Miguel Angel Manzanedo del Campo

Easing knowledge management in the power sector by means of a neuro-genetic system

A hybrid intelligent system that combines neural networks and genetic algorithms for feature selection is proposed in this paper. In the world of companies, it is widely acknowledged the importance of knowledge management KM in terms of organisation survival and maintenance of competitive strength. Furthermore, in the energy sector, it is even more critical as energy is a strategic national industry for most countries. However, there are not enough tools with which to systematise the work of KM and to provide support for decision-making. The present study proposes a tool that addresses the problem of selecting the features of KM from the immense amount of available data that would provide managers with most valuable information. The developed system has been applied to real-world data from a power plant, to mine deep knowledge on that KM data, and to select the most informative features. Experimental results justify a meaningful subset of features in the opinion of KM experts, and validate the proposed hybrid system.

Knowledge and Innovation in the New Industrial Organization

The objective of this work is to study “The New Industrial Organization” (Hernandez 1997) and its implications for knowledge, cooperative relations and business innovation. This objective implies understanding the close and meaningful connection between Economics, Business Organization and Strategic Management. In doing so, we point out that two intangible factors, knowledge and cooperative relations between the agents of the firm are the basis of business profitability, through their impact on innovation. Innovation exists to convert knowledge into products and services that will attract the customers. Competitiveness emerges here, when those goods and services are unique and generate value for the customers, who are willing not only to acquire them, but also to pay the set price, and ultimate being an agent of the firm. The challenge consists in offering, today as ever, products and services that are yet to be found on the market, so that the firm will not be marginalized and abandoned by the customers, now a an agent of the firm´s network. Knowledge, together with the innovative capabilities of people, opens up an enormous space for the firm, which leads to continuous progress full of opportunities and future.