"Industry-Academia
Linkages in a High Tech Research Field" |
Sercan Ozcan, Nazrul Islam Bahcesehir University, Turkey.
|
Currently, academic researchers' focus started changing towards protecting IP rights and to transferring them into industrial actors. Accordingly, it is argued that academic's basic research focus started shifting towards applied research as it is essential for the radical inventions to be introduced in a competitive market. This research seeks to understand industry-academia linkages in a high tech field such as nano-crystals. In regards to supporting the technology transfer process within or cross country, this study illustrates the technology development trends and actors' engagement; nano-crystals technology and their interconnections; and maps the organizational (industryacademia) linkages that enhance the commercialization of radical inventions. The results show that the industryacademia linkages that appeared as decentralized structure are more stable compared to other linkage types. Korean and Japanese organizations present such stable linkages. The linkages are even stronger when they appear as a mono-linkage type. Chinese organizations show a great illustration of such an effective mono-linkage of co-inventorships in high tech research fields. The organizations in the US maintain international linkages.
|
Advisor:
Dr. Nazrul Islam |
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"Differentiating
the Role of Ex-ante and Ex-post Relational
Governance Mechanisms in Regulating Client-Contractor
Relationships" |
Seyed Yaser Banihashemi, The University of Sydney, Australia.
|
Poor project governance is the main cause of project
failures for complex projects. Historically, formal contracting
has been the mainstay of project governance for
outsourced projects. However, subsequent studies found
that reliance on formal contracting typically results in
adversarial relationships between clients and contractors
in large construction projects, which exacerbates the
chances of project failure by thwarting exchange of information,
hindering collaboration and increasing hostility
between the parties. Moreover, due to high levels of
uncertainty and complexity in practice, it is often impossible
or excessively expensive to construct “complete”
contracts upfront, or the institutional structures needed
to enforce the contract do not exist. Consequently, relational
governance mechanisms have been proposed as an
effective alternative in such situations. Subsequent literature
has shifted to the effects of contractual and relational
governance mechanisms on the performance of exchange
relationships as well as the interactions between those
mechanisms. In particular, the relationship between contractual
and relational governance has been the focus of
a substantial body of literature, and the findings are contradictory.
Whilst some studies find the relationship to be substitutive, others indicate it is complementary.
In this study, drawing from transaction cost economics
(TCE), social capital theory, and social exchange theory,
we re-examine the relationship by distinguishing
two forms of relational governance, namely ex-ante and
ex-post relational governance, and argue that the relationship
between these two forms and contractual governance
are substitutive and complementary, respectively,
thereby reconciling the contradictory findings on the relationship.
Our conceptual model is validated using survey data
collected from 40 client-contractor partnerships in large
construction projects in Australia. Contributing to the
literature, the results show that ex-ante relational governance
has both a substitutive relationship as well as a
complementary relationship (mediated by ex-post relational
governance) with formal contracting, while ex-post
relational governance has a complementary relationship
with formal contracting. In addition, the results indicate
that formal contracting has a direct effect on project performance,
while ex-post relational governance has a direct
effect on relationship performance.
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Advisor:
Dr. Li Liu |
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"Innovative
Cognitive Style, Proactive Personality and Employee Creativity: The Moderating Effects of Work Discretion and Time Pressure" |
Yu-Yu Chang, National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan.
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This paper aims to examine the influence of innovative
cognitive style, proactive personality and working conditions
on employee creativity by taking an interactional
perspective. Innovative cognitive style refers to an individual's
idiosyncrasy of thinking about and dealing with
an original idea, while proactive personality conceptualizes
an individual's strategic opportunity-seeking behaviors
toward exploring novelty. Work discretion and
time pressure, two critical contextual factors suggested
to impact employee creativity in organizational literature,
may also influence how individuals convert their
innovative cognitive style and proactive personality into
creativity. In an attempt to extend current understanding
of creativity in organizations, this study examines the
relationship between individual characteristics (innovativeness
and proactiveness) and employee creativity, and
how the relationship is moderated by work discretion
and time pressure. Hierarchical regression analysis was
used to examine the proposed hypotheses for a sample of
344 middle-level managers in Taiwanese manufacturing
companies, including R&D managers and marketing managers.
