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We develop game-theoretical models to capture unique features: design freedom, natural flexibility, and quality distinction of 3D printing, and propose the customization degree and unique labour division for 3D-printed products. We investigate a manufacturer's product line strategy with 3D printing. The manufacturer can offer single standardized products (strategy S), single 3D-printed products (strategy T), or both products (strategy L) to consumers through its retailer. We further explore how supply chain structures influence the manufacturer's product line strategy. We find (i) the optimal customization degree of 3D-printed products is lower under strategy L than strategy T. (ii) When the development cost of 3D-printed products is low/relatively low/moderate/high and the utility from product fit is high/moderate/relatively low/low, the manufacturer adopts strategy L/T/L/S. (iii) The retailer expects the manufacturer to adopt strategy T or L. (iv) In the centralised supply chain, the manufacturer prefers strategy L to T when the development cost of 3D-printed products is low. Moreover, the centralised supply chain is inferior to the manufacturer when the utility from product fit is low under strategy T and when the marginal development cost is intermediate under strategy L. We provide managerial insights for designing mass-customized products and product lines using 3D printing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the sourcing decisions of two competing firms with a potential responsibility violation risk from a supplier. There are two consumer segments in the market: socially and nonsocially conscious consumers. When a responsibility violation occurs, the socially conscious consumers will not purchase from any firm who sources from the risky supplier. To avoid this potential demand loss, the two firms can consider sourcing from a responsible but more expensive supplier. We develop game theoretical models to investigate the firms' optimal sourcing strategies and examine the effects of product line design and sourcing diversification on firms' incentives to source responsibly. Our study shows that when each firm adopts a single sourcing strategy, as the suppliers' cost difference increases, both of their sourcing choices deviate from the responsible supplier to the risky supplier. Moreover, we find that when the firm sourcing responsibly can determine whether to extend the product line to offer responsible and conventional products, product line design improves both firms' profits and induces them to source responsibly. Finally, we find that when each firm can choose between a single and a dual sourcing strategy, sourcing diversification can be potentially detrimental for both firms and prevent them from sourcing responsibly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does the viability of a product category shift over time? Studies abound on how categories emerge and become established, or fall out of use. Yet, extant research has often examined the evolution of categories one at a time, leaving open the question of how related categories affect a focal category's viability. In contrast, we consider both intra- and inter-category dynamics. Viewing categories as continuously shaped by actors' efforts to position their products, we argue that these efforts alter the coherence that products exhibit not only within a category (a category's heterogeneity), but also across related categories (a category's distinctiveness). We theorize how the interaction between a category's heterogeneity and distinctiveness shapes its subsequent viability. When a focal category's distinctiveness is low, the heterogeneity–viability relationship takes an inverted U-shape. However, as distinctiveness grows, the relationship flattens and eventually flips to a U-shape. We explain this by considering the trade-off between the "classification" and "valuation" benefits that a category affords. We find support for our argument by tracking 170 categories over an 11-year period on Kickstarter, one of the largest crowdfunding platforms. By providing a nuanced understanding of category dynamics, we shed new light onto the fluctuating viability of categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family-based behavioral models capture the behavior of a software product line (SPL) in a single model, incorporating the variability among the products. In representing these models, a common technique is to annotate well-known behavioral modeling notations with features, e.g., featured finite state machine (FFSM) as an extension to the well-known finite state machine notation. It is not always the case that family-based behavioral models are prepared before developing an SPL, or kept up-to-date during the development and maintenance. Model learning is helpful in such situations. Taking advantage of the commonality among the SPL products, it is possible to reuse the product models in learning the behavior of the entire SPL. In this paper, the process of constructing FFSM models for SPLs is enhanced. Model learning is performed using an adaptive learning algorithm called PL*. Regarding the model learning step, we introduce a new heuristic method for determining the product learning orders with high learning efficiency. The proposed heuristic takes into account the complexity of features added by each product and improves the previous heuristics for learning order. To construct the whole family-based behavioral model of an SPL, the behavioral models of individual products are iteratively merged into the whole family-based model. A similarity metric is used to determine which states of the two models are merged with each other. By providing a formalization for the existing FFSMDiff algorithm for this purpose, we prove that in the FFSM constructed by this algorithm, the choice of the similarity metric does not affect the observable behavior of the constructed FFSM. We study the efficiency of three similarity metrics, two of which are local metrics, in the sense that they determine the similarity of two states only in terms of their adjacent transitions. On the other hand, a global similarity metric takes into account not only the adjacent transitions, but also the similarity of their adjacent states. It is shown by experimentation on two case studies that local similarity metrics can result in constructing FFSMs as concise as the FFSM resulting from the global similarity metric. The results also show that local similarity metrics increase the efficiency and scalability while maintaining the effectiveness of the FFSM construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the