Architectural Organization Research Articles

Innovation of Organizations in the Construction Industry: Progress and Performance Attributes

Organizations can acquire a competitive advantage by managing effectively for today while simultaneously promoting innovation for the future. A recent review of the annual reports of large Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Owner Operator (AECOO) organizations in the United States (US) have indicated that firms have been allocating more attention to innovation. Previous studies concentrated on viewing the performance and growth of firms based on resources and knowledge. Researchers in strategic management have recently expanded to consider an innovation-based view for studying innovation-induced growth of firms. In this article, we introduce a strategic framework to illustrate the management and transformation of innovation in AECOO organizations on the basis of an innovation-based view of the firm. To support the transformation process, we argue that innovation performance attributes can serve as a reference in the strategic planning process. In particular, we find that innovation should be oriented to the engagement of staff, framed around the organization’s strategies, and contributive to the impact of the organizations. The transformation process is effective when organizations reference these key performance attributes in their strategic framework.

Governing the Baltic Sea Region at critical junctures (1991–2021): How do transnational and intergovernmental organizations cope with external regional change?

ABSTRACT Since the end of the East-West conflict, various intergovernmental and transnational organizations have collectively governed the Baltic Sea Region. Exploring key features of the organizational architecture of three such organizations – HELCOM, the Council of the Baltic Sea States, and the Union of Baltic Cities – we ask how their institutions evolved in the aftermath of critical junctures affecting the region over the past three decades. Findings show that specific-purpose organizations are robust with respect to changes than general-purpose organizations whereas general-purpose maybe less so. With growing geopolitical tensions and global turbulence, this finding holds lessons for the design of transnational cooperation in the future – and beyond the Baltic Sea Region.

Global networks of money and information at the crossroads: Correspondent banking and SWIFT

AbstractThis article explores how transaction information is a fundamental element enabling and fostering global flows of money. Financial systems, constructed around account‐based money, require infrastructure, which is separated into two parts: messaging and settlement, performed via trusted agents. This separation has allowed the geographical expansion of banking, and to this day constitutes a key architecture of increasingly global networks of money. Focusing on the correspondent banking system and the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, this article demonstrates the workings of this infrastructure in cross‐border payments and in enacting economic sanctions. This sociotechnical infrastructure is a crucial yet overlooked area of global banking, which makes global economic and financial activity possible in the first place. Importantly, by analysing the organizational architecture of the global payments system and including the actors and agencies within it, we elucidate the (changing) relationships between data/information, geographies and power, contributing to the formation of a literature that conceptualizes financial infrastructure.

Structural principles of B cell antigen receptor assembly.

The B cell antigen receptor (BCR) is composed of a membrane-bound class M, D, G, E or A immunoglobulin for antigen recognition1-3 and a disulfide-linked Igα (also known as CD79A) and Igβ (also known as CD79B) heterodimer (Igα/β) that functions as the signalling entity through intracellular immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motifs (ITAMs)4,5. The organizing principle of the BCR remains unknown. Here we report cryo-electron microscopy structures of mouse full-length IgM BCR and its Fab-deleted form. At the ectodomain (ECD), the Igα/β heterodimer mainly uses Igα to associate with Cµ3 and Cµ4 domains of one heavy chain (µHC) while leaving the other heavy chain (µHC') unbound. The transmembrane domain (TMD) helices of µHC and µHC' interact with those of the Igα/β heterodimer to form a tight four-helix bundle. The asymmetry at the TMD prevents the recruitment of two Igα/β heterodimers. Notably, the connecting peptide between the ECD and TMD of µHC intervenes in between those of Igα and Igβ to guide TMD assembly through charge complementarity. Weaker but distinct density for the Igβ ITAM nestles next to the TMD, suggesting potential autoinhibition of ITAM phosphorylation. Interfacial analyses suggest that all BCR classes utilize a general organizational architecture. Our studies provide a structural platform for understanding B cell signalling and designing rational therapies against BCR-mediated diseases.

