burgos. Among the positive factors that contribute to knowledge sharing, the results highlight recognition and an appreciation of the worker’s contribution, the work environment and reciprocity. The most important barriers are the poor quality of employment contracts, fellow workers that do not wish to learn, and unfair and disloyal behaviour.

Lourdes Sáiz, José Ignacio Díez, Miguel Ángel Manzanedo, Ricardo del Olmo
The M.A.G. Factor. Management, Administration and Guidance. Where and How Much MAG Does Each Project Deserve and Need? A New, Original Assessment and Scoring System

This paper explains in outline a new and original assessment and scoring system to assist project managers in assessing the areas and levels of Management, Administration and Guidance (MAG) that clients may require when being involved in projects. The development of this system arose from consideration of client: project manager relationships on a variety of projects; and in particular the amounts of assistance and help that may need to be provided. A number of possible criteria, circumstances and influences were identified; and these have continued to be refined through project activities and by undertaking exercises with students on post graduate courses. Research and applications are continuing. Contributions, comments and corrections are welcome.

Tom Taylor
Information Capability in Basque Country Quality Award Winners

Given the global environment that companies have to compete in nowadays, changes are so frequent that companies have to adopt a proactive attitude by trying to anticipate those changes. Using quality information while making decisions has become a critical factor for success, and nobody disputes the importance of having this quality information, which comes from the efficient use and management of information. Companies that have such quality information will have a competitive advantage and improve their results. Under the RBV theory, this efficient use and management of information could be considered a capability of a company. The aim of this paper is to explore the degree to which certain companies have developed this information capability. We focused the study on companies committed to Total Quality Management models because, due to the nature of these information intensive models, such companies can be expected to have developed information capability. The findings confirm this fact, although there are still opportunities for improvement.

Marta Zárraga Rodríguez, M. Jesús Álvarez

Production

Frontmatter
A Model of Makespan Flow-Shop Scheduling Under Ergonomic Requirements

This paper address the recent growing interest the industrial environment has put over the healthy work. The ergonomics studies worker’s fatigue and muscular stress risks. It shows the need to measure and evaluate risks to improve the efficiency and reduce the costs. Based on a literature review from the scheduling and ergonomics point of view implications are highlighted. The paper presents a MILP mathematical model to minimize makespan in an n-job flow shop problem with sequence dependent setup times considering recovery times.

Sabina Asensio Cuesta, Pedro Gómez Gasquet, Carlos Andrés Romano, María del Mar Eva Alemany Díaz
A MILP Event Based Formulation for a Real-world Multimode RCSP with Generalized Temporal Constraints

Scheduling is becoming much more important in every industry. However, the standard RCSP usually does not cover all the characteristics of real world problems. In this work, we present an Event Based MILP formulation for a Multimode Resource Constraint Scheduling Problem of direct application for some industries, as aeronautical assembly lines. Taking as a starting point one of the last MILP formulations for standard RCSP, our contribution is to provide a formulation which covers the multimode case and more general temporal constraints than the ones usually referred to in the literature.

Tamara Borreguero-Sanchidrián, Álvaro García-Sánchez, Miguel Ortega-Mier
NTIGen: A Software for Generating Nissan Based Instances for Time and Space Assembly Line Balancing

The time and space assembly line balancing problem (TSALBP) is a realistic multiobjective version of assembly line balancing industrial problems involving the joint optimization of conflicting criteria such as the cycle time, the number of stations, and the area of these stations. For this family of problems there is not any repository where researchers and practitioners can obtain realistic problem instances also containing information on mixed products plans. In this contribution we introduce a new TSALBP instance software generator that can produce problem instances having industrial real-like features. This generator is called NTIGen (Nissan TSALBP Instance GENerator) since it is developed from the information and real data of the assembly line and production planning of the Nissan plant of Barcelona. The NTIGen software as well as some benchmark instances are publicly available on Internet and could be used by researchers to carry out general TSALBP experiments and to also discriminate between different assembly line configurations when future demand conditions vary.

