*Article* **Sustaining Innovation: Creativity among Employees of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Students in Higher Education Institutions in Brunei Darussalam**

#### **Solomon Uche Obiwulu 1 , Esa M. Yunus 2 , Fahmi Ibrahim 3 and Abu Samah Zuruzi 1,\***

Received: 17 January 2019; Accepted: 29 April 2019; Published: 7 May 2019

**Abstract:** This paper compares creativity experiences and perceptions among employees of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and students in higher education institutions (HEI) in Brunei Darussalam. The study was conducted through interactions and surveys to assess (i) understanding and practice of creative tools and techniques; (ii) creativity performance in teams and individuals and (iii) perception of creativity among 39 employees in SME and 68 students from HEI. Statistical analysis was carried out using Pearson's chi-square test for goodness of fit and Cramer's V test to estimate strength tests for correlation. The findings indicate a majority in both groups have not received prior instruction in creativity and that employees of SMEs have less interest in receiving creative instructions. There is consensus among both groups that group work will result in greater creative performance. Ambiguity of customer needs or requirement was a factor most often cited to impede creative performance of teams in SME. Results from this study were used to make recommendations to improve practice and learning creativity in SME and HEI.

**Keywords:** innovation; creative design; creativity education; knowledge acquisition; teamwork

#### **1. Introduction**

Successful industries and organizations depend on a culture of dynamic idea generation [1] and management of creative individuals. Organizations seek innovative design tools and best management techniques that will optimize value of their products and services. Managing individuals to build an economically dynamic enterprise requires skills and insights that challenge norms of an organization. Consequently, practices that reduce distractions and sharpen focus of creative workforce towards organizational goals are desired. The concept of creativity, associated with chaotic dynamism [2] at first glance, does not provide immediate support towards organizational goals. Hence, it receives passive attention and insufficient policy support necessary to foster its development even when creativity is recognized as fundamental to business success [3]. Traditional methods of conducting businesses are not sufficient to grow Brunei Darussalam's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Understanding, applying creative principles and processes, as well as design management strategies for the public and private industries are required. With increasing competition for survival and success, organizations cannot maintain a competitive edge by just reaching their target customers alone. Product functionality has to maintain robust design that serves current and future needs [4]. The skill to invent a new, or transform an existing, product, services, event, or phenomenon into a marketable and thriving design has been key for strategic innovation and product development. Products and services that attract customers, sustain and captivate their interests are built on a platform of consistent evolution. Hence, industries that are not vibrant enough to continually seek cutting-edge techniques to achieve their goals and drawn customers will be left behind. Furthermore, there are challenges from a social point of view. Creative products have to provide socially useful solutions to problems. However, usefulness may not be sufficient if the novelty element is crucial, without which a product would not be creative, even though it might be valuable [5].

In corporate environments, design managers oversee development of products and services and manage the innovation workflow. They also have significant role to play in managing the articulation of business strategy, system of product brands and service values, requiring continuous improvement for customer satisfaction [6], and these often involve the application of design thinking, advanced technology, as well as the management of creative specialists. Csikszentmihalyi [7] noted that creative specialists can be "both rebellious and conservative" and alternating between "smart and naivety" yet they are the driving force for the advancement of the organization. Behavioral imbalances, distractions, and inconsistences are the greater internal barriers towards optimizing creative design strategies. Therefore, identifying and applying the right creative tools to achieve the appropriate management techniques cannot be over emphasized. SMEs that stimulate and sustain a culture of creative thinking will have open innovation and continuous improvement [8].

#### **2. Key Literature Review**

#### *2.1. Definition of Creativity*

Open innovation is paramount for an organizational performance and survival [9]. Technology, globalization, and increased competition created an environment in which creativity tools are needed in order to cope with situational and economic pressures and frequent changes [10]. Creativity is defined as the ability to produce original, novel, and unexpected work with high quality [11]; since innovation is the implementation of new ideas [10], creativity sustains open innovation. Creativity has traditionally been seen involving the 'four Ps'; namely, person, process, product, and 'press', i.e., social context [12]. Creativity is also defined as a lead to something useful [13]. Recently, realization of creative products has received tremendous attention as it is claimed that "the only coherent way in which to view creativity is in terms of the production of valuable products" [14]. According to Cropley et al. [5], the idea of "product" should be understood in a broad way; products are often tangible and may take the form of written documents, or of machines, buildings and other physical structures such as bridges, vehicles and the like. They can also be intangible such as plans and strategies in business, government, and more general thoughts or ideas—systems for conceptualizing the world—as in philosophy and mathematics or, indeed, all reflective disciplines.

#### *2.2. How Creativity Works*

Neil et al. [15] identified preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification as four essential processes to creativity. They discussed challenges of generating innovative ideas towards solving continuously emerging problems in a complex environment and for conflict resolution. Three workshops were designed to encourage different types of creative thinking—explorative, combinatorial, and transformational [15]. The first workshop encourages exploratory creativity, in which participants explore the space of possible ideas to create new ones. Although similar to brainstorming, they encouraged analogical reasoning, common in creative domains, to generate new ideas. The incubation period is needed to handle complexities where participants are introduced to problems and challenges. During a relaxation period, participants unconsciously and consciously combine ideas with a freedom that does not follow linear and rational thinking. Subsequently, a creative

idea suddenly emerges as they illuminate on strategies and concepts, often at the most unlikely times. This "eureka" effect has been widely reported in creative problem solving [16,17]. It is a necessity to explain why creativity is difficult, so participants knew the challenges they faced. The study supported the hypothesis that creativity can be induced and sustained when inhibitions of participants are removed and they displayed teamwork [15]. Separating exploratory and transformational creativity processes and techniques in different workshops left some ideas underdeveloped. They avoided this by structuring workshops around ideas rather than processes.