Results reveal that innovative cognitive style and
proactive personality are positively related to employee
creativity. Work discretion was found to enhance employee
creativity while time pressure was found to constrain
creativity. Our findings support the hypothesized
moderating effects, indicating that employees will exhibit
the highest level of creativity when they possess innovative
cognitive style and proactive personality as well
as performing tasks with high work discretion and less
time pressure. |
Advisor:
Prof. Ming-Huei Chen |
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"Analyzing
Research Publication Patterns to Gauge Future Innovation Pathways for Nano-Enabled Drug Delivery" |
Xiao Zhou, Beijing Institute of Technology, P.R. China.
|
With the global emphasis on the development of nanotechnology
("nano"), nano-enabled drug delivery
("NEDD") systems are rapidly emerging as a key nano
application area. NEDD offers promise in addressing
pharmaceutical industry challenges concerning solubility,
cost reduction, cell and sub-cellular targeting, and
patent lifecycle extension. A combination of factors promotes
nanoparticle-enhanced and other nano-facilitated
drug and gene delivery systems. To get a grip on this vast,
varied, and highly promising area of nano application,
researchers devised a multi-component search strategy,
detailed here, to generate a NEDD dataset from the Web of
Science (WOS). They then analyzed these scientific and
biomedical research publication records to profile R&D
activity, gauge evolving research foci, and forecast NEDD
research trends. Such “tech mining” can help to address
a wide array of further technology management questions
concerning this important biomedical arena. The aim of
this research is to build a family of analytical tools to facilitate
the forecasting of innovation pathways. |
Advisor:
Prof. Donghua Zhu |
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"Finding
Linkage between Technology and Social Issues: A Literature Based Discovery Approach" |
Vitavin Ittipanuvat, The University of Tokyo, Japan.
|
With social issues such as an aging society and sustainability becoming of greater concern than ever as we are heading towards the future society, decision makers in both the government and private sector need to identify and focus their efforts on promoting key technologies which have significant contributions to these increasingly complex social problems. However, such connections are not easy to trace, thus making this subject very difficult to be completely understood. Meanwhile, literature based discovery (LBD) has been widely accepted as an effective approach to discover hidden connections from information within bibliographical databases but is still used mainly in medical databases. This paper investigates the possibility of a broader application of LBD to reveal the linkage between technology and social issues from science and social science citation databases. Robotics and gerontology were selected as an example dataset, and some lexical statistics were used to suggest important connecting terms. The result shows various contributions of robotics to healthcare and the well-being of elderly people such as surgery, hearing implants, and rehabilitation. This methodology could offer an alternative approach in creating an overview picture of how one technology contributes to a particular social issue and assists in forming policies to promote key technologies towards the future society. |
Advisor:
Prof. Yuya Kajikawa |
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"Dynamics
and Heterogeneity of Product Innovation in Embedded Software: The Case of Japanese Automotive Software" |
Zhongquan Xie, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan.
|
This paper contributes to the research on dynamics and heterogeneity of product innovation in embedded software in the case of Japanese automotive software (ASW). Functions of embedded software are realized by being embedded into hardware, so if we know the functions of an embedded system, we know the functions of its embedded software. Therefore, based on the advantage of using patenting in large third countries as a good proxy measure for national innovation activities, we use ASW related patents in the USPTO patent database as an indicator of ASW product innovation. The results show that heterogeneous actors have had different roles and propensities to innovate in several fields of ASW functions, namely power train control, battery and electric power control, safety control, body control and ICT system over the period 1981 to 2010. There was a shift beginning in the early 1990s when suppliers were becoming more and more important in product innovation of ASW. Increasing cooperation happened mainly between the automotive makers and suppliers, especially big suppliers. To conclude, the heterogeneous requirements for real-time operation and accumulation of specific knowledge that are technologically difficult and complex are the main reasons for heterogeneity of product innovation in embedded software. |
Advisor:
Prof. Kumiko Miyazaki |
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"Constructing
National Innovative Capacity in Globalization: The Network Autocorrelation Perspective" |
Hung-Chun Huang, National Chi Nan University, Taiwan.
|
Globalization has highlighted change in national technology capability. Exogenous factors drive a country towards technological progress, and drive economic growth via international technology diffusion. Previous studies have stressed that innovative capacity is determined by regional or local social systems. This paper reconsiders these studies and develops a new perspective of evaluating national innovative capacity. This method employs a network autocorrelation model which simultaneously considers both endogenous determiners and exogenous influence on national innovative capacity. Data from 42 countries from 1997 to 2002 are utilized to empirically examine their network relationship and innovation performance. The analytical results not only demonstrate the effect of domestic determiners with differences global context and their differential context attribute influence on national innovative performance more by network positioning than by network partnership, but also exhibit important differences between the alternate channels of international technology diffusion and their differential effects on innovative performance. This finding provides a new perspective for science and technology policy makers. |
Advisor:
Prof. Dr. Hsin-Yu Shih |
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"Seeing
the Next iPhone Coming Your Way: How to Anticipate Converging Industries
" |
Clive-Steven Curran, University of Muenster, Germany.