elements of logistics to frame a sustainable model that serves as a lens through which the green purchasing power of global clicks and bricks grocery retailers can be used as a catalyst for suppliers' compliance to environmental standards. An exploratory systematic literature review was used to purposefully select ten (10) different product lines, based on their significant financial flows, high frequency of purchase, significant environmental impact, source of production, and potential for data access. It was discovered that the product lines across the logistic elements are associated with varying degrees of environmental emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Software Product Lines (SPLs) improve time-to-market, enhance software quality, and reduce maintenance costs. Current SPL reengineering practices are largely manual and require domain knowledge. Thus, adopting and, to a lesser extent, maintaining SPLs are expensive tasks, preventing many companies from enjoying their benefits. To address these challenges, we introduce Foundry, an approach utilising software transplantation to reduce the manual effort of SPL adoption and maintenance. Foundry enables integrating features across different codebases, even codebases that are unaware that they are contributing features to a software product line. Each product produced by Foundry is pure code, without variability annotation, unlike feature flags, which eases variability management and reduces code bloat. We realise Foundry in prodScalpel, a tool that transplants multiple organs (i.e., a set of interesting features) from donor systems into an emergent product line for codebases written in C. Given tests and lightweight annotations identifying features and implantation points, prodScalpel automates feature extraction and integration. To evaluate its effectiveness, our evaluation compares feature transplantation using prodScalpel to the current state of practice: on our dataset, prodScalpel's use speeds up feature migration by an average of 4.8 times when compared to current practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, a product is best when it constructs a memorable experience in the user mind. Therefore, the focus on designing and assessing user experience has grown significantly in recent years. However, in the context of software product lines, user experience analysis is often overlooked. This paper addresses this gap by integrating user experience into the product derivation process. It introduces an automated tool designed to handle various tasks associated with user experience during the software product line derivation. The tool employs questionnaires as a means of measurement. Taking user experience into account in software product lines allows designers to gain deeper insights into the needs of future customers, helping them create more competitive and innovative products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let G be a connected graph with n vertices and m edges, and let L (G) and M (G) be the line graph and middle graph of G , respectively. Let p (G) be the number of perfect matchings of G. Dong, Yan and Zhang (Discrete Applied Mathematics, 161 (2013) 794-801.) proved that if m is even, then p (L (G)) ≥ 2 m − n + 1 , and characterized the extremal graphs G with equality. In this paper, we obtain a similar result for the middle graph of G , that is, if m + n is even, then p (M (G)) ≥ 2 m − n + 1 3 m − n 2 , and characterize the extremal graphs G such that p (M (G)) = 2 m − n + 1 3 m − n 2 . As applications, we enumerate perfect matchings of the middle graphs of the Cartesian products P n × P m , C n × P m , and C n × C m , where P n and C n are the path and cycle with n vertices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A contemporary business challenge for bundling theory is the distribution of digital content such as media, entertainment, software, and other information goods. Consumers can use a number of devices to interact with software, online services, music, video, news, and other forms of digital content. For instance, Netflix videos and Kindle ebooks, initially accessed only on television sets and computers, respectively, are now also consumed on smartphones and tablets. Print products are now distributed and consumed both in print and digitally. Firms offer product line designs that include prices for single device access as also bundle discounts for multi-device access, so that consumers can choose a device or even multiple devices. This paper provides guidelines regarding such multi-device product line design and pricing. A starting point is to note that there are many ways to practice bundling, from offering prices for single-device consumption as well as a bundle discount (mixed bundling), to forcing multi-device prices (pure bundling), and designs in between (partial bundling). Picking the best design, and associated prices, is a complex problem due to how single-device demand functions relate to multi-device demand. Recognizing that some dual-device purchases can occur even when there is no bundle discount, the paper develops intuition around the net gain or loss incurred from giving a bundle discount to entice single-device access buyers to dual sales. One surprising finding is that inducing dual sales through bundle discounts can be profitable even when intent to consume multiple times is quite weak, because in this case dual sales would not occur organically. Less surprisingly, such inducement is also profitable when multi-consumption intent is strong, and least attractive when the intent is moderate. When one of the devices is an emerging one or has weak own demand in the short term, then it can be useful to offer a partial bundle, tying sales for the stronger device into a bundle comprising access to both devices. When device valuations are such that consumers generally agree on the rank-ordering of the devices (e.g., if a location-based app offers greater value on a smartphone than on a tablet), then it is best to employ some type of bundling, unless the intent for multi-device consumption is proportionally lower among low-value consumers than for high-value consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We construct qualitatively new examples of superabundant tropical curves which are non‐realisable in genuses 3 and 4. These curves are in R3${\mathbb {R}}^3$ and R4${\mathbb {R}}^4$, respectively, and have properties resembling canonical embeddings of genus 3 and 4 algebraic curves. In particular, the genus 3 example is a degree 4 planar tropical curve, and the genus 4 example is contained in the product of a tropical line and a tropical conic. They have