Manuel Chica Serrano, Óscar Cordón García, Sergio Damas Arroyo, Joaquín Bautista
Appropriate Work Design in Lean Production Systems

The demographic change has a substantial impact on the age structure of manufacturing enterprises. The specific needs of older employees have to be considered thoroughly in the design of future work systems. Today, many enterprises organize their processes according to the principles of lean production systems. In order to achieve a sustainable implementation of age and aging appropriate work design, the existing lean production systems need an appropriate modification. The paper presents an analysis of today’s work design concerning age and aging. Furthermore, it introduces four approaches for age and aging appropriate work in lean production systems.

Uwe Dombrowski, Eva-Maria Hellmich, Tim Mielke
Two Simple Constructive algorithms for the Distributed Assembly Permutation Flowshop Scheduling Problem

Nowadays, it is necessary to improve the management of complex supply chains which are often composed of multi-plant facilities. This paper proposes a Distributed Assembly Permutation Flowshop Scheduling Problem (DAPFSP). This problem is a generalization of the Distributed Permutation Flowshop Scheduling Problem (DPFSP) presented by Naderi and Ruiz (Comput Oper Res, 37(4):754–768, 2010). The first stage of the DAPFSP is composed of

f

identical production factories. Each center is a flowshop that produces jobs that have to be assembled into final products in a second assembly stage. The objective is to minimize the makespan. Two simple constructive algorithms are proposed to solve the problem. Two complete sets of instances (small-large) are considered to evaluate performance of the proposed algorithms.

Sara Hatami, Rubén Ruiz, Carlos Andrés Romano
Applications of the Lagrangian Relaxation Method to Operations Scheduling

Lagrangian Relaxation is a combinatorial optimization method which is mainly used as decomposition method. A complex problem can be divided into smaller and easier problems. Lagrangian Relaxation method has been applied to solve scheduling problems in diverse manufacturing environments such as single machine, parallel machine, flow shop, job shop or even in complex real-world environments. We highlight the two key issues on the application of the method: the first one is the resolution of the dual problem and the second one is the choice which constraints should be relaxed. We present the main characteristics of these approaches and survey the existing works in this area.

Juan José Lavios, José Alberto Arauzo, Ricardo del Olmo, Miguel Ángel Manzanedo
Toward Various Exact Modeling the Job Shop Scheduling Problem for Minimizing Total Weighted Tardiness

In this paper, two different mixed integer programming (MIP) and one constraint programming (CP) models are formulated for classical job shop problem with the aim at minimization of the total weighted tardiness as objective function. The proposed models are solved and compared with well-known benchmarks in the job shop literature, using IBM ILog Cplex software. Examination and comparison of these exact models suggest that one formulation performs much more efficiently than others, namely CP model, in triple criteria: First, number of generated variables; Second, solution time and Third, complexity scale.

Mohammad Namakshenas, Rashed Sahraeian
Set-up Continuity in Tactical Planning of Semi-Continuous Industrial Processes

In most of production planning models developed in a hierarchical context at the tactical level setup changes are not explicitly considered. Its consideration includes decisions about the allocation and lot sizing of production, known as CLSLP problem. However the CLSLP problem does not account for set-up continuity, specially relevant in contexts with lengthy set-ups and where product families minimum run length are almost are similar to planning periods. In this work, a MILP model which accounts for this set-up continuity inclusion is modelled, solved and validated over a simplified real-case example.

David Pérez Perales, Maria del Mar Eva Alemany Díaz, Francisco-Cruz Lario Esteban, V. S. Fuertes-Miquel
Estimating Costs in the EOQ Formula

The EOQ formula (Harris, Fact Mag Manage 10(2):135-6-152, 1913) provides a balance between setup costs and holding costs in the system. This formula has been widely developed in the literature. However in the industrial reality, it is often difficult to know the exact value of these setup and holding costs. In this paper, we develop a formula to estimate lot size from the values known in the company. It is verified that the behavior of these formulas meets expectations.

Pilar I. Vidal-Carreras, Jose P. Garcia-Sabater, Maria Valero-Herrero, Cristina Santandreu-Mascarell

Logistics and Supply Chain

Frontmatter
Order Promising Process for Supply Chains with Lack of Homogeneity in the Product

Traditionally, during the Order Promising Process (OPP), the homogeneity of different available units of the same finished good to be committed to customers has been assumed. However, this assumption is not valid for manufacturing contexts with Lack of Homogeneity in the Product (LHP). In this paper, special LHP-dimensions that affect the OPP are outlined. Based on them, specific LHP availability and allocation rules are defined.