#### *2.3. Stimulating Idea Generation Tools in Students of Higher Education Institutes*

Tan [18] combines the idea of teaching creativity with learning outcomes to students of Higher Education Institutes (HEI). Certain topics were mapped out for studying creativity. The purpose was to empower the students to explore new dimensions of thinking about aesthetics as manifested in different culture throughout the ages by reading and interpreting a variety of creative works and philosophies. However, traditional teaching methodologies such as reading, lecturing, testing, and memorizing were not considered useful because these activities were not being 'creative' [19]. The concept was to allow radial and non-linear questions, assuming one has the inherent ability for creativity rather than just learning to be creative, encouraging personal observation and conclusion without being judged. Participants were encouraged to discuss their learning in line with similar thriving industries and be able to identify strategies employed by the industries. The study shows that even individuals who have little prior knowledge of creative techniques can be motivated to develop novel initiatives.

#### *2.4. Individual Creativity and Team Work*

Organizations face problems today that are too complex for one individual or a mono-disciplinary team to solve [1,20]. Therefore, the past decade has seen an increase in the use of multi-functional collaborative teams by organizations [21]. In response to the increased focus on team work, many collaboration techniques and technology solutions have been developed to enable teams to work together productively. Team collaboration refers to the joint effort of members in achieving a goal. De Vreede et al. [22] explored antecedents of team creativity. A theoretical model called the Team Creativity Model (TCM) was employed to explain the constructs that affect team creativity. They began by introducing the nucleus of their research which was how individual creativity of one team member could be enhanced to impact the entire team. Every member was encouraged to make input without thinking that their ideas were silly or less useful. The study posits that when team productivity is seen as a whole rather than an individual input, it empowers members to have a sense of responsibility and achievement which in turn triggers more creative efforts. It is widely agreed that creativity can be acquired and influenced [1,23]. Each creativity session focused on idea generations. Team creativity occurs during a social process of sense-making and collaboration where one individual's actions may inspire the team to devise and follow a more creative process to address the problem at hand resulting in higher levels of creativity. The extent to which individual members of a team are capable of generating creative ideas will determine the creativity performance of the team as a whole. Furthermore, creative individuals and experts in particular, are less likely to have difficulties or be uncomfortable expressing themselves, even under less than optimal conditions [23]. Thus, if teams have higher proportion of creative individuals who are experts, such teams are more likely to have a high degree of team creativity. People who could look at problems with a neutral objective were better able to generate suitable techniques and dynamic approaches. Another characteristic that enable individuals to be creative is the capability to suspend judgment and use a wide range of categories while coming up with creative ideas [10].

Cross-functional team working within organizations is often portrayed as the key to creativity and success of organizations. There is ample evidence from psychological research on teamworking of how diverse range of individuals can create, through synergy, ideas which go beyond what any single individual could have produced on their own [24]. Similarly, in 'Knowledge Management' perspective, where there is an emphasis on knowledge creation and collaboration, interaction, and teamworking are seen to be crucial. For instance, the knowledge creation model developed by Newell et al. place significant emphasis on social process of dialogue and interaction [25]. In particular, dialogue and interaction occur over prolonged period so as to allow sharing of tacit knowledge which is essential for knowledge creation. The central idea is creativity develops from the *process*. The practice will add value to organization that has a culture of knowledge sharing where employees were driven to generate and share knowledge for the purpose of organizational improvement [26]. The employees are more motivated and willing to share their knowledge because they feel more valued for their intellectual capabilities and skills when they can see their contribution towards improvements in the organization.

 Creativity is also influenced by an individual's knowledge in his or her own discipline [19]. Expertise and domain knowledge have been found to be important contributors to creativity. Complete novices tend to be less creative at first but, as they gain knowledge, their creativity increases rapidly. The study concludes that trust, willingness to share knowledge and friendly atmosphere helps an individual to be open to share knowledge and strengthen the team. Encouraging openness at work makes it more likely a greater number of employees will feel be able to make suggestions for improvement and challenge existing practice without fear of being snapped at, ridiculed, or punished in some way [28].

While no data appeared to challenge the TCM or hint at other constructs [22], further data collection from organizations in different sectors or from cross-organizational collaborations is required to more broadly examine the extent to which the constructs of TCM can manifest when applied to SMEs.