excess dimension of deformation space equal to 1. Non‐realisability follows by combining this with a dimension calculation for the corresponding space of logarithmic curves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PRACTITIONER TAKEAWAYS: To be meaningful, sustainability assessments need to account for the whole product life cycle. This requires strong partnerships with suppliers, customers, and end users, beginning already in the new product development cycle. Culture is an essential ingredient: We need to ensure that sustainability is not just a checklist but a core value for our employees and our business. Innovation and product management are both part of the product life cycle: How we assess sustainability impact for a new product in development needs to be consistent with how that product will be assessed once it is fully commercial. The methodology a company uses in its innovation process cannot be different from the one it uses in product line management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feature models are commonly used to specify valid configurations of a product line. In industry, feature models are often complex due to numerous features and constraints. Thus, a multitude of automated analyses have been proposed. Many of those rely on computing the number of valid configurations, which typically depends on solving a #SAT problem, a computationally expensive operation. Even worse, most counting-based analyses require evaluation for multiple features or partial configurations resulting in numerous #SAT computations on the same feature model. Instead of repetitive computations on highly similar formulas, we aim to improve the performance by reusing knowledge between these computations. In this work, we are the first to propose reusing d-DNNFs for performing repetitive counting queries on features and partial configurations. In our experiments, reusing d-DNNFs saved up-to \(\sim\) 99.98% compared to repetitive invocations of #SAT solvers even when including compilation times. Overall, our tool ddnnife combined with the d-DNNF compiler d4 appears to be the most promising option when dealing with many repetitive feature-model counting queries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Motivated by the severe impact of global supply chain disruptions and the lack of understanding of supply chain resilience from an SME exporter perspective in the international marketing literature, this paper sets out to explore how SME exporters achieve resilience through strategic choices related to sourcing and manufacturing during global disruptions. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopts a qualitative, multiple-case-studies approach to identify the key strategic drivers and contextual factors influencing SME exporters' supply chain resilience. Our study adopted an SME exporter perspective and featured an unprecedented global supply chain disruption context. New Zealand (NZ) was chosen as the key home country context for the participants of this study. Five NZ SME exporters were selected for our case studies. Findings: This study redefines buffering, bridging and a mixed strategy for an SME exporter facing global supply chain disruptions. SME exporters with high situational control are likely to pursue a buffering strategy that reduces their resource dependence on foreign suppliers and their reliance on information support from these suppliers. In contrast, when the firm perceives little control over the supply chain, it will decide upon a bridging strategy that aims to build solid relationships with supply chain partners. Exporters opt for a mixed strategy when they do not see themselves clearly in high or low situational control. Research limitations/implications: As global disruptions arise and evolve, supply chain uncertainty and exporters' sense of situational control manifest differently across industries, product lines, markets and sourcing countries. It is essential to understand that firms can choose a mixed strategy based on these supply chain conditions. While our study was fortuitously timed, conducting multi-country studies could provide more comparative insights that transcend national borders. Additionally, our study did not examine organizational and capability-based factors. Future research may benefit from exploring how an SME exporter develops strategic capabilities to achieve resilience over its lifetime. Practical implications: Businesses see survival as the most pivotal concern during a global supply chain disruption. Many companies have had to make on-the-spot decisions about whether they should shift or redesign their supply chains in the middle of a global disruption. There is no "best strategy" for an SME exporter to take. Rather, managers should make strategic decisions based on how much control or influence they have over a particular part of their supply chain. The level of control is determined by the SME exporter's overall resource dependencies and information needs in particular parts of their supply chain. Originality/value: We adopt resource dependence theory and information processing theory to guide our study and place exporters' situational control in the centre of drivers to firms' strategic choices during global disruptions. We make a novel attempt to incorporate the contextual conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic into the theorization of supply chain resilience. We make managerial recommendations to help SME exporters navigate global supply chain disruption challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Software product lines (SPL) leverage extensive reuse to enhance quality and competitiveness. However, the inherent high testing risks underscore the need for efficient techniques. Test case prioritization (TCP) emerges as a pivotal strategy for improving defect detection by optimizing the arrangement of test cases, thereby maximizing benefits, particularly when testing is prematurely halted. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the latest TCP techniques, investigating emerging trends, varied approaches, and the associated cost-effectiveness trade- offs. Through a systematic literature review spanning from 2011 to 2023 and employing specific search terms, this study scrutinizes the existing body of research. The analysis reveals a growing demand for TCP in research over the past five years, accompanied by a positive upsurge in SPL testing trends. TCP proves instrumental in orchestrating test cases from high to low priority levels, facilitating early defect detection and subsequent error resolution. Nonetheless, notable gaps persist in terms of time execution and coverage, prompting ongoing research efforts aimed at enhancing the cost-effectiveness of TCP. While TCP serves as a potent regression technique in software testing, existing approaches stand to benefit from the reordering of test cases and the integration of refined methodologies gleaned from current research endeavors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firms that sell vertically differentiated products infrequently roll out multiple products at the same time. In fact, it is often a firm already selling a well‐established product that decides to expand up‐ or downwards when such an opportunity arises. A critical decision in this scenario is whether to introduce the new product under an existing brand. In this paper, we develop a game‐theoretic model in which firms expand their product line to cater to a different customer segment, choosing their branding strategy, new product quality, and prices. We find that the firm's optimal branding strategy depends on both the vertical direction of the expansion and the level of competition, and identify a novel interaction effect between these factors. In particular, firms engaged in direct competition employ branding as a commitment device to soften quality competition. When these firms extend their product line upwards, this creates a misalignment between firms' actions and consumer preferences. We also derive conditions under which firms, against conventional wisdom, choose to differentiate their products more when selling them under the same brand. Finally, we characterize the welfare effects of branding in this setting, and argue that our findings are consistent with observations from the car industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of peer‐to‐peer (P2P) sharing, exemplified recently by increased car‐sharing and clothing‐sharing, has altered our consumption style. One can consume goods without owning them. In fact, the ownership of goods can be monetized through P2P rental markets. These changes are regarded as influencing various strategies of manufacturers of goods being shared. Specifically, this paper examines aspects of product variety and design. A stylized model is examined in which a manufacturing firm makes a product variety decision of whether to launch a niche product line in addition to an existing mass product line. Consumers are of two types, including average consumers, who value the niche product less than the mass product, and snob consumers, who evaluate the niche product highly. Results demonstrate that the existence of P2P sharing makes consumers' ownership decisions immaterial, which alleviates difficulties of cannibalization between mass and niche product lines and which therefore encourages firms to widen their product variety. Moreover, to address issues of product design, the model is extended to allow the firm to choose the degree of niche‐serving of the second product line endogenously. Results show that P2P sharing deters a firm from designing a niche for the second product line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rise of the digital economy, many firms are enhancing product line flexibility (i.e., the ability to adjust product line length or depth) to better manage demand uncertainties brought about by disruptive technologies. Concurrently, the booming digital economy has widened the information gap in supply chains. Retailers/platforms can now gather more detailed data to predict demand, but such data remains unavailable to manufacturers. This article studies how a manufacturer's product line flexibility influences a retailer's incentive to voluntarily share private demand information. We show that upstream product line flexibility encourages a retailer to voluntarily share information when product substitutability is low and the product line extension fee is moderate. This insight challenges the conventional belief that retailers should keep demand information private to maintain an advantage over manufacturers. Our work is the first to suggest that upstream product line flexibility can significantly motivate retailer information sharing. Additionally, we show that, although a social planner might prefer to withhold demand information from the manufacturer in the absence of product line flexibility, sharing this information becomes preferable when the manufacturer can adjust the product line length. The retailer's decision on information sharing can align with the social planner's in such scenarios. Furthermore, we demonstrate that, given upstream product line flexibility, except when product substitutability is not sufficiently high and the product line extension fee is moderate, the retailer's information sharing decision is unaffected by whether the manufacturer determines the product line design before or after demand is realized and shared accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Software systems and product lines often use configurable features to specify a portfolio of product variants from a common core. Typically, their requirements also include constraints on which combinations of features are valid. Especially for larger systems and systems where the specifications are scattered among documents, the analysis of a new product's variability-related requirements is challenging. To address this, we introduce a scalable, tool-supported framework that uses a variability model to automate checks for missing and inconsistent features and constraints. Our approach also extends and scales traditional variability requirements engineering by incorporating combinatorial interaction testing techniques to build valid product variants covering all configurations in the variability model and to automatically discover faulty feature settings in failed builds. Results from evaluation on two configurable systems show that our framework is effective both at early detection of missing, incorrect, and inconsistent variability requirements and at later finding faulty feature configurations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The automotive industry is experiencing a significant shift, transitioning from traditional hardware-centric systems to more advanced software-defined architectures. This change is enabling enhanced autonomy, connectivity, safety, and improved in-vehicle experiences. Service-oriented architecture is crucial for achieving software-defined vehicles and creating new business opportunities for original equipment manufacturers. A software update approach that is rich in variability and based on a Merkle tree approach is proposed for new vehicle architecture requirements. Given the complexity of software updates in vehicles, particularly when dealing with multiple