Maria del Mar Eva Alemany Díaz, Andrés Boza, Angel Ortiz, Raúl Poler
Modeling the Master Plan for Supply Chains with Lack of Homogeneity in the Products

Master Planning of Supply Chains (SCs) with Lack of Homogeneity in the Products (LHP) strongly differs from other SCs. Although LHP affects SCs of different sectors, an absence of a common research body exists. In this paper, the characterization of LHP dimensions for Master Planning and their modeling is described. To validate the proposal an application to the fruit SC is presented.

Maria del Mar Eva Alemany Díaz, Llanos Cuenca, Angel Ortiz, David Pérez Perales
Packaging Logistics. A Case Study in Dairy Sector

No many companies give importance to the impact of packaging design for achieving logistic efficiency and sustainability in the supply chain. This paper sets out to illustrate how the adoption of “Packaging Logistics” approach makes it possible to obtain competitive advantages throughout the supply chain. To illustrate this statement, in this paper, not only the conceptual field of this concept is developed, but also its application, analysing a case study in dairy sector.

Jesús García Arca, J. Carlos Prado Prado, A. Trinidad González-Portela Garrido
Best Practices in Sustainable Supply Chain Management: A Literature Review

On the basis of a content analysis, this paper explores the evolution of best practices from the traditional approach to cost efficiency in supply chain management towards the current context of sustainability. In this sense, the paper shows a comprehensive review of the best practices that supply managers will need to engage in to create a sustainable supply chain. Our analysis suggests that the practices that lead to a more sustainable supply chain management are in equal parts best practices in traditional supply chain management or slight modifications of existing practices, and innovative practices.

Ana María Mejías Sacaluga, Juan E. Pardo Froján
Supplier Evaluation and Selection: A Review of the literature since 2007

Supplier selection is currently a subject of great importance to companies. Numerous articles have been published recently, recommending different methods and/or procedures for evaluating and selecting the suppliers with whom the purchasing company will work. The present article reviews a total of 39 articles dealing with this subject, published between 2007 and the present day, in magazines indexed by Journal Citation Reports (in ISI Web of Knowledge). They will be analyzed in order to determine: (i) procedures used in determining criteria, (ii) identification and structure of the criteria under consideration, (iii) methods used to evaluate and select the suppliers and (iv) aims in the selection of suppliers.

Joan Ignasi Moliné, Ana María Coves
Logistic Management Employing Tabu Search and Neural Network Algorithms: A Case Study

This paper presents a real case study of a routing problem in a Spanish firm leader in the fresh food industry. The main objective is to improve profits and competitiveness based on logistic operations, minimizing the transportation cost employing the tabu search and neural network meta-heuristics algorithms. The simplest case considered is the Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP). The real case study presented in this paper there are capacity restrictions and different demands at each node, therefore the problem is solved as a Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem (CVRP).

Isidro Peña García-Pardo, Fausto Pedro García Márquez
Multiagent Model for Supply Chain Management

There are several circumstances which, in the last two decades, have granted the Supply Chain Management (SCM) a strategic role in the search for competitive advantage. Thus, this paper applies multiagent methodology to optimize the management. We represent the supply chain as a Global Multiagent System, composed of four Multiagent Subsystems, which replicate the behavior of the different levels of the supply chain. Thereby, each member has its own decision-making capacity and seeks to optimize the performance of the supply chain. We will tackle the problem from two complementary perspectives: reducing the Bullwhip Effect, which can be considered as one of the main sources of inefficiencies in the SCM, and minimizing management costs, both from a non collaborative approach, where each level seeks the best solution for himself, and from a collaborative approach, where each level negotiates with the rest looking for the best solution for the whole supply chain.

