Changyong Lee

Evaluation of new service concepts using rough set theory and group analytic hierarchy process

Highlights? Proposing a systematic approach to evaluation of new service concepts (NSCs). ? Integrating the merits of group analytic hierarchy process and the strengths of rough set theory. ? Measuring the feasibility of NSCs in terms of strategy, finance, market, technology, and implementation. One of the most crucial stages in the new service development (NSD) process is concept selection, which is characterized by newly generated alternatives and vaguely defined concept evaluation criteria. Although a number of factors have been found to be influential, a lacuna remains as to how to make a strategic decision based on influential factors. This study proposes a systematic approach to evaluation of new service concepts (NSCs) by integrating the merit of group analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in modeling multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) problems and the strength of rough set theory (RST) in handling subjectivity in concept evaluation. The suggested approach is designed to be executed in four discrete stages. First of all, a hierarchical AHP model for the evaluation of NSCs is constructed in terms of strategy, finance, market, technology, and implementation. Second, pairwise comparisons are made among criteria and sub-criteria, and preferences to NSCs with respect to the sub-criteria are obtained by domain experts. Third, the individual judgments obtained at the preceding stage are aggregated into group judgments. Finally, the NSCs are prioritized based on risk propensity of decision makers. A case study of the video game service is presented to illustrate the suggested approach. We believe that our method can promote consensus building on the promising NSCs.

Identifying core technologies based on technological cross-impacts: An association rule mining (ARM) and analytic network process (ANP) approach

This study proposes a new approach to identifying core technologies from a perspective of technological cross-impacts based on patent co-classification information with consideration of the overall interrelationships among technologies. The proposed approach is comprised of two methods: association rule mining (ARM) and the analytic network process (ANP). Firstly association rule mining (ARM) is employed to calculate the technological cross-impact indexes. Since the confidence measure in ARM is defined as a conditional probability between two technologies, it is adopted as an index for evaluating technological cross-impacts. The technological cross-impact matrix is then constructed with all calculated cross-impact indexes. Secondly, the ANP, which is a generalization of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), is conducted to produce priorities of technologies with consideration of their direct and indirect impacts. The proposed approach can be utilized for technology monitoring for both technology planning of firms and innovation policy making of governments. A case of telecommunication technology is presented to illustrate the proposed approach.

Design Process Modularization: Concept and Algorithm

The product design process is a complex set of integrated efforts, including generating ideas, developing concepts, modifying details, and evaluating proper solutions. The difficulties in designing complex products stem not only from their engineering complexity but also from the managerial complexity. First and foremost, what should be done to deal with the complexity problems is to capture all the constituent design activities and identify inter-dependency among respective activities. Further, once process modeling is done, it is required to structure the design process for better understanding of the process. This study presents a new approach to structuring the design process on the basis of modular synthesis. To do this, the concept of a module is newly proposed in the view point of a process. A module is defined as a group of activities which are divided by split or merge points in a process flow. The design structure matrix (DSM) is used to structure the process because it has a lot of advantages in process modeling and analysis. Two algorithms are developed: the restricted topological sorting (RTS) algorithm for ordering activities and the module finding (MF) algorithm for detecting modules in a process. Both of the algorithms are based on the DSM. Structuring the process in terms of a module, which is called as process modularization, allows a process manager to manage and analyze the process effectively. The overall process and detailed procedures of the suggested approach are presented and an illustrative example is addressed to show the practical operation of the approach.

On The R&D Priority Setting In Technology Foresight: A Dea And Anp Approach

This paper propose a systematic approach to setting R&D priorities of emerging technologies in the technology foresight context. The proposed approach consists of two stages with two multiple criteria decision making methods. Firstly, socio-economic cost-benefit analysis based on data envelopment analysis with macro-level criteria is conducted to screen initial set of emerging technologies. The second stage deals with the detailed prioritization of the emerging technologies that have been selected at the first stage. Analytic network process is employed here with micro-level criteria. The set of derived R&D priorities of emerging technologies is expected to aid R&D policy-making.

Novelty-focussed document mapping to identify new service opportunities

Successful innovation in services is considered a key factor for organisational sustainability. However, existing customer- and expert-centric approaches are becoming time-consuming and labour-intensive as the number and complexity of services increase. To counter this, an instrument for service opportunity analysis based on quantitative data and systematic processes is proposed in line with the notions of service engineering. At the heart of the suggested approach is text mining to extract the meanings of service documents and the local outlier factor to identify novel services based on quantitative indicators. A case study of mobile services is exemplified. The suggested approach promotes consensus building for promising service opportunities and enhances the efficiency of the fuzzy front-end stages of new service development.

Identifying New IT-Based Service Concepts Based on the Technological Strength: A Text Mining and Morphology Analysis Approach

Service providers are increasingly offering customer new IT-based services to sustain competitive advantages. However, theory and practice of IT-based service is still in its early stage. Especially, new service development remains one of the least studied and understood topics due to lack of understanding in the relations between technologies and services. The purpose of this paper is to propose a systematic approach to developing new IT-based service concepts based on the firms technological strength using patent information. First, the technology-service network is suggested to investigate the use and application of different types of technologies in IT-based services with text mining-based patent analysis. Then, based on the generated network, the firms technological strength is measured and new IT-based service concepts are identified by conducting morphology analysis in the service industry. The proposed approach is expected to help practitioners to formulate technology-based strategy in IT-based service.

On the R&D Priority Setting in Technology Foresight: a DEA and ANP Approach

One of the salient objectives of technology foresight is the determination of R&D priorities. However, there have been few systematic approaches proposed for prioritization of emerging technologies in the foresight context. This study is aimed at proposing a systematic approach based on multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) methods to setting R&D priorities of emerging technologies in the technology foresight context. The proposed approach consists of two stages with two MCDM methods. At the first stage, a number of emerging technologies are screened with macro-level criteria. The socio-economic cost-benefit analysis is conducted by use of data envelopment analysis (DEA). The second stage dealt with the detailed prioritization of the emerging technologies which have passed through the first stage. Analytic network process (ANP) is employed with micro-level criteria. The derived R&D priorities of emerging technologies are expected to aid decision making on how to allocate R&D resources