|
The blurring of boundaries between hitherto distinct scientific disciplines,
technologies or markets is a common and powerful phenomenon. Traditionally, it has been discussed in respect to
telecommunications, information technologies and electronics. Subjects of this convergence often change what and
where customers buy, with Apple’s renowned iPhone being one current example for customers’ tendency toward
products with multiple benefits. More recently, the chemical and its related industries find themselves also
affected by a larger convergence process. Concentrating on developments at the outposts of the chemical industry,
we discuss indications of convergence with an example from the area of Nutraceuticals and Cosmeceuticals.
Furthermore, we present and discuss a multiple indicator concept for monitoring convergence in an R&D-intensive
field on the basis of publicly available data. We analyze 7,455 scientific and patent references on phytosterols
with the aid of SciFinder Scholar and 3,836 documents employing STN AnaVist. Our results show clear indications
for convergence and a proof of principle for our monitoring concept. A closer look at convergence and effective
tools for spotting weak signals appears to be necessary. Particularly for practitioners, the opportunity to get
a head start on their current and future competitors is of high strategic importance. |
Advisor:
Prof. Dr. Jens Leker |
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"Cooperative
Advertising and Pricing in a Dynamic Stochastic Supply Chain: Feedback Stackelberg Strategies
" |
Xiuli He, University of Texas at Dallas, USA.
|
Cooperative (co-op) advertising is an important
instrument for aligning manufacturer and retailer decisions in supply
chains. In this, the manufacturer announces a co-op advertising policy,
i.e., a participation rate that specifies the percentage of the
retailer's advertising expenditure that it will provide. In addition, it
also announces the wholesale price. In response, the retailer chooses
its optimal advertising and pricing policies. We model this supply chain
problem as a stochastic Stackelberg differential game whose dynamics
follows Sethi's stochastic sales-advertising model. We obtain the
condition when offering co-op advertising is optimal for the
manufacturer. We provide in feedback form the optimal advertising and
pricing policies for the manufacturer and the retailer. We contrast the
results with the advertising and price decisions of the vertically
integrated channel, and suggest a method for coordinating the channel. |
Advisor:
Dr. Suresh P. Sethi |
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"Absorptive
Capability of MNCs: Balance between Autonomy and Control of Foreign R&D
Subsidiaries'" |
Seiko Arai, Templeton College, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
|
This paper analyzes the capability of Japanese and European multinational companies (MNCs) to absorb technological knowledge from the United States through their R&D operation in the US. Employing the notion of “absorptive capacity” [10], we define the capability of a firm to absorb technological knowledge from abroad as “absorptive capability (AC).” We examine the components of AC and their inter-relationships using patent and sales data in the context of R&D management of Japanese and European MNCs at home and in the US. |
Advisor:
Dr. David Barron |
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"Public Sector
Science and ‘The Strategy of the Commons'" |
Ajay Agrawal, Queen’s University, Boston,
Massachusetts. USA
|
This paper provides a game-theoretic
explanation for the puzzling behavior of large firms (incumbents) who,
while sponsoring university research labs, require all inventions
generated by the sponsored labs be licensed openly on a purely
non-exclusive basis. Under certain conditions, this results in an
intellectual property “commons” with the consequence that no firm has
the incentive to innovate, despite the potential profitability of the
new technology. The strategy of spoiling incentives to innovate by
eliminating exclusive intellectual property rights - the strategy of the
commons - is motivated by a fear of cannibalization and supported by a
credible threat. The author shows that the degree of cannibalization to
which the new technology exposes the old market is responsible for this
market failure and the author characterizes the sub-game perfect
equilibrium in which “the strategy of the commons” is played. Within
this framework welfare implications as well as strategy and policy
issues are also investigated. |
Advisor:
Dr. Iain
Cockburn |
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"Improving Information
Technology Systems through Adaptive User Interfaces" |
Roger E. Brill,
University of Central Florida, USA |
The "information overload"
problem anticipated for the future will be compounded as information
expands exponentially in the next millenium. This paper describes past
and present research efforts designed to improve information technology
(IT) systems through the creation of adaptive user interfaces. |
Advisor: Dr. James M. Ragusa |
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"Strategies for Managing
Process Improvement Uncertainty in Manufacturing Environments" |
Janice Carrillo,
Georgia Institute of Technology, USA |
Although
firms must upgrade their manufacturing capabilities to remain
competitive over time, successful process improvement implementation is
uncertain. Furthermore, several internal characteristics such as the
firm’s size and level of knowledge affect the magnitude and the
certainty of the benefits realized. A comprehensive stochastic model is
introduced which yields managerial insights concerning the impact of
firm size on appropriate process improvement and knowledge acquisition
strategies. Analytic results are derived linking firm size to relevant
cost and efficiency advantages. Manufacturing managers can utilize the
model to tailor appropriate process improvement and knowledge
