Table of Contents

Cover

Title

Note to all Contributors

Note to the Reader

List of Acronyms

Introduction

PART 1: Sustainability: Toward the Unification of Some Underlying Principles and Mechanisms

1: Toward a Sustainability Science
1. 1.1. Introduction
2. 1.2. What does unification mean?
3. 1.3. Coming back to sustainability: how many “sustainabilities”?
4. 1.4. Sustainability: what kind of unification? An integration issue?
5. 1.5. What kind of paradigm do we have to integrate?
6. 1.6. The issue and the implementation of a new dimension
7. 1.7. Extensions of the concept
2: Sustainability in Complex Systems
1. 2.1. Preamble: theories of interconnected systems
2. 2.2. Analysis of feedback phenomena in an assembly manufacturing cell
3. 2.3. Application to complex systems: quantitative characteristics of a deterministic chaos
4. 2.4. General considerations about interactions in networked organizations
5. 2.5. Role of feedback in mimicry and ascendancy over others
6. 2.6. Network theory: additional characteristics due to their new structure
7. 2.7. Simplexification
8. 2.8. Convergences in network theory
3: Extension: From Complexity to the Code of Thought
1. 3.1. The code of thought: effects of cognition and psyche in global sustainability
2. 3.2. Is sustainability the only technological and technocratic approach?
3. 3.3. The three laws of sustainability: prediction and anticipation in complex systems
4. 3.4. Consequence: toward a new dimension
5. 3.5. Conclusion
6. 3.6. Indicators for monitoring the EU sustainable development strategy

PART 2: Operationalization: Methods, Techniques and Tools – the Need to Manage the Impact

4: From Context to Knowledge: Building Decision-making Systems
1. 4.1. Introduction
2. 4.2. How about obtaining a sustainable knowledge?
3. 4.3. Preliminary consideration: the nature of the problems encountered in test and diagnosis
4. 4.4. Preamble: basic concepts for creating knowledge
5. 4.5. Retroduction and abduction
6. 4.6. Deduction and induction
7. 4.7. The development of a relational reasoning graph
8. 4.8. A complete integrated reasoning process
9. 4.9. How can a computer analyze different types of reasoning?
10. 4.10. Applications
5: From Context to Knowledge: Basic Methodology Review
1. 5.1. Application of abduction and retroduction to create knowledge
2. 5.2. Analysis and synthesis as modeling process
3. 5.3. Background on empirical results: integration principles
4. 5.4. A review and comparison of some common approaches: TRIZ and C-K theory
6: From Knowledge to Context and Back: The C-K Theory and Methodology
1. 6.1. Introduction
2. 6.2. A primer on C-K theory
3. 6.3. On the nature of the knowledge space
4. 6.4. On the nature of the concept space
5. 6.5. Discussing the theory
6. 6.6. Some differentiating points and benefits of C-K theory
7. 6.7. On fielding C-K theory in organizations
8. 6.8. A summary on C-K theory
9. 6.9. A short glossary on C-K theory
10. 6.10. Links with knowledge management
11. 6.11. Example on a specific futuristic conceptual case: “a man who can travel through time”
12. 6.12. Methodological findings

PART 3: Reformulating the Above Into Business Models and Solutions for New Growth and Applications