distributed electronic control units, this software-centric approach can be optimized to handle various architectures and configurations, ensuring consistency across all platforms. In this paper, our software update approach is expanded to cover the solution space of the feature-based product line engineering, and we show how to combine our approach with product line engineering in creative and unique ways to form a software-defined vehicle modular architecture. Then, we offer insights into the design of the Merkle trees utilized in our approach, emphasizing the relationship among the software modules, with a focus on their impact on software update performance. This approach streamlines the software update process and ensures that the safety as well as the security of the vehicle are continuously maintained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to summarize research on digitalization and emphasize how it affects financial performance. Additionally, applicable methodology from recent studies in a variety of domains is shown in this study. The state-of-the-art in digitalization research is described in this review article, which combines technology, finance, marketing, and innovation literature. In recent years, research on digitalization has expanded rapidly in a number of domains, employing both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The elements that affect an organization's financial performance as a result of its digitalization--such as big data analytics, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, process automation, the Internet of Things (IoT), computer simulations, and online technology--have been the subject of more recent studies. Even if studies on digitalization have been more popular over the past five years, adding new dimensions and investigating qualitative methods remain fascinating areas of study. For academics who are unfamiliar with digitalization, this article provides an overview of how to explore the process. The article enhances the review of the impact of digitization on financial performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a comprehensive strategy for PT Sulzer Indonesia to expand its presence in the >400MW Steam Turbine market in Indonesia. Employing a mixed-method approach, the research combines qualitative interviews with six industry experts and quantitative Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) analysis to identify key success factors and prioritize Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) for strategic marketing focus. The findings highlight the critical importance of market viability, particularly market accessibility, along with competitive advantages such as technological fit and strong engineering capabilities. The AHP analysis reveals Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Toshiba Energy Systems and Solutions, and GE Vernova as the top-ranked OEMs as potential focused market. A 12-month implementation plan is proposed, structured into six phases: preparation and assessment, planning and design, initial implementation, expansion, and refinement, further implementation, and evaluation and optimization. This plan emphasizes continuous learning, adaptability, and strategic alignment, drawing on established management theories and industry best practices. The study concludes that by focusing on these prioritized OEMs and following the proposed implementation plan, PT Sulzer Indonesia can effectively capitalize on the growing opportunities in the >400MW Steam Turbine market, leveraging its strengths while addressing challenges in resource alignment and market penetration. This research provides PT Sulzer Indonesia with a theoretically grounded and practically applicable roadmap for achieving sustainable growth and competitive advantage in this critical market segment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper a framework for engineering supervisory controllers for product lines with dynamic feature configuration is proposed. The variability in valid configurations is described by a feature model. Behavior of system components is achieved using (extended) finite automata and both behavioral and dynamic configuration constraints are expressed by means of requirements as is common in supervisory control theory. Supervisory controller synthesis is applied to compute a behavioral model in which the requirements are adhered to. For the challenges that arise in this setting, multiple solutions are discussed. The solutions are exemplified in the CIF toolset using a model of a coffee machine. A use case of the much larger Body Comfort System product line is performed to showcase feasibility for industrial-sized systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a practice among OECD countries of establishing restrictions for state-owned enterprises to develop new products in addition to their main production. Scarce attention is paid to how such an approach affects public enterprises' performance in favour of the public good; thus, it must be clarified. This research aims to propose competition policy improvements based on the evaluated impact of new product restrictions on competition neutrality. The research methodology includes interviews with Latvian public sector stakeholders concerning the advantages of optimal use of the company's resources and risks' diversification. Private sector disadvantages if state-owned enterprises offer their products in private-dominated markets are considered. It was observed that national policy is contradictory: there is an emphasis on efficiency goals, but the expansion initiatives by state-owned enterprises in the market are accepted reluctantly. Taking advantage of state-owned enterprises to boost R&D innovations is important to fostering Latvian regional development policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let X be a tree with n vertices and L (X) be its line graph. In this work, we completely characterize the trees for which the algebraic connectivity of L (X) × K m is equal to m − 1 , where × denotes the Kronecker product. We provide a few necessary and sufficient conditions for L (X) × K m to be Laplacian integral. The algebraic connectivity of L (X) × K m , where X is a tree of diameter 4 and k -book graph is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores a more streamlined approach to Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) to enhance efficiency for smaller issues. FMEA is a method used to identify and prioritize potential failures in a system, process, or design. The traditional FMEA practice has limitations, such as a one-size-fits-all format that can lead to inefficiency and a lack of assessment of return on investment. One challenge in conducting FMEA is the lack of data to support meaningful risk scoring. The article suggests that in situations where in-depth assessment is not feasible, alternative approaches or customizations can be considered to reduce the burden and cost. The article emphasizes the importance of considering return on investment when making business decisions, even if the risk priority number is low. It proposes using simpler risk analysis practices when data is limited or resources are constrained, such as a three-level scale instead of the traditional 10-level scale for risk assessment. The article acknowledges potential resistance to this approach but argues that it can be more efficient and effective. The concept of tiered triage, where initial risk assessment is conducted using a simpler technique and then transitioning to traditional practices for post-action assessment, is also discussed. [Extracted from the article]

