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Books > Business & Economics > Business & management > Management of specific areas > Research & development management
Originally published in 1989 this book gives an overview of the empirical work on new technology objectives, together with an analysis of management strategies for adoption at the corporate, technological and people levels. It also reviews previous work on the extent to which staff at different levels, and from different specialism, are involved in decision-making, as well as the adoption process more generally. The book looks at different approaches to analysing organizational contexts and provides a framework for studying the stages of the adoption process. The book includes case studies - two in financial services and two in engineering contexts.
The introduction of Enterprise Identity Management Systems (EIdMS) in organizations even beyond the purely technological level is a costly and challenging endeavor. However, for decision makers it seems difficult to fully understand the impacts and opportunities arising from the introduction of EIdMS. This book explores the relevant aspects for an ex-ante evaluation of EIdMS. Therefore it examines this domain by employing a qualitative expert interview study to better understand the nature of EIdMS, as they are situated between security and productive IT systems. To this regard, the focus is put on the general nature of EIdMS projects and the constructs being relevant for analyzing such projects in the decision support phase. Based on the derived constructs and thematic topics from the interviews, an explanatory model for EIdMS introductions is derived and iteratively improved and evaluated. Finally, a possible application use-case for the creation of adequate decision support tools is presented.
This comprehensive guide serves to illuminate the rise and development of FinTech in Sweden, with the Internet as the key underlying driver. The multiple case studies examine topics such as: the adoption of online banking in Sweden; the identification and classification of different FinTech categories; process innovation developments within the traditional banking industry; and the Venture Capital (VC) landscape in Sweden, as shown through interviews with VC representatives, mainly from Sweden but also from the US and Germany, as well as offering insight into the companies that are currently operating in the FinTech arena in Sweden. The authors address questions such as: How will the regulatory landscape shape the future of FinTech companies? What are the factors that will likely drive the adoption of FinTech services in the future? What is the future role of banks in the context of FinTech and digitalization? What are the policies and government initiatives that aim to support the FinTech ecosystem in Sweden? Complex concepts and ideas are rendered in an easily digestible yet thought-provoking way. The book was initiated by the IIS (the Internet Foundation in Sweden), an independent organization promoting the positive development of the Internet in the country. It is also responsible for the Internet's Swedish top-level domain .se, including the registration of domain names, and the administration and technical maintenance of the national domain name registry. The book illustrates how Sweden acts (or does not act) as a competitive player in the global FinTech arena, and is a vital addition to students and practitioners in the field.
The emerging present is a fast-changing context for incumbent organizations, especially in market segments where online behavior is replacing physical proximity, and users engage with digital platforms for the acquisition of products and services. These are platforms that allow users to behave, to leave a mark, and to participate in the community of others, which are the values people now seek. Transforming Organizations for the Subscription Economy: Starting from Scratch aims to prepare executives for a world in which everything is social, augmented and autonomous; objects and spaces will have multiple purposes, capabilities and meanings. This is a new territory full of opportunity which is generally discussed only at the level of technology involved instead of the intellectual level, where the real understanding of the need for transformation resides. The book reveals ideas about what is possible if we transform the present. The narrative is organized around what is actual and what is potential; what is the probable future that we can arrive at through change, and what is the possible future that we can build through transformation. When engaging in transformation, the following strategic question develops: if you were designing your organization today, how would you design it? In other words, how would you go about it starting from scratch? This book provides the intellectual framework that empowers organizations to understand and navigate the emerging present, and to develop and deliver products and services of intrinsic value to users.
Involving customers in the development and production of new services becomes a powerful force across many creative industries. Customers can directly supply the firm with innovative ideas, provide skilled labour, and act as a powerful force in marketing. Firms across the world, as they seek to innovate and to better respond to market needs, begin to recognize the benefits stemming from customers' involvement in their operations. Co-creation also becomes more prevalent as customers begin to expect it from firms - seeking to influence their favourite services or products, and to have them better tailored to their needs. Nevertheless, empowering the customers and involving them in the internal affairs of a firm is both difficult and risky. Despite co-creation becoming increasingly important to firms, very few accounts of it exist and many firms fail. Therefore, to navigate those straits, and to reap the benefits of co-creation, requires knowledge and more complete understanding of socio-cultural forces underpinning it. By studying a wide array of videogames firms in the USA and Europe, this book provides a unique insight into co-creation. It builds on the existing theories to provide unified framework for understanding co-creation in creative industries and other sectors. It combines insights from the dynamics of customer communities, with firm's perspective on innovation management and organizational transformation. The book offers highly detailed insights into the industry, which is at the forefront of co-creation. Furthermore, it sheds new light on the videogames firms and their operations and is therefore ideally designed for researchers, educators, and students alike in the fields of knowledge management, innovation management, firm strategy, organization studies and creativity management.
