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Books > Business & Economics > Business & management > Management of specific areas > Research & development management
Originally published in 1993, this book contains 4 studies on Asia: Bangladesh, India, South Korea and Sri Lanka. The studies reflect 4 different patterns of technological transformation. India, with its large populaiton has made considerable progress but its overall development has been slow until recently. At the other extreme, South Korea which had a very low per capita income in the 1950s registered a quantum leap in technological transformation within a short span of 30 years. The heritage of Bangladesh's past has constrained its progress in overcoming structural weaknesses but in comparison, Sri Lanka displays a very different pattern. The sources used draw upon research in development economics, economic history, technology and studies in general and country studies in particular.
Originally published in 1973 this book discusses whether the ordinary manager can exploit the power of computers without being overwhelmed by them, a question which still has enduring relevance today. As well as discussing the massive resources which computers put at our fingertips, the pitfalls are also discussed: the danger of using computers as a scapegoat for human failure, or of sub-contracting mangerial decisions to a computer system.
Originally published in 1985 this book looks at the way in which some businesses in high technology manufacturing industry have organised their structures and processes in order to manage product innovation effectively. Including detailed case studies of both British and American companies, the book gives examples of both effective and less effective practices. The author puts forward a general framework of good practice for the benefit of both practitioners and business studies students.
Originally published in 1987, this book explores the history and geography of the computer industry in Britain and the evolution of the market leader firms, STC ICL and IBM (UK). It also examines the rising rate of new firm formation in the 1980s and the technology policies adopted by successive governments and analyses how well the industry is placed to cope with the challenges of technological change and increased international competition.
Originally published in 1967 and the result of extensive interviews and case studies, this book examines the implications of technical change. Although focussed on the early introduction of computers the kinds of problems discussed in this book are found in technical change more widely and the book therefore continues to have enduring relevance. The book is divided into three parts - an attitude survey of the administrative staff in departments affected by the introduction of computers, a study of the mechanisms of change and a second survey and re-examination of departmental organisation and work flow.
An interactive guide to the statistical tools used to solve problems during product and process innovation End to End Data Analytics for Product Development is an accessible guide designed for practitioners in the industrial field. It offers an introduction to data analytics and the design of experiments (DoE) whilst covering the basic statistical concepts useful to an understanding of DoE. The text supports product innovation and development across a range of consumer goods and pharmaceutical organizations in order to improve the quality and speed of implementation through data analytics, statistical design and data prediction. The book reviews information on feasibility screening, formulation and packaging development, sensory tests, and more. The authors - noted experts in the field - explore relevant techniques for data analytics and present the guidelines for data interpretation. In addition, the book contains information on process development and product validation that can be optimized through data understanding, analysis and validation. The authors present an accessible, hands-on approach that uses MINITAB and JMP software. The book: - Presents a guide to innovation feasibility and formulation and process development - Contains the statistical tools used to solve challenges faced during product innovation and feasibility - Offers information on stability studies which are common especially in chemical or pharmaceutical fields - Includes a companion website which contains videos summarizing main concepts Written for undergraduate students and practitioners in industry, End to End Data Analytics for Product Development offers resources for the planning, conducting, analyzing and interpreting of controlled tests in order to develop effective products and processes.
Originally published in 1992, this study looks at the ways in which company and campus can co-operate to spread the risk and cost of research. It analyses joint ventures in an international context, focusing particularly on the USA, France and Japan, comparing their management strategies with the UK in a variety of industries. It discusses issues such as the brain drain and the growth of science parks, looking at the most succesful industrial policies. With its focus on technology transfer, joint ventures and strategic management this book will appeal to the practising manager as well as the academic.
This book combines various analyses of strategic priorities in a competitive market environment, focusing on the balanced scorecard technique, but also considering customer expectations, organizational requirements, financial outcomes and technological infrastructures. The first part explores the financial impacts and performance measurement of investments, while the second part examines customer demand in a globalized environment. Part three then addresses organizational quality and internal processes, highlighting participatory elements and synergies. Lastly, part four investigates strategic learning in enterprises as a factor for sustainable economic success in times of change and disruption.