acquisition strategies for their firms. |
Advisor: Dr. Cheryl Gaimon |
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“The
Role of Uncertainty in Speed-to-Market and New Product Success” |
Jiyao Chen, Stevens Institute of Technology,
Hoboken, New Jersey, USA
Co-Authors: Richard Reilly, Gary Lynn |
Time-based strategy is becoming an important weapon to
achieve competitive advantages in the current environment of fast-changing
technology and customer requirements. Speed-to-market has become the mantra
of both researchers and practitioners in new product development (NPD), but
there is limited empirical research and inconsistent or conflicting findings
on the relationship between speed-to-market and product performance. A more
important question is whether faster is always better. In a study of 692 NPD
projects, we examined the relationship between speed-to-market and new
product success (NPS) under conditions of different uncertainties. Our
results indicate that speed-to-market is generally positively associated
with overall project success, but market turbulence moderates the direct
effect. Speed-to-market is less important to NPS under conditions of low
market turbulence. One important implication is that it is necessary to
execute time-based strategy in a fast-changing market but not in an existing
and stable marketing. Our results also suggest technological uncertainty
does not affect the speed-success relationship. The limitations, and future
research related to these results are discussed. |
Advisor: Dr. Richard Reilly |
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"Optimal Sequential and
Parallel Prototyping Policies" |
Ely Dahan,
Stanford University, USA |
When designing a new product or service, its
developers must balance the expected profit of improving the design
against the costs and time requirements of doing so. We propose to
quantify this tradeoff by modeling a latter stage of development,
prototyping, as a search process. The decision maker choose how many
prototypes to build then observe the projected profit of each. Multiple
parallel prototypes are modeled as n random draws from a continuous
probability distribution. The model balances the cost of building and
testing the parallel prototypes against improvements in expected
profits. We also study the option to abandon the project when even the
best prototype generates losses. Further, we investigate prototyping
decisions for products consisting of independent components that must be
compatible in order for the total system to be profitable. Process
design also considers alternatives for improving particular process
steps but is complicated by the need for compatibility between these
improved process steps.
The paper’s contributions include closed-form
solutions for the case of Uniformly and Gumbel-distributed profits,
insights into the benefits of conducting multiple experiments in
parallel versus sequentially, and the valuation of options to abandon
projects. It develops insight into the interactions between multiple
components of a complex product or manufacturing process as they affect
prototyping policy.
|
Advisor Dr. Haim Mendelson |
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“An Analytical Approach to Building a Technology
Development Envelope (TDE) for Roadmapping of Emerging Technologies” |
Nathasit Gerdsri, Portland State University, Portland,
Oregon, USA
Co-Author: Dundar F. Kocaoglu |
This paper presents the research on the development of
a new concept and methodology called Technology Development Envelope (TDE).
TDE approach is applied for identifying the optimum path in developing a technology
roadmap in which technology strategies and business strategies are combined. TDE
allows the executive level decision makers in corporations, as well as the
policy level decision makers in governments to incorporate disruptive technologies and
radical innovations in the development of technology strategies. The combination
of Delphi method and hierarchical decision (AHP) is used as a foundation for building
the TDE concept. The judgments from technology developers and technology
implementers are utilized in the process to assure that the technology strategies
are in full support of corporate goals and objectives. |
Advisor: Dr. Dundar F. Kocaoglu |
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“Strategic
Evaluation of Emerging Technologies in the Taiwan Semiconductor Foundry
Industry” |
Jonathan Ho, Portland State University, Portland,
Oregon, USA
Co-Author: Dundar F. Kocaoglu |
The Integrated Circuit (IC) manufacturing technologies
have been evolving continuously since their invention. The semiconductor
foundry industry, whose core business is IC manufacturing, is greatly
influenced and shaped by the flow of these newly arriving technologies. This
research applies the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) model to evaluate the
strategic impact of new IC manufacturing technologies in the semiconductor
foundry industry in Taiwan where the industry is in a global leadership
position. The model incorporates the levels of overall competitive success,
competitive goals, technology strategies and emerging technologies. Relative
impacts of elements in one level on its upper level are obtained by
utilizing the inputs from experts of Taiwan’s semiconductor foundry
industry. The results show the relative importance of competitive goals in
the semiconductor foundry industry. Each competitive goal is aligned to the
technology strategies as well as emerging technologies in the prioritized
orders. |
Advisor: Dr. Dundar F. Kocaoglu |
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"Educating the Guess: Strategies, Concepts and Tools for the Fuzzy Front
End of Product Development" |
Antonie J. Jetter,
Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen-Germany |
Many companies lack efficient management of the early
phases of new product development (NPD) - the so-called fuzzy front end (FFE).