#### *2.5. Strict Organizational Structure Can be an Inhibitor*

A prior report suggested the relationship between climate for creativity and organizational structure [29]. Innovation is the successful implementation of creative ideas within an organization. Creativity, per se, would not lead to innovation. It must be coupled with conducive organizational climate to enable successful innovations. The zeal to understand the dynamics and complexities in managing innovation is partly attributed to rapid growth of market changes and increased diversity of consumers' behaviors and needs [30]. The research notes that creativity and open innovation have higher significance among small firms or SMEs since they constitute the largest number of business entities in any country's economy. SMEs are seedbed of innovation and various measures should be taken to further stimulate innovation activities among the SMEs [29]. In order to compete with larger firms, SMEs need to become more innovative. Creative employees who are placed in productivity-driven organizations with formal structures, time constraints, strict regulations, daily similar tasks, standardized workplaces, etc., may not be stimulated to show the desired creative behavior [31]. As such, these employees are less likely to come up with new ideas for product or process innovation. Therefore, flatter structures and simplified reporting procedures tend to give new ideas a better chance of getting off the ground as they are less likely to become bogged down in red tape of the committee-bound reporting structure [28]. Creativity is less common in an inward-looking organization than one that is more outward oriented and it is the latter which is better placed to capitalize on new opportunities. Conversely, providing challenging and trusting climate has the highest correlation with innovation and indicates sufficient leeway, trust and opportunities encourage novel solutions to challenging problems [29,32]. Fundamental creativity issues were dealt with but did not provide avenue of idea excitation. SMEs are the seedbed for innovation and have the potential to compete with bigger firms innovatively when well informed [33].

#### *2.6. Conditions Surrounding SMEs in Brunei Darussalam*

Brunei Darussalam is a Malay Islamic monarchy and an independent sovereign sultanate. The country is located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in the South East Asia. The 2015 census estimated the population to be about 417,000. Brunei's economy is supported largely by exports from

crude oil and liquefied gas. Oil and gas accounts for 48% of economic output [34]. With the aim of reducing dependency on oil and gas, the government developed a diversification plan that cuts across all the sectors of the economy. This action plan is known as Vision 2035—locally known as "Wawasan 2035" in Malay—defines what the government wants the landscape of the country in the near future and helps it prepare society's mindset to meet challenges [35]. The vision encapsulates a nation which will be recognized for the accomplishment of her educated and highly skilled people measured by the highest international standard; maintaining quality of life that is among the top 10 nation in the world and a dynamic and sustainable economy. At the heart of the plan is development of Brunei's SMEs which contributes 58% of employment and 22% of GDP [34]. Table 1 shows the SME distribution. across all the sectors of the economy. This action plan is known as Vision 2035—locally known as "Wawasan 2035" in Malay—defines what the government wants the landscape of the country in the near future and helps it prepare society's mindset to meet challenges [35]. The vision encapsulates a nation which will be recognized for the accomplishment of her educated and highly skilled people measured by the highest international standard; maintaining quality of life that is among the top 10 nation in the world and a dynamic and sustainable economy. At the heart of the plan is development of Brunei's SMEs which contributes 58% of employment and 22% of GDP [34]. Table 1 shows the SME distribution.

*J. Open Innov. Technol. Mark. Complex.* **2019**, *5*, x FOR PEER REVIEW 5 of 14

**Table 1.** Percentage establishment of different SMEs in Brunei Darussalam. **Table 1.** Percentage establishment of different SMEs in Brunei Darussalam.

A total of 9302 registered business establishment in all sectors were reported in 2008, Figure 1 [34]. Out of these, 98.37% were active SMEs most of which are in the wholesaling and trading sector followed by those in the construction sector, mining, quarrying and manufacturing sector; community, social and personal services; and agriculture, forestry, and fishing, respectively [34]. One of primary focus of the Wawasan 2035 is to incorporate SMEs into regional and international markets [34,35]. A total of 9302 registered business establishment in all sectors were reported in 2008, Figure 1 [34]. Out of these, 98.37% were active SMEs most of which are in the wholesaling and trading sector followed by those in the construction sector, mining, quarrying and manufacturing sector; community, social and personal services; and agriculture, forestry, and fishing, respectively [34]. One of primary focus of the Wawasan 2035 is to incorporate SMEs into regional and international markets [34,35].

**Figure 1.** Distribution of SMEs across sectors in Brunei Darussalam. **Figure 1.** Distribution of SMEs across sectors in Brunei Darussalam.

#### **3. Research Methodology 3. Research Methodology**

The aim of this study is to determine whether the experiences and perspectives of employees in SME and students in HEI are similar. To do so, factors affecting individual and team creativity generation among employees of SMEs and students in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in Brunei Darussalam were investigated. Prior research work discussed in the Key Literature Review section clearly identified importance of learning creativity among students and employees in organizations. Furthermore, while recognizing the inherent creativity of individuals, creative processes are enhanced by interactions in teams. At the same time, there is an overwhelming number of SMEs in The aim of this study is to determine whether the experiences and perspectives of employees in SME and students in HEI are similar. To do so, factors affecting individual and team creativity generation among employees of SMEs and students in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in Brunei Darussalam were investigated. Prior research work discussed in the Key Literature Review section clearly identified importance of learning creativity among students and employees in organizations. Furthermore, while recognizing the inherent creativity of individuals, creative processes are enhanced by interactions in teams. At the same time, there is an overwhelming number of SMEs in Brunei Darussalam.

Brunei Darussalam. In light of key findings in the literature, data collection is focused on four key areas affecting In light of key findings in the literature, data collection is focused on four key areas affecting students in HEI and employees of SME, namely:

• Perception relating to creativity.

#### • Perception relating to creativity.

#### *3.1. Data Collection*

Data were collected through interviews and questionnaires from SME employees involved in the product design and development process and HEI students. Table 2 lists the job functions and level of study of HEI students.