Objects-memes in the architectural organization of attractive urban public spaces

A methodology is proposed for the architectural organization of new and activation of existing abandoned, degrading urban spaces and their transformation into attractive public spaces through the introduction of new architectural objects-memes into them, which will bring new emotional and functional content to these places. The notions of a meme in architecture and object-meme are introduced and scientifically substantiated. The last one is proposed as a tool for activating and increasing the attractiveness of existing and new various urban public spaces and, in particular, city parks and squares. The questions that object-meme must solve for this are generalized and systematized. Based on an international sociological video experiment on the perception of different people in different urban public spaces, the characteristics of the last ones, which evoke positive emotions in most people in them, were analyzed and summarized. Recommendations are systematized on the architectural and functional organization of such spaces, in particular city squares and parks, and the placement of objects-memes in them. Approbation of the put forward theoretical provisions is presented in the conceptual projects for the creation of a new city square in the historical part of Kyiv and the revitalization of the existing degrading park in the Gran-San-Blas area in Madrid.

Commissioning [Integrated] Care in England: An Analysis of the Current Decision Context.

Background:The emergence of Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) across England poses an additional challenge and responsibility for local commissioners to accelerate the implementation of integrated care programmes and improve the overall efficiency across the system. To do this, ICS healthcare commissioners could learn from the experience of the former local commissioning structures and identify areas of improvement in the commissioning process. This study describes the investment decision process in integrated care amid the transition toward ICSs, highlights challenges, and provides recommendations to inform ICSs in their healthcare commissioning role.Methods:Twenty-six semi-structured interviews were conducted with local commissioners and other relevant stakeholders in South East England in 2021. Interviews were supplemented with literature.Results:England’s local healthcare commissioning has made the transition towards a new organisational architecture, with some integrated care programmes running, and a dual top-down and bottom-up prioritisation process in place. The commissioning and consequent development of integrated care programmes have been hindered by various barriers, including difficulties in accessing and using information, operational challenges, and resource constraints. Investment decisions have mainly been driven by national directives and budget considerations, with a mixture of subjective and objective approaches. A systematic and data-driven framework could replace this ad-hoc prioritisation of integrated care and contribute to a more rational and transparent commissioning process.Conclusion:The emerging ICSs seem to open an opportunity for local commissioners to strengthen the commissioning process of integrated care with evidence-based priority-setting approaches similar to the well-established health technology assessment framework at the national level.

Organizational Architecture, Resilience, and Cyberattacks

This article develops a unique model of organizational resilience architecture with an emphasis on the ways in which organizations respond to cyberattacks. The model elucidates the dynamics and approaches through which organizations mobilize and utilize expertise and resources to combat the effects of cyberattacks on normal business operations. Drawing on recent cases of cyberattacks against organizations, the article identifies a host of strategic and tactical responses victims used to aid recovery and return to daily activities. The responses are grouped into three stages to demonstrate the steps that organizations can take to enhance their resilience: Stage 1 focuses on proactive environmental scanning and locating potential threats and attacks, Stage 2 emphasizes neutralizing threats and attacks, and Stage 3 focuses on redesigning, upgrading, and updating human, technological, and financial resources. On this basis, the article sheds light on levels of organizational resilience and strategies for organizational design in withstanding cyberattacks and security breaches. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

The Nexus international payments platform: Is it business-model viable?

This paper examines the BIS Technology Hub's Nexus project. Nexus is a proof-of-concept for a messaging platform that supports near real-time international payments by linking together domestic ‘instant’ payment platforms. Two aspects of Nexus are distinguished: (1) the innovations in technology and messaging standards to support instant payment services internationally, deal with anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance, and support transparency of foreign exchange pricing and payments charges; and (2) its novel organisational architecture with two associated new business models for the execution of international payments. As the paper will discuss, it is unclear whether these new business models will be commercially viable. Likewise, the extent to which the improvement of international payments must be based on new operational architectures rather than the enhancement of existing correspondent banking-based arrangements remains uncertain. The paper therefore argues that these aspects should be developed separately, so that banks and payment services providers are free to use Nexus messaging in conjunction with their existing bilateral commercial and operational relationships to support the linkage of domestic instant payment platforms, as well as to use the Nexus platform itself, if and when it achieves a commercial launch.

Virtual Laser Scanning Approach to Assessing Impact of Geometric Inaccuracy on 3D Plant Traits