The emergence of new platform business models, notably the sharing economy, is impacting the economy in various ways, altering the structure of many industries, and raising a number of economic and political issues. This book investigates the widespread influence of the sharing economy on businesses and society, as well as examining its underpinning economic principles and development. This volume presents an exhaustive review of the existing knowledge on the sharing economy and addresses several major areas of concern for incumbent businesses. It also explains the business models for those who are interested in embarking on their own ventures and provides an excellent source for further research. It takes an in-depth look at controversial labour policies, such as using labour as self-employed contractors or using regulatory grey areas to expand in markets. It is highly multidisciplinary, establishing links between economics, finance, marketing and consumer behaviour. This contribution on the sharing economy will enable researchers and graduate and doctoral students to expand and improve their understanding of this topic and identify new research problems in all of these areas. The book will also appeal to policy makers, regional and local government decision makers, and those interested in labour markets transformation.
"Everybody loves an innovation, an idea that sells." But how do we arrive at such ideas that sell? And is it possible to learn how to become an innovator? Over the years Design Thinking - a program originally developed in the engineering department of Stanford University and offered by the two D-schools at the Hasso Plattner Institutes in Stanford and in Potsdam - has proved to be really successful in educating innovators. It blends an end-user focus with multidisciplinary collaboration and iterative improvement to produce innovative products, systems, and services. Design Thinking creates a vibrant interactive environment that promotes learning through rapid conceptual prototyping. In 2008, the HPI-Stanford Design Thinking Research Program was initiated, a venture that encourages multidisciplinary teams to investigate various phenomena of innovation in its technical, business, and human aspects. The researchers are guided by two general questions: 1. What are people really thinking and doing when they are engaged in creative design innovation? How can new frameworks, tools, systems, and methods augment, capture, and reuse successful practices? 2. What is the impact on technology, business, and human performance when design thinking is practiced? How do the tools, systems, and methods really work to get the innovation you want when you want it? How do they fail? In this book, the researchers take a system's view that begins with a demand for deep, evidence-based understanding of design thinking phenomena. They continue with an exploration of tools which can help improve the adaptive expertise needed for design thinking. The final part of the book concerns design thinking in information technology and its relevance for business process modeling and agile software development, i.e. real world creation and deployment of products, services, and enterprise systems.
This edited monograph presents a selection of research contributions on eco-factories of the future. The topical focus lies on cutting-edge solutions from academia and industry that enable and support companies in their efforts towards sustainable manufacturing. The authors provide an overview over recent developments, aiming at a comprehensive understanding of eco- and cost-efficient manufacturing from machine to factory level. The solutions contributed by leading research institutions and companies have been mostly implemented and evaluated in industrial pilot projects across Europe. The methodological approaches cover topics such as factory planning, manufacturing simulation, energy management as well as life cycle evaluation. The target audience comprises industry experts and decision makers as well as researchers in the field of sustainable manufacturing.
gricultural science policy in the United States has profoundly affected the growth and development of agriculture worldwide, not just in the A United States. Over the past 150 years, and especially over the second th half of the 20 Century, public investments in agricultural R&D in the United States grew faster than the value of agricultural production. Public spending on agricultural science grew similarly in other more-developed countries, and c- lectively these efforts, along with private spending, spurred agricultural prod- tivity growth in rich and poor nations alike. The value of this investment is seldom fully appreciated. The resulting p- ductivity improvements have released labor and other resources for alternative uses-in 1900, 29. 2 million Americans (39 percent of the population) were - rectly engaged in farming compared with just 2. 9 million (1. 1 percent) today- while making food and fiber more abundant and cheaper. The benefits are not confined to Americans. U. S. agricultural science has contributed with others to growth in agricultural productivity in many other countries as well as the Un- ed States. The world's population more than doubled from around 3 billion in 1961 to 6. 54 billion in 2006 (U. S. Census Bureau 2009). Over the same period, production of important grain crops (including maize, wheat and rice) almost trebled, such that global per capita grain production was 18 percent higher in 2006.