**Table 2.** Job functions of SME employees (*n* = 39) and study program of HEI students (*n* = 68).

Questions were designed to gather information on the four key areas in Section 3. A total of 39 completed responses (*n* = 39) were obtained from employees of 10 micro, five small, and five large SME. Similarly, 68 completed responses (*n* = 68) were received from students enrolled in three universities and one technical institution. Students from HEIs were in their final year of study. This was done with the assumption that they have carried out at least one project during the course of their studies and so would be able to identify with the questions adequately.

Visits to SMEs were conducted to gather in-depth on state of creativity in these organizations. During these visits, interviews were conducted with employees of SMEs directly involved in product design and development. Identical questions were used, as much as possible, when interviewing all participating SMEs to ensure consistency. Interview questions were designed to gather information on overall picture of the company and interviewees responsibilities with respect to creativity, understanding of the applications of creativity and innovation in the company. More specific questions were designed to obtain information on creative tools and techniques available in the organization and how these tools are used to empower creative teams or specialists.

#### *3.2. Data Analysis*

Interviews and questionnaires conducted among employees of SME and student of HEI generated nominal data. Pearson's chi-square χ 2 test is used to determine goodness of fit between data sets from these two groups [36]. Pearson's chi-square test is selected as it is not only able to determine significance between nominal data sets but it can also provide information on which categories account for differences. This advantage allows for a richer analysis of data collected. In this study, the test was implemented on Microsoft-Excel software. The Pearson Chi-square test calculates χ 2 statistic through Equation (1):

$$\chi^2 = \sum\_{i=1}^{N} \left(\frac{O\_i - E\_i}{E\_i}\right)^2 \tag{1}$$

where:

χ 2 = Pearson's chi-square statistics

*Oj* = Number of observations of type *i*

*Ei* = Expected value of type *i*

*N* = Total number of observations

For any *i*-type and *j*-atttibute combinations, the expected value *Eij* is defined by Equation (2):

$$E\_{\rm ij} = Np\_{\rm i}p\_{\rm j} \tag{2}$$

where:

*pi* = Fraction of all observations of type *i*

*pj* = Fraction of all observations with attribute *j*

The sample sizes for employees of SME and students of HEI are 39 and 68, respectively. To determine if there is any difference between data sets of employees and students due to effects other than sample size, one of the data sets has to be linearly scaled to the sample size of the other. Scaling was done by multiplying 39 68 to values in the dataset from students to map to the sample size for SME employees. Pearson's chi-square test was implemented on transformed datasets from students. In this study, the *p*-value approach is used at a significance level of 0.05 adopted as a criterion. Since *p*-values for the chi-square statistic decrease with uniform sample size, the transformation essentially increases the likelihood of type I error.

The statistical strength of Pearson's chi-square analyses was assessed using Cramer's V test through Equation (3) [37]:

$$\Upsilon = \sqrt{\frac{\chi^2}{N(\kappa - 1)}}\tag{3}$$

where:

Υ = Cramer's V test statistics

κ = Number of rows or number of columns in the contingency table, whichever is less

#### **4. Results**

Employees in various SME organizations agree creativity is important to the success of their business and productivity. There was general agreement that to meet customer needs effectively, innovative strategy was needed. It was also agreed that it is essential staff understand and apply creative tools and techniques to solve emerging design development challenges. In addition, it is identified that the product development stage forms the basic stage of effectively satisfying the customer needs and companies experience the greatest challenge at this stage: namely, identifying the method of inquiry that help to gain clarity of what the customer needs, understanding technical thinking tools and design approach that lead to proper design mock up that will satisfy the needs. The two most common scenarios reported by SMEs were (i) the going back and forth when clients could not convey their design requirements and (ii) product specifications diverging from budgets; two factors which can be connected.

Our research shows these were the most frequently cited factors impeding creative processes during product development. Even though cost and time were factors, clarity of purpose ranked as the leading factor. A few companies have structures that help to resolve the challenge to a reasonable degree, while majority still struggle with it partly due to lack of experiences or lack of benchmark references. These factors are listed in Table 3. Each SME organization aspires to develop an innovative edge, and to possess and use techniques and tools of creativity. The interviews indicate interests by each SME to strengthen their capabilities on creativity and to apply creative tools and techniques among their staff more extensively.

#### *4.1. Understanding and Practice of Creative Tools and Techniques J. Open Innov. Technol. Mark. Complex.* **2019**, *5*, x FOR PEER REVIEW 8 of 14

Two questions in the survey attempt to shed light on the above aspect. Responses to the question are summarized below. Bar graphs compare types of responses and present the raw data and those expressed as a percentage of the group. *4.1. Understanding and Practice of Creative Tools and Techniques*  Two questions in the survey attempt to shed light on the above aspect. Responses to the question are summarized below. Bar graphs compare types of responses and present the raw data and those

#### *Qn A: Have you participated or received instruction on creative design and management?* expressed as a percentage of the group.

Figure 2 indicates a majority of employees of SME and students of HEI have not participated or received creative design and management. Results indicate 59% and 66% of Employee in SME and students in HEI, respectively, answered 'NO' to the question. In contrast, only 23% of employees in SME and 18% of students in HEI received some form of instruction. This suggests instructions in creative design and management are offered by HEI and SME for their students and employees, respectively, even though a majority of them have not received any instruction. *Qn A: Have you participated or received instruction on creative design and management?*  Figure 2 indicates a majority of employees of SME and students of HEI have not participated or received creative design and management. Results indicate 59% and 66% of Employee in SME and students in HEI, respectively, answered 'NO' to the question. In contrast, only 23% of employees in SME and 18% of students in HEI received some form of instruction. This suggests instructions in creative design and management are offered by HEI and SME for their students and employees,

**Figure 2.** Responses to a question asking whether participants have participated or received instruction on creative design and management. The numbers in parenthesis are percentages. **Figure 2.** Responses to a question asking whether participants have participated or received instruction on creative design and management. The numbers in parenthesis are percentages.

