Polytechnic University of Milan

About: Polytechnic University of Milan is a education organization based out in Milan, Italy. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Computer science & Finite element method. The organization has 18231 authors who have published 58416 publications receiving 1229711 citations. The organization is also known as: PoliMi & L-NESS.

The Exact Feasibility of Randomized Solutions of Uncertain Convex Programs

Abstract: Many optimization problems are naturally delivered in an uncertain framework, and one would like to exercise prudence against the uncertainty elements present in the problem. In previous contributions, it has been shown that solutions to uncertain convex programs that bear a high probability to satisfy uncertain constraints can be obtained at low computational cost through constraint randomization. In this paper, we establish new feasibility results for randomized algorithms. Specifically, the exact feasibility for the class of the so-called fully-supported problems is obtained. It turns out that all fully-supported problems share the same feasibility properties, revealing a deep kinship among problems of this class. It is further proven that the feasibility of the randomized solutions for all other convex programs can be bounded based on the feasibility for the prototype class of fully-supported problems. The feasibility result of this paper outperforms previous bounds and is not improvable because it is exact for fully-supported problems.

Factors Preventing Intra-Family Succession

Abstract: Although research on management succession is a dominant topic in the family business literature, little systematic attention has been given to the factors that prevent intra-family succession from occurring. Based on a review and analysis of the literature, this article presents a preliminary model on the factors that prevent intra-family succession.

Developing Products on Internet Time: The Anatomy of a Flexible Development Process

Abstract: Uncertain and dynamic environments present fundamental challenges to managers of the new product development process. Between successive product generations, significant evolutions can occur in both the customer needs a product must address and the technologies it employs to satisfy these needs. Even within a single development project, firms must respond to new information, or risk developing a product that is obsolete the day it is launched. This paper examines the characteristics of an effective development process in one such environment-the Internet software industry. Using data on 29 completed development projects we show that in this industry, constructs that support a more flexible development process are associated with better-performing projects. This flexible process is characterized by the ability to generate and respond to new information for a longer proportion of a development cycle. The constructs that support such a process are greater investments in architectural design, earlier feedback on product performance from the market, and the use of a development team with greater amounts of "generational" experience. Our results suggest that investments in architectural design play a dual role in a flexible process: First, through the need to select an architecture that maximizes product performance and, second, through the need to select an architecture that facilitates development process flexibility. We provide examples from our fieldwork to support this view.

Collective Learning and Relational Capital in Local Innovation Processes

Abstract: Capello R. and Faggian A. (2005) Collective learning and relational capital in local innovation processes, Regional Studies39, 75-87. Innovative capacity of firms has traditionally been explained through intra-firm characteristics. In the more recent literature, much emphasis has been put on determinants that are external to the firm. These external factors, called knowledge spillovers, refer to the positive externalities that firms receive in terms of knowledge from the environment in which they operate. Geographers and industrial economists underline the importance of knowledge spillovers. As the paper underlines, an important difference exists between the approach of knowledge spillover and that of socialized processes of local knowledge creation developed by regional economists; while in the former, the mere probability of contacts explains local knowledge transfer, in the latter, the channels through which knowledge spills over a local area are clearly identified in the relational capital of the area...