This book provides a historical inquiry into the quantification of needs in humanitarian assistance. Needs are increasingly seen as the lowest common denominator of humanity. Standard definitions of basic needs, however, set a minimalist version of humanity - both in the sense that they are narrow in what they compare, and that they set a low bar for satisfaction. The book argues that we cannot understand humanitarian governance if we do not understand how humanitarian agencies made human suffering commensurable across borders in the first place. The book identifies four basic elements of needs: As a concept, as a system of classification and triage, as a material apparatus, and as a set of standards. Drawing on a range of archival sources, including the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF), and the Sphere Project, the book traces the concept of needs from its emergence in the 1960s right through to the present day, and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's call for "evidence-based humanitarianism." Finally, the book assesses how the international governmentality of needs has played out in a recent humanitarian crisis, drawing on field research on Central African refugees in the Cameroonian borderland in 2014-2016. This important historical inquiry into the universal nature of human suffering will be an important read for humanitarian researchers and practitioners, as well as readers with an interest in international history and development.
Modelling Transitions shows what computational, formal and data-driven approaches can and could mean for sustainability transitions research, presenting the state-of-the-art and exploring what lies beyond. Featuring contributions from many well-known authors, this book presents the various benefits of modelling for transitions research. More than just taking stock, it also critically examines what modelling of transformative change means and could mean for transitions research and for other disciplines that study societal changes. This includes identifying a variety of approaches currently not part of the portfolios of transitions modellers. Far from only singing praise, critical methodological and philosophical introspection are key aspects of this important book. This book speaks to modellers and non-modellers alike who value the development of robust knowledge on transitions to sustainability, including colleagues in congenial fields. Be they students, researchers or practitioners, everyone interested in transitions should find this book relevant as reference, resource and guide.
Value-creation in Middle Market Private Equity by John A. Lanier holistically examines the ecosystem relationships between middle market private equity firms and their portfolio companies. Small business is the job creating engine in the US economy, and consequently is a prime target market for private equity investment. Indeed, private equity backs over six of each 100 private sector jobs. Both the small businesses in which private equity firms invest, and the private equity firms making the investments, face inter- and intra-company fiduciary leadership challenges while implementing formulated strategy. The architecture of each private equity firm-portfolio company relationship must be uniquely crafted to capitalize on the projected return on investment that is memorialized in the investment thesis. Given the leveraged capital structure of portfolio companies, the cost of a misstep is problematic. Individual private equity professionals are typically members of multiple investment teams for the firm. Not only may each investment team have its own unique leadership style, but its diverse members have to assimilate styles for each team in which they participate relative to a specific portfolio company. Acquisitions and their subsequent integrations add exponential complexity for both private equity investment and portfolio company leadership teams; indeed, cultural integration ranks among the most chronic acquisition obstacles. Accordingly, the stakeholders of private equity transactions do well to embrace leadership best practices in applying value-creation toolbox best practices. The perspectives of both the private equity investment team and the portfolio company leadership team are within the scope of these chapters.
The question of whether we can foster growth and innovation while promoting individual freedoms poses a challenge for everyone studying and working on innovation and development policies. Whilst innovation literature is largely dominated by a focus on efficiency, development literature tends to focus on equality and pays less attention to mechanisms fostering economic and social change. This book aims to move beyond these barriers and to identify development policies that foster both efficiency and equality, exploring the connection between innovation policies and the improvement of individual freedoms. Capabilities, Innovation and Economic Growth argues that we can answer these questions by focusing on the relation between Amartya Sen's human development approach and the Neo-Schumpeterian analysis of innovation systems. After considering the connections between the two schools of thought and the way they enrich each other's perspectives, chapters go on to show how policy can support virtuous circles in which innovation, human development and economic growth interact and mutually reinforce each other. This is undertaken through the descriptive analysis and the empirical testing of a sample of nations and European regions. The volume concludes with an exploration of the contribution that the capabilities approach can give to the design of innovation policy, and with the analysis of macroeconomic policies favorable to innovation and human development. This will be essential reading for: students and academic economists interested in development, growth and innovation; policy makers and officers in charge of defining development and innovation plans at national and regional level; and consultants and managers in development agencies implementing innovation and development projects.