Figure 3 shows about a third of employees in SME organizations are interested to receive additional instruction and almost half of them are "Not sure". In contrast, 59% of HEI students replied they are interested, while about a third are "Not sure". The percentage of employees of SME not interested is more than twice that for students in HEIs. These observations suggest that additional instructions will receive a better response in HEIs than in SMEs. This could reflect organizational constraints in SME which is not present in HEIs. Figure 3 shows about a third of employees in SME organizations are interested to receive additional instruction and almost half of them are "Not sure". In contrast, 59% of HEI students replied they are interested, while about a third are "Not sure". The percentage of employees of SME not interested is more than twice that for students in HEIs. These observations suggest that additional instructions will receive a better response in HEIs than in SMEs. This could reflect organizational constraints in SME which is not present in HEIs.

**Figure 3.** Responses to a question asking whether participants are interested to received additional

*Qn C: Does group work result in superior creative performance relative to individual work?*

Responses to the question are summarized in Figure 4. An overwhelming majority in both employees of SME and students of HEI groups agree that group work resulted in superior creative output. In contrast, about a quarter of respondents indicated individual work resulted in superior creative performance. This observation reinforces contributions of teamwork dynamics on creativity

instruction in creativity. The numbers in parenthesis are percentages.

One question in the survey focusses on the above aspect:

*4.2. Creativity Performance in Teams and as an Individual*


**1. Introduction**

The concept of fuzzy soft sets was popularized by Maji et al. [1], in the combination of fuzzy sets (Zadeh [2]) and soft sets (Molodtsov [3], Maji [4] and Ali [5]). To analyze the real-life problems, different types of uncertainties have been evaluated with fuzzy soft sets [6] and it has wide range of applications to deal with parameterizations and granularity. By virtue of robustness of fuzzy soft set theory in dealing with uncertain data, many researchers serve to integrate it with inductive learning techniques for better results. In recent past, fuzzy sets, soft sets and fuzzy soft sets are applied to evaluate vagueness in decision makings [7–18], algebraic structures [19,20], medical diagnosis [21] and differential equations [22]. Some hybrid models of fuzzy soft sets have been introduced and applied in several fields [23,24].

In 1986, Atanassov proposed the intuitionistic fuzzy set (IFS) [25], which appears as an inclusion of non-compatibility value with fuzzy set [2]. Every value of IFS is referred to a compatibility, a non-compatibility and a hesitancy, which assign it more dynamics in dealing with imprecise

information. The initial aggregation instruments [26,27] on IFSs were introduced by Atanassov and Xu, and then applied in a various fields. The geometric [28], and arithmetic aggregation operators [27] have been studied in diverse fields and especially in multi-attribute decision making (MADM) problems in financial management, medical diagnosis, business and engineering designs [29–32].

IFSs with soft sets, that is, intuitionistic fuzzy soft sets (IFSSs) [33], are very instrumental and more realistic tools for uncertainty than fuzzy soft sets. As the dual-memberships structure of IFS allow marking hesitancy factors, the use of IFSSs in inductive learning techniques accounts for the degree of imprecision by assigning grades of compatibility and non-compatibility. In an inclusive way, several decision-making problems have been considered using IFSSs; some attempts are hybrid with intervals [34], multi-attributes [35] and nonlinear-programming [36]. Garg et al. [37,38] popularized aggregation operators on IFSSs and considered related decision-making methods. Several strategies are used to overcome the challenges of granularity and vagueness. Despite there being the applicability of IFSSs in diverse fields, an opinion of an expert who implicitly exercises his assessments on parameters of an IFSS is needed. On this motivation, Agarwal et al [39], who popularized generalized intuitionistic fuzzy soft set (GIFSS) by including assessment of a moderator on parameters, thus validating and supporting the information. Thus, the accumulation of generalized parameter can reduce possibility of errors which are occur due to imprecise data.

Although the definition of GIFSS in [39] is useful to tackle imprecise data, some difficulties appear in several notions [40,41]. Altogether, the assertions in [39] have been pointed out and a novel definition of GIFSS was established by Feng et al. [42]. They presented several operations and developed related multi-attribute decision-making methods by introducing operators on GIFSSs. On this prospect, a practical application of GIFSS for design concept evaluation was proposed by Hayat et al. [43]. Even though GIFSSs are applicable in diverse fields, sometimes assessments of more than one prospectors are needed in various problems. Thus, we consider the problem of validation of the notion of group-based GIFSS (GGIFSS) [44,45], and introduce a novel definition of GGIFSS, which is the generalization of the notion of GIFSS in [42]. Further, some basic properties are validated and aggregation instruments are proposed to determine the industrial applicability of GGIFSSs. Usually, an accurate aggregation process recommends the nature of MCDM model, which aggregates interdependent information and behaves in a linear manner. The prospect of proposing group-based generalized weighted averaging and geometric operators (hereafter, GBGWA and GBGWG) is to contemplate the information together with the influence of mathematical operations on GGIFSSs. The advantages of the given framework are to contemplate the prospector's demands or experts' judgments in an incorporated way such that establishing more operators constitutes the design concept of the evaluation mechanism of GGIFSSs.The results presented in this paper can be studied in several fields, such as electrical engineering, industrial designs, and construction engineering, as estimation of risk factors in risk management is a complex tasks.

