Industry Analysts Research Articles

8-MW wind turbine tower computational shell buckling benchmark. Part 2: Detailed reference solution

An assessment of the elastic–plastic buckling limit state for multi-strake wind turbine support towers poses a particular challenge for the modern finite element analyst, who must competently navigate numerous modelling choices related to the tug-of-war between meshing and computational cost, the use of solvers that are robust to highly nonlinear behaviour, the potential for multiple near-simultaneously critical failure locations, the complex issue of imperfection sensitivity and finally the interpretation of the data into a safe and economic design.This paper presents a detailed reference solution to the computational buckling analysis of a standardised benchmark problem of an 8-MW multi-strake wind turbine support tower. Both linear and nonlinear analyses are performed, including advanced GMNIA with several different models of geometric imperfections. The crucial issue of interpreting the imperfection amplitude in a way that is compliant with the new prEN 1993-1-6 is discussed in detail. The solution presented herein is intended for use by analysts in both industry and academia for training, verification and calibration of finite element models and is intended to initiate a public repository of such computational solutions for metal civil engineering shell structures.This paper is the second of a pair. The first paper [37] presents a synthesis of 29 submissions to an international round-robin exercise performed on the same benchmark problem.

Intrapreneurship Way Forward for Keeping Entrepreneurial Spirit Intact Post-COVID-19

COVID-19 pandemic is far more than just the health crisis. After the Great Depression, the dot-com bubble, and the 2008 financial crash, we are staring at the biggest challenge for the economy. No industry has been spared from the brunt of this pandemic. The start-up sector is bleeding and has undoubtedly taken the hardest hit. With nine in ten start-ups registering decline, over third halting operations temporarily or permanently, this is an unprecedented downturn in the global economy. The aftermath of this crisis will be a long-term impact on the mindsets, attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors of entrepreneurs and those who want to leap into entrepreneurship. We should look at this situation as the new playing field and bounce back with renewed hope of recovery. Industry analysts suggest adopting intrapreneurial traits to instill the confidence back and keep the entrepreneurial spirit intact. Intrapreneurship is one of the ways of catalyzing recovery with sustained innovation and a competitive edge. This analysis aims to correlate the key attributes such as risk-taking, proactiveness, and autonomy in intrapreneurship with sustainable environmental, economic, and social innovation.

Understanding e-satisfaction, continuance intention, and e-loyalty toward mobile payment application during COVID-19: an investigation using the electronic technology continuance model

This research examined the determinants of e-satisfaction, continuance intention, and e-loyalty regarding the use of mobile payment applications (MPAs). It developed and validated the electronic technology continuance model (e-TCM) integrating a psychological factor (perceived threats), e-satisfaction, circumstantial factor (perceived anxiety), and the dimensions of quality. Using a questionnaire, data was collected from 455 respondents and analyzed using structural equation modeling. The influences of information quality, service quality, system quality, perceived usefulness, and confirmation on both e-satisfaction and continuance intention are found positive. However, perceived threats and perceived anxiety do not influence e-satisfaction but influence continuance intention. Moreover, e-satisfaction positively impacts continuance intention and e-loyalty; and continuance intention positively impacts e-loyalty. This research evidences the roles of perceived threat, e-satisfaction, perceived anxiety, and the dimensions of quality on customers’ e-satisfaction, continuance intention and e-loyalty, using the integrated framework comprising the health belief model, expectation–confirmation model, and information systems success model. The findings of this research can guide MPA services providers, online businesses, industry analysts, suburban consumers, and respective government authorities when MPA usage is concerned during any unprecedented crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

ՀՀ ապահովագրական ոլորտում ինշուրտեխ թվային նորարարությունների ներդրման հնարավոր ուղղությունները / The Possible Directions of Implementation of Insurtech Digital Innovations in the Insurance Sector of RA

In the course of research, the essence of insurance was revealed, the KPIs of RA insurance companies were analyzed. On the basis of academic literature, the features of RA insurance companies are evaluated and highlighted. As a result of the research, it was revealed that, despite the great progress in the digitalization of the RA financial sector, similar technologies do not have large application volumes in the insurance sector. Moreover, there are already fintech companies in the financial sector of RA, and the technological community of RA has accumulated a lot of experience in the field of financial technologies. It is emphasized that the insurance sector of RA needs to be re-equipped, taking into account the comfort of the user. The purpose of the article is to identify and indicate possible directions of implementation of digital innovations in the insurance sector of RA. The article may be of interest to insurance industry policy makers, analysts and representatives of tech companies.

