The financial crisis has exposed severe shortcomings in mainstream monetary economics and modern finance. It is surprising that these shortcomings have not led to a wider debate about the need to overhaul these theories. Instead, mainstream economists have closed ranks to defend existing theories and public authorities have expanded their interference in markets. This book investigates the problems associated with mainstream monetary economics and finance, and proposes alternatives based on the Austrian school of economics. This school emanated from the work of the nineteenth-century Austrian economist Carl Menger and was developed further by Eugen von Boehm-Bawerk, Ludwig von Mises, and Friedrich August von Hayek. In monetary economics, the Austrian school regards the creation of money by banks through credit extension as a key source of economic instability. From this follows the need for a comprehensive reform of our present monetary system. In a new monetary order, money could be issued by both public and private institutions, and there would be no need for fractional reserve banking. Instead of creating money, banks would intermediate it. In finance, the Austrian school rejects the notion of rational expectations and measurable risk. Individuals use their subjective knowledge to gather and evaluate information, and they act in a world of radical uncertainty. Hence, markets are not "efficient" nor can portfolios be built on the basis of known probability distributions of asset prices as described in the modern finance literature. This book explores the need for a new theoretical foundation for asset pricing and investment management that will give practitioners more useful orientation.

This monograph presents a tactical planning approach for service network design in metropolitan areas. Designing the service network requires the suitable aggregation of demand data as well as the anticipation of operational relocation decisions. To this end, an integrated approach of data analysis and mathematical optimization is introduced. The book also includes a case study based on real-world data to demonstrate the benefit of the proposed service network design approach. The target audience comprises primarily research experts in the field of traffic engineering, but the book may also be beneficial for graduate students.

This book explores the intricate connection between the Single Market, characterized by the freedom of movement of goods, services, capital and labor within and across Europe, and the Digital Single Market, the virtual space that promotes freedom of movement of information and data. Both a result and catalyst of the Single Market, the Digital Single Market has become a different space from the Single Market, as the former is based on the application of information and communication technologies (ICTs), while the latter is the result of concerted actions and concessions by Member States in the European Union. The author argues that, similar to the Single Market, the Digital Single Market is an instrument, built by the influence of the Internet, which can provide a new means of socio-economic growth and development in Europe. While sharing many similar characteristics, the Single Market and the Digital Single Market diverge in important aspects, particularly with respect to policy. The research analyzes the interaction between policy actors, their influence in the European decision-making process, and their interests in order to establish a digital policy model, in comparison with market policy. Moreover, this volume considers the implementation process and the success of such initiatives under the current policy model, and puts forward policy recommendations. Ultimately, the author considers the utility of such research on digital policy, considering the current focus on migration, vulnerabilities to internal challenges (e.g., Brexit) and security threats, maintaining that the discussion of digital policies relates to an innovative vision of the European integration process and prospects for its future.

Over the last several decades there has been a growing interest in Research & Development (R&D) policy. This is particularly so in advanced industrialized nations that have adopted science- and technology- based strategies for national economic competitiveness. The United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan -- the three nations that are the subjects of this book -- share this policy strategy. Each of these nations is committed to hamessing the innovations that stern from scientific and technological advance to promote national economic prosperity. Governments can influence their nation's R&D efIort in three general ways. First, they can directly fund the R&D efIort through grants, loans, appropriations, or government contracts. Second, they can provide tax and financing incentives to encourage higher levels of private sector R&D. Third, they can use their power to create inter-organizational collaborations that vastly extend and expand the nation's collective R&D efIort. University-industry collaborations are a principal type of these inter organizational R&D efIorts -- and the focus of this book."