Borja Ponte Blanco, Raúl Pino Díez, Isabel Fernández Quesada, Nazario García Fernández

Methods and Applications

Frontmatter
Revisiting the SEC Classification Framework in Traditional and Electronic Commerce

The recent growth of e-commerce sales has its cause not only on the increase of products sold, but also on the incorporation of new products which were previously not selling well on the online channel. An outstanding example of these products in Spain is clothing, which has rocketed from a marginal position in online sales to the fifth place of the top selling products over the Internet. This is an interesting case because clothing has conventionally been classified as an Experience product within the SEC (Search, Experience, Credence) classification framework, which proposes product segmentation based on the ability of consumers to identify the characteristics and attributes of the products before and after their purchase and use. This situation raises the question whether the SEC classification is still valid today and if there are changes in consumer perceptions about which segment the different products are categorized into. In order to answer these questions, a selection of 26 products was made by e-commerce experts; then, 204 undergraduate and graduate students were asked to classify those products within the SEC framework, and to declare their purchase intentions and actual shopping behavior for each product, both in the online and traditional channel. The findings from this study suggest that the SEC classification is still valid in electronic commerce but not in traditional retail stores. Moreover, the study detected actual changes in the customer perceptions of the nature of some products within the SEC classification.

Ángel F. Agudo-Peregrina, Julián Chaparro-Peláez, Félix J. Pascual-Miguel
A Roadmap to Establish Collaboration Among SMEs Belonging to Non-Hierarchical Networks

The importance of collaboration has increased in supply networks; and thus, the number of so called non-hierarchical manufacturing networks (NHN). When establishing collaborative processes appear a number of barriers that companies must face. This paper proposes a roadmap,

NHNmap

, to support researchers on the migration process towards the long-term vision to establish collaborative relationships in NHN. This NHNmap phases are briefly described and depicted in a chart in order to identify the roadmap time plan.

Beatriz Andres, Raul Poler
Incorporating the Work Pace Concept into the MMSP-W

This work proposes an extension for the MMSP-W (Mixed-Model Sequencing Problem with Work overload Minimization) with variable processing times by the incorporation of the work pace or work speed concept. A computational experience, linked to a case study of Nissan Powertrain plant in Barcelona, is carried out to compare the performance of the reference model with the new proposed model.

Joaquín Bautista, Rocío Alfaro, Cristina Batalla, Alberto Cano
Applying the LEGOstics concept in formal education at Technical University of Cartagena

The LEGOstics training programs are under continuous development in Industrial Management Laboratory at UPCT (Spain), working together with Szabó-Szoba R&D Laboratory at Széchenyi University (Gyӧr, Hungary). The main purpose of these innovative simulation projects is to construct special real-life environments for modeling logistics systems and phenomena (the nature of product and information flow in a supply chain, the meaning of delivery in time shipments, material handling and order picking processes of a warehouse or a factory, flexible manufacturing, work-in-process inventory management, lean thinking, etc). During the learning-by-doing LEGOstics trainings participants can get practical knowledge and develop many innovative skills to be able to construct, design and re-engineer sustainable and efficient logistics processes, and feel the responsibility of making decisions. In our paper we present how we implemented LEGOstics concept into the formal education focusing on the experiences we got during 2011–2013 at Technical University of Cartagena (Spain).

Peter Bajor, María Victoria de la Fuente Aragón, Lorenzo Ros-McDonnell
Neural Network Application for Risk Factors Estimation in Manufacturing Accidents

In occupational safety, when a neural network is trained, it is possible to predict the outcome given a combination of risk factors. Risk assessment is probably the most important issue in occupational safety. Risk assessment facilitates the design and prioritization of effective prevention measures. Neural network were applied for predicting the severity of accidents, which is important to assess risks. Data sets were obtained from the official accident notifications in the manufacturing sector of Andalusia in 2011. The results confirm that neural networks are useful in risk factor estimation. Association analysis was used to identify the most important risk factors within the predicting variables. Diagnostic array analyses show that for preventive purposes it is better to use a reduced data set with a case-control approach in order to improve the specificity and the sensitivity.

Jesús Antonio Carrillo-Castrillo, José Guadix Martín, Rafael Grosso de la Vega, Luis Onieva
A New Constructive Heuristic for the Fm|block|ΣT

This paper deals with the blocking flow shop problem and proposes new constructive procedures for the total tardiness minimization of jobs. The heuristic has three-phases to build the sequence; the first phase selects the first job to be scheduled, the second phase arranges the remaining jobs and the third phase uses the insertion procedure of NEH to improve the sequence. The proposed procedures evaluate the tardiness associated to the sequence obtained before and after the third phase in order to keep the best of both because the insertion phase can worsen the result. The computational evaluation of these procedures against the benchmark constructive procedures from the literature reveals their good performance.