An Information System Supporting Insurance Use Cases by Automated Anomaly Detection

The increasing availability of vast quantities of data from various sources significantly impacts the insurance industry, although this industry has always been data driven. It accelerates manual processes and enables new products or business models. On the other hand, it also burdens insurance analysts and other users that need to cope with this development parallel to other global changes. A novel information system (IS) for artificial intelligence (AI)-supported big data analysis, introduced within this paper, shall help to overcome user overload and to empower human data analysts in the insurance industry. The IS research’s focus lies neither in novel algorithms nor datasets but in concepts that combine AI and big data analysis for synergies, such as usability enhancements. For this purpose, this paper systematically designs and implements an AI2VIS4BigData reference model to help information systems conform to automatically detect anomalies and increase its users’ confidence and efficiency. Practical relevance is assured by an interview with an insurance analyst to verify the demand for the developed system and derive all requirements from two insurance industry user stories. A core contribution is the introduction of the IS. Another significant contribution is an extension of the AI2VIS4BigData service-based architecture and user interface (UI) concept on AI and machine learning (ML)-based user empowerment and data transformation. The implemented prototype was applied to synthetic data to enable the evaluation of the system. The quantitative and qualitative evaluations confirm the system’s usability and applicability to the insurance domain yet reveal the need for improvements toward bigger quantities of data and further evaluations with a more extensive user group.

The evolution of activist investors in the U.S. railroad industry

The railroad industry has faced a series of prominent activist campaigns since the late 1990s, including those at CSX (2006, 2016), BNSF (2007), Norfolk Southern (2015), Canadian National (2011), and Canadian Pacific (2021). These investors, who have taken ownership interests in a variety of ways, have sought major changes in railroad operations, financial policy, and overall strategy. Rather than using traditional means of proxy contests or acquisition proposals, these high-profile activists have developed new means and tactics seeking to influence company financial policies and strategic direction. This paper begins by summarizing the rise of activist investors in general, and the changing nature of their objectives and their tactics. Some industry analysts have claimed that the recent railroad activist campaigns are novel and unprecedented. In contrast, this paper argues that the railroad industry has long been shaped by activist investors, whose objectives and tactics have changed as the industry has evolved. We define and then chronicle the evolution of activist investors in US railroads since inception and develop a taxonomy of major activist investor events and objectives. For most of its history, activist investors in railroads have been motivated by three main objectives: network growth and extension; consolidation; and bankruptcy and restructuring. But as the effects of deregulation settled out by 2000, railroads have experienced new types of investors who have sought changes that are less industry-specific and more like those in the broader economy, focusing on governance, operating strategy, and capital distributions.

Market amplification or transformation? The role of industry analysts in spreading WOM in B2B

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to address these questions. Word-of-mouth (WOM) is increasingly important in business-to-business (B2B) decision-making. Yet, research on this topic is rather limited, and often borrows from business-to-consumer (B2C) WOM literature. The question remains as to whether these assumptions realistically occur in B2B WOM. Specifically, this study explores the following questions: What value does B2B WOM have? Why do social media influencers in B2B engage in WOM? What type(s) of social media influencers spread WOM in B2B?Design/methodology/approachTo address these questions, this study adopts a qualitative research strategy. This study focuses on industry analysts in information technology markets who often influence the buying decisions of customers through their expertise and recommendations of technology solutions. Based on interviews with these influencers, this study explicates B2B WOM, an area the authors know much less of in comparison to B2C WOM.FindingsThis study reveals differences in who spreads WOM within B2B, their roles, key features of their content and how they spread WOM. Second, this study demonstrates the types of actors spreading WOM in B2B in relation to the type of WOM and how it actually influences B2B markets.Originality/valueThis study broadens the current definition of WOM and, specifically, showcases WOM not only as amplifying messages but as a means to co-create the market itself with vendors and clients. This research offers several contributions to the B2B WOM literature and influencer practice.