The international fragmentation of economic activities - from research and design to production and marketing - described through the lens of the global value chain (GVC) approach impacts the structure and performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) agglomerated in economic clusters. The consolidation of GVCs ruled by global lead firms and the recession of 2008-09 exacerbated the pressures on cluster actors that based their competitive advantage on local systems, spurring an increasing heterogeneity, both across and within clusters, that is still overlooked in the literature. Drawing on detailed studies of different industries and countries, Local Clusters in Global Value Chains shows the co-evolutionary trajectories of clusters and GVCs, and the role of firms and their strategies in organizing manufacturing and innovation activities in the context of ongoing technological shifts. The book explores the tension between place-based variables and global drivers of change, and the possibility for territories containing such clusters to prosper in the new global scenario. By adopting insights from the GVC framework and management studies, the book discusses how the internationalization strategies of firms create opportunities as well as constraints for adaptive upgrading in clusters. This book is of interest to both researchers and policy-makers who are interested in the dynamic sources of competitive advantage in the global economy.

This book provides a practical and strategic perspective on IT and cyber security for corporations and other businesses. Leading experts from industry, politics and research discuss the status quo and future prospects of corporate cyber security. They answer questions such as: How much will IT security cost? Who will provide IT security? Can security even be fun? The book claims that digitization will increasingly pervade all areas of the economy, as well as our daily professional and personal lives. It will produce speed, agility and cost efficiency, but also increasing vulnerability in the context of public, corporate and private life. Consequently, cyber security is destined to become the great facilitator of digitization, providing maximum protection for data, networks, data centres and terminal devices.

This book discusses the concepts of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) that are the core of various paradigms used in strategic management to understand competitive advantage as well as flexibility in organizational boundaries. It serves as a valuable reference resource in the area of VUCA markets. An increase in the levels and types of uncertainty has important implications potentially for the durability of a company's advantages, the way firms learn and adapt, approaches for managing innovation and knowledge, and the attractiveness of different strategies and organizational models. In today's world, strategic flexibility in VUCA is essential for business leaders to sustain market advantage and attain a clear vision amid the chaos. Business leaders who stay focused and are aware of external volatility as the prevalent characteristic are successful, while those who are not flexible in this VUCA world and lock themselves into fixed positions lose out. The book includes empirical and conceptual research papers along with case studies and models discussing strategies for emerging markets in volatile and uncertain environments. It also covers a variety of issues, including innovation, people and processes, financial management, and leadership and strategies in VUCA markets. Apart from research fraternity and academia, the contents of the book will be useful for practitioners as well as industry watchers.

This book presents the current state-of-the-art in all major and upcoming areas of entrepreneurship research. Thousands of scholars around the world are currently working to broaden our understanding of the entrepreneurial phenomenon. The disciplines involved are numerous, as are the topics of interest, with substantial efforts to enhance the existing knowledge. This book is specifically designed to facilitate high-level, high-intensity discussions and fruitful exchanges between scholars involved in entrepreneurship research. The articles address a variety of topics ranging from self-employment, technology, growth patterns and job creation, and success and failure rates, to historical, conceptual and comparative international approaches. "This book takes entrepreneurship beyond the individual, size of the venture, entrepreneurial personality, and looks at entrepreneurship as a long term complex process that is heterogeneous, content dependent with an emphasis on innovation and growth. A must read for individuals interested in entrepreneurship, today and in the future, on a domestic and global basis." - Robert D. Hisrich, Director - Walker Center and Garvin Professor of Global Entrepreneurship, Thunderbird School of Global Management "Entrepreneurship is perhaps not just the most multifaceted but also the most important concept of the modern socio-economic disciplines. This book makes an invaluable contribution in this fascinating area: it presents a multifaceted socio-economic examination of the impact of entrepreneurship for growth." - Roy Thurik, Erasmus School of Economics in Rotterdam and Montpellier Business School

While executives are keen to harness organizational knowledge and improve business performance, the topic of how academics can produce rigorous and relevant theory in working relationships with practitioners is a much contested topic. Many aspects of this knowledge co-creation can create tensions, and the ways in which research is conducted and published can affect practitioner acceptance, as well as its consequent uptake and use in different contexts. Expertly compiled by Jean Bartunek and Jane McKenzie, with contributions from global thinkers in the field, this book offers a concise and up-to-date review of the essential analysis and action underlying scholarly engagement with the world of business. It discusses the sorts of capabilities academics need to collaborate effectively with practitioners and illustrates good practice through international case studies drawn from acknowledged centres of excellence. These show how to negotiate different constituencies with different priorities, values, and practices to work together to produce research of rigor and relevance. It will be a key reference and resource for all researchers who are engaged with practitioners, and an invaluable tool for training academics to develop research with impact.

