How has Japan become a major economic power, a world leader in the automotive and electronics industries? What is the secret of their success? The consensus has been that, though the Japanese are not particularly innovative, they are exceptionally skilful at imitation, at improving products that already exist. But now two leading Japanese business experts, Ikujiro Nonaka and Hiro Takeuchi, turn this conventional wisdom on its head: Japanese firms are successful, they contend, precisely because they are innovative, because they create new knowledge and use it to produce successful products and technologies. Examining case studies drawn from such firms as Honda, Canon, Matsushita, NEC, 3M, GE, and the U.S. Marines, this book reveals how Japanese companies translate tacit to explicit knowledge and use it to produce new processes, products, and services.

The knowledge-creating company : how Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation

This article examines the function of documents as a data source in qualitative research and discusses document analysis procedure in the context of actual research experiences. Targeted to research novices, the article takes a nuts‐and‐bolts approach to document analysis. It describes the nature and forms of documents, outlines the advantages and limitations of document analysis, and offers specific examples of the use of documents in the research process. The application of document analysis to a grounded theory study is illustrated.

Document Analysis as a Qualitative Research Method

Social Network Analysis

The circular economy concept has gained momentum both among scholars and practitioners. However, critics claim that it means many different things to different people. This paper provides further evidence for these critics. The aim of this paper is to create transparency regarding the current understandings of the circular economy concept. For this purpose, we have gathered 114 circular economy definitions which were coded on 17 dimensions. Our findings indicate that the circular economy is most frequently depicted as a combination of reduce, reuse and recycle activities, whereas it is oftentimes not highlighted that CE necessitates a systemic shift. We further find that the definitions show few explicit linkages of the circular economy concept to sustainable development. The main aim of the circular economy is considered to be economic prosperity, followed by environmental quality; its impact on social equity and future generations is barely mentioned. Furthermore, neither business models nor consumers are frequently outlined as enablers of the circular economy. We critically discuss the various circular economy conceptualizations throughout this paper. Overall, we hope to contribute via this study towards the coherence of the circular economy concept; we presume that significantly varying circular economy definitions may eventually result in the collapse of the concept.

Conceptualizing the circular economy: An analysis of 114 definitions

This paper is based on the premises that the purpose of engineering education is to graduate engineers who can design, and that design thinking is complex. The paper begins by briefly reviewing the history and role of design in the engineering curriculum. Several dimensions of design thinking are then detailed, explaining why design is hard to learn and harder still to teach, and outlining the research available on how well design thinking skills are learned. The currently most-favored pedagogical model for teaching design, project-based learning (PBL), is explored next, along with available assessment data on its success. Two contexts for PBL are emphasized: first-year cornerstone courses and globally dispersed PBL courses. Finally, the paper lists some of the open research questions that must be answered to identify the best pedagogical practices of improving design learning, after which it closes by making recommendations for research aimed at enhancing design learning.

Engineering Design Thinking, Teaching, and Learning

Response to Letter to the Editor Regarding "Cligosiban for Premature Ejaculation: Success, Failure, or Insufficiently Tested?"

Abstract This viewpoint paper uses two established classifications – March's distinction between exploration and exploitation and Andreasen's Domain Theory – to develop a classification matrix to map industrial challenges and design research topics. Exploration/exploitation and the organ, part and activity domains of Domain Theory are respectively the two dimensions of this classification matrix. Examples are given of the fit of design research and industrial innovation topics into each cell of this matrix, and the need for change in industrial emphasis towards exploration across the range of domains to meet current challenges is discussed. We show how design research covers all categories in the matrix, and argue that using a simple classification may assist the research community in explaining its activities to a wider world, and in organising and directing these activities. We conclude by making suggestions for topics for debate in the design research community.

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Combining exploration/exploitation with domain theory: a two-dimensional categorization of design research and product development

By 2021 it has been estimated that almost half the UK population will be over 50 and have some physical impairment. Although this trend has made the need to develop a more user-oriented engineering design process more acute, it has proven difficult to reconcile qualitative user knowledge with the traditionally object-oriented design process. It is argued that including users, particularly those with impairments, and understanding their experiences could inform design and help students better understand technical concepts. A framework, from research in Human Computer Interaction (HCI), is suggested as a possible means for integrating user knowledge with engineering design education, practice and research.

Implications of inclusive design for design education

Decision making involving the procurement of high-cost capital equipment can often be lengthy. The ability to rapidly structure and understand procurement problems before arriving at a solution is therefore an asset to any business. When formulating these solutions, accelerating the decision making processes through optimised methodologies are also of benefit.

Systems thinking for rapid decision making in industrial contexts

Engineering companies are increasingly relying on information-intensive methods and tools to support decision-making in product design and development. Design analysis is a critical stage where extensive information is drawn from various stages to aid design embodiment. The availability and management of information to support modern analyses with confidence has, however, proven a significant challenge so far. A process modelling approach is proposed for recording instances of design analyses in a structured and formalised manner to improve information traceability and reuse. This paper explores the initial ideas and issues in defining an extended product model based on previous work, literature survey and case studies.

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Chris McMahon

Papers

Response to Letter to the Editor Regarding "Cligosiban for Premature Ejaculation: Success, Failure, or Insufficiently Tested?"

Combining exploration/exploitation with domain theory: a two-dimensional categorization of design research and product development

Implications of inclusive design for design education

Systems thinking for rapid decision making in industrial contexts

A framework for capturing design analysis knowledge for reuse using process models