Forecasting the propagation of pandemic shocks with a dynamic input-output model

We introduce a dynamic disequilibrium input-output model that was used to forecast the economics of the COVID-19 pandemic. This model was designed to understand the upstream and downstream propagation of the industry-specific demand and supply shocks caused by COVID-19, which were exceptional in their severity, suddenness and heterogeneity across industries. The model, which was inspired in part by previous work on the response to natural disasters, includes the introduction of a new functional form for production functions, which allowed us to create bespoke production functions for each industry based on a survey of industry analysts. We also introduced new elements for modeling inventories, consumption and labor. The resulting model made accurate real-time forecasts for the decline of sectoral and aggregate economic activity in the United Kingdom in the second quarter of 2020. We examine some of the theoretical implications of our model and find that the choice of production functions and inventory levels plays a key role in the propagation of pandemic shocks. Our work demonstrates that an out of equilibrium model calibrated against national accounting data can serve as a useful real time policy evaluation and forecasting tool.

Intelligent Decision Forest Models for Customer Churn Prediction

Customer churn is a critical issue impacting enterprises and organizations, particularly in the emerging and highly competitive telecommunications industry. It is important to researchers and industry analysts interested in projecting customer behavior to separate churn from non-churn consumers. The fundamental incentive is a firm’s intent desire to keep current consumers, along with the exorbitant expense of gaining new ones. Many solutions have been developed to address customer churn prediction (CCP), such as rule-based and machine learning (ML) solutions. However, the issue of scalability and robustness of rule-based customer churn solutions is a critical drawback, while the imbalanced nature of churn datasets has a detrimental impact on the prediction efficacy of conventional ML techniques in CCP. As a result, in this study, we developed intelligent decision forest (DF) models for CCP in telecommunication. Specifically, we investigated the prediction performances of the logistic model tree (LMT), random forest (RF), and Functional Trees (FT) as DF models and enhanced DF (LMT, RF, and FT) models based on weighted soft voting and weighted stacking methods. Extensive experimentation was performed to ascertain the efficacy of the suggested DF models utilizing publicly accessible benchmark telecom CCP datasets. The suggested DF models efficiently distinguish churn from non-churn consumers in the presence of the class imbalance problem. In addition, when compared to baseline and existing ML-based CCP methods, comparative findings showed that the proposed DF models provided superior prediction performances and optimal solutions for CCP in the telecom industry. Hence, the development and deployment of DF-based models for CCP and applicable ML tasks are recommended.

Recycling wind turbine blades

Wind turbines generated roughly 6% of the world’s electricity in 2020. Industry analysts predict that number will grow by more than 6% annually this decade. As the wind industry grows, so does the number of aging and damaged turbine blades that are being decommissioned and replaced with larger, more efficient ones. In the US alone, some 8,000 blades were pulled down in 2021. Most blades were landfilled because there wasn’t much else that could be done with them. But several companies are working on ways to recycle the enormous blades by shredding them and reusing the fiberglass and plastic resin to make cement, tough industrial plastics, and other products. Further advances in recycling technology along with changes in blade materials and recycling economics may be needed to deal with used blades on a global scale sustainably. Bob Cappadona laughs as he recalls an inquiry in 2020 from General Electric about

The Adoption of Enterprise Resource Planning and Business Intelligence Systems in Small and Medium Enterprises: A Conceptual Framework

The widespread globalism of services and the fast technological progress brought about by IT have made organizations today competitive in offering new products and services. One of the highlighted innovations is the enterprise resource planning and business intelligence system (ERPB), which has captivated the interest of industry analysts and policymakers due to its potential to provide more intellectual information for decision making and ensure its continuity. Firms must use ERPBI appropriately to flourish, as its misuse leads to failure. Even though research has focused on the factors influencing ERPBI adoption, most studies have ignored many factors that influenced the behavioral intention to adopt variable that significantly affects the adoption and use of technology. Ensuring the proper adoption of ERPBI is critical to corporate success. If ERPBI is misused, this will not serve its objective. Although a few studies have studied factors affecting the success of ERPBI adoption, the majority have failed to discover drivers of continuity and sustainability. This article proposed a conceptual framework for ERPBI adoption using the TOE and UTAUT models. Four main hypotheses were formulated for the three dimensions of technology, organization, and environment. The proposed framework is vital in adopting the ERPBI and could shape the direction in successfully adopting new technologies in SMEs. This study could fill in the gap in ERPBI research because previous studies have not focused on ERPBI adoption factors, ERPBI adoption, and business continuity.