In recent years, 3D imaging became an increasingly popular screening modality for high-throughput plant phenotyping. The 3D scans provide a rich source of information about architectural plant organization which cannot always be derived from multi-view projection 2D images. On the other hand, 3D scanning is associated with a principle inaccuracy by assessment of geometrically complex plant structures, for example, due the loss of geometrical information on reflective, shadowed, inclined and/or curved leaf surfaces. Here, we aim to quantitatively assess the impact of geometrical inaccuracies in 3D plant data on phenotypic descriptors of four different shoot architectures, including tomato, maize, cucumber, and arabidopsis. For this purpose, virtual laser scanning of synthetic models of these four plant species was used. This approach was applied to simulate different scenarios of 3D model perturbation, as well as the principle loss of geometrical information in shadowed plant regions. Our experimental results show that different plant traits exhibit different and, in general, plant type specific dependency on the level of geometrical perturbations. However, some phenotypic traits are tendentially more or less correlated with the degree of geometrical inaccuracies in assessing 3D plant architecture. In particular, integrative traits, such as plant area, volume, and physiologically important light absorption show stronger correlation with the effectively visible plant area than linear shoot traits, such as total plant height and width crossover different scenarios of geometrical perturbation. Our study addresses an important question of reliability and accuracy of 3D plant measurements and provides solution suggestions for consistent quantitative analysis and interpretation of imperfect data by combining measurement results with computational simulation of synthetic plant models.

The impact of enterprise architecture management on information systems architecture complexity

ABSTRACT Significant investments in information systems (IS) over the past decades have led to increasingly complex IS architectures in organisations, which are difficult to understand, operate, and maintain. We investigate this development and associated challenges through a conceptual model that distinguishes four constituent elements of IS architecture complexity by differentiating technological from organisational aspects and structural from dynamic aspects. Building on this conceptualisation, we hypothesise relations between these four IS architecture complexity constructs and investigate their impact on architectural outcomes (i.e., efficiency, flexibility, transparency, and predictability). Using survey data from 249 IS managers, we test our model through a partial least squares (PLS) approach to structural equation modelling (SEM). We find that organisational complexity drives technological complexity and that structural complexity drives dynamic complexity. We also demonstrate that increasing IS architecture complexity has a significant negative impact on efficiency, flexibility, transparency, and predictability. Finally, we show that enterprise architecture management (EAM) helps to offset these negative effects by acting as a moderator in the relation between organisational and technological IS architecture complexity. Thus, organisations without adequate EAM are likely to face large increases in technological complexity due to increasing organisational complexity, whereas organisations with adequate EAM exhibit no such relation.

Nonmonogamous Interiors

Open relationships – involving deliberate, consensual and intimate activity outside of conventional fidelity – have become increasingly commonplace as a way of forming connections outside the firmer structure of marriage or partnership. If the architectural organization of the home is bound to the institution of marriage and format of the nuclear family, what are the implications of nonmonogamy on the conception, arrangement and shaping of domestic interiors? To answer such a prompt, this essay explores the slippery nature of not only the term “open relationship” but “design” as it relates to the production of sexual encounters. Unpacking media representations of polyamory and its intersection with design initiates a reflection on the concept of a “spatial doppelgänger,” then taken up as a defining feature of an unconventional residence to unpack how operations of doubling and duplication looked to reconcile nonnormative arrangements in the monogamous space of the home. The tension and anxiety of the double are contrasted with two contemporary residences – one purpose-built by GRT Architects and the other an interior renovation by ScottWhitbyStudio – conceived for openly nonmonogamous clients. By skirting and questioning the nature of the spatial doppelgänger, expanding on the multitude of intimacies inherent in polyamory, both projects may reveal strategies of “making room” for other relations beyond monogamy, the family and other social conventions to emerge.

Fit As a Diagnostic Tool: An Analytic Review of Approaches to Measure Correspondence Between Technical and Organizational Architectures

Abstract Standardized design approaches such as those embodied by concurrent design facilities have many benefits, such as increased efficiency of the design process, but may also have hidden costs. Specifically, when their standardized organizational decomposition is a poor fit for the particular design problem, important design trades might be missed or poor decisions made. Before we can understand how this lack of fit impacts the design process, we must be able to empirically observe and measure it. To that end, this paper identifies measures of “fit” from the literature along with attributes likely to impact design process performance, then evaluates the measures to determine how well the measures can detect and diagnose potential issues. The results provide comparative insights into the capabilities of existing fit measures, and also build guidance for how the systems engineering and design community can use insights from the “fit” literature to inform process improvement.

Sculpting an Embryo: The Interplay between Mechanical Force and Cell Division.