Rather than on structured methods, decision makers rely on “gut–feel” or
“guessing”. In an attempt to “educate the guess,” this paper discusses the
activities and challenges of the FFE, as well as strategies to manage them
successfully. It then briefly presents traditional and recent approaches to
front-end management support. Based on the identified strengths and
weaknesses of existing front-end solutions, the framework of a new
management support system for the FFE is presented. Conceptually, the system
is based on psychological findings about the process of action-regulation in
complex decision environments. Methodologically, it uses Fuzzy Cognitive
Maps (FCM) for modeling and simulation.
|
Advisor: Dr. Hans-Horst Schroeder |
|
Dipl.-Kff. Antonie Jetter studied business
administration at RWTH Aachen, where she graduated in 1998. She has
worked with Siemens AG and a start-up laser company and joined the
Department of Technology and Innovation Management at the RWTH Aachen in
1998. She is currently working on her Ph.D. thesis concerned with
information acquisition and processing in the early NPD phases. Her
present research interests also include knowledge management and small
and medium enterprises |
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"Achieving the Potential
Benefits of Advanced Manufacturing Technology - A Study of Swedish
Metalworking Companies" |
Patrik Jonsson,
Växjö University, Sweden |
The paper empirically concludes that a key to success
for heavy users of advanced manufacturing technology is to improve the
infrastructure (worker empowerment, training, self-managed teams,
quality leadership and inter-functional design teams), to emphasize
decentralized preventive maintenance, and to develop a manufacturing
strategy where flexibility is an important capability. |
Advisor: Dr. David J. Sherwin |
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“Broadcast Search in Problem Solving: Attracting Solutions from the Periphery” |
Karim R. Lakhani, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
|
The purpose of this study is to explore an alternative mechanism of problem solving
that focuses on broadcasting problems to diverse and peripheral problem solvers, what I call broadcast
search. Broadcasting problems is a radical departure from traditional problem solving as it involve problem
holders engaging in as little problem-solving as possible - instead they attempt to interest a heterogeneous
set of external actors in creating solutions to internal problems. Analysis of 166 previously unsolved
science problems, originating from the R&D labs of 26 firms, revealed a 29.5% resolution rate via broadcast
search. The probability of a problem being solved was significantly correlated with the heterogeneity in
the scientific interests of the solvers submitting solutions and their relative specialization. Broadcast
search also appears to be an economically efficient problem solving mechanism. It involves low costs for
solution seekers relative to the costs of internal R&D. Most of the solvers based their submissions,
partially or fully, on previously developed solutions from their own and/or someone else’s work, implying
an efficient re-use and transformation of existing knowledge and solutions. |
Advisor: Dr. Eric von Hippel |
|
Dr. Karim R. Lakhani joined the Technology and Operations Management Unit
at Harvard Business School as an assistant professor in July 2006. He
specializes in the management of technological innovation and product
development in firms and communities. His research is on distributed
innovation systems and the movement of innovative activity to the edges
of organizations and into communities. He has extensively studied the
emergence of open source software communities and their unique innovation
and product development strategies. He has also investigated how critical
knowledge from outside of the organization can be found and put to use
inside for innovation in the biotechnology, life sciences and industrial
chemicals industries. He is co-editor of Perspectives on Free and Open
Source Software (MIT Press, 2005).