The broad scope of Cloud Computing is creating a technology, business, sociolo- cal, and economic renaissance. It delivers the promise of making services available quickly with rather little effort. Cloud Computing allows almost anyone, anywhere, at anytime to interact with these service offerings. Cloud Computing creates a unique opportunity for its users that allows anyone with an idea to have a chance to deliver it to a mass market base. As Cloud Computing continues to evolve and penetrate different industries, it is inevitable that the scope and definition of Cloud Computing becomes very subjective, based on providers' and customers' persp- tive of applications. For instance, Information Technology (IT) professionals p- ceive a Cloud as an unlimited, on-demand, flexible computing fabric that is always available to support their needs. Cloud users experience Cloud services as virtual, off-premise applications provided by Cloud service providers. To an end user, a p- vider offering a set of services or applications in the Cloud can manage these off- ings remotely. Despite these discrepancies, there is a general consensus that Cloud Computing includes technology that uses the Internet and collaborated servers to integrate data, applications, and computing resources. With proper Cloud access, such technology allows consumers and businesses to access their personal files on any computer without having to install special tools. Cloud Computing facilitates efficient operations and management of comp- ing technologies by federating storage, memory, processing, and bandwidth.
A myriad of security vulnerabilities in the software and hardware we use today can be exploited by an attacker, any attacker. The knowledge necessary to successfully intercept your data and voice links and bug your computers is widespread and not limited to the intelligence apparatus. Consequently, the knowledge required can - at least in part - also easily be accessed by criminals trying to 'transfer your wealth' and competitors looking for your trade secrets. The temptation to use these easily accessible resources to the disadvantage of a rival company grows as global competition gets fiercer. Corporate espionage is nothing new, but since the dawn of the Internet Age the rules have changed. It is no longer necessary to be on-site to steal proprietary information. Cyberattacks today are cheap and attackers run a very low risk of getting caught, as attacks can be executed from anywhere in the world - an ideal breeding ground for criminal activities - and the consequences can be disastrous. In Understanding Cyber Risk: Protecting your Corporate Assets the author provides a wealth of real world examples from diverse industries from all over the world on how company assets are attacked via the cyber world. The cases clearly show that every organization can fall victim to a cyberattack, regardless of the size or country of origin. He also offers specific advice on how to protect core assets and company secrets. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in cyber security, and the use of cyberattacks in corporate espionage.
Over last few decades, the world has witnessed, the process of rapid diffusion of new information and communication technologies (ICT) that enforced remarkable changes and structural shifts going far beyond economic sphere of life. ICT become fast available widespread and rapidly growing access to and use of ICT, additionally enhances the process of technological substitution, which consists in switching from the 'old' to 'new' technological solutions. The on-going digital revolution, undeniably, pervasively impacts and reshapes societies and economies, hence deserves special attention and interest. This book provides extensive evidence on information and communication technologies development diffusion patterns, unveils specific 'network effects' that enhance rapid spread of ICT, and detect major macroeconomic determinants of this process, across 36 Asian economies over the period 1980-2015. Moreover, this research traces country-specific patterns of the unique process. We consider two types of technological substitution, namely: 'fixed-to-mobile' type technological substitution process encompasses switching from fixed telephony ('old technology') to mobile telephony ('new technology'); while the 'fixed-to-wireless' type technological substitution - switching from fixed (narrowband and/or broadband) fixed Internet networks ('old technologies') to wireless (mainly broadband) Internet networks ('new technologies'). Moreover, this study empirically identifies the potential effect of selected macroeconomic factors, which may potentially enhance dynamic spread of ICT.
This monograph study of Japan's industrial development focuses on the role of entrepreneurship first in adopting more advanced Western technology and then in innovating new technologies and developing human resources according to its changing organizational needs. Unlike previous studies in English, it covers the whole of the period since the Meiji restoration, refusing to divide up the credit for Japanese growth between technological improvements and investments in human and physical capital. The book investigates the interaction between private entrepreneurial activities and public policy, through a general examination of economic and industrial development, a study of the evolution of management systems, and six industrial case studies.