The journey from a single fertilised cell to a multicellular organism is, at the most fundamental level, orchestrated by mitotic cell divisions. Both the rate and the orientation of cell divisions are important in ensuring the proper development of an embryo. Simultaneous with cell proliferation, embryonic cells constantly experience a wide range of mechanical forces from their surrounding tissue environment. Cells must be able to read and respond correctly to these forces since they are known to affect a multitude of biological functions, including cell divisions. The interplay between the mechanical environment and cell divisions is particularly crucial during embryogenesis when tissues undergo dynamic changes in their shape, architecture, and overall organisation to generate functional tissues and organs. Here we review our current understanding of the cellular mechanisms by which mechanical force regulates cell division and place this knowledge within the context of embryogenesis and tissue morphogenesis.

Ultrastructural analysis of wild-type and RIM1α knockout active zones in a large cortical synapse

Rab3A-interacting molecule (RIM) is crucial for fast Ca2+-triggered synaptic vesicle (SV) release in presynaptic active zones (AZs). We investigated hippocampal giant mossy fiber bouton (MFB) AZ architecture in 3D using electron tomography of rapid cryo-immobilized acute brain slices in RIM1α-/- and wild-type mice. In RIM1α-/-, AZs are larger with increased synaptic cleft widths and a 3-fold reduced number of tightly docked SVs (0-2nm). The distance of tightly docked SVs to the AZ center is increased from 110 to 195nm, and the width of their electron-dense material between outer SV membrane and AZ membrane is reduced. Furthermore, the SV pool in RIM1α-/- is more heterogeneous. Thus, RIM1α, besides its role in tight SV docking, is crucial for synaptic architecture and vesicle pool organization in MFBs.

Effect of project organization elements on the mental health of project management practitioner in AEC projects

PurposeDue to the frenetic and dynamic working conditions ascribed to architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) project organizations, enormous research has addressed the poor mental health propensity of project management practitioners (PMPs). However, research has not considered the distant factors related to organizational design causing poor mental health. Therefore, this study addresses the problem by integrating institutional theory, agency theory and resource-based theory (RBT) to explore the relationship between organizational design elements: project governance, knowledge management, integrated project delivery, project management skills and mental health management indicators. Examples of mental health management indicators include social relationships, work-life balance and project leadership.Design/methodology/approachPurposive sampling method was adopted to collect survey data from 90 PMPs in 60 AEC firms in Australia. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was utilized to test the relationship between the variables.FindingsThe research found that project governance, knowledge management and integrated project delivery are positively correlated to mental health management indicators. However, the research finding suggests that project management skills have a negative impact on mental health management indicators.Originality/valueThe findings offer guidelines to AEC firms on achieving positive mental health management outcomes through concentration on project governance, knowledge management and integrated project delivery. It further calls for a reconsideration of existing project management skills causing poor mental health management outcomes.

Software Architecture and Hardware Organization in Mu2e Solenoid Field Mapping System

The Mu2e field mapping system is designed to produce high accuracy field maps of the detector solenoid used in the experiment. The data acquisition system is mobile and uses a self-propelled mapper with rotating arms equipped with 3D Hall probes. The measurements require not only accurate magnetic field readouts, but also accurate locations of all Hall probes while measuring data. The latter is accomplished by using the laser tracker to measure positions of several retroreflectors on the field mapper during data acquisition. The measurement process requires scanning the whole space inside the large solenoid and takes many hours to complete, which necessitates its full automation. The automation software includes control of the mapper, readout of Hall and NMR probes and control of a laser tracker, including prediction of retroreflector positions and execution of quality control checks. The software architecture and data acquisition hardware of the field mapping system are described, with special attention given to control of the laser tracker and its integration with the rest of the system.

Can Business Groups Survive Institutional Advancements? Examining the Role of Internal Market for Non-Tradable, Intangible Assets

Business groups are observed everywhere except in the U.S. and U.K.; their global presence is widely acknowledged. The most successful explanation for this preponderance has been based on the relative efficiency of business groups’ internal market vis-à-vis the external market conventionally observed in underdeveloped or emerging economies. Unsurprisingly, this view cannot explain why business groups also prosper in advanced economies where their internal market is thought to no longer match efficient external markets. This study addresses this contradiction by drawing attention to non-tradable, intangible assets and putting forward an institution-free, micro-level explanation. Specifically, we reason that the external market for organizational capabilities is bound to be missing regardless of institutional advancements and economic development due to human beings’ innate cognitive limits and information and behavioral uncertainties, while business groups’ internal markets may overcome these limits via their distinctive organizing mechanism underpinned by group identity, solidarity, mutual trust, shared organizational architecture, and enhanced communicability. In other words, business groups can outperform the external market in coordinating and facilitating exchanges of non-tradable assets and organizational capabilities in particular that are becoming increasingly crucial for successful competition. Using panel data of large business groups in Korea during the periods between 2003 and 2016, we confirm that affiliation with business groups and accessing their internal market enhances technological capability. Thus, this study extends our understanding of business groups beyond the institution-based explanation.