In this article, the author shares his firsthand experience leading a high-stakes strategic asset acquisition project and his three key lessons learned: the importance of fostering positive relationships with counterparts, managing communication across multiple levels, and actively engaging relevant stakeholders. These strategies led to comply with all the targets established and served as a solid foundation for the highest sales month ever for the product line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last years computer modelling and simulation has emerged as an effective tool to support the total product life cycle of cardiovascular devices, particularly in the device preclinical evaluation and post-market assessment. Computational modelling is particularly relevant for heart valve prostheses, which require an extensive assessment of their hydrodynamic performance and of risks of hemolysis and thromboembolic complications associated with mechanicallyinduced blood damage. These biomechanical aspects are typically evaluated through a fluid-structure interaction (FSI) approach, which enables valve fluid dynamics evaluation accounting for leaflets movement. In this context, the present narrative review focuses on the computational modelling of bileaflet mechanical aortic valves through FSI approach, aiming to foster and guide the use of simulations in device total product life cycle. The state of the art of FSI simulation of heart valve prostheses is reviewed to highlight the variety of modelling strategies adopted in the literature. Furthermore, the integration of FSI simulations in the total product life cycle of bileaflet aortic valves is discussed, with particular emphasis on the role of simulations in complementing and potentially replacing the experimental tests suggested by international standards. Simulations credibility assessment is also discussed in the light of recently published guidelines, thus paving the way for a broader inclusion of in silico evidence in regulatory submissions. The present narrative review highlights that FSI simulations can be successfully framed within the total product life cycle of bileaflet mechanical aortic valves, emphasizing that credible in silico models evaluating the performance of implantable devices can (at least) partially replace preclinical in vitro experimentation and support post-market biomechanical evaluation, leading to a reduction in both time and cost required for device development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The implementation of student projects in undergraduate mathematics and statistics courses is discussed with suggestions and recommendations. Advantages and pitfalls of this teaching tool are presented. A prototypical student project for an elementary mathematics course is described. The features of this sample project serve as models for components of other projects. This illustrative project concerns the locus of intersection points of pairs of tangent lines to a conic section, such that the products of the lines’ slopes are a constant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of additive solutions can be found in the civil sector, in factories and in homes. The ever-evolving technology and materials system also requires continuous scrutiny by professionals to ensure they have up-to-date information to perform their tasks. In the case of specific materials that can be used in 3D printing, continuous filament reinforcement is perhaps one of the most interesting, especially for military applications. In our paper, we explore this in detail, but with reference to a specific product line and analysing the details of a possible general military application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study an inverse problem of determining a time-dependent damping coefficient and potential appearing in the wave equation in a compact Riemannian manifold of dimension three or higher. More specifically, we are concerned with the case of conformally transversally anisotropic manifolds, or in other words, compact Riemannian manifolds with boundary conformally embedded in a product of the Euclidean line and a transversal manifold. With an additional assumption of the attenuated geodesic ray transform being injective on the transversal manifold, we prove that the knowledge of a certain partial Cauchy data set determines the time-dependent damping coefficient and potential uniquely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The safety of cosmetic products coming in contact with consumers' skin is often assessed using New Approach Methodologies, which include Reconstructed human Epidermis (RhE) tissue models that have demonstrated utility as reliable test systems. In our manuscript, we evaluated the phototoxicity potential of long-lasting cosmetic products, such as lipsticks and foundations containing UV-absorbing ingredients. given their design to persist on application areas of skin, technical challenges were encountered in the experiments using RhE tissues as the products could not be entirely removed at the end of the exposure period. A proof-of-concept study was conducted using two prototype formulations, one long-lasting and one standard use lipstick, that were spiked with multiple concentrations of chlorpromazine, a known photoirritant. The results of the proof-ofconcept study identified technical aspects that were optimized (dosing and rinsing procedures) and incorporated in subsequent studies that included a group of 10 long-lasting cosmetic products. Our manuscript reports on a successful case study that supports the adaptations and optimizations to established testing protocols, and thus allows product lines that pose technical testing