The importance of benchmarking in the service sector is well recognized as it helps in continuous improvement in products and work processes. Through benchmarking, companies have strived to implement best practices in order to remain competitive in the product- market in which they operate. However studies on benchmarking, particularly in the software development sector, have neglected using multiple variables and therefore have not been as comprehensive. Information Theory and Best Practices in the IT Industry fills this void by examining benchmarking in the business of software development and studying how it is affected by development process, application type, hardware platforms used, and many other variables. Information Theory and Best Practices in the IT Industry begins by examining practices of benchmarking productivity and critically appraises them. Next the book identifies different variables which affect productivity and variables that affect quality, developing useful equations that explaining their relationships. Finally these equations and findings are applied to case studies. Utilizing this book, practitioners can decide about what emphasis they should attach to different variables in their own companies, while seeking to optimize productivity and defect density.

The purpose of this contributed volume is to consider how global consumption patterns will develop in the next few decades, and what the consequences of that development will be for the economy, policymakers, and society at large. In the long run, the extent to which economic growth translates into better living conditions strongly depends on how rising affluence and new technologies shape consumer preferences. The ongoing rise in household income in developing countries raises some important questions: Will consumption patterns always continue to expand in the same manner as we have witnessed in the previous two centuries? If not, how might things evolve differently? And what implications would such changes hold for not only our understanding of consumption behavior but also our pursuit of more sustainable societies?

This book gathers selected science and technology papers that were presented at the 2014 Regional Conference of Sciences, Technology and Social Sciences (RCSTSS 2014). The bi-annual Conference is organized by Universiti Teknologi MARA Pahang, Malaysia. The papers address a broad range of topics including architecture, life sciences, robotics, sustainable development, engineering, food science and mathematics. The book serves as a platform for disseminating research findings, as a catalyst to inspire positive innovations in the development of the region. The carefully-reviewed papers in this volume present research by academicians of local, regional and global prominence. Out of more than 200 manuscripts presented at the conference by researchers from local and foreign universities and institutions of higher learning, 64 papers were chosen for inclusion in this publication. The papers are organized in more than a dozen broad categories, spanning the range of scientific research: * Engineering* Robotics* Mathematics & Statistics* Computer & Information Technology* Forestry* Plantation & Agrotechnology* Sports Science & Recreation* Health & Medicine* Biology* Physics* Food Science* Environment Science & Management* Sustainable Development* Architecture The book provides a significant point of reference for academics, researchers and students in many fields who need deeper research.

Economic activities are becoming increasingly globalised. One result being that for companies in developed market economies price-based competition is being replaced or supplemented by other forms of competitiveness. This book explores the shift towards design-based competitiveness and the escalation in the design-intensity of goods and services.

Increasing concerns regarding the world's natural resources and sustainability continue to be a major issue for global development. As a result several political initiatives and strategies for green or resource-efficient growth both on national and international levels have been proposed. A core element of these initiatives is the promotion of an increase of resource or material productivity. This dissertation examines material productivity developments in the OECD and BRICS countries between 1980 and 2008. By applying the concept of convergence stemming from economic growth theory to material productivity the analysis provides insights into both aspects: material productivity developments in general as well potentials for accelerated improvements in material productivity which consequently may allow a reduction of material use globally. The results of the convergence analysis underline the importance of policy-making with regard to technology and innovation policy enabling the production of resource-efficient products and services as well as technology transfer and diffusion.

