Maria Elena Latino

Defining Product Lifecycle Management: A Journey across Features, Definitions, and Concepts

Product lifecycle management (PLM) has become more important in companies providing technologies and methodologies to manage data, information, and knowledge along the whole product lifecycle. In recent years, several authors have argued about PLM using a managerial or a technological view. The paper analyses these studies and integrates different authors points of view using focus groups, blogs, and face-to-face meetings in a university community of practice. Three sets of features (i.e., managerial, technological, and collaborative ones) have been used to review the existing definitions shared between academic and industrial ones and to propose an extended PLM definition describing its key concepts. The paper is a useful reference for managers and academics who want to have a clear and critical understanding of PLM using a unique source to collect lines of evidence on several PLM definitions, features, and concepts.

Methodology for User-Centered Innovation in Industrial Living Lab

In the last years the Living Labs (LLs) approach is becoming really important to test new products/services in real-life settings. Following the perspective of user-centered innovation emerged by the critical review of the existing international LLs’ methodologies, this paper describes how, in the Living Lab related to KHIRA research project, research activities and innovation are integrated, according to a public-private-person partnership (PPPP), to develop innovation processes, participated and user-centered, in the industrial sector. The LL related to KHIRA research project involves several users categories: industrial partners, universities and research centers, SMEs belonging to Apulian manufacturing industry, public administrations, and other users. A heterogeneous users’ community can produce new ideas of products and services oriented to solve real industrial problems as those related to the product life-cycle management (PLM) in complex manufacturing environments. Purpose of this study is to present a methodology that can be used in the industrial LLs aimed at developing new products/services in complex environments, bridging the existing gap between the LLs’ activities management and those aimed to develop user-centered innovation.

University-Industry Interface: Open and Dynamic Business Models to Reduce Spin-offs Risk of Failure

Abstract Following the triple helix (TH) model and the way knowledge is transferred into the industry domain, this chapter aims to define features interface that should be implemented in order to facilitate the University–Industry (UI) relationship and thus encourage the spin-off creation. In order to support this relationship, a new business model configuration of an entrepreneurial ecosystem is proposed, aiming at creating a sustainable environment, where business entities can grow. The field of the Governance of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems is also investigated in order to define a framework for launching, developing, and sustaining a company over time. This chapter presents a case study developed within the University of Salento (Italy). It capitalizes results from three different research analyses, based on questionnaires and interviews with actors of the spin-off network (professors and researchers, graduating students, admin-tech staff of the Technology Transfer Office, spin-offs’ CEOs/Associates, and R&D managers of external companies) and on results coming from scientific publications and regional/national reports in the innovation context. A research methodology based on semantic network analysis and sentiment analysis has been applied in order to identify which features an interface should implement in order to facilitate the UI relationship and encourage the spin-off creation. To support the start-up overcoming the “death valley,” the creation of a link between the strategy used to transfer value to the market and the phase of innovation is proposed inside the business model configuration. Some aspects of a governance model of an entrepreneurial ecosystem were also presented in order to support the business evolution of a single business entity and assuring sustainability over time.