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Household energy consumption represents a significant share of global energy usage, highlighting the importance of understanding the factors that influence energy use and identifying potential strategies for conservation. The Caribbean region faces unique challenges in energy sustainability, driven by its heavy dependence on fossil fuels and rising energy demand. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the current levels of energy awareness and energy consumption among households on the tropical Caribbean island of Curaçao and to determine practical energy-saving opportunities that can significantly reduce both energy consumption and costs. This paper is one of the first to evaluate energy awareness, energy use, and energy-saving opportunities among households in the Caribbean. The study included a literature review of key theories, concepts, and energy-saving strategies, along with a telephone survey of 382 households in Curaçao to examine household energy use, the factors shaping energy behavior, and the connections between energy consumption, behavior, and household income. The main findings of this study reveal that energy-efficient appliances are predominantly used in high-income households, with much lower adoption rates in middle- and low-income households. Cost savings, rather than environmental concerns, emerge as the primary motivation behind energy-saving behavior. Notably, the study highlights that most households in Curaçao are largely unaware of the full range of energy-efficient options available to them for reducing energy consumption. Based on the field study results, several recommendations are offered to enhance energy awareness, expand energy-saving opportunities, and ultimately reduce energy usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of different degrees of organizational coupling among the members of innovation alliance project networks on the commercial performance of collaborative innovations. Specifically, we study how type of innovation (modular vs. architectural innovation) moderates this relationship. Using data from 664 product innovation networks from five different industries in the United States, we find that the degree of organizational coupling among innovation network members significantly affects the commercial performance of collaborative innovations and that the type of innovation has a significant moderating effect. More specifically, the impact on commercial innovation performance of organizational coupling is positive for modular innovations and negative for architectural innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies emphasize the importance of government support in technology development. However, this study is among the first to provide empirical findings of the relevance of government roles for the performance of technology development projects. Based on earlier research and the strategic management literature, a theoretical model and hypotheses are developed to study the relevance of government roles and project teams' strategic behavior for technology development projects. Our results show that government championship is an important positive factor for the performance of technology development projects. Government championing behavior overcomes regulatory barriers, enthusiastically promotes the technology's advantages, and gets key decision makers involved. As such, government championship has more impact than government financial/technical assistance on both project performance and benefits to customers. The findings also show that both the proactiveness and defensiveness dimensions of project teams' strategic behavior contribute positively to project performance and benefits to customers. The paper concludes with implications for practice: From a policy perspective, government should extend its technology policies by taking on the role as a champion, while companies should invest in building professional relations with champions in government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open Building and IFD (Industrial Flexible Demountable) building are philosophies that aim to create high quality buildings with increased flexibility and better environmental characteristics. However, a successful adoption of IFD principles has not yet occurred because of concerns for the types of connections that are needed between building components. Therefore, this paper describes PhD research at the University of Twente that has the objective of designing a typology of flexible interfaces for IFD building that can be widely applied in the construction industry and aims to standardize connections, at the various levels of technical composition of a building, to create compatibility between building products from different suppliers. Such a typology of interfaces will increase the re-use and recycling of building parts, resulting in the increased sustainability of the building process. Furthermore, it will help accelerate the industrialization of the housing industry and mass customization of housing. A preliminary case study, in which a sustainable, flexible bathroom is designed, illustrates the various types of interfaces that can be applied, based on existing research. The paper illustrates the importance of interfaces, and aims to increase environmental benefits of buildings (less construction waste), improve the social aspects (higher user satisfaction in buildings) and achieve economical advantages (lower overall costs) by designing new interfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates which risks characterise radical innovation projects. In-dept case studies were carried out via interviews and a questionnaire. The risk concept applied in this study includes three dimensions: certainty, controllability and impact. Three structural or unambiguous risks were found: new product performance according to specification, reliability of suppliers and new product adoption by consumers. The incidental or ambiguous risks that were found relate to: internal organisation and project management. These results can provide guidance for project teams and innovation managers regarding issues they must seek to tick off early and issues that continuously require team and management attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - In construction, literature interorganizational cooperation is argued to be an important aspect of construction innovation. From this perspective, several distinct bodies of literature provide relevant insights. In literature on complex product systems (CoPS), it is argued that construction industry is a CoPS industry and that in CoPS industries systems integrators set-up and coordinate interorganizational innovation. Furthermore, various bodies of literature provide information about factors that affect the success of innovation and interorganizational cooperation. The purpose of this paper is to integrate the findings from these bodies of literature. Design/methodology/approach - To uncover the present state of knowledge about systems integrators, a comprehensive literature review is conducted. Furthermore, the paper analyzes various fields of literature to derive an overview of factors which have been empirically related to the success of innovation and interorganizational cooperation. Findings - First, this paper structures the current knowledge on the role and characteristics of systems integrators. Subsequently, the paper translates this knowledge to the context of construction industry and discusses the basis for classifying a firm as a systems integrator in construction industry. Furthermore, the paper presents a list of relevant success factors derived from literature on new product development, strategic networks and alliances, open innovation, and construction innovation. Originality/value - By integrating various bodies of literature, this paper provides a solid base for future theory development on how firms achieve interorganizational innovation in construction industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology entrepreneurship is key to economic development. New technology ventures (NTVs) can have positive effects on employment and could rejuvenate industries with disruptive technologies. However, NTVs have