Companies need to invest in innovation in order to ensure their long-term survival. This book focuses on how and why key players support or obstruct the implementation of a technological innovation in ambidextrous organizations, and how the interaction between players involved in daily business and innovation affects implementation of innovation in 'high reliability organizations'. This book argues that an organization has to create new innovations or adopt innovations to constantly deliver attractive products on the one hand, while also adjusting and improving current products and processes on the other. In turn, it addresses a specific problem: What if a company operates in an innovation-averse and procedural environment and culture? Drawing on case studies, focus group studies and a unique analytical framework, it then provides ways for companies to overcome this situation.

This title is designed to provide an introduction to research methodology, as well as offer much-needed assistance to students and practitioners in the management sciences, who are often confronted with problems pertaining to the writing and successful completion of a research report, dissertation or thesis. This title is a resource, especially in light of the new emphasis on research in higher education.

A lot of time and money is invested in collaborative research and development projects at universities, research institutes and companies. But how should these complex projects be planned and run to create valuable commercial outcomes?

This book is a manual for all individuals and organisations from academia and industry working together on research and development projects. Whether grant funded, company to company or academic to company, this inspiring and highly readable book covers winning grant support, the legal arrangements, working with academics and practitioners, managing project progress and exploiting the project results.

The examples, practical methods and tips in this book will not only help the reader prepare for grant applications, but more importantly help to achieve the best results and returns from every collaborative project.

A volume in Research in Strategic Alliances Series Editor T. K. Das, City University of New York Strategic Alliances for Innovation and R&D is a volume in the book series Research in Strategic Alliances that focuses on providing a robust and comprehensive forum for new scholarship in the field of strategic alliances. In particular, the books in the series cover new views of interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks and models, significant practical problems of alliance organization and management, and emerging areas of inquiry. The series also includes comprehensive empirical studies of selected segments of business, economic, industrial, government, and non-profit activities with wide prevalence of strategic alliances. Through the ongoing release of focused topical titles, this book series seeks to disseminate theoretical insights and practical management information that should enable interested professionals to gain a rigorous and comprehensive understanding of the field of strategic alliances. Strategic Alliances for Innovation and R&D contains contributions by leading scholars in the field of strategic alliance research. The 11 chapters in this volume cover a number of significant topics that encompass innovation and R&D through strategic alliances. The chapter topics cover both the broader issues, such as the governance of high-tech alliances, knowledge flows in innovation clusters, co-innovation, and incomplete contracting, and the more focused problems of inexperienced firms in R&D consortia, new product development, and managing alliance portfolio evolution in service innovation. The chapters include empirical as well as conceptual treatments of the selected topics, and collectively present a wide-ranging review of the noteworthy research perspectives on the role of strategic alliances in the pursuit of innovation and R&D.

The aim of this book is to contribute to the understanding of product innovation - how it takes place and how it affects firms and the economy. It links product innovation to interactive learning and to the performance of firms. It studies the interconnections between these three elements on the basis of unique data sets and detailed case studies. The book will prove helpful for managers, employees and policy makers as well as for scholars and students who want to understand the role of product innovation in the economy.
In the book it is shown that product innovation is of major importance. For the economy as a whole, the introduction of new products is fundamental for economic growth. Process innovation without product innovation would sooner or later result in economic stagnation and in what has been called ???technological unemployment???. In turbulent sectors product innovation is necessary for firms to survive and grow.
The book also shows that product innovation is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon. In order to capture this complexity authors combine different theoretical perspectives, different levels of aggregation, and different methodological approaches.

In Sustaining Cultural Development, Biljana Mickov and James Doyle argue that effective programmes to promote greater participation in cultural life require substantial investment in research and strategic planning. Using studies from contributors throughout Europe, they look at ways to promote cultural life as the centre of the broader sustainable development of society. These studies illustrate how combining cultural identity, cultural diversity and creativity with increased participation of citizens in cultural life improves harmonized cultural development and promotes democracy. They indicate a shift from traditional governance of the cultural sector to a new, more horizontal, approach that links cultural workers at different levels in different sectors and different locations. This book will stimulate debate amongst cultural leaders, city managers and other policy makers, as well as serving as a resource for researchers and those teaching and learning on a range of post-graduate courses and programmes.

