No abstract

Currently, the world community is paying even more attention to sustainable development of our society: moderate consumption, greening and environmentalization of professional activities, responsible resource management, and other aspects that affect nature and society as a whole, as well as the ability to conserve resources for future generations. Considering sustainable development principles is an integral part of training specialists in the field of engineering and technology. Graduates should build their professional activities in accordance with ethical, social, environmental standards, be responsible for the technical decisions they make, be able to forecast and reduce/prevent damage from the technologies they develop. The modern educational process requires adjustments in order to introduce the principles of sustainable development into the training process of engineers. On September 25, 2015, the States Members of the United Nations adopted the Agenda for Sustainable Development until 2030. It contains a number of goals aimed at eradicating poverty, conserving resources of the planet and ensuring well-being for all. Each of the 17 Goals contains a number of indicators to be achieved by 2030. To achieve the Goals in the field of sustainable development, shared efforts of the governments, private sector and civil society are needed. Education is recognized as the most important mechanism for ensuring sustainable social and economic development. The wide recognition of the education and closely related upbringing and enlightenment as a decisive factor has made it necessary not only to consider the main issues related to the ecology and social responsibility in the process of training of engineers but also foster the sustainable development mindset of the students.

The research presented in this paper proposes a novel quantitative model for decomposing and assessing the Value for the Customer. The proposed approach builds on the different dimensions of the Value Network analysis proposed by Verna Allee having as background the concept of Value for the Customer proposed by Woodall. In this context, the Value for the Customer is modelled as a relationship established between the exchanged deliverables and a combination of tangible and intangible assets projected into their endogenous or exogenous dimensions. The Value Network Analysis of the deliverables exchange enables an in-depth understanding of this frontier and the implicit modelling of co-creation scenarios. The proposed Conceptual Model for Decomposing Value for the Customer combines several concepts: from the marketing area we have the concept of Value for the Customer; from the area of intellectual capital the concept of Value Network Analysis; from the collaborative networks area we have the perspective of the enterprise life cycle and the endogenous and exogenous perspectives; at last, the proposed model is supported by a mathematical formal description that stems from the area of Multi-Criteria Decision Making. The whole concept is illustrated in the context of a case study of an enterprise in the footwear industry (Pontechem). The merits of this approach seem evident from the contact with Pontechem as it provides a structured approach for the enterprises to assess the adequacy of their value proposition to the client/customer needs and how these relate to their endogenous and/or exogenous tangible or intangible assets. The proposed model, as a tool, may therefore be a useful instrument in supporting the commercialisation of new products and/or services.

This paper proposes a novel framework for modeling the Value for the Customer, the so-called Conceptual Model for Decomposing Value for the Customer (CMDVC). This conceptual model is first validated through an exploratory case study where the authors validate both the proposed constructs of the model and their relations. In a second step the authors propose a mathematical formulation for the CMDVC as well as a computational method. This has enabled the final quantitative discussion of how the CMDVC can be applied and used in the enterprise environment, and the final validation by the people in the enterprise. Along this research, we were able to confirm that the results of this novel quantitative approach to model the Value for the Customer is consistent with the company's empirical experience. The paper further discusses the merits and limitations of this approach, proposing that the model is likely to bring value to support not only the contract preparation at an Ex-Ante Negotiation Phase, as demonstrated, but also along the actual negotiation process, as finally confirmed by an enterprise testimonial.