This proceedings presents the papers from Urb-IoT 2018 - 3rd EAI International Conference on IoT in Urban Space, which took place in Guimaraes, Portugal on 21-22 November 2018. The conference aims to explore the emerging dynamics within the scope of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the new science of cities.The papers discuss fusion of heterogeneous urban sources, understanding urban data using machine learning and mining techniques, urban analytics, urban IoT infrastructures, crowd sourcing techniques, incentification and gamification, urban mobility and intelligent transportation systems, real time urban information systems, and more. The proceedings discuss innovative technologies that navigate industry and connectivity sectors in transportation, utility, public safety, healthcare, and education. The authors also discuss the increasing deployments of IoT technologies and the rise of the so-called 'Sensored Cities'' which are opening up new avenues of research opportunities towards that future.
This book assesses the interconnectedness of democracy and economic development. It concentrates on how to conceptualize and to measure democracy and quality of democracy in global comparison. The author makes the argument that a quality-of-democracy understanding based on sustainable development relates crucially with economic growth, but more so with economic development. The empirical macro-model focuses on approximately over hundred countries (in a world model) and covers about a fourteen-year period of 2002-2015, identifying the following basic dimensions as being relevant for further analysis: freedom, equality, control, sustainable development, and self-organization (political self-organization). Readers will appreciate the global perspective the work offers.
This book discusses several product development strategies and tools employed by organizations around the world to implement frugal innovations. Over the past decade, frugal innovations have caught the attention of countless management scholars. This book comes at the right time for academics and practitioners alike, as it explores how the concept of frugal innovation has evolved over the past several years and is shifting its focus from merely featuring 'cost' driven innovations to being more 'resourceful' and 'sustainable' at its core. Furthermore, in light of the ongoing digital revolution and emergence of new business models such as sharing economy and circular economy, the book highlights recent and upcoming trends and their impacts on frugal innovation strategies.
Social Inclusion and Usability of Innovative ICT-enabled Services is a cutting-edge research book written for researchers, students, academics, technology experts, activists and policy makers. The book explores a wide range of issues concerning innovative ICT-enabled digital services, their usability and their consequent role in social inclusion, It includes the impacts of the use of ICT-enabled digital services on individuals, organisations, governments and society, and offers a theoretically informed and empirically rich account of the socio-technical, management and policy aspects of social inclusion and innovative ICT-enabled digital services. This publication offers insights from the perspectives of Information Systems, Media and Communications, Management and Social Policy, drawing on research from these disciplines to inform readers on diverse aspects of social inclusion and usability of innovative ICT-enabled digital services. The originality of this book lies in the combination of socio-technical, management and policy perspectives offered by the contributors, and integrated by the editors, as well as in the interdisciplinary and both theoretically framed and empirically rich features of the various chapters of the book. While providing a timely account of existing evidence and debates in the field of social inclusion and technology usability, this book will also offer some original insights into what practitioners, experts and researchers are to expect in the near future to be the emerging issues and agendas concerning the role of technology usability in social inclusion and the emerging forms and attributes of the latter. Through a collection of high quality, peer reviewed papers; Social Inclusion and Usability of Innovative ICT-enabled Services will enhance knowledge of social inclusion and usability of innovative ICT-enabled digital services and applications at a diver
Customers are increasingly seeking "low-cost, high-quality" or what is known as frugal products that meet the buyer's needs while reducing the associated cost of ownership. This book examines the developing principles and theories of frugal innovations across the globe. The authors identify frugal innovation (FI) using a multi-method approach to data analysis. They argue that the concept of frugality as a societal/ethical value has undergone several changes and propose a differentiated model of frugal innovations. They address frugal innovations that have never been accessible to the public. Hands-on case studies across various industry sectors and countries, supported by theory, provide multiple learning opportunities. The authors explore the relationship between FI and digitalisation and technology, and discuss how FI can be applied in the context of contemporary issues such as food security. Further, they articulate the mechanisms by which FI beliefs and values can be incorporated into organisational culture. The final chapters address both ethical and controversial views of frugal innovation. The book is a valuable resource for students in business courses, for industry professionals wanting to improve their triple bottom line, and for educators wanting to influence and change the mindsets of the younger generations to effectively deal with today's and tomorrow's challenges.