a limited survival rate. In our most recent empirical study of 11,259 NTVs established between 1991 and 2000 in the United States, we found that after four years only 36 percent, or 4,062, of companies with more than five full-time employees, had survived. After five years, the survival rate fell to 21.9 percent, leaving only 2,471 firms still in operation with more than five full-time employees. Thus, it is important to examine how new technology ventures can better survive. In the academic literature, a number of studies focus on success factors for NTVs. Unfortunately, empirical results are often controversial and fragmented. To get a more integrated picture of what factors lead to the success or failure of new technology ventures, we conducted a meta-analysis to examine the success factors in NTVs. We culled the academic literature to collect data from existing empirical studies. Using Pearson correlations as effect size statistics, we conducted a meta-analysis to analyze the findings of 31 studies and identified the 24 most widely researched success factors for NTVs. After correcting for artifacts and sample size effects, we found that among the 24 possible success factors identified in the literature, 8 are homogeneous significant success factors for NTVs (i.e., they are homogeneous positive significant metafactors that are correlated to venture performance): (1) supply chain integration; (2) market scope; (3) firm age; (4) size of founding team; (5) financial resources; (6) founders' marketing experience; (7) founders' industry experience; and (8) existence of patent protection. Of the original 24 success factors, 5 were not significant: (1) founders' research and development (R&D) experience; (2) founders' experience with start-ups; (3) environmental dynamism; (4) environmental heterogeneity; and (5) competition intensity. The remaining 11 success factors are heterogeneous. For those heterogeneous success factors, we conducted a moderator analysis. Of this set, three appeared to be success factors, and two were failure factors for subgroups within the NTVs' population. To facilitate the development of a body of knowledge in technology entrepreneurship, this study also identifies high-quality measurement scales for future research. The article concludes with future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the development and applicability of a risk reference framework (RRF) for diagnosing risks in technological breakthrough projects. In contrast to existing risk identification strategies, the RRF centers on an integral perspective on risk (i.e. business, technological and organizational) and the assessment of risks in ongoing projects. The resulting RRF consists of 12 main risk categories and 142 connected critical innovation issues and has been developed for a globally operating company in the fast-moving consumer goods industry. Our analyses show that to some extent different project members identified the same risks and that saturation occurred in the number of new risk-issues brought to light. We conclude that the success of breakthrough innovation projects improves through formal risk-assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

No risk, no reward. Companies must take risks to launch new products speedily and successfully. The ability to diagnose and manage risks is increasingly considered of vital importance in high-risk innovation. This article presents the Risk Diagnosing Methodology (RDM), which aims to identify and evaluate technological, organizational and business risks in product innovation. RDM was initiated, developed and tested within a division of Philips Electronics, a multinational company in the audio, video and lighting industry. On the basis of the results the senior Vice President (R&D) of Philips Lighting decided to include the method in the company's standard innovation procedures. Since then, RDM has been applied on product innovation projects in areas as diverse as automobile tires, ship propellers, printing equipment, landing gear systems and fast-moving consumer goods such as shampoo, margarine and detergents. In this article we will describe how Unilever, one of the world's leading companies in fast-moving consumer goods, adopted RDM after a major project failure in the midnineties. At Unilever, RDM proved very useful in diagnosing project risks, promoting creative solutions for diagnosed risks and strengthening team ownership of the project as a whole. Our results also show that RDM outcomes can be used to build a knowledge base of potential risks in product innovation projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of adaptation to climate change lags behind necessary adaptation. Implementation of adaptation often takes place at the local level, influenced by local factors and mechanisms producing mainstreamed or standalone adaptation outcomes. Because mainstreaming adaptation is seen as accelerating adaptation, understanding this process is crucial for expediting its implementation. The lack of insight into the influence of context on mainstreaming and its respective outcomes hinders the transfer of lessons between different contexts. To address this gap, we investigate the question “Why do municipal policy processes lead to either standalone or mainstreamed adaptation implementation decisions?” We apply the Multiple Streams Framework to explain local adaptation implementation decisions to compare adaptation in Enschede and Zwolle, two Dutch adaptation frontrunners. We conclude that issue-linking with locally salient issues facilitates adaptation mainstreaming in a case without problem urgency, whereas a focusing event leads to standalone adaptation implementation if crisis-framing is applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge on failure events and their associated factors, gained from past construction projects, is regarded as potentially extremely useful in risk management. However, a number of circumstances are constraining its wider use. Such knowledge is usually scarce, seldom documented, and even unavailable when it is required. Further, there exists a lack of proven methods to integrate and analyze it in a cost-effective way. This article addresses possible options to overcome these difficulties. Focusing on limited but critical potential failure events, the article demonstrates how knowledge on a number of important potential failure events in tunnel works can be integrated. The problem of unavailable or incomplete information was addressed by gathering judgments from a group of experts. The elicited expert knowledge consisted of failure scenarios and associated probabilistic information. This information was integrated using Bayesian belief-networks-based models that were first customized in order to deal with the expected divergence in judgments caused by epistemic uncertainty of risks. The work described in the article shows that the developed models that integrate risk-related knowledge provide guidance as to the use of specific remedial measures., (© 2013 Society for Risk Analysis.)

Risk-related knowledge gained from past construction projects is regarded as potentially extremely useful in risk management. This article describes a proposed approach to capture and integrate risk-related knowledge to support decision making in construction projects. To ameliorate the problem related to the scarcity of risks information often encountered in construction projects, Bayesian Belief Networks are used and expert judgment is elicited to augment available information. Particularly, the article provides an overview of judgment-based biases that can appear in the elicitation of judgments for constructing Bayesian Networks and the provisos that can be made in this respect to minimize these types of bias. The proposed approach is successfully applied to develop six models for top risks in tunnel works. More than 30 tunneling experts in the Netherlands and Germany were involved in the investigation to provide information on identifying relevant scenarios than can lead to failure events associated with tunneling risks. The article has provided an illustration of the applicability of the developed approach for the case of "face instability in soft soils using slurry shields.", (© 2012 Society for Risk Analysis.)