7: Principles and Methods for the Design and Development of Sustainable Systems
1. 7.1. Introduction
2. 7.2. How to go further?
3. 7.3. Examples of methods and learning related to complex adaptive systems
4. 7.4. First example: crisis management
5. 7.5. Second example: urban organizations
6. 7.6. Third example: education and career evolution
7. 7.7. A review of survival, resilience and sustainability concepts
8. 7.8. Methodologies in sustainability
9. 7.9. Resilience: methodology
10. 7.10. Information system sustainability
11. 7.11. Application: managing the “skill mismatch” in a company
12. 7.12. Sustainability of the organizations in a company
13. 7.13. Conclusions
8: Toward the Mass Co-design: Why is Social Innovation so Attractive?
1. 8.1. Introduction
2. 8.2. How can we define innovation and social innovation?
3. 8.3. Sustainability: how can we position social innovation?
4. 8.4. Social innovation examples
5. 8.5. A contextual change in society
6. 8.6. Basic concepts and mechanisms
7. 8.7. The principle of circularity: a paradigm shift
8. 8.8. Generalization: how to turn back time
9. 8.9. Problems of technological evolution
10. 8.10. Evolution: application to cellular networks
11. 8.11. Conclusions: the new sustainable environment
9: On Integrating Innovation and CSR when Developing Sustainable Systems
1. 9.1. The new Smartphones: a tool for an inclusive society
2. 9.2. Innovation and corporate social responsibility (CSR) behaviors
3. 9.3. Integrating business objectives (CBO) and corporate social responsibility (SCR)
4. 9.4. Lessons gained from this study case: toward a citizen democracy
5. 9.5. Conclusion on crowd and social approaches

PART 4: Reformulating Future Thinking: Processes and Applications

10: Sustainability Engineering and Holism: Thinking Conditions are a Must
1. 10.1. Introduction to holism
2. 10.2. Toward a holistic company
3. 10.3. Culture: on what positive factors can we rely?
4. 10.4. Sustainability: a framework
5. 10.5. Application: holonic industrial systems
6. 10.6. Consequences
11: Sustainable Cognitive Engineering: Brain Modeling; Evolution of a Knowledge Base
1. 11.1. Introduction
2. 11.2. Sustainable cognition: definition and concepts
3. 11.3. Concepts and “slippage” needs: effects related to new generations
4. 11.4. Basic structure of our brain: a probabilistic approach
5. 11.5. Application and probabilistic reasoning in updating a knowledge base: a more sustainable model
6. 11.6. Sustainable cognition: brain structure, understanding micro-to-macro links
7. 11.7. More recent developments
8. 11.8. Detection of novelties through adaptive learning and fractal chaos approaches
9. 11.9. Neuro computing: new opportunities provided by quantum physics
10. 11.10. Applications
11. 11.11. Quantum physics: impact on future organizations
12: Brain and Cognitive Computing: Where Are We Headed?
1. 12.1. State of the art
2. 12.2. Achievements: is neuroscience able to explain how to perform sustained assumptions and studies?
3. 12.3. Artificial brain: evolution of the simulation models
4. 12.4. Examples of challenges to be well controlled

PART 5: Towards an Approach to the Measurement of Sustainability and Competitivity

13: On Measuring Sustainability
1. 13.1. Introduction
2. 13.2. Some basic criteria specific to the new “Sustainable” era
3. 13.3. What are the nature and limits of the new paradigm, in terms of sustainability evolution?
4. 13.4. A reminder about competitivity and sustainability properties
5. 13.5. Synthesis: the present dimensions of a production system
6. 13.6. An under-assessed value: time
7. 13.7. Application and results
8. 13.8. Two new dimensions: thought and information within network theory
9. 13.9. Synthesis: cognitive advances provided by the new exchange and communication tools
10. 13.10. Consequences and characteristics linked to a global network notion
11. 13.11. Back to the code of matter: contributions to “Simultaneous Time” and “Network Theory”
12. 13.12. Application of quantum interactions
13. 13.13. Sustainability: how to widen the scope of competitiveness indicators?
14. 13.14. Conclusion
15. 13.15. Social interactions and massively multiplayer online role playing games

General Conclusion – Where Are We Now?

