Business Commons^™

Strategic Upgrades: A Vehicle Routing Overview And Implementation For Nokia Siemens Network, Lukas Kessler, Chris Davis, Farzad Moshfegh, Jerrod Thomas

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

The Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) is combinatorial optimization problem that has real-world synonyms for many organizations and problem types. In this paper we discuss various implementations of the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP), an extension of the traditional traveling salesman problem and explore a best-fit solution as well as a heuristically derived “good” solution. The best-fit solution utilizes a branch and bound technique but requires an exponential amount of computational resources to complete when applied to problems of marginal size. Some heuristic methodologies are elucidated to compare and contrast their benefits and drawbacks and an open source solution for capacitated vehicle …

Onboarding For Success: A Midstream Evaluation Of Strategic Onboarding At Portland State University, Jerrod Thomas

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

Portland State University (PSU) is Oregon’s largest university and houses a large and diverse set of faculty, staff, and administrators. With such a large population and a constantly changing landscape of budgets and institutional requirements, Portland State is continually hiring, developing, and transitioning its workforce. Studies in the last decade have shown that by focusing on the onboarding process, retention and job effectiveness can be significantly enhanced. [1] In the summer of 2012, under the direction of the Vice President of Finance and Administration, a Strategic Onboarding committee was formed to evaluate existing processes and make recommendations on implementing a …

Bridging The Missing Link Between "Top-Down" And "Bottom-Up": A Strategic Policy Model For International Collaboration In Science And Technology, Pattharaporn Suntharasaj

Dissertations and Theses

Success in International Collaboration in Science and Technology (ICST) depends on various factors, different players have different perspectives. Governments participate in collaboration in order to meet their country's policy goals. Scientists and researchers establish their contacts through their personal channels or scientific networks in order to pursue their own academic interest. There are two significant approaches in ICST Policy making which are "top-down" and "bottom-up" approaches. Both approaches are important. One approach can not fit all. Each approach has its own advantages and disadvantages. A balance between these two approaches is necessary.

The objective of this research is to develop …

Developing A Strategic Policy Choice Framework For Technological Innovation: Case Of Chinese Pharmaceuticals, Leong Chan

Dissertations and Theses

With the growing trend of globalization and rapid development of high technologies, emerging economies face more challenges in technology development because they are chasing a fast-moving frontier. They need to identify global technology trends and adapt to local needs and capabilities. Strategies for technology development differ among countries at different developmental stages.

In this research, a technology policy choice framework is developed to link prospective high-tech areas, technology development strategies, and various innovative resources. The research approach is to develop a hierarchical decision model (HDM) and apply the analytic hierarchical process (AHP). Experts are invited from diverse sources to provide …

Innovation Measurement: A Decision Framework To Determine Innovativeness Of A Company, Kenny Phan

Dissertations and Theses

Innovation is one of the most important sources of competitive advantage. It helps a company to fuel the growth of new products and services, sustain incumbents, create new markets, transform industries, and promote the global competitiveness of nations. Because of its importance, companies need to manage innovation. It is very important for a company to be able to measure its innovativeness because one cannot effectively manage without measurement. A good measurement model will help a company to understand its current capability and identify areas that need improvement.

In this research a systematic approach was developed for a company to measure …

The Impact Of Social Capital On Innovation Intermediaries, Songphon Munkongsujarit

Dissertations and Theses

In today's open business environments, innovation happens in globally dispersed organizations that exchange technological knowledge across increasingly permeable boundaries. Innovation intermediaries play an important role in these technology transfer processes. They operate as middle-men between solution seekers (companies seeking technological knowledge for solving their problems) and problem solvers (experts with specialized knowledge and solutions) and thus help to connect suppliers and customers of technological knowledge. Currently, clients that select an intermediary organization and managers of intermediary organizations that assign agents to a project have very little guidance as to what type of an intermediary they should select to guarantee that …

How Disruptive Is Information Technology Really?, Judith A. Ramaley

Public Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

How disruptive is this technology revolution, and what does this expansion of the world of knowledge portend for higher education?

About the author: Judith A. Ramaley is President Emerita and Distinguished Professor of Public Service at Portland State University, President Emerita of Winona State University, and a Senior Scholar with the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). She also served as President of the University of Vermont and as Assistant Director, Education and Human Resources Directorate, at the National Science Foundation.

Oit Online Web Presence, Ali Alsahaf, Ryan Menze, Farzad Moshfegh, Jerrod Thomas

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

The Office of Information Technology (OIT) at Portland State University (PSU) migrated its website to a centrally provided Drupal content management system in the summer of 2012, leaving out a significant amount of content from the previous website in exchange for a quick implementation timeline based on an executive order to unify departmental branding across the division of Finance and Administration. This initial migration focused on public facing information and excluded large swaths of support articles that were broadly used by faculty, staff, students, and technology professionals. In early 2013, a new project was launched to reevaluate the design decisions …

Digital Media Battleground, Fahad Alhajri, James Bowen, Brian Brewer, Meles Hagos, Farzad Moshfegh, Srujana Penmetsa, Jerrod Thomas

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

Current digital media distribution platforms continue their march towards streaming service-based infrastructures, delivering content to users when and where they want it: laptops, set top boxes, home entertainment systems, and the new ubiquity: mobile devices. This model was first demonstrated by utilizing the multicast backbone technology in the early 1990s and took the better part of a decade to make inroads in changing the way individuals consume broadcast, mainstream, and syndicated video media. It took the advent of streaming technology, high-speed internet adoption, and a willingness from content owners to license their treasured content with upstart streaming media platform companies. …