Dr. Lakhani was awarded his PhD in management from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2006. He also holds a M.S. degree
in Technology and Policy from MIT (1999), and a B.S. degree in
Electrical Engineering and Management from McMaster University in
Canada (1993). He was a recipient of the Aga Khan Foundation International
Scholarship and a four-year doctoral fellowship from Canada's Social
Science and Humanities Research Council. |
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“Knowledge-Partitioning and Inter-firm Innovation:
An Empirical Case Analysis” |
Jaegul Lee, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
USA
Co-Author: Francisco Veloso |
Building on emerging research on knowledge
partitioning and an information processing view of product development, this
study examines the impact of task uncertainty on the knowledge boundary between
manufacturers and suppliers in automobile industry. Using successfully applied patents in
automobile emission control technologies from 1970 to 1998, this research shows that
manufacturers expand their inhouse R&D capabilities beyond architectural knowledge and into component
innovation whenever they encountered task uncertainties. Moreover, and unlike what was
anticipated, manufacturers’ endeavor in building up inhouse component innovation was shown to increase
over time, indicating a growing importance of component knowledge for manufacturers in times of
task uncertainties, even after the establishment of dominant designs. This study also provides a large
scale empirical test for the theoretical claims that effective knowledge management for both architectural
and component knowledge is a key factor influencing firms’ competitiveness in the inter-firm product
developments. |
Advisor: Professor Francisco Veloso |
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|
“Optimal Project Selection and Budget Allocation for
R&D Portfolio” |
Leonardo P. Santiago, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Co-Author: Pirooz Vakili |
We introduce a new formulation of the problem of
project selection and budget allocation for R&D portfolios. Due to R&D budget constraints
and limited resources, firms are often forced to select a subset of all potential
idea/products to carry on the development process. In the formulation presented we make
a distinction between budget constraints during the development phase and the
commercialization phase by arguing that the latter constraints are not hard
constraints. Firms that succeed in developing promising and breakthrough products
have little difficulty in securing resources for their commercialization. The portfolio selection at the
commercialization phase therefore can appropriately be treated as an instance of selection among a set of
financial instruments and the rich theory of financial portfolio formation can be utilized. Optimal selection
of projects at the development phase, on the other hand, needs to be performed with the optimal selection
at the commercialization phase taken into account. Following this line of argument, we formulate a two
stage optimal project selection and budget allocation problem. Properties of the solution and the
implications of adopting this formulation are discussed. Project interdependencies at both stages of
development and commercialization are considered and illustrated via examples. |
Advisor: Professor Pirooz Vakili |
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"Managing International
Technology Alliances: Ballard Power and Fuel Cell Vehicle Development" |
Wilma W. Suen,
Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, USA |
Multiparty international
strategic alliances are becoming popular vehicles through which firms
access resources, share risk, and learn. They are particularly useful in
technology-based industries where products are becoming more complex and
risk of failure is high. However, firms are profit maximizing actors who
may behave opportunistically or defect in order to gain a larger share
of the returns. This paper argues that power and interdependence between
members, and between the firm and the alliance are key to determining a
member’s capability to act against its partners’ or alliance’s
interests. The more powerful and less dependent the firm, the greater
its freedom to act. The case of Ballard’s alliance with DaimlerChrysler
and Ford finds that alliances “construct” interdependence to balance the
asymmetries in their relationships and tie the firms more closely
together. |
Advisor: Dr. Lee McKnight |
|
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"Innovation Forecasting" |
Robert Watts,
Georgia Institute of Technology, USA |
Technological forecasting is premised on a certain
orderliness of the innovation process. Myriad studies of technological
substitution, diffusion, and transfer processes have yielded conceptual
models of what matters for successful innovation. Yet most technological
forecasts key on limited empirical measures quite divorced from those
innovation process models. We glean a number of concepts from various
innovation models, then present an array of bibliometric measures that
offer promise of operationalizing these concepts. Judicious combination
of such bibliometrics with other forms of evidence offers an enriched
form of technological forecasting that we name “innovation forecasting.”
This provides a good means to combine technological trends, mapping of
technological interdependencies, and competitive intelligence to produce
a viable forecast. We illustrate by assessing prospects for ceramic
engine technologies. |
Advisor: Dr. Alan Porter |
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"A Yield Management
Strategy for Semiconductor Manufacturing Based on Information Theory" |
Charles Weber,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
Co-Authors:
Vijay Sankaran, SEMATECH
Kenneth W. Tobin, Jr., Oak Ridge National Laboratories
Gary Scher, Sleuthworks, Inc.