Technological innovation is fundamental to firm performance and economic prosperity. The aim of this book is to contribute to an in-depth understanding of collective innovation processes by analyzing publicly funded R&D cooperation and innovation networks in the German laser industry. Standing in a neo-Schumpeterian tradition, it employs interdisciplinary analytical concepts and draws upon a unique longitudinal dataset from the laser industry that covers more than two decades of observations. In brief, the book makes a valuable contribution by exploring how and why firm-specific R&D cooperation activities and network positions, large-scale network patterns, and evolutionary network change processes affect the innovative performance of laser source manufacturers in Germany.
Placed at the nexus between marketing and organisational studies, this book breaks a new ground on the intersection of these two disciplines with design management. With the latest marketing thinking assigning greater emphasis on organisations co-creating value with consumers and other stakeholders by placing them at the heart of the product/service development process, it has never been more important to integrate marketing and organisational perspectives into design management. This text explores the importance of managing design strategies, design processes, and design implementation in a way that it puts the human and the society at the centre, contributing to organisational success, customer gratification, and social welfare. Drawing from a variety of scholarly research and personal commercial insights, this book integrates key concepts of marketing, innovation, and design, to provide an in-depth discussion of the subject of design management. With end-of-chapter exercises, case studies, and reflective insights along with online teaching materials, Design Management: Organisation and Marketing Perspectives is an essential text for students in design management, marketing, and innovation, or for anyone interested in gaining an in-depth understanding of how design can be successfully managed in order to generate the best answers to contemporary global challenges.
This book proposes that organizational policies are what ensure the institutionalization and sustainability of futures thinking in organizations. It presents several case studies from corporations and other institutions that describe effective use of foresight methods and internal policies to respond to rapid change. The case studies address changing trends in technology, globalization and/or workforce diversity, and the impact on the economic and political well-being of the organization. The editors also develop an organizational capability maturity model for futures thinking as well as providing questions for discussion that promote critical review of each case chapter. This book will inform scholars and organizational leaders how best to utilize foresight methodologies and organizational policies to sustain successful management strategies within futures thinking organizations. Chapter 9 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.
How can you be sure you are buying the company you think you are? Are you sure it is as good as the seller says? How can you be certain unexpected costs and obligations will not suddenly appear once you are the owner and responsible for them? How best can you arm yourself for the negotiations? Have you worked out precisely what you are going to do with it once it is yours? How do you set the priorities for change to recoup the premium you have paid for it? The answer to all these questions, and many more, lies within a series of three comprehensive yet concise volumes by Peter Howson. The Essentials of M&A Due Diligence, the first in the series, is a must for anyone who needs to master the essentials of due diligence with the minimum effort and in the minimum amount of time. Straightforward and unbiased, it sets out the fundamentals of pre-acquisition investigations, showing which are appropriate and why.
Sustainability is a phenomenon that must be pursued in a complex system of interrelated elements of business, society, and ecology. It is important to gain an understanding of these elements, the interplay between them, and the behavior of the system. This book explores the business-societal-and-ecological system in which sustainable innovation has to be envisioned, conceptualized, realized, and improved. Author Bart Bossink offers insight into the systematic coherence of drivers of eco-innovation and sustainability utilizing a three-part approach: (1) eco- and sustainable innovation in business is based on ideas and people who cooperatively develop these ideas; (2) groups of people, organized in commercial firms, must realize these ideas cooperatively and create the innovations that can conquer the market; and (3) that people from governmental, non-governmental, not-for-profit, research, and commercial organizations can build institutional arrangements that stimulate these sustainable innovations, changing both industry and society. Adopting a managerial perspective and discussing concepts and methods to manage eco-innovation in business, this book highlights the interrelated roles of the individual, the firm, partnerships, and business environments. Researchers and practitioners who want to combine a commercial and economical approach with an ethical and social ambition to create an ecologically sustainable firm stand to learn much from these pages.
This book provides a comprehensive examination of the many factors that influence the internationalisation of SMEs into China. SMEs represent more than 50 percent of the economic activity and employment in China. This book explores the experiences of SMEs that have internationalised to China from Australia. Australian SMEs are at the forefront of foreign SMEs in China with over 5000 Australian SMEs currently operating in China and a long history of association. The book is unique in that it presents a multidisciplinary perspective of the subject, considering seven different discipline perspectives (internationalisation, innovation, entrepreneurship, networks, resources, human resource management and barriers and liabilities). This makes the book one of the most comprehensive treatments of internationalisation to China so far. Each chapter in the book deals with a different perspective and includes own separate analysis. The chapters commence with a consideration of the current knowledge on internationalising to China for each perspective, analyse the interviews of representatives of 35 SMEs operating in China and then draw conclusions which are relevant to students, scholars and professionals. Each chapter includes extensive examples from the interviews. This integrated book is particularly useful for small business owners, international business management consultants, instructors and students.