This proceedings volume presents current research on transport sector development, with particular emphasis on sustainable transport development, innovation and transport enterprise growth and survival. Derived from the 2016 TranSopot Conference held in Sopot, Poland, this book aims to show the possibilities of maximizing the efficiency of transport, while keeping the negative effects at a sustainable level. Transport is an important field of human activity, both from economic and social points of view. It has been proven that the development of transport contributes to the development of regional, national and international economic relations. Currently, the three most important topics in transportation research are green transport, transport innovations and metropolitan transport. These are the areas in which the contributions presented in this book are focused. Researchers in the field of sustainable transport provide the reader with a comprehensive description of possible activities towards green transport both in the terms of various transport branches and in the supply chain as a whole. This is the framework of the second field of transport research - innovation. The authors present a wide array of a technological, organizational, process and marketing innovation, which allow transport organizers and operators to provide service in a safe, sound and economically favorable way. The analysis of these innovations and the practical implications of their introduction should be a worthwhile experience both for the transport researchers and for the transport business practitioners. Lastly, the book reflects the tendencies of rapid development in urban and metropolitan areas which forces transport policy makers to provide citizens with a comfortable and faster way of commuting that doesn't result in unacceptable congestion or other negative effects. Different concepts of metropolitan transport management are presented and their effect on the transport systems is also investigated.

Hardbound. State-of-the-art statements in technology-related issues of business policy are presented in this volume. All aspects of technology policy which managers have to cope with are covered, including: R&D management, technological developments as related to corporate strategy, procedures conducive to innovation, matching technological development trends and so on. In order to provide a global world perspective, contributions have been made by authors from Europe, the US and Japan. Each author presents an articulated framework of his/her topic, based on personal research, with due consideration of the analytical tools presently available to managers and strategists. The authors of each single chapter contribute comments to the others. The book will provide useful indications for scholars and professionals, students, R&D managers, strategists and planners, and all general managers who have to deal with technological decisions and issues.

This book reveals how open innovation utilizes the developing circle of business models to establish new ones that define a unique link between technology and markets, focusing on how to develop and maintain successful business models. It draws readers into the philosophy and economic effects of open innovation from the outset.It presents four different developing circle business models for customers in the role of consumers, entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs and engineers respectively, enabling each group to develop, utilize and enlarge creative business models, and even switch business models.In addition to these four circles, it takes a systemic approach to describe the relationship between technology and markets. From this relationship an open innovation strategy towards entrepreneurship can be adopted. From Open Innovation to a Creative Developing-Circle Business Model is an essential resource for start-up entrepreneurs, as well as for students of technology management, strategy and open innovation.

Collaboration plays an important role in the early development of com- nies. Among others, they provide opportunities to combine complementary resources, develop additional competencies, and generate valuable signals for investors. They are particularly important for biotechnology firms, whose resource base often is not sufficient to realize the market potential of their R&D findings. Strategic alliances thus are an integral part of the business model of most biotechnology companies, but their economic re- vance is not yet fully understood, since research has thus far neglected most industry-specific drivers of alliance value. Based on an event study, Hady Farag analyzes the capital-market re- tion to alliance-related news announcements and assesses their complex - fects on company value. In this regard, the present work represents the first comprehensive study of European biotechnology alliances. In addition to this unique database, the research approach and techniques in sample - lection, econometric and cross-sectional analyses are state-of-the-art. The author develops and empirically tests an integrative dynamic model of collaborative value drivers. These reflect the specific characteristics of biotechnology firms and biotechnology alliances. Moreover, the work - tends to so far entirely unresearched dynamic aspects of alliances, such as the value of contractual flexibilities, the impact of environmental unc- tainty, and the evolution of alliances over time. Overall, Hady Farag's work underscores the need to consider pluralistic influences on the value of collaborative ventures.