|
A model based on information theory, which allows
technology managers to choose the optimal strategies for yield
management in the semiconductor industry, is presented. The knowledge
extraction rate per experimentation cycle and knowledge extraction rate
per unit time serve as benchmarking metrics for yield learning. They
enable managers to make objective comparisons of apparently unrelated
technologies. Combinations of four yield analysis tools -- electrical
testing, automatic defect classification, spatial signature analysis and
wafer position analysis -- are examined in detail to determine an
optimal yield management strategy for both the R&D and volume production
environments. |
Advisor: Dr. Eric von Hippel |
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"Technology
Processes Management Capability Profiles of Machine Manufacturers in
Turkey" |
O.Ugur Yildirim,
Yeditepe
University, Istanbul, Turkey
Co-Authors: A. Nuri Basoglu,
Bogazici University, Turkey
|
Technology Processes Management
Capability Profiles Model (TPMCPM) integrates normative, strategic, and
operational technology management levels with technology management
subprocesses (identification, selection, acquisition, exploitation,
protection, and abandonment of technology). This research aims to assess
technology management capabilities and draw capability profiles of the
machine manufacturing industry in Turkey. |
Advisor: Dr. M. Atilla Oner |
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"Exploring Technology Evolution Pathways to Facilitate Technology Management: A Study of Dye-Sensitized Solar
Cells" |
Ying Huang,
Beijing Institute of Technology, China
|
Market competition drives attention to the prospects of new and emerging science &
technologies (NESTs), which are fast changing and, so far, have relatively limited applications.
Technology evolution pathways, as a powerful representation of the development of technology,
have caught researchers' interest as a tool to trace historical progression, explore knowledge
diffusion, and forecast future NEST trends. Citation analysis approaches are actively applied to
structure a large number of patents, map patent distribution, and capture knowledge transfer and
change in technologies or industries. This paper (1) introduces the indicator of connectivity and
modularity in the interior citation network to identify the technology development stage; (2)
takes family patent information into the process of building a comprehensive patent citation
network; and (3) extracts technological trajectories by applying integrated approaches of main
path analyses, namely global main path analysis and global key-route main analysis, among
different technological stages. We illustrate this approach with dye-sensitized solar cells
(DSSCs) as an example of a promising NEST, contributing to the remarkable growth in the
renewable energy industry. The results show how our method can trace the main development
trajectory of a research field and discern the technology focus to help decision-makers facilitate
technology management. |
Advisor: Dr. Alan L. Porter |
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"Exploring Effective Factors for the Generation of Innovative Ideas and Technologies in Functional Food R&D" |
Kosuke Kato,
Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan
|
Functional foods are promising products with physiological
effects that may provide health benefits. Innovative
concepts and technologies that derive from individual
creativity and serendipitous findings are indispensable
in order to make good sales and achieve a share in the
growing functional food market. However, there have
been few reports discussing manufacturers in the food
industry adapting any kind of a management system for
promoting creativity and serendipity. In this paper, we
demonstrate the analogy of the R&D processes between
functional foods and drugs to point out the important role
of serendipity in functional food R&D. To achieve our
goal of constructing an effective management system for
idea generation in the functional food sector, we conducted
survey analysis of 114 R&D researchers and engineers
at 74 companies in the sector using a questionnaire on
idea generation. Through factorial analysis, we extracted
the novel factors underlying idea generation in functional
food R&D. We would like to show how these factors may
promote creativity and serendipity. |
Advisor: Dr. Kazuhiko Itaya |
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“Managing the Technology of Integrating the
Production and Transportation Functions in Assembly or Flow Operations for Make-to-order Industries” |
Xuying Zhao, University of Texas at Dallas, USA
Co-Author: Kathryn E. Stecke |
When a make-to-order manufacturing company
commits a delivery due date for an order, we call it a commit-to-delivery business mode.
In this mode, the manufacturing company is responsible for the shipping
cost and selecting a shipping mode which is usually provided by a third party logistics company.
Generally, shipping cost is higher when the selected shipping mode requires shorter shipping time.