Different Times Call for Different Measures: Using Retail Sales to Monitor the Tobacco Product Landscape

Different Times Call for Different Measures: Using Retail Sales to Monitor the Tobacco Product Landscape

Economics of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in Korea

This study explores the economics of the public electric vehicle (EV) charging station in Korea to provide insights into the business. In Korea, the public charging infrastructure is typically important for the large scale diffusion of EV because many potential EV buyers live in multi-family residential units with limited off-street parking and thus installing home chargers is restricted. With internal data from the private charging service providers, this study shows that the charging business is hardly profitable with the current charging price of $0.23/kWh with subsidies to mitigate initial investment costs. In addition, many industry analysts have noted that subsidies may distort charging market; building charging stations to get the subsidies without considering economics of stations resulting in very low utilization rate. Removing the subsidies may minimize the market distortion but the economic feasibility becomes much worse. We propose the discriminatory price scheme, that is, different charging prices for the slow and the fast chargers. The appropriate charging prices without subsidies are estimated to be $0.25/kWh for the slow chargers (9% higher than the current charging price) and $0.39/kWh for the fast chargers (70% higher than the current price).

The Valorising Pitch: How Digital Start‐ups Leverage Intermediary Coverage

AbstractAs an unknown quantity, new ventures rely on influential intermediaries to endorse them. However, in some areas, like digital entrepreneurship, there is fierce competition for intermediary attention. Failing to garner intermediary support can mean ventures lack the resources needed to prosper. Still, it is unclear how they attract coverage, how intermediaries evaluate those vying for attention, and what influence this has on venture development. We conducted qualitative inductive research on how digital ventures sought coverage from industry analysts. Our process model of intermediary evaluation shows how ventures must perform a ‘valorising pitch’ to move from being an unknown quantity to engaging the intermediary to being valorised. Drawing on valuation studies scholarship, we propose an enhanced model of intermediary evaluation that depicts industry analysts as not just identifying but also ‘creating’ the value of ventures. We offer contributions to the literature on new venture development, intermediaries and digital entrepreneurship.

FMEA-AI: AI fairness impact assessment using failure mode and effects analysis

Recently, there has been a growing demand to address failures in the fairness of artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Current techniques for improving fairness in AI systems are focused on broad changes to the norms, procedures and algorithms used by companies that implement those systems. However, some organizations may require detailed methods to identify which user groups are disproportionately impacted by failures in specific components of their systems. Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is a popular safety engineering method and is proposed here as a vehicle to support the conducting of “AI fairness impact assessments” in organizations. An extension to FMEA called “FMEA-AI” is proposed as a modification to a familiar tool for engineers and manufacturers that can integrate moral sensitivity and ethical considerations into a company’s existing design process. Whereas current impact assessments focus on helping regulators identify an aggregate risk level for an entire AI system, FMEA-AI helps companies identify safety and fairness risk in multiple failure modes of an AI system. It also explicitly identifies user groups and considers an objective definition of fairness as proportional satisfaction of claims in calculating likelihood and severity of fairness-related failures. This proposed method can help industry analysts adapt a widely known safety engineering method to incorporate AI fairness considerations, promote moral sensitivity and overcome resistance to change.

Figuring out IT markets: How and why industry analysts launch, adjust and abandon categories

Despite being a source of significant change, there has been little focus on how and why industry analysts constantly launch, adjust and abandon market-defining categories. To address this issue, we investigate the Big Three industry analyst firms and find that they promote categories clients find valuable and adjust or abandon those no longer attracting attention. Bringing together insights from information systems research and category scholarship, we show that industry analysts ensure their expertise is seen as relevant to clients through material and visual processes theorised as category-work, figuring-work, and client-mapping, which together create client-induced categories’. This novel theorisation throws light on the processes market intermediaries use to align categories with client concerns and how incorporating categories in graphical figurations can intensify the cycle of category creation and abandonment. It also enhances understanding of the dynamics surrounding transitory terminologies and opens up new research opportunities for studying IT markets.