challenges to be reliably assessed for safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Segment reporting denotes to the financial reporting of a company's operating segments or business units. Segment reporting allows companies to identify and evaluate the performance of individual business segments, which helps them to make informed decisions about allocating resources, investing in new businesses or product lines, and divesting underperforming businesses. It also assists in identifying trends and changes in business operations, which can be used to identify potential risks and opportunities. Segment reporting practices in the pharmaceutical industry in India are focused at providing transparency and better understanding of a company's financial performance and operations to investors, stakeholders, creditors and the general public. In the pharmaceutical industry, companies usually operate in multiple segments such as research and development, manufacturing, marketing, and distribution. In India, pharmaceutical companies are needed to follow the Indian Accounting Standard 108 (Ind AS 108) for segment reporting. The standard requires companies to report information about their operating segments, including revenue, expenses, assets, and liabilities. The scope of this study is to furnish insight into segment reporting practices of Dr Reddys Labs, Hikal Ltd, Dishman Carbogen Amcis Ltd, Zydus Lifesciences Ltd. and Fortis Healthcare Ltd. The present study covers a period of 7 years starting with the year 2018 to 2024. The researcher collected secondary data out of the annual reports of chosen pharmaceutical companies, journals, magazines, newspapers, and websites. By divulging segmentspecific information, a company can provide a better understanding of the performance of its different business segments and the factors that influence their profitability and growth potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multimarket competition with multiple firms is crucial for marketers in product decisions. Despite its importance in marketing decisions, empirical research on product line configurations in multimarket contact (MMC) is limited. Utilizing panel data from the fast-moving consumer goods from four geographic zones encompassing 80,000 households in urban and rural markets, the authors empirically confirm that as MMC with rivals increases, focal firms tend to become more aggressive by adjusting their product line configurations. Moreover, when the focal firm holds a high market share and resource centrality in the focal market, it exhibits deterrence by maintaining the status quo. Similarly, when examining the interaction effect of MMC with focal market profitability, we observe that the focal firm becomes aggressive and adjusts its configuration. This study extends current research on product line configuration decisions, especially when the boundaries of physical markets are becoming increasingly blurred with the rise of e-commerce and hyperlocal models increasing multimarket contacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aircraft systems development is complex and time‐consuming. Model‐based Product Line Engineering (MBPLE) aims to reuse assets between projects to accelerate the development of systems at their early stage. Despite guidance from standards, MBPLE practitioners still face the challenge of deploying an appropriate configuration management strategy. This paper presents and demonstrates a configuration management strategy to support practitioners deploying MBPLE for aircraft systems development. We developed this strategy to comply with ISO/IEC 26580 and address pending standard ambiguities using best practices from product lines for systems, software, business processes, and systems of systems. The proposed strategy supports long‐term product line evolution, management of different asset types, and independent product environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses an ongoing effort at Hyundai to develop a model‐based systems engineering (MBSE) methodology for cross‐domain vehicle architecture development that is practical at the enterprise level. Our approach follows a modular modeling process that complements MBSE. In the age of smart mobility, automobile systems are indeed interdependent elements of a system of systems (SoS). Connectedness favors numerous mobility features that emerge due to the interfaces among these constituent systems. Managing emergent product line variations, changing consumer demands coupled with faster market response require manufacturers to modularize their architecture development processes. This can help scale MBSE across vehicle programs. This study proposes a modular system architecture approach for developing Hyundai's purpose‐built vehicle (PBV) concept that maintains a link to the legacy vehicle breakdown structures already in use. Using the Arcadia method, the 'to‐be' developed electric vehicle is expressed as a hierarchical functional partitioning of the subsystem modules. A physical architecture is defined as a solution to the functional partitioning based on an existing vehicle breakdown in a combined 'top‐down/bottom‐up' workflow thus capturing a realistic system decomposition. In the SoS hierarchy, the PBV is at the top level and is partitioned into multiple levels of nested subsystem architectures owned and developed by designated module teams in a distributed modeling environment. Results of the preliminary architecture modularization effort indicate significant potential for benefits over classical architecture modeling such as iterative knowledge capture, enhanced reusability across projects, products and programs, and distributed vehicle performance development across the extended MBSE enterprise, which includes the tier 1/2 suppliers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary: Being able to sell a business not only allows a firm to exit an industry but is also a motivation for entrepreneurial entry. Therefore, factors that make acquisitions less desirable for potential acquirers could not only affect the rate of acquisitions, but also entry and exit. We test this in the context of judicial adoptions of product line exceptions, which increased acquirer exposure to potential accumulated liabilities. We find that after adoption, and relative to nonmanufacturing establishments, acquisitions of manufacturing establishments decrease, while exits through closure increase. Relative entry of manufacturing establishments declines. These effects are higher in industries where resalability of physical capital is lower and for smaller entrants. Interestingly, while the likelihood of acquisitions declines for