Bibliography

Index

End User License Agreement

List of Illustrations

Introduction

Figure I.1. Project management – the five code categories building the “whole sustainability” concept [MAS 15]
Figure I.2. The five intensity levels of sustainability reflect five different ways of thinking sustainability

1: Towards a Sustainability Science

Figure 1.1. Developments and literature in sustainability sciences [BET 11]
Figure 1.2. Sustainability components [CFT 10]
Figure 1.3. Commitments to sustainability [NHS 14]
Figure 1.4. Wormhole in the Cosmos [BAL 05]
Figure 1.5. Distribution of potentials, and optima, along solutions’ surface [ENS 14]. For a color version of the figure, see www.iste.co.uk/massotte/sustainablity2.zip
Figure 1.6. Distribution of Mandelbrot power laws according to the value of the “K” exponent. For a color version of the figure, see www.iste.co.uk/massotte/sustainablity2.zip
Figure 1.7. In high technologies, normal distribution is an exception [MAS 06]

2: Sustainability in Complex Systems

Figure 2.1. Model of a manufacturing cell with a positive feedback
Figure 2.2. Deterministic chaos related to inventory evolution
Figure 2.3. Evolution of the inventory has the same curved shape and the same properties as the previous one: trend of growth is exponential
Figure 2.4. Swarm structure of interconnection networks and collective intelligence (courtesy of F. Guinand, LITIS Lab, Rouen University, France)
Figure 2.5. Partitioning and clustering of interconnected networks (courtesy of F. Guinand, LITIS, Rouen University, France). For a color version of the figure, see www.iste.co.uk/massotte/sustainablity2.zip
Figure 2.6. The two types of mycorrhizae [NIL 06]
Figure 2.7. Simplexification of interconnected networks (courtesy of F. Guinand, LITIS, Rouen University, France)
Figure 2.8. Graph partitioning [GAR 08]

3: Extension: From Complexity to the Code of Thought

Figure 3.1. “Crossing the time-space wall”

4: From Context to Knowledge: Building Decision-making Systems

Figure 4.1. Simplified description of the brain structure (Lubopikto encyclopedia)
Figure 4.2. The knowledge-creating hierachy
Figure 4.3. Symptoms, causes and effects diagram [MAS 06]
Figure 4.4. Learning steps in artificial intelligence: the chaining between interrelated algorithms
Figure 4.5. Integrating the basic reasoning flows [WAL 03]

5: From Context to Knowledge: Basic Methodology Review

Figure 5.1. Depicting the application of the two lines of inquiry; abduction and retroduction [SAM 13]
Figure 5.2. The analysis-synthesis model construction process [WAL 03]
Figure 5.3. Typical forms of intelligence and decision models [WAL 03]. The general term of ‘model’ is here used to describe any abstract representation
Figure 5.4. Knowledge development approaches [HER 92]
Figure 5.5. Knowledge development approaches [KOL 75]
Figure 5.6. How to get reliable knowledge
Figure 5.7. Seven futures-compelling characteristics of a C-K approach
Figure 5.9. Comparing TRIZ with C-K Invent method
Figure 5.8. C-K models based on Actions, Knowledge, and Effects [FEL 11]

6: From Knowledge to Context and Back: The C-K Theory and Methodology

Figure 6.1. Four quadrants are made up from the Known and Unknown dimensions, which map the gap between Future Studies and Science Fiction. The former field preferably starts from the Known and strives to embark into an exploration of the Unknown (B zone). The latter boasts a symmetrical path and may gain relevance from actualizing the A zone in part
Figure 6.2. The C-K diagram expansion for the “time-travelling man” concept
Figure 6.3. The Past-Future timeline as sensibly perceived by man refers to the Chronos view of Time by ancient Greeks (by opposition to Kairos). Axis “t?” refers to questioning of the two notions of time

7: Principles and Methods for the Design and Development of Sustainable Systems

Figure 7.1. Encapsulated train in China [Reuters – Ming Ming – 2014]
Figure 7.2. Future smart cities (GWANGGYO project, South Korea). Sustainable Cities/Urban Planning (final thoughts from eoi.es)
Figure 7.3. Sustainability – interdependence and organization of the concepts
Figure 7.4. Incomplete graph interconnections. Limited feedback loops impact sustainability [CHA 06]
Figure 7.5. Sustainability underlying mechanisms [CHA 06]
Figure 7.6. Lansey sustainable distribution – treatment of scarce water resources [CHOI 2011 – NAE-University of Arizona]. For a color version of the figure, see www.iste.co.uk/massotte/sustainablity2.zip
Figure 7.7. Sustainability improvement process (IBM Corporation – GTA)

8: Toward the Mass Co-design: Why is Social Innovation so Attractive?