The Development of International Monetary Policy traces the development of international monetary policy from mercantilism to quantitative easing. It has been structured to present some of the pressing issues in international monetary relations involving currency valuation, inflation, exchange rates, and regional monetary policy. Additionally, it presents international monetary law as a basis for understanding the concept of monetary sovereignty and the limits of state autonomy in an interdependent world of legal arrangements. The book revisits some controversial arguments about stagflation and expansionary monetary policy, and it uses current time series data and empirical evidence to show why theories about the trade-off between inflation and unemployment are not extinct. Part of the concluding argument indicates that it is imperative for the international community to have a structure for monetary dispute resolutions involving autonomous states. Notably, the author further concludes that fiat money will continue to be a dominant unit of account, more so than crypto-currencies, into the distant future. An accessible and practical read, this is book is a valuable resource for postgraduates, academics and researchers of international trade, finance and economics.
In 2019 the world was struck with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) infecting major portions of the world's population. There were no vaccines or treatments available to help mitigate the disease or offer a cure. The world's health systems were inundated with massive numbers of patients with varying ranges of symptoms, acuity, and levels of criticality. The world's healthcare organizations soon found themselves in an unmanageable situation, directly impacting the ability to manage patients across the entire healthcare environment. Most healthcare institutions had plans for emergency preparedness and procedures to deal with temporary crises, none of which were effective against the impact of COVID-19. COVID-19 was a highly contagious disease, resulting in high volumes of admissions with long lengths of stay. The virus quickly overwhelmed institutions with large patient volumes, resulting in shortages of patient beds, medical equipment, personal protective devices, cleaning agents, and other critical supplies. Hospital operations were further impacted by staff shortages due to exposure, resulting contagion, the shutdown of transit systems, and responsibilities at home due to school and business closures. This timely and important book describes the impact on the hospital ability to provide patient care and how healthcare institutions leveraged diverse technology solutions to combat the impact of COVID-19 on providing patient care. The authors also discuss implementation of these technology solutions and the many lessons learned of how healthcare institutions can enhance their emergency preparedness in the future from the COVID experience. The authors would like to acknowledge, thank, and dedicate this book to the hundreds of thousands of healthcare workers around the world who spent countless hours and put their own lives and families lives at risk to help patients though this pandemic.
A globalization of innovation has produced the most massive spurt in biotechnology in world history. Businesses, universities, and non-governmental organizations are collaborating to produce a "science-industrial complex" in biotechnology. Using case studies of stem cell research, cloning, genetically modified food, in-vitro fertilization, and chimeras in a number of Eastern and Western countries around the world, I argue that much of this biotech activity is global in nature and independent of state control. This shift in the relative influence of state and non-state actors has led to the virtual deregulation of biotechnology and the liberation of innovation from geo-political constraints. These trends post a number of interesting social, political, and ethical issues for the contemporary period and suggest the need to rethink how controversial moral issues are handled by the science-industrial complex.
Pricing has a substantial and immediate impact on profitability. Most companies, however, still use costs or competition as their main basis for setting prices. Product or business model innovation has a high priority for many companies, yet innovation in pricing received scant attention until the first edition of this groundbreaking book. This new edition of Innovation in Pricing builds on the success of the first, examining the ways in which pricing innovation can drive profits through cutting-edge academic research and best practice case studies from leading academics, business practitioners and consultants in pricing. The second edition has been fully revised and updated according to the latest developments in pricing, with: revisions to all chapters new chapters, including a chapter on business model and pricing model innovation a new introduction that makes explicit just what strategic pricing can do for your organization. This book is the only book dedicated to innovation in pricing and is an essential read for business executives, innovation managers and pricing managers wishing to treat innovation in pricing as seriously as they treat product, service or business model innovation. It is also valuable supplementary reading for advanced students of marketing and sales.