Presenting a Paradigmatic Model of the Organizational Architecture of Tax Affairs Based on Information Technology Governance by Data Method (Case Study of the State Tax Affairs Administration)

Presenting a Paradigmatic Model of the Organizational Architecture of Tax Affairs Based on Information Technology Governance by Data Method (Case Study of the State Tax Affairs Administration)

Improving Interpretation of Biopsies During Microsurgical Testicular Sperm Exploration in Azoospermic Patients: Use of Davidson’s Fluid

Background: Histological interpretation of testicular biopsies in the investigation of infertility in men with azoospermia requires adequate tissue fixation to preserve the nuclear and cytoplasmic detail, as well as the architectural organisation of germ cells in different phases of maturation within seminiferous tubules. Research Aims/Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess the histomorphological quality of testicular biopsies using Davidson’s fluid (DF) as fixative and compare it to standard 10% neutral buffered Formalin. Methodology: Concurrent testicular biopsies from the same testis from patients undergoing microsurgical testicular sperm exploration (m-TESE) were separately fixed in DF and Formalin and processed for histological examination. Histological parameters including sloughing of cells, cytoplasmic shrinkage of seminiferous tubular cells, nuclear chromatin detail, cytoplasmic graininess and overall clarity of morphological detail were graded on a scale of 0 to 4 (0=none, 1=minimal, 2=slight, 3=moderate, 4=marked). The effect of DF on biopsy diagnoses was assessed by comparison with corresponding Formalin fixed biopsy diagnoses. Results/Findings: 87 testicular biopsies from 27 patients were examined. DF fixation resulted in significantly less luminal sloughing of cells (1.59±1.34 vs. 3.44±0.83, p = [Formula: see text] 0.00001), less cytoplasmic shrinkage of seminiferous tubular cells (1.58±1.11 vs. 3.11±1.07, p = [Formula: see text] 0.00001), better nuclear chromatin detail (3.06±0.91 vs. 1.92±0.48, p = [Formula: see text] 0.00001), less cytoplasmic graininess (2.11±0.96 vs. 2.86±0.87, p = 0.0014) and better overall clarity of morphological detail than Formalin fixation (3.14±0.69 vs. 2.14±0.58, p = [Formula: see text] 0.00001). The diagnostic concordance between DF fixed and Formalin fixed biopsies was 90.8%. Conclusions: This study supports the use DF as a superior alternative fixative to Formalin for histological assessment of testicular biopsies.

URBAN PLANNING FACTORS OF CHOOSING A TECHNOPARK MODEL IN THE CONDITIONS OF A HISTORICALLY FORMED CITY (THE CASE OF LVIV)

World experience shows the high efficiency of technological parks and technopolises as centers of innovative business. Their activities significantly affect the structure and competitiveness of national high-tech industries. Since the theory and practice of innovative activity is dynamically developing, constantly improving the organizational structure of technoparks and innovative structures of various types, it is necessary to constantly study the world experience of their functioning and flexibly respond to any progressive changes.
 Lviv, as the largest city and center of the Western region of Ukraine, has all the prerequisites to become a locomotive for the integration of our state into the European processes of social development - cultural, economic, scientific and educational. Developed in this context and approved by the city administration, the "Strategy for the Development of Lviv until 2030" sees its main goal in transforming the city into "the first city of Ukrainian European integration and a European way of life through the formation of an innovative economy."
 The difficult military and political circumstances in which our country is today have led to significant destruction of the economic sphere and deformation of the structure of the industrial sector. Therefore, its restoration on an innovative basis in the largest cities of Ukraine should be started before the end of hostilities.
 The article examines the basic models of technology park structures in countries with a developed market economy. Studies show that there is no single generalized model of technology parks. The general focus is on knowledge-intensive production and high-tech industries. At the same time, in different countries of the world, the functioning of technoparks has its own national elements and features. Today, researchers distinguish three main architectural and organizational models of technology parks - American, European and Japanese. Their functional content, urban development trends and peculiarities of architectural and spatial organization are determined. In the context of the identified trends, the directions of formation and development of high-tech science-intensive production facilities in Lviv are analyzed. The choice of the most effective models of technoparks for the conditions of the city is substantiated.