Innovations
Vol. 11 (2023), Issue 2

Table of Contents

  • THEORETICAL PROBLEMS IN INNOVATIONS

    • Management of innovation processes in the organization

      pg(s) 41-44

      In the changing business environment and the global understanding of the market environment, the driving force of which are increasingly demanding customer requirements, the growth of supply and services, higher competition, technological development, globalization of business, innovation is a means for the implementation of constant changes. Nowadays, success is achieved by integrating innovation into business processes, and creativity of human resources in various professions, for example, technologists, designers, economists and optimizers, which is replaced by innovation engineers, business and marketing innovators, thought innovators, innovation managers, etc., is also important for productivity support.
      Strong and agile companies thus gain a leading position on the market. By connecting the knowledge of employees, innovation strategy and business management, a management model of the innovation process was created, which takes into account the diversity of types of organizational structures of enterprises and uses the elements of the innovation climate of the enterprise. An important part of managing the innovation process is determining the elements of the innovation climate, through which innovative ideas from employees are supported and their dissemination and implementation. They must be managed on the basis of the chosen type of organizational structure of the company.
      By properly setting the elements of the innovation climate and aligning it with the organizational structure, enterprises can manage their processes and get more innovative ideas for implementation, thus increasing their innovation performance and achieving better competitiveness in the market.

    • Efficiency of formation and development of intrafirm knowledge in a modern market economy

      pg(s) 45-48

      The set of theoretical and methodological concepts related to the formation, development and knowledge has been studied. Within the framework of the study, approaches are considered that in one form, or another belong to classical theories. The current state and problems of modern organizations in the field of knowledge formation and development are analyzed. Based on the example of Kazakhstani organizations, the main directions are used to improve approaches to knowledge management to improve the quality of labor activity and improve the qualifications of specialists of organizations. The study identified the need to develop a high-quality and flexible in-house training system, which will be relevant in modern conditions. A toolkit has been developed that contributes to the effective formation and development of knowledge of a modern Kazakhstani specialist.

  • INNOVATION POLICY AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT

    • A study on the external factors affecting the work of the project manager during the execution of the construction investment process

      pg(s) 49-52

      The topic of the Report is a study of external factors affecting the work of the project manager in the implementation of the construction investment process.
      For the needs of the current development, a pilot study was organized and conducted by means of a survey, the purpose of which is to collect primary information regarding influencing factors on the activity of the project manager.
      The partic target group of respondents are employees from the construction industry, holding various management positions in the defined companies – managers, project managers, technical managers, etc.
      Various construction sites were visited and surveys conducted accordingly, both in Sofia and in the country. The companies themselves are randomly selected.
      The results of the study will be presented in the report

    • Risk Driven Design of Technical Product

      pg(s) 53-55

      Technical Products that companies put on the market must be competitive and must find their way to the customer or the customer must find their way to them. In the vast majority, these are new products or innovated existing products that can offer the customer added value compared to the competition and, above all, induce in him the desire to purchase the product and not just include it in the selection of other competitive products. During the development process of these products, it is necessary to take into account the entire life cycle of the product and not only its operational functions and other operational characteristics, which is quite often neglected. There exist a lot of engineering design methodologies, methods and/or tools implemented in guidelines and standards which help engineering designers to innovate products and to reduce constructional, safety, environmental, etc. risks of Designed (future) Technical Products. Their common feature is especially high dependence on specialized experience of their users, time consuming, and their mutual both conceptual and terminological inconsistency resulting in very difficult compatibility with engineering designing itself.

    • Evaluation of formal education active labor market policy programs in slovenia with propensity score matching

      pg(s) 56-59

      In this paper, we evaluate the formal education active labor market policy programs in Slovenia during the great recession. The quasi-experimental method of propensity score matching is applied. Performance of active labor market policy programs is typically measured with the average treatment effect on the treated. In the short term, the programs do not reduce unemployment and are characterized by a high dropout rate or a high percentage of unsuccessful completions due to some problematic target groups.

    • Techniques for studying customer attitude to service provided

      pg(s) 60-63

      Customer satisfaction is a priority for any business that wants to be successful over a long period of time. Feedback from customers who share their opinion about the products and services offered by the company gives a complete picture that can be used for precise planning, statistics and implementation of new aspects in the service. The purpose of this article is to present some techniques for processing data obtained from customer feedback.

  • INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS

    • Extended research on the efficiency of internal crystallization chemical admixtures for cement concrete – mechanical and structural characteristics

      pg(s) 64-68

      In recent years, the use of internal crystallization chemical admixtures for concrete and mortar to increase their water-tightness and other physical and mechanical characteristics has been of increasing importance in modern construction. These types of chemical modifiers allow for the effective replacement of conventionally performed waterproofing works (membranes, rolls, brushed or sprayed coatings, etc.) by purposefully improving the physical-mechanical characteristics of structural concretes, rendering them, to one degree or another, impermeable to water or/and aggressive agents from different origins. In the specialized world market for such products there are several leading competing companies – producers of internal-crystallization chemical admixtures, which have different activity in Bulgaria. The new extended research on such several new types of those admixtures were reported and discussed. The complex mechanical and structural tests are conducted and respective results are compared to predict the admixture’s efficiency of their ability to limit the ingress of water into concrete and reinforced concrete sections, as well as their ability to increase the durability of concrete as the main structural material.

    • Stress and stability calculation of the third pass module of the steam boiler during lifting

      pg(s) 69-72

      This paper presents the calculation of the stress and stability of a third-cycle module of a steam boiler during the lifting process. A steam boiler is a key element of a cogeneration plant, so all calculations are performed according to prescribed standards. Before the numerical analysis of the steam boiler, the characteristics, components and function of the boiler are described, as well as the required standards. The 3D model of the boiler was created using the Abaqus/CAE 2016 program package according to the manufacturer’s technical documentation. Using the finite element method, the stresses and stability during lifting of the boiler from the horizontal and vertical positions were calculated and presented. It was found that when lifting from a horizontal position, the structural stress values of the main elements do not exceed the allowable values. On the other hand, when lifting from a vertical position, the stresses exceed the allowable values. In this case, the connection point between the lug and the profile was checked and analytically dimensioned. The obtained values of the stability analysis of the boiler module are satisfactorily defined and there is no risk of buckling in both cases of lifting. The boiler conforms with the standard and fulfils the requirements handed over to the engineer.

    • Analysis of the densification of a biomedical titanium alloy produced by powder metallurgy

      pg(s) 73-76

      Titanium as a raw material for production is very expensive due to its high price and the complex production process. One of the successful alternatives for the production of titanium alloys and final products is powder metallurgy technology. In this work, a Ti-20Zr alloy for biomedical applications was produced using the powder metallurgy process. The density values determined for the compacts depend on the compression pressure. Namely, the compressibility of the powder mixture increases with increasing compaction pressure. A higher sintering temperature as well as a longer sintering time are more favourable to obtain higher values for the sintered density. Similarly, the compression coefficient is lower for samples compacted at higher pressure, while its value increases with increasing sintering temperature. The volume change in the volume of the sample is more pronounced after sintering at higher temperature and shorter time.