Figure 8.1. Social innovation and emergence [MAP 13]
Figure 8.2. Integrative approach of social innovation [VAN 14]
Figure 8.3. Complexity in semantic networks (source: CSS-Society – March 2012 newsletter). For a color version of the figure, see www.iste.co.uk/massotte/sustainablity2.zip
Figure 8.4. Conceptual images of multiverses (Matt Williams, Florida State University 2010). For a color version of the figure, see www.iste.co.uk/massotte/sustainablity2.zip
Figure 8.5. Today’s firms: combination of operations modes, first by emergence, then via classical management
Figure 8.6. Social innovation and development: emergence of ambivalence with the two inverse modeling approaches
Figure 8.7. Merging rational (conventional) and self-organization
Figure 8.8. A system evolving stepwise over time
Figure 8.9. An improved system functioning through an optimization process including simple feedbacks
Figure 8.10. A clustered population with strong and weak interconnections between individuals
Figure 8.11. Groups and clusters in a strongly structures social network. Here, the K-connectivity is simplexified
Figure 8.12. Reassessment of efforts in a social project

9: On Integrating Innovation and CSR when Developing Sustainable Systems

Figure 9.1. How to view sustainability locally with the strategic triple line design tool of Braggart & McDonough. The tool allows to create value in each fractal sector

10: Sustainability Engineering, and Holism: Thinking Conditions are a Must

Figure 10.1. Global approach and main factors involved in sustainability
Figure 10.2. The bottom up approach in advanced citizen governances
Figure 10.3. Holonic modules of an agile manufacturing system (IMS-GNOSIS)
Figure 10.4. Four basic nested properties of sustainability
Figure 10.5. Sustainability is an iterative process (CRAN – Nancy University); http://scp-gdr-macs.cran.uhp-nancy.fr/Intro.html

11: Sustainable Cognitive Engineering: Brain Modeling; Evolution of a Knowledge Base

Figure 11.1. Sustainability: main approach at human being level
Figure 11.2. Evolution of society: characteristics of last three generations
Figure 11.3. A fully interconnected graph in agents’ population with feedback loops
Figure 11.4. Failure analysis: a “symptom-cause-action” diagram. For a color version of the figure, see www.iste.co.uk/massotte/sustainablity2.zip
Figure 11.5. Different views of the brain showing Bayesian models of brain functions. Links are probabilistic. For a color version of the figure, see www.iste.co.uk/massotte/sustainablity2.zip
Figure 11.6. Brain view showing an association network of a Boltzmann machine type. For a color version of the figure, see www.iste.co.uk/massotte/sustainablity2.zip
Figure 11.7. 3D synaptic interconnected computer chip(FCM). For a color version of the figure, see www.iste.co.uk/massotte/sustainablity2.zip

12: Brain and Cognitive Computing: Where Are We Headed?