How should a company schedule production in production lines for all accepted orders so that the
company can leave enough shipping time for orders to take slow shipping modes to reduce
the shipping cost? We study the production and transportation integration technology for a
make-to-order manufacturing company with a commit-todelivery business mode. In the
distribution scenario where partial delivery is allowed, we provide an optimal production schedule which
minimizes the total shipping costs for all finished orders. When partial delivery is not allowed, we
provide a near-optimal heuristic algorithm which is proved to be efficient and effective by numerical tests. |
Advisor: Professor Kathryn E. Stecke |
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“Firm's Product Innovation Strategy
and Product Sales in Convergent Product Markets” |
Hyeokseong Lee, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), S. Korea
Co-Author: Prof. Wonjoon Kim |
Although product convergence became the prevailing
paradigm, our understanding is limited because of the
small number of studies. We examine how a firm's resource
base and recombinant capability affect market
performance for convergent products using mobile phone
market data for the United States. We find that a firm's
resource base explains why a firm whose resource base
is related to the base product (mobile phone) achieves
better market performance for the convergent product
(camera phone) than a firm whose resource base is for
the additional product (camera). Moreover, recombinant
capability - defined as the ability to combine resources
and capabilities previously distinct - is a significant factor
that enables firms whose performance previously lagged
to catch up to that of the leaders in the convergent product
market. |
Advisor: Professor Wonjoon Kim |
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“Understanding Social Entrepreneurial
Intentions: Entrepreneurship Education, Academic Major and Planned Behaviors” |
Wisuwat Wannamakok, Southern Taiwan University of Science & Technology, Taiwan
Co-Author: Dr. Yu-Yu Chang |
This study draws upon the theory of planned behavior to
empirically test a model which clarifies the relationships
between attitude toward behavior, subjective norm, and
perceived behavioral control and university students'
social entrepreneurial intentions as well as revealing
the moderating role of entrepreneurship education and
academic major. Through multiple linear regression analysis,
we tested our hypotheses on a sample of 832 college
students (342 from three universities in Taiwan and
490 from four universities in Thailand). Results indicate
that all aspects of the theory of planned behavior have a
positive and significant impact on social entrepreneurial
intentions. More interestingly, the positive effects of attitude
toward behavior and perceived behavioral control on
social entrepreneurship intention are strengthened when
students attend entrepreneurship programs at university
and have a non-business major. On the basis of three-way
interaction analysis, our findings suggest that college students'
social entrepreneurship intention is at the highest
level when non-business major students have a favorable
attitude towards behavior, perceive a strong behavioral
control, and receive entrepreneurial education. This paper
sheds new lights on the behavioral mechanisms that
determine students' intention to engage in social enterprises.
The theoretical contributions and practical implications
for educational policy are discussed.
|
Advisor: Dr. Yu-Yu Chang |
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“Consideration on the Standardization and
Industrialization of Human Microbiome Technologies in Japan” |
Takaharu Jibiki, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan
Co-Author: Dr. Shintaro Sengoku |
Human microbiome technologies have attracted attention
as a new therapeutic modality. However, in order for
the technologies to form a new industry, standardizing
human microbiome analysis should be the first priority to
ensure the reliability and quality of human microbiome
data. The objective of this study was to clarify the
current situation regarding the standardization of
human microbiome analysis and the potential of human
microbiome technologies to be industrialized in Japan.
This study considered the future prospectives of the
standardization of microbiome analysis along with
its challenges. In addition, the industrialization of
human microbiome technologies was discussed with
particular consideration of the situational differences
between Japan and the United States. The following
challenges were identified: 1) “Innovator’s Dilemma”
in human microbiome technologies, 2) obsolescence
of consortium-driven standards, 3) fragmentation of
microbiome data, 4) insufficient collaborations between
organizations, and 5) inadequate government funding
for basic research. Further, the following requirements
were identified for the industrialization of human
microbiome technologies in Japan: 1) facilitation of
the microbiome analysis business, 2) development of
diagnostic technologies, 3) development of peripheral
technologies, 4) improvement in the quality of and access
to open data on the human microbiome, and 5) investment
in drug discovery research. |
Advisor: Dr. Shintaro Sengoku |
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“Technological Convergence and
Market Creation: Making Connected Cars in China” |
Dr. Limeng Yu, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan
Co-Author: Prof. Chuan-Kai Lee |
Human The fifth generation of mobile technologies known
as 5G has been pushing a deep convergence between
communication technologies (CT), information technologies
(IT) through incorporating and standardizing internet
of things (IoT) where the IoT application scenarios
using deeply-converging technologies. How do firms
respond to such deep technological convergence in 5G
era? This study uses Chinese technology firms’ making
connected cars as a case to explore their roles in the
deep convergence driven by 5G. Particularly, the study
concerns how firms from information and communication
technology (ICT) industry, namely Huawei, Xiaomi and
Baidu, seize the opportunities of deep convergence to
create connected-car markets under 5G transition. By
analyzing the in-depth interviews with industrial experts,
and the text analysis of patents, contracts as well as
policy documents, it is tentatively found that firms may
respond to the convergence through: (a) creating markets
through defining and institutionalizing new scenarios;
(b) defining the core problem of the new scenarios based
on incumbent core technological capabilities; and (c)
transferring incumbent core technological capabilities in
the defining stage of the new IoT scenarios. |
Advisor: Prof. Chuan-Kai Lee |
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