New Product Development (NPD) is about the ideation, formulation, and implementation of new and superior solutions in the market. Beyond the obvious need for organizations to innovate in order to compete, embedded in any NPD program are knowledge, technological expertise, and the social networks that convert these capabilities into offerings that create value at every level-for customers, industries, communities, and regions. This volume provides an array of knowledge perspective in NPD across multiple levels of analysis and geographic regions, including Europe, the United States, China, Japan, and India, to explore the dynamics of NPD in today's global environment. Presenting case studies from such industries as ICT services, semiconductors, software development, bio-technology, higher education, and even safety for children's toys, and drawing from a variety of theoretical perspectives, including technology and knowledge management, sociology, economic geography, and organizational behavior, the authors highlight critical success and failure factors in NPD. Among the topics covered: New product development teams, including multi-functional and multi-site teams De-localization and off-shoring of tasks and processes Individual competencies and organizational capabilities University-industry interactions, high-tech clusters, and technology transfer Technology policy

Of Asia's 800 million Muslims, 215 million are minorities within their countries. These Muslim minorities have experienced a persistent decline in their socioeconomic and political status. Along with this decline, they are increasingly identified by their faith and largely accorded no other identity for civic relations. Why have these Muslim minorities been particularly affected during a time of unprecedented opportunities for the mainstream in Asia's unprecedented era of growth and rising freedoms? Using detailed analyses of China, India, and the Philippines, Modes of Engagement argues that key factors in this phenomenon include the linkage between socioeconomic decline, loss of political power, and narrowing of identity; nationalism and its associated connotations of the assimilation of minorities; the weakness of civil society generally in Asia; and the rise in regional and global alliances for security and trade. Contributors include Wajahat Habibullah (National Commission for Minorities and National Institute of Technology, India), Rakesh Basant (Indian Institute of Management), Dru C. Gladney (Pomona College), and Joseph Chinyong Liow (Nanyang Technological University's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore).

This is a study of higher education in the world's four largest developing economies--Brazil, Russia, India, and China. Already important players globally, by mid-century, they are likely to be economic powerhouses. But whether they reach that level of development will depend in part on how successfully they create quality higher education that puts their labor forces at the cutting edge of the information society.
Using an empirical, comparative approach, this book develops a broad picture of the higher education system in each country in the context of both global and local forces. The authors offer insights into how differing socioeconomic and historic patterns of change and political contexts influence developments in higher education. In asking why each state takes the approach that it does, this work situates a discussion of university expansion and quality in the context of governments' educational policies and reflects on the larger struggles over social goals and the distribution of national resources.

Telecommunications reform in India is complete, according to policymakers there. They have done everything correctly in their efforts to transform a state-run monopoly into an independently regulated sector in which private companies compete with government-owned and operated providers. And yet, India lags behind nations whose telecom sectors provided comparable levels of service a decade ago. What went wrong? Dossani and his contributors argue that the classic textbook solutions are insufficient to produce a healthy telecom industry in India, which needs to improve regulatory design, introduce competition in a single phase instead of gradually, implement innovative funding models, and choose appropriate technologies in order to improve access to universal service. Containing valuable lessons for the telecommunications industries in Mexico, Indonesia, the Philippines, and other countries taking formerly state-run industries private, this book constitutes a valuable resource for policymakers, regulators, practitioners, scholars, and overseas investors.

Policymakers and regulators will learn that cookie-cutter solutions derived from rich-country experience do not always work in countries that are poor, yet democratic and pro-market. Practitioners will be interested in the sections on universal service, technology convergence, and the implications for reducing costs and improving the quality of both basic telephone services and IT-enabled services. In particular, Indian technology workers in Silicon Valley should find this book indispensable. Investors will gain valuable knowledge about this potentially huge market. Scholars' preconceived ideas may be nudged aside as their knowledge base is enhanced and their research agenda expanded. Whereas some of the book's conclusions support current thinking, such as the need to begin a sequence of reform with a regulatory system in place and the need for dominant-carrier regulation, other conclusions challenge the conventional wisdom. Contributors make a cogent case for reformulating the balance of power between regulators and policymakers, introducing competition at the local level rather than through large franchises, and replacing public subsidies with cross-subsidies of universal service. Provides a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the problems of telecommunications reform in all their complexity.