Figure 12.1. Moore’s law trend depicted as FLOPS by year. For a color version of the figure, see www.iste.co.uk/massotte/sustainablity2.zip
Figure 12.2. Functional architecture of SPAUN
Figure 12.3. Image from the Connectome Project showing interconnections inside the human brain. For a color version of the figure, see www.iste.co.uk/massotte/sustainablity2.zip

13: On Measuring Sustainability

Figure 13.1. Measurement process for sustainability [WEF 14]
Figure 13.2. Production control organization [GIA 88]
Figure 13.3. Sustainability of a fractal chaos: convergence toward a 3D trajectory within a 3D envelope [MAS 08]. For a color version of the figure, see www.iste.co.uk/massotte/sustainablity2.zip
Figure 13.4. Success factors aimed at improving the sustainability of a system [USE 11]
Figure 13.5. Evolution of two independent objects
Figure 13.6. Evolution of two synchronized objects
Figure 13.7. Opening four interaction modes depending on geo and time differences
Figure 13.8. Big data – volume of information recorded in 1 year [IBM 11]

Conclusion: General Conclusion – Where Are We Now?

Figure C.1. The Energy/Information/Matter concept with regard to the two entropies theory
Figure C.2. The future dimensional space of sustainability
Figure C.3. Holistic and sustainability environment: smart cities and urban development (Rencontres Rotariennes du Grand Sud-Ouest (RRGSO – Greater Southern France Rotary National Meeting) [MAS 13b]
Figure C.4. How to organize priorities and integrate concepts over time [PAU 15]
Figure C.5. Sustainability: the new biocapacitive environment

List of Tables

3: Extension: From Complexity to the Code of Thought

Table 3.1. Characterization of four “hard science” domains that are involved in the codes of sustainability

5: From Context to Knowledge: Basic Methodology Review

Table 5.2. Ambivalences in Basic emotions [MAS 14]

7: Principles and Methods for the Design and Development of Sustainable Systems

Table 7.1. Evolution of cultures and practices in sustainable management

13: On Measuring Sustainability

Table 13.1. Population growth, human organization and behavior as dependent on power index
Table 13.2. Block modeling of human usages and attitudes (adapted from [EUR 10])

Conclusion: General Conclusion – Where Are We Now?

Table C.1. How three main paradigms take part in decision support systems

First published 2015 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address:

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2015946704

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-84821-892-5

“An outstanding advance in foresight methodology.”

Dr. Thierry GAUDIN
http://gaudin.org

Member of the Club of Rome–Brussels
Honorary Member of the Club of Budapest–Paris

Founder and President of “Prospective 2100”, a World Foresight Association
http://2100.org
Member of the Board of the World Futures Studies Federation
www.wfsf.org
One of the four founders of the six countries
Program on Innovation Policies
6cp.net

Note to all Contributors

Sustainability isn’t really a new topic!

Humanity has faced this concept for many years. Yet, so far, the scope covered by the term “sustainability” hasn’t been very wide, even if, in a sense, its “soul” was present. As an example, both within IBM and École des Mines, we used to present sustainability by introducing such names as “global quality” or “global optimization”, etc. This was done while conducting sustainability actions and sometimes without the measuring the actual range of our contribution, either at the social or ecological level. Could we possibly have these kinds of pioneers?

The answer is no. Actually, any evolution, even in advanced technological fields, is based on stepwise jumps, which may bear the names of mutation, self-organization or adaptation. Even when considering a paradigm change, the fundamental roots of evolution remain the same and any process remains but a process.

To reinforce our working baseline, experiences and assets within the sustainability subject matter, we have opted for grounding the proposed approach on examples, test cases, results and skills, all gained everywhere over several decades.

In preparing and launching this book (in twinned operations with its companion book Sustainability Calling [MAS 15b] during a sustained period of more than four years over 2011–2015), we strived to create the present original synthesis from the sum of information that we collected, with the view to elaborate a technology suited to an actual and current sustainability concept.

However, a smaller fraction of the contributing elements may originate from authors unidentified to us. Or possibly, of whom we involuntarily lost trace of the names. All authors explicitly mentioned in the two bibliographies, and those who may perhaps not appear as well, certainly contributed either directly or indirectly to the development of an emerging “sustainability science”. Furthermore, creating an exhaustive account of sustainability topics is a daunting endeavor, which would likely require an entire library, if not simply an impossible task to achieve. While we wish to express our sincere gratitude to each and every one of the diverse authors for having enlightened us and for their useful contribution to this necessary and promising field, we therefore remain candidly apologetic for our any possible oversight resulting from these omissions.