Sartorius buys Novasep's chromatography division

Sartorius Stedim Biotech has completed its acquisition of Novasep's chromatography division, following approval by the US Federal Trade Commission (see Filtration Industry Analyst, January 2021).

Analysis and modeling the electronic document management system of ministries of Iraq

Nowadays, quantity and the volume of documents used in the modern world are growing According to the statistics; the volume of corporate e-text information is doubling every three years. Document automation market in the world increased by about 20% per year, analysts said.
 Currently, many countries in the world to create the preconditions for growth and the rapid development of this market segment constitute and implement the work of special legislative projects, which entail a more simple legalization of documents of electronic circulation.
 A question about e-services activities within different countries revealed its responses to the diversity of e-services, with 63% of the participating countries saying they started e-business services, 57.9% said they provide e-government services and 50.9% provide electronic education services, and 22.8% reported that they do not provide any of the electronic services to their citizens.
 Such acts and laws simplify operations associated with the exchange of necessary documents between government and business that contributes to good implementation of such systems in the further development of relations between these structures.
 According to Forrester Research, 38% of the Fortune 500 believe that the acquisition of modern document automation is critical for the success of their business.
 In accordance with the opinion of industry analysts, the benefits to business users when implementing the document automation sufficiently diverse. For example, according to Siemens Business Services, by using document automation.
 
 staff productivity increased by 20-25%;
 the cost of archival storage electronic documents by 80% lower compared to the cost of storage of paper archives.
 
 With the introduction of document automation acquired both tactical and strategic benefits.
 The object of scientific research is an electronic document management system.
 The subject of scientific research is a technology for modeling electronic document management systems.
 Purpose of work is development of technology implementation of the electronic document management system of the state institution of Iraq, Satisfying international standards and allowing improving the quality of the work of a public institution.
 Scientific task – the development of the model of electronic document management system, Different from the known ones according to international standards.
 The realization of the goal which accomplished by solving the following particular problems:
 
 analysis of existing electronic document management systems and their compliance with international standards; The development of a model of the electronic document management system for the state institution of Iraq;
 setting up the workflow of the state institution of Iraq, Using the electronic document management system Case.
 
 Methods for solving scientific research problems: Methods of modeling and design of electronic document management systems.
 Scientific novelty the technology of introduction of system of electronic document circulation of the state institutions of Iraq based on a universal model meeting the requirements of international standards. 
 Practical significance of the work
 Application of the proposed model of the electronic document management system will improve both qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the management system of a public institution.

Оценка эффективности работы полигонов при допуске частной локомотивной тяги на инфраструктуру общего пользования

Throughout the reform of the industry, ongoing changes, both positive and negative, have a significant impact on the main performance of the industry. More often, industry analysts and experts focus on negative changes. So, once again, the issue of admission of private locomotives to public infrastructure is raised. This proposal was not the first to come from the Union of Railway Transport Operators (JWT), which lobbied for the liberalization of locomotive traction for the implementation of freight rail transport and motivated the proposal by "lack of locomotive traction and the presence of a barrier for the timely delivery of cargo to the consumer." The presented work reflects the peculiarities of the description of the technology of the work of one of the junction points of the railways of the Eastern region when implementing the introduction of private locomotive traction on a public infrastructure tour in the AnyLogic simulation system. The work of the junction point was considered in several modes of work: the loco-motive fleet of the main carrier and in the implementation of work during the introduction of private locomotive traction (a different number of operators). The result of the work was the identification of possible infrastructure and technological constraints in the implementation of the program for the admission of private locomotives to public infrastructure.

Mergers & Acquisitions Review 2021

2021 was another strong year for M&A activity in the pump sector. This review lists the main pump-related M&A deals announced or completed between January and June 2021, from May River Capital's acquisition of Unibloc Pump to PSG buying Quantex Arc. The February 2022 issue of Pump Industry Analyst will cover the July–December 2021 period.