Ramon Companys Pascual, Imma Ribas Vila
Applying Cluster Analysis to Renewable Energy Emergent Sector at Local Level

This paper aims to provide a brief overview of state-of-the-art methods of cluster analysis and to acknowledge their limitations when applied to local level in renewable energies. This emergent sector is becoming increasingly important within the field of Industrial Organization, with technological and industrial innovation being essential for the competitiveness of future “smart cities”. An understanding and analysis of the clusters formed by the different participating actors (public administration, centers of research and knowledge, and businesses) will be the key to safeguarding economic development, especially in their initial stage. As a conclusion, Social Network Analysis (SNA) tools together with Competitive Advantage Analysis (CAA) seem to be the most recommended methods.

Jaso Larruscain, Rosa Río-Belver, Ernesto Cilleruelo, Gaizka Garechana, Javier Gavilanes-Trapote
How Organizational Cybernetics can Help to Organize Debates on Complex Issues

In this paper we expose how concepts taken from the Systems Thinking field, and in particular Organizational Cybernetics (OC), can help decision makers to study complex issues with the help of the information and communication technologies (ICT). We present some software tools developed within the Systems Thinking and Organizational Cybernetics Research Group (STOCRG) of the University of Valladolid that based on OC concepts use ICTs to help groups of people to study complex issues in a collaborative way through Internet. We discuss some uses of OC to help collective decisions making and we show two international pioneering experiences in which the ICTs have been used in combination with OC concepts. In the first case the purpose was to create a collective scientific book by a group of scientists working at distance and, in the second case, to organize a major academic international event. We end the paper showing an example of specific software (Debates Organizer) developed in the STOCRG through the last 15 years to facilitate any size of groups of people through Internet the organization of debates on complex issues.

José Pérez Ríos, Iván Velasco Jiménez, Pablo Sánchez Mayoral
Agent-Based Modelling and Archaeological Complexity

This paper presents a brief overview of social simulation in the field of Archaeology. It has been conducted from an agent-based modelling focus, a very interesting and valid methodology for modelling prehistoric societies. The second part of this work presents an application of this methodology in a specific model that analyses the emergence of ethnicity in a prehistoric society.

David J. Poza, Ricardo del Olmo
Complex Networks Applied to Communication Management in Emergency Crisis

The Nuclear Emergency (NE) influence domain spreads over a large number of systems of different nature. Nuclear Emergency Plans (NEPs) are usually designed using a top-down approach, establishing a hierarchy working as a command chain. Although this provides advantages in terms of control, it might not be flexible enough to face unpredicted emergent behaviours due to complex interactions among the systems involved. Using a real case study, this work discusses the results of the communication and command chain network analysis to facilitate the assessment of key indicators to improve the NEP: resilience, adaptability and responsiveness.

Cristina Ruiz Martín, Mario Ramírez Ferrero, José Luis González Álvarez, David J. Poza
Localization Based on Business Interactions Through a Simulated Annealing Algorithm

This work is aimed at presenting a simulated annealing algorithm as a decision support tool for the localization problem of stores in metropolitan areas. The approach is based on the empirical estimation of attraction and repulsive forces that emerge as a consequence of the spatial interaction among businesses. Quantification of these externalities is carried out by means of networks modelling techniques. The methodology is illustrated with a case study in the city of Turin (Italy).

Rosa Mª Sánchez-Saiz, José Manuel Galán, José Ignacio Santos
Methodology for the Strategic Capacity Planning in Universities

This paper introduces the Strategic Capacity Planning problem in universities and proposes a methodology for solving the problem. The methodology includes the characterization of the problem, the design of a mathematical model, the data collection and pre-analysis, the model solving and the introduction of uncertainties. Besides the use for staff capacity planning, the methodology can be used to assess the impact that different strategies may have on the personnel costs and structure.

Rocio de la Torre, Amaia Lusa, Manuel Mateo
Metadata
Title
Managing Complexity
Editors
Cesáreo Hernández
Adolfo López-Paredes
José M. Pérez-Ríos
Copyright Year
2014
Electronic ISBN
978-3-319-04705-8
Print ISBN
978-3-319-04704-1
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04705-8