The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 introduce basic concepts and notations. Section 3 clarify and redefine the notion of GGIFSS. Section 4 give operations on GGIFSSs, and introduce GBGWA(GBGWG) operators and related properties. Section 5 put forward the aggregation instruments of GGIFSSs into algorithm and discuss two different case studies. We present the comparison and benefits of method in Section 6. Advantages and superiorities are given in Section 7. Section 8 provide the conclusions of the paper.


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**1. Introduction**

of the behaviour.

1984; Ragge & Reynolds, 1998).

**3**

*1Spain 2Uruguay*

**The Acoustic Behaviour as a Tool for**

**Case of the** *Rhammatocerus* **Species**

**Inhabiting Uruguay (Orthoptera,**

*1Área de Zoología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Murcia, 2Sección de Entomología, Departamento de Biología Animal,*

Species diversity does have a pivotal role in the study and perception of biodiversity (Boero, 2010). One of the goals of Zoology is the study of the animal diversity, that is, the animal species, and Taxonomy is one of the basic disciplines to achieve it. Currently, biodiversity research requires a multidisciplinary approach (Boero, 2009), many different disciplines being involved, such as morphology, molecular biology, ecology, ethology…, that provide new characteristics to be considered. The study of biodiversity should proceed with the contribution of integrative taxonomy (Boero, 2010), taking into account, in addition to the traditional taxonomy, other disciplines of great utility, such as the study

In this context, behaviour and sounds are relevant characteristics to discover new taxa (Valdecasas, 2011). Sound production in insects is widespread and has been recorded in different orders. It is involved in different behaviours, the most important of which are defence against predators, aggression and mating or sexual behaviour. Four types of senses are used by insects in their sexual behaviour: tactile, visual, chemosensory and acoustics. The acoustic sense is that generally have received more attention, this stimulus is often heard by humans and their production involves the movement of specialized structures that can be seen, usually directly. The types of sounds produced and producing mechanisms can be framed primarily in three categories: stridulation, vibration and percussion. The sounds of insects have been classified in the context of behaviour in several types: call or proclamation, courtship, aggregation, aggression, mating and sounds of interaction (Lewis,

**Acrididae, Gomphocerinae)**

María-Eulalia Clemente1, Estrellita Lorier2, María-Dolores García1 and Juan-José Presa1

*Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República,*

**Biodiversity and Phylogenetic Studies:**

Yamashita, N.; Stoner, K.E.; Riba-Hernández, P.; Dominy, N.J. & Lucas, P.W. (2005). Light levels used during feeding by primate species with different colour vision phenotypes. *Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology*, Vol.58, No.6, pp. 618-629, ISSN 1045-2249


**1. Introduction**

In semiconductor technology, doping is a process that introduces delicately controlled amounts of impurities (called dopants) into an intrinsic semiconductor to modify its electrical, optical, and structural properties significantly. The intrinsic semiconductors are pure semiconductors without impurities (typical semiconductors of group IV in the periodic table: Si and Ge), in which the number of excited electrons equals the number of holes. In the doping process, a dopant is added, which could play a role as either a donor to contribute an electron or an acceptor to create a hole with the semiconductor crystal that respectively generates two types of semiconductors: n-type and p-type. The dopants belonging to group III, such as boron (B), aluminum (Al), gallium (Ga), and indium (In), are referred to as acceptors for p-type semiconductors. Moreover, group V elements, including phosphorus (P), arsenic (As), antimony (Sb), bismuth (Bi), and lithium (Li), are donors to contribute free electrons in n-type semiconductors. Boron is a p-type dopant with only three electrons in its valence shell. During the boron incorporation process into the silicon crystal, the one atom of boron can bond with four silicon atoms. Still, since boron only has three free electrons to provide, a hole is created. This hole acts like a positive charge, so boron-doped (B-doped) semiconductors are referred to as p-type semiconductors (**Figure 1a**). In the p-type semiconductors, the holes, like the positive charge, attract

**Figure 1.** *Schematic of (a) boron-doped silicon, (b) an ion implanter, and (c) ion penetration path into a silicon substrate.*

electrons. But when an electron moves into a hole, the electron leaves a new hole in the previous position. Thus, in a boron-doped semiconductor, the holes constantly move around inside the crystal as electrons continuously try to fill them. This appears like the moving of the positive carrier.

The unstoppable development of electronic technology demands the detailed design and effective performance of microelectronics. The formation of shallow and low resistivity junctions is required for contact resistance reduction and leakage current consideration. The precise control of dimension and dopant concentration of source/drain region to achieve a high shallow doping efficiency is crucial for junction fabrication [1–3]. Shallow doping could create doped layers with depths ranging about dozens of nanometers. It required low-energy ions for implantation by considering thermal redistribution [4]. At low energy, the penetrated navigation of ions was mainly directed along crystalline channels rather than moving randomly into semiconductors [5]. Boron is one of the essential dopants for shallow doping in silicon because of its good diffusivity [3].