Note to the Reader

“Sustainability is a keyword. We were happy to build a plane that is sustainable in terms of energy. We could also make life in the cockpit sustainable, as well as for a human being. And this, we didn’t know if it was possible”.

André Borshberg, Solar Impulse pilot, upon landing in Hawaii on July 3rd 2015 at sunrise, after a nonstop 5 days and 5 nights solar energy flight from Nagoya, Japan [SOL 15].

images — *The ten principles of the UN Global Compact (UN Advisory Board, July 26th, 2000)*

Will mankind one day secure a guide to a sustainable world? This book is an attempt. Like solar impulse and other far-fetched dreams, only attempts, trials and feedback can pave the new way. Although we share a definite clarity about this ultimate aim, steering the way through a highly complex world is not easy. Only smaller steps can be proposed to decision makers for the time being.

There exists by now a real concern for the life-sustaining capacities of the Earth. If only in the realm of climate change, the international Kyoto Protocol 1997 treaty slowly came into force for a number of countries in 2005. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) proceedings now include the 2015 Paris COP21 Climate Change Conference. Yet, the concern is of an encompassing nature and it is called by one word only: sustainability.

The present book is the complementary book to Sustainability Calling: Underpinning Technologies, by the same authors and publishing houses (published in September 2015) [MAS 15b].

For a comprehensive understanding of the foundations of sustainability, it is recommended to first read the above book, which provides the models, methods and tools to investigate and tackle the deeper notion of sustainability in a strategic way. However, the present book implements the ways to make sustainability operational and attempts at measuring it and, for practitioners, can be read without the first one. Together, the two books constitute a comprehensive treaty on sustainability for a variety of academic and executive readers in all walks of post-modern activities.

In Sustainability Calling: Underpinning Technologies, the authors discuss the mechanisms underlying sustainability and the principles to take into account to define its technologies (in the etymological sense), even if and when the aggregation and integration of these principles and mechanisms can not be done yet with presently available technology.

The objective of the present book is to exhibit an attempt of unification, based on these concepts, one that is implementable. The tactical part about sustainability implementation and operationalization (the “how to do”) is also meant to discover, suggest and develop new practical elements about a future method. The authors attempt to answer the issues of main importance; yet an exhaustive account necessitates at least three times the volume of this book. It provides a mind-centered roadmap on how sustainability must be addressed in the field and how the measurement of a sustainable system can be performed.

To begin with, the following introduction develops a vision and a process to determine how a question relevant to sustainability can be answered. Let us always keep in mind that sustainability can be investigated as a new science given its specificities.