Identities can potentially serve as powerful elements that both drive, and are shaped by, entrepreneurial actions. Entrepreneurial identity is a complex construct with multidisciplinary roots, and therefore there is scope to more fully enrich our theoretical understanding of identity and identity formation, at both individual and organizational levels, and their relationship to entrepreneurial processes, practices and activities. This book highlights two key features of contemporary research on entrepreneurial identity. First, to see it as a dynamic rather than a (relatively) fixed and unchanging feature, shaped by different life episodes. It is increasingly fluid, multilevel and multidimensional, comprising multiple subidentities rather than a univocal (and unchanging) self. As such, it has a profound effect not only on the way we feel, think and behave, but also on what we aim to achieve. Accordingly, it is vital that its dynamics are better understood, particularly in determining how actors behave in an entrepreneurial context. The book's second focus is on identity work as the process through which entrepreneurial identities are formed and shaped, and the contributors demonstrate how the dynamics of identity formation relate to entrepreneurial outcomes in a range of individual and organizational contexts. This book was originally published as a special issue of Entrepreneurship & Regional Development.
Product Stewardship in Action describes how and why leading companies are taking responsibility for the environmental impact of their products and packaging. Product stewardship, often referred to as "extended producer responsibility" or EPR, is the idea that everyone that benefits commercially from a product, including manufacturers, distributors and retailers, has a shared responsibility to minimize its environmental impacts. Written primarily for a business audience, it draws on the knowledge and experience of industry practitioners and other experts to provide a structured approach to product responsibility within firms. This will help those new to the field, as well as more experienced practitioners, to develop an effective response to stakeholder concerns about the environmental impacts of their products and packaging. Unlike other resources on product stewardship and EPR, which tend to focus on the design or evaluation of public policy, this book highlights the business case for action. It argues that companies can achieve "shared value" - both public and commercial value - when they take a proactive and knowledge-based approach to the life-cycle management of their products. Product Stewardship in Action focuses on product stewardship as an effective business strategy rather than a philanthropic exercise. To be effective it needs to be based on a good understanding of product impacts and stakeholder concerns, and the risks and opportunities that these present to the business. The most effective responses will be those that address material issues in the product life-cycle while supporting the achievement of other corporate goals and priorities.
Although co-design has been practised in new service and product development for some years, it has only recently begun to appear in the burgeoning field of social innovation. It appears to be well-attuned to this new context, offering as it does an open-ended relational process to generate novel solutions to problems whose very definition seems to escape more conventional approaches. However, even less research attention has been paid to co-design than to social innovation. This book explores the potential of co-design as a social innovation process. It reviews the diverse theoretical and disciplinary foundations on which co-design is based. It proposes a framework for understanding co-design as a cohesive practice across the extremely broad scope of its potential applications. It explores appropriate approaches to governance and evaluation of co-design initiatives and outlines the key issues and limitations on its use. Although it is intended to provide a robust theoretical basis for researching co-design initiatives, it will also be of interest to anyone who is contemplating putting co-design into practice.
This book discusses a six-step transformation cycle in which the tasks of innovation management - ranked according to their relevance for companies - are placed in a systematic order. Presenting an in-depth discussion on innovation and transformation, the authors delve into strategic themes such as business models and strategic positioning, which are fundamental to the innovation process. It also describes the underlying processes and roles of innovation management, and the required organizational structures. Following process organization and organizational structure, the authors highlight how the appropriate human resource strategy should look and the manner of personnel selection or development to be implemented. The authors also provide tools and systems that are assigned to specific employees working with innovation management; these deal with innovation audit, knowledge management, idea management, financing and budgeting innovations, marketing and property rights. The book also sheds light on how the effectiveness of the innovation process can be monitored using indicator systems. This is a handy resource for managers looking for a structured strategy and how to implement it to achieve optimal innovation management and reap its benefits.
'National Systems of Innovation' presents a new perspective on the
dynamics of the national and the global economy. Its starting point
is that the international competitiveness of nations is founded on
innovation. Which role do different parts of the national system
play in determining the long-term dynamics of the economy? What is
happening to the coherence of national systems of innovation in an
era characterised by far-reaching internationalisation and
globalisation? [NP] These and other issues are addressed in this
volume. Available for the first time in paperback, the book is an
invaluable resource for scholars and policy-makers.
'National Systems of Innovation' presents a new perspective on the
dynamics of the national and the global economy. Its starting point
is that the international competitiveness of nations is founded on
innovation. Which role do different parts of the national system
play in determining the long-term dynamics of the economy? What is
happening to the coherence of national systems of innovation in an
era characterised by far-reaching internationalisation and
globalisation? |
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