Boron doping has grabbed attention for several decades. Studies can be classified as ion implantation, solid-phase doping, monolayer doping, and other methods such as sputtering and chemical solution mixing. These techniques are used widely in semiconductor technology. This chapter studied the characteristics of widely used and recently developing methods, such as monolayer doping, by showing the advantages and disadvantages of these doping techniques to give an overall sight of the doping methodology of boron, so it is easier to choose and use suitable doping techniques to meet a specific requirement in further boron-doping application.


*Editorial* **A Review of Process Systems Engineering (PSE) Tools for the Design of Ionic Liquids and Integrated Biorefineries**

**Nishanth G. Chemmangattuvalappil 1,\* and Denny K. S. Ng 2**

Over the years, the global process industry is continually improving in product development and process performances. One of the areas is to identify more sustainable products and processes to manufacture products. Process Systems Engineering (PSE) tools have been instrumental in developing optimal processes and identifying better products based on different functions. With the development of novel tools, new sources of chemicals and alternative processing routes for producing products have been identified in the last few decades. Two of the most promising areas that possess the potential to provide optimal products through non-traditional processes are the integrated bio-refineries and ionic liquids. While the potential of these areas are obvious, commercial applications of these areas are still not completely explored, and PSE tools have been instrumental in the transition from the laboratory scale to the industrial scale [1]. Therefore, this Special Issue "Process Systems Engineering (PSE) Tools for the Design of Ionic Liquids and Integrated Biorefineries" makes an effort towards introducing the latest developments in these research areas to the scientific community by inviting research contributions from the top researchers in this field.

Most recently, climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions, especially carbon dioxide (CO2), has been a major concern of the society. Therefore, various research works have been developed to reduce CO2. One of the topics of focus is carbon capture, storage, and utilization. To reduce CO2 from emissions, the number of conventional solvents is currently being used in the absorption systems of CO2. However, most of these processes suffer from issues such as solvent loss, environmental pollutions, and high energy regeneration, which also contributes to environmental issues. To address this issue, naturally occurring deep eutectic solvent (NADES) constituents have been studied using both experimental and Density Functional Theory [2]. NADES is found to possess most of the desirable attributes needed for CO2 capture solvents. This work also has the potential to be extended into novel solvent design via NADES for different gases.

On the other hand, it has been recognized that ionic liquids can replace several conventional solvents in the absorption of CO2 due to their tunability and environmentally benign nature. However, the lack of availability of experimental data and the high cost of ionic liquids are still major challenges to their application in the commercial scale1. In addition, the toxicity of ionic liquid is also an important factor to be considered to justify their selection over other conventional solvents. The work by Wang et al. [3] proposed an integrated approach between machine learning and computer-aided molecular design for identifying suitable ionic liquids for various applications. In the proposed approach, machine learning tools such as feedforward neural network (FNN) and support vector machine (SVM) algorithms were used to develop toxicity predictive models. It was found that the FNN-based models have a higher predictive power than SVM-based models. These models can also be incorporated into computer-aided molecular design to identify ionic

**Citation:** Nishanth G.

Chemmangattuvalappil and Denny K. S. Ng A Review of Process Systems Engineering (PSE) Tools for the Design of Ionic Liquids and Integrated Biorefineries. *Processes* **2022**, *10*, 2244. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/pr10112244

Received: 10 June 2022 Accepted: 13 July 2022 Published: 1 November 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

liquids with desirable properties and less toxicity. We highlight that this approach can also illustrate the growing potential and role of machine learning applications in PSE.

Other than focusing on the removal of CO2 from the end of pipe treatment in stack gas, etc., the replacement of fossil fuels with renewable sources such as biomass can also reduce CO2 significantly. Biomass, in this work, refers to the organic materials that can be produced from agriculture products (i.e., energy crops) and wastes (i.e., rice husk, palm kernel shell, etc.), and it has been widely recognized as one of the most important renewable energy resources that reduces greenhouse gas emissions. An integrated bio-refinery is a processing facility that can convert biomass into multiple value-added products. It is extremely important to explore the potential of various biomass feedstocks for producing various products via integrated technologies. Said et al. [4] presented the potential of Napier grass to produce syngas through gasification. As reported in Said et al. [4], it was found that this energy crop has comparably high heating values and very high volatile matter, which has high potential for further investigation. Therefore, further exploring the possibility of scale up the gasification technology for practical applications is recommended.

The number of conceptual studies on the potential to produce value-added products in integrated biorefineries has also been explored recently and some of these works covered in this Special Issue. Lee et al. [5] developed a two-stage optimization approach that can identify the optimal product that can be produced from an integrated bio-refinery through a green pathway. A computer-aided molecular design approach is adapted to identify the optimal product, whereas a multi-objective optimization approach considers the economic, environmental, energy, and yield targets for production. It is noted that the bi-oil produced from biomass typically possesses poor properties such as low heating values, high viscosity, and non-homogeneity. To upgrade the bio-oil, one of the cheaper practical approaches is to blend the bio-oil with a solvent. However, the selection of solvent that can be used to upgrade bio-fuel must be based on both the functionalities and also on the cost. There are a number of solvents that have been developed for these purposes in the past. However, such specialty chemicals limit their practical applicability. To render the bio-oil solvent blend suitable for practical applications, a cost model has been integrated within a computer-aided molecular design framework [6]. The identified blends have the best economic potential to be used as fuel for real applications. We note that the final blend must be a homogeneous mixture, and a phase stability analysis was also performed in this work.