Crowdfunding is emerging as a new source of financing for creativity and innovation. It promotes the launching and scaling of new projects for different types of creators by providing networked platforms and handy digital tools. This book provides insight into crowdfunding and how crowdfunding contributes to our communities and society. The book includes an overview of existing discussions across different disciplines, i.e. entrepreneurship, information systems, marketing, and correlates the literature to the best crowdfunding practices. The book begins with origins, basic notions, and antecedents of crowdfunding. In the main parts, it demonstrates the five distinguished facets of crowdfunding: Creativity, diversity, balance, connection, and change. It also addresses the drawbacks of crowdfunding and subsequent outcomes of crowdfunding success. Finally, it provides a perspective on the future of crowdfunding.
This book aims to meet the needs of education and training in modern techniques of innovation and entrepreneurship, and focuses on the detailed presentation of successful business practices. As today's global economic landscape is changing rapidly, the ability of businesses to introduce new products and services to the market faster than their competitors is perhaps their most distinct competitive advantage. This becomes obvious by the significant market share that the most innovative companies gain while increasing profitability. Extensive research in this field has demonstrated that companies that are constantly innovating normally double their profits compared to others. Moreover, establishing successful practices and policies of innovation management, through which ideas evolve from conception through evaluation to implementation and commercialization, become the basis for economic growth at the firm, industry, national, regional, and global levels. Taking Greece as an example, this volume identifies systemic weaknesses in development of new products, risk capital, patenting, broadband penetration, lifelong training, investment in research on the part of firms, high-tech exports, and employment in medium-high-technology manufacturing that place the country at the bottom of the European Union in economic performance and threaten its potential to achieve sustainable growth. To address these weaknesses in Greece and similar countries around the world, the authors present a comprehensive overview of the principles of innovation and entrepreneurship, with particular respect to their relationships to knowledge, learning, and creativity. Drawing from a strong theoretical foundation, and illustrated through in-depth case studies and examples from both private and public sectors, the authors present a framework for innovation management that integrates research, education, practical application, and policy. Specific topics include technology transfer, intellectual property rights management, the practice of knowledge management intellectual capital investment, business incubators, and Cooperation Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs).
This cross-disciplinary business book develops insight into the management of businesses operating in various economic sectors that take a proactive approach to the triple dimension of sustainability (economic, social and environmental), positioning itself as a key reference for both academics and practitioners in the wide area of business management. The concept of sustainability is today at the heart of international policies and debate, and plays a key role in deep changes to the organizational models of companies operating in a wide range of sectors of economic activity. In particular, this book aims to gain a deeper understanding of how stakeholder engagement can contribute to value co-creation both in the company and along the supply chain, and what distinguishes the differing involvement of stakeholders, in particular between public involvement and stakeholder participation. Each chapter of this book presents different modalities of stakeholder involvement and develops the concept of value co-creation from organizational and marketing perspectives. This book is recommended reading for those interested in the fields of stakeholder engagement and theory, sustainability, business studies, and sustainable development.
In order to understand collaborative research activity in the United States, it is important to understand the contextual environment in which firms pursue a collaborative research strategy. The U.S. environment for formal collaborative research was established through a number of policy initiatives promulgated in the 1980s in response to the widespread productivity slowdown throughout industry that began in the early 1970s and then intensified in the late 1970s and early 1980s. These initiatives include the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, the Stevenson-Wydler Act of 1980 and its amendments, the National Cooperative Research Act of 1984 and its amendments, and the Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986. Collaborative Research in the United States offers a critical and retrospective description of collaborative research activity in the United States in an effort to provide a prospective framework for policymakers to evaluate future policy initiatives to encourage such strategic behavior. The analysis that underlies the policy framework draws from the performance of U.S. firms' experiences, presenting a quantitative foundation for recommendations about future policy initiatives. It will be of interest to researchers, academics, policymakers, and students in the fields of critical management studies, strategic management, economics, and public policy. |
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