Prospects for Peace in South Asia addresses the largely hostile, often violent relations between India and Pakistan that date from their independence in 1947. The most persistent conflict between the two neighboring countries over Kashmir has defied numerous international attempts at resolution and entered its most dangerous phase when both India and Pakistan became nuclear powers in 1998. The struggle over Kashmir is enduringly rooted in national identity, religion, and human rights. It has also influenced the politicization of Pakistan's army, religious radicalism, and nuclearization in both countries. This incisive volume analyzes these forces, their impact on relations between the two countries, and alternative roles the United States might play in resolving the dispute. While acknowledging the risks, the book is optimistic about peace in South Asia. The key argument is that many of the domestic concerns (such as territorial integrity in both countries and civilian-military rapprochment in Pakistan) that were fueling the conflict have abated.

Prospects for Peace in South Asia addresses the largely hostile, often violent relations between India and Pakistan that date from their independence in 1947. The most persistent conflict between the two neighboring countries over Kashmir has defied numerous international attempts at resolution and entered its most dangerous phase when both India and Pakistan became nuclear powers in 1998. The struggle over Kashmir is enduringly rooted in national identity, religion, and human rights. It has also influenced the politicization of Pakistan's army, religious radicalism, and nuclearization in both countries. This incisive volume analyzes these forces, their impact on relations between the two countries, and alternative roles the United States might play in resolving the dispute. While acknowledging the risks, the book is optimistic about peace in South Asia. The key argument is that many of the domestic concerns (such as territorial integrity in both countries and civilian-military rapprochment in Pakistan) that were fueling the conflict have abated.

Does South Asia exist? Globally, regional integration and prominent regional institution --such as the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations --have been on the rise. In South Asia, by contrast, such progress has been slow, despite the recent dynamic growth of India's economy.

This broad-based volume examines the prospects for regionalism in South Asia, assessing issues that drive greater regional integration and obstacles that prevent it. How does South Asia's experience of regionalism compare with other parts of the world? What different perspectives do South Asia's sometimes contentious neighbors bring to the regional process? How do those attitudes help or hinder solutions to peculiarly South Asian challenges? The book devotes particular attention to India, the largest power in the region, and analyzes the extent to which it drives or blocks greater regionalism. As the book's distinguished contributors reveal, the provocative question at the heart of this timely book defies easy answers.

Copublished with the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi.

New Product Development (NPD) is about the ideation, formulation, and implementation of new and superior solutions in the market. Beyond the obvious need for organizations to innovate in order to compete, embedded in any NPD program are knowledge, technological expertise, and the social networks that convert these capabilities into offerings that create value at every level-for customers, industries, communities, and regions. This volume provides an array of knowledge perspective in NPD across multiple levels of analysis and geographic regions, including Europe, the United States, China, Japan, and India, to explore the dynamics of NPD in today's global environment. Presenting case studies from such industries as ICT services, semiconductors, software development, bio-technology, higher education, and even safety for children's toys, and drawing from a variety of theoretical perspectives, including technology and knowledge management, sociology, economic geography, and organizational behavior, the authors highlight critical success and failure factors in NPD. Among the topics covered: New product development teams, including multi-functional and multi-site teams De-localization and off-shoring of tasks and processes Individual competencies and organizational capabilities University-industry interactions, high-tech clusters, and technology transfer Technology policy

India has joined a worldwide trend in which nations are seeking to improve the quality of their higher education systems by giving greater autonomy and accountability to higher education institutions. In this report, the authors review India's and other countries' higher education systems and suggest seven policy actions that the Indian national government and other stakeholders can take to improve higher education by linking funding to quality.