older establishments, it increases for younger ones. Managerial Summary: Making it harder to sell a business not only hinders business transfers but also affects business entry and exit. This is because entrepreneurs and businesses often exit by selling to other firms, not just through closures. Based on comprehensive data on US establishments, we provide evidence supporting this thesis. We find that after judicial adoption of a legal principle that holds acquirers accountable for the acquired firm's product line liabilities, the probability of manufacturing establishments (which are more likely to have such liabilities) being acquired decreases more than that of other establishments. Simultaneously, closures as a form of exit increase, and the relative entry of manufacturing establishments declines. These findings underscore the strategic importance of acquisition‐driven exits for businesses and entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a new trademark-based product market competition measure and a novel trademark-merger data set over the period 1983–2016, we show that companies facing greater product market competition are more likely to be acquirers. We further show that postmerger, compared to their nonacquiring peers, acquirers consolidate their product offerings by discontinuing more existing product lines and developing fewer new product lines. Using a quasi-experiment based on bids withdrawn due to exogenous reasons helps us establish the causal effect of deal completion on product-market consolidation. We conclude that acquisitions create product market synergies by cutting overlapping product offerings to achieve cost efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Embracing software product lines (SPLs) is pivotal in the dynamic landscape of contemporary software development. However, the flexibility and global distribution inherent in modern systems pose significant challenges to managing SPL variability, underscoring the critical importance of robust cybersecurity measures. This paper advocates for leveraging machine learning (ML) to address variability management issues and fortify the security of SPL. In the context of the broader special issue theme on innovative cybersecurity approaches, our proposed ML-based framework offers an interdisciplinary perspective, blending insights from computing, social sciences, and business. Specifically, it employs ML for demand analysis, dynamic feature extraction, and enhanced feature selection in distributed settings, contributing to cyber-resilient ecosystems. Our experiments demonstrate the framework's superiority, emphasizing its potential to boost productivity and security in SPLs. As digital threats evolve, this research catalyzes interdisciplinary collaborations, aligning with the special issue's goal of breaking down academic barriers to strengthen digital ecosystems against sophisticated attacks while upholding ethics, privacy, and human values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Livestreaming, now one of the most popular selling methods in e-commerce, affects consumers' shopping behaviors and firms' operations management. Compared with the traditional post-price strategy, livestreaming has many advantages such as strong interactivity, but it also has some defects, such as purchase time limits and the time cost of watching livestreams. This paper considers the characteristics of livestreaming and examines the strategic interaction with product line design. We find that the seller prefers to adopt livestreaming when the streamers' selling ability is high enough. In addition, the product line design can also affect the adoption of the livestream strategy. When the seller offers a single product, a high-quality product incentivizes the adoption of livestreaming; when the seller offers a product line, the upward-line extension can incentivize the adoption of livestreaming. We also test the robustness of our main results through numerical analysis and related extensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parallel computing is a current algorithmic approach to looking for efficient solutions; that is, to define a set of processes in charge of performing at the same time the same task. Advances in hardware permit the massification of accessibility to and applications of parallel computing. Nonetheless, some algorithms include steps that require or depend on the results of other steps that cannot be parallelized. Speculative computing allows parallelizing those tasks and reviewing different execution flows, which can involve executing invalid steps. Speculative computing solutions should reduce those invalid flows. Product configuration refers to selecting features from a set of available options respecting some configuration constraints; a not complex task for small configurations and models, but a complex one for large-scale scenarios. This article exemplifies a videogame product line feature model and a few configurations, valid and non-valid, respectively. Configuring products of large-scale feature models is a complex and time-demanding task requiring algorithmic solutions. Hence, parallel solutions are highly desired to assist the feature model product configuration tasks. Existing solutions follow a sequential computing approach and include steps that depend on others that cannot be parallelized at all, where the speculative computing approach is necessary. This article describes traditional sequential solutions for conflict detection and diagnosis, two relevant tasks in the automated analysis of feature models, and how to define their speculative parallel version, highlighting their computing improvements. Given the current parallel computing world, we remark on the advantages and current applicability of speculative computing for producing faster algorithmic solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum random walks represent a powerful tool for the implementation of various quantum algorithms. We consider a convolution problem for the graphs which provide quantum and classical random walks. We suggest a new method for lattices and hypercycle convolution that preserves quantum walk dynamics. Our method is based on the fact that some graphs represent a result of Kronecker's product of line graphs. We support our methods by means of various numerical experiments that check quantum and classical random walks on hypercycles and their convolutions. Our findings may be useful for saving a significant number of qubits required for algorithms that use quantum walk simulation on quantum devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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