Another typical challenge encountered in the management of biomass is to synthesize an optimal supply chain of biomass resources to powerplants that can generate energy from biomass. In this Special Issue, a graphical method has been developed based on an established insight-based approach (Pinch Analysis) for the allocation of biomass to meet the demand of each powerplant [7]. Even though this approach is developed for palmbased biomass, the methodology is also applicable for other types of biomasses. A more complex scenario where the design and comparison of centralized versus decentralized bio-refining options has been performed [8]. This is a critical decision because the biorefineries are generally small in size and the centralized options are not always the most profitable. The formulation of this optimization problem considerers several objectives such as economic, environmental, and safety aspects. This has been formulated as a multiobjective optimization problem to compare different scenarios for different performance targets. This work also proposes various future research directions that consider a more thorough environmental impact analysis, operational challenges, and uncertainty.

The effect of process intensification is another interesting area to be explored for higher profitability and a reduction in environmental impacts. The integration of both centralized and decentralized bio-refineries with other infrastructures can be considered for additional benefits by applying the concept of industrial symbiosis [8]. It has also been observed that the hydrothermal liquefaction process integrated with kraft mills can significantly mitigate CO2 emissions [9]. The reduction is due to the replacement of fossil fuels with biofuels and produce biochar for sequestration. With such strategies, significant CO2 emission reductions can be achieved when compared with the conventional process. An

in-depth analysis of the processing conditions may further increase the benefits in these processes. In this issue, a new application of synthesis of integrated flower waste biorefinery is presented [10]. A superstructure approach is adapted to screen process alternatives to valorize flower waste into value added products. Multi-objective optimization approach (fuzzy optimization) is used to trade-off different objectives (maximize economic potential with minimum environmental impacts [10].

Based on the publications in this Special Issue, it can be seen that several promising technologies and novel products have been proposed by the PSE research community. The current work in this area focusses on incorporating more parameters related to cost, environmental impacts, uncertainty, operability, and scaled-up considerations. Considering the enormous interest in this field in the recent years, there is a very high potential for a higher industrial involvement based on the research output in these fields.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, D.K.S.N. and N.G.C.; methodology, D.K.S.N. and N.G.C.; software, D.K.S.N. and N.G.C.; validation, D.K.S.N.; formal analysis, N.G.C.; investigation, D.K.S.N. and N.G.C.; resources, D.K.S.N. and N.G.C.; data curation, D.K.S.N. and N.G.C.; writing—original draft preparation, N.G.C.; writing—review and editing, D.K.S.N.; visualization, D.K.S.N. and N.G.C.; supervision, D.K.S.N. and N.G.C.; project administration, D.K.S.N. and N.G.C.; funding acquisition, D.K.S.N. and N.G.C. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**

*Review*


**6. Renewables** *vs* **traditional sources**

By the end of the 21st century, it is accepted that we will no longer be using crude oil as a primary source of energy, as a consequence of its depletion. However, the coal situation is different. The reserves are large and will remain widely available for a long time, perhaps even for a century. Unfortunately, this source is both highly polluting and not so efficient. Similarly, natural gas will be available in larger quantities than the crude oil reserves, even considering that some of its reserves remain unknown. It will remain available as a primary source of energy even until the turn of the century. The conversion of natural resources into energy, mainly into electricity, is a matter of crucial importance within this context of changing the global energy paradigm.

With regard to the impact of different energy sources on economic growth, there seems to be a dichotomy between the effects that are caused by the use of renewable and traditional sources, which include fossil and nuclear sources. Both oil and natural gas stimulate economic growth in the period and countries considered, in line with what has been pointed out by the literature (e.g. Yoo, 2006) and with *the growth hypothesis*. The effect of coal on economic growth is statistically weaker than the other fossil fuels and, when statistically significant, this source of energy constrains economic growth.

Among the fossil fuels, oil is the source that has mostly contributed to economic growth. Given that the productive structures of the industrialised nations, such as those under review here, which are highly dependent on the intensive use of internal combustion engines, this effect was expected. Natural gas also has a positive effect on economic growth, although this source of energy has been particularly significant in recent years. This is due not only to the advances concerning the discovery of new reserves, but also to the considerable increase in the network of natural gas pipelines. At the same time, the combined cycle plants, which use mainly natural gas as fuel, have been used to guarantee electricity supply within the RE development strategy. This fact has contributed to stimulating the development of this energy source. It is a cleaner source, and is considered the transition source from fossil fuels to renewable sources.

Although the fact that RE limit economic growth is an unexpected result, it is one that deserves deep reflection in this chapter. Policy makers should be made aware of the global impacts of policies promoting the use of renewables. At first glance, the development of renewables should have everything to make it a resoundingly successful strategy. With this strategy, it would be possible to fight global warming, reduce energy dependency (not only economic but also geo-political), create sustainable jobs and develop a whole renewables cluster. What these results suggest is that the effects of renewables are more normative than real, i.e., the results are far from what they should be. Indeed, the development of renewables has been supported in public policies that substantially burden the final price of electricity available for final consumption to economic agents. At the same time, the productive structures of the countries are still heavily dependent on fossil-based technologies, such as internal combustion engines. Their conversion towards other technologies is a slow and expensive path.