List of Acronyms

ACPVI	Analyse en Composantes Principales basées sur les Variables Instrumentales (see PCAIV)
AFNOR	Agence Française de Normalisation
AHT	average handling time
AI	artificial intelligence
AIDS	acquired immune deficiency syndrome
ANNs	artificial neural networks
ANSI	American National Standards Institute
APS	advanced planning and scheduling
ATM	asynchronous transfer mode
ASS	after sale service
BA	business analytics
BCG	Boston Consulting Group (Strategy)
BCI	brain–computer interface
BFI	big factors inventory
BPR	business process engineering
CAD	computer-aided design
CBR	case-based reasoning
CEO	Chief Executive Officer
CFO	Chief Finance Officer
CHON	carbon – hydrogen – oxygen – nitrogen
CHP	combined heat and power
CIM	computer integrated manufacturing
CIO	Chief Information Officer
CMM	capability maturity model
CRM	customer relationship management
CSC	Corporate Service Corps
CSR	corporate social responsibility collaborative work
CW	competitive watch
DMS	decision making system
DNA	deoxyribonucleic acid
DSS	decision support system
ECB	European Central Bank
EI	economic intelligence (business intelligence)
EMA	École des Mines d’Alès
EPFL	École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland)
EPR	Einstein–Podolsky-Rosen (thought experiment)
EPT	European Patent Office (http://www.epo.org)
ERP	enterprise resources planning
EU	European Union
FA	functional analysis
FAST	FAST diagram (Function Analysis System Technique)
FFT	fast Fourier transform
FLOPS	floating-point operations per second
FR	functional requirements (functional analysis)
GCI	global competitiveness index
GDP	gross domestic product
HEC	Hautes Etudes Commerciales
HP	Hewlett-Packard
HMS	holonic manufacturing system
IBM	international business machines
ICT	information and communication technologies
IDEF0	Icam definition for function modeling
IKB	innovation knowledge base
IMF	International Monetary Fund
IMS	Intelligent Manufacturing System (European initiative)
INRA	Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (France)
IP	intellectual property
ISC	initial sensitivity conditions ISC Innovation Steering Committee
IS	information systems
IT	information technologies
KADS	knowledge acquisition and documentation structuring
KBS	knowledge-based systems
KDB	knowledge data base
KF	knowledge fluency
KM	knowledge management (management of knowledge and know-how)
KSF	key success factors
LED	light-emitting diode
LHS	left hand side
LLE	local linear embedding
LOC	lines of code
MAQ	maximum allowable quantity
MES	manufacturing execution system
MIDs	mobile internet services
MMO	massively multiplayer online
MTBF	mean time between failures
MTTR	mean time to repair
NBIC	Nanotechnology – Biotechnology – Information technologies – Cognitive sciences
NFC	near field communication
NGO	Non-Governmental Organization
NHS	National Health Service
NIH	non-invented here
NIH	National Institute of Health
NLDS	nonlinear dynamic systems
NPD	new product development
OBS	organization breakdown structure (functional structure)
OCD	objective costs design
OR	operations research
OTSM-TRIZ	a general theory of powerful thinking
P2P	peer-to-peer
PC	production control/personal computer/personal computing
PCT	patent cooperation treaty (www.wipo.org/pct/)
PCAIV	principal component analysis based on instrumental variables (see ACPVI)
PERT	program of evaluation and review technique
PLOOT	plant layout optimization
PLC	product lifecycle
PMI	Project Management Institute
PPC	pay per call
PPT	pay per time
P-TECH	pathway in technology
R&D	research and development
RAS	reliability – availability – serviceability
RFID	radio frequency identification
RHS	right hand side
RNA	ribonucleic acid
ROI	return on investment
RPG	role playing game
RSS	really simple syndication
SA	system analysis
SADT	structure analysis and design technique
SCEM	supply chain event management
SCI	sustainable competitiveness index
SCP	system controlled by product
SDS	sustainable development strategy
SEEA	system of integrated environmental and economic accounting
SHS	social and human sciences
SIC	sensitivity to initial conditions
SMAC	social, mobile, analytics, connected
SME	small and medium enterprise
SPQL	shipped product quality level
SPS	sustainable production system
SSME	service science, management and engineering
SW	strategic watch
SWOT	strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats (Strategy)
TBC	time-based competitivity
TQM	total quality management
TT	takt time
TRIZ	theory of inventive problem solving (Teoriya Resheniya Izobretatelskikh Zadatch – TRIZ, Russian acronym)
TW	technology watch
UAV	unmanned aerial vehicle (e.g. drones)
UML	unified modeling language
UN	United Nations
VA	value analysis
WIP	work in progress
WIPO	World Intellectual Property Organization (www.wipo.org)
WWW	world wide web

NOTE.– The world “backlog” is often used in the specific manufacturing context and means “equal to all customer of supplier orders received and not yet shipped or delivered” [GRE 87]. Outside this context, a backlog retains its usual meaning of accumulation, supply or arrears.