bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A model for small‐scale industry/university collaboration in the UK based on case studies*
Authors: Kamala G. V. , Swamy K. N. Krishna. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis paper outlines some examples of current collaboration between universities and technologically sophisticated small companies in Britain. Based on the examples a descriptive model of university‐industry collaboration in the UK is presented. The model shows that interactions with small industries are often sequels to earlier ones and are essentially a part of the total university‐industry collaboration efforts. Very often the whole process of new efforts. Very often the whole process of new product emergence chain – research ideaprototype‐marketable product‐multiple applications‐general marketable version – is triggered off by initial interactions with small companies and small companies do play a very important role in the process of total technology transfer from university to industry. While flow of research results in a collaboration was on the whole well planned, the initial contact was prone to chance. A two‐stage search by the university, which can reduce the chance element, is suggested.
Aspects of technology assessment – the future role of artificial intelligence
Authors: Bernold T. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe author regrets that the artificial intelligence (Al) community is too inward looking. There is not enough concern with the potential impact of the new technologies of Al on the world outside. For example, it gives too little importance to the needs of the system user. Continued neglect may mean that it will fall victim to the current shake‐out in the computer industry. The current tendency to restrict system development to modelling expertise rather than general intelligence is a good sign, reflected in the general adoption of the term knowledge engineering rather than Al.The author surveys briefly some of the problems that may bar rapid development: secrecy, the gap between Academe and the industrial user and lack of standardisation. For continued progress it will be necessary to concentrate on designing simple systems, studying knowledge acquisition and orientation on the user. The author appeals for a systematic technology assessment programme to devise means of avoiding negative social impacts such as further de‐skilling of the workforce, concentration of the know‐how into too few hands amd fostering the false idea that Al will eliminate the need for human judgment in decision‐making.
The management of technological innovation in the machine tool industry: a cross‐national regional survey of Britain and Switzerland
Authors: Ackermann Charbel , Harrop Jeffrey 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe research was undertaken during 1983 to find out why a country such as Switzerland has been able to manage innovation in a mature industry, such as machine tools, much more successfully than Britain. The methodology used was by structured interviews of Managing Directors in a sample of firms in the two important machine tool regions of Berne and Yorkshire/Humberside. The results cover the main types of innovation in products and processes, the reasons for innovation and the problems which were encountered by the companies visited. We found that the Swiss firms were strong on product innovation. The most important innovation was the introduction of computer numerical control (CNC), and the Swiss firms had on average introduced this earlier than the British firms and it accounted for a larger proportion of their turnover. The main problem for firms in both countries was in adjusting to upstream developments in electronic controls. The Swiss had better downstream market links with their customers who were mostly in foreign countries. Some British firms were handicapped by being part of company groups and used public sector grants for their innovation, whereas the largely independent Swiss firms carried out more self‐financing.
Theory versus practice in the staffing of R&D laboratories
Authors: Dill David D. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe paper addresses the question of how far precept as revealed in the academic literature on staffing of industrial R&D organizations is reflected by practice in those organizations. The author has used the opportunity afforded by discussions with twenty‐five middle‐ and higher‐management staff in laboratories in four large European companies in the petrochemical, engineering and pharmaceutical industries to obtain an overview of their staffing practices.Six aspects of staffing were enquired into: identifying and attracting persons with skills needed, selecting those satisfying organizational needs, developing the new recruit, measuring performance, appraising the individual's needs and career planning. The general impression was that the practices were remarkably similar, though some differences were observed between research‐ or discovery‐oriented laboratories and development‐oriented laboratories.When compared with well‐validated generalisations in the literature firms tend to use practices judged good in the literature though there are some significant deviations especially with respect to the value of the personal interview. In some respects firms use innovative practices not yet studied by academic researchers.
Productivity & the R&D/Production interface in Japan
Authors: Bergen S. A. , Miyajima R. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe effect of national culture, found to be strong in the FRG/UK study, is even stronger in Japan. Apparent anomalies in the quantitative findings are resolved by taking it into account. The slopes of the regression lines of R&D resources against company productivity suggest that expenditure on R&D in the UK is well below optimum while that in Japan is rather above it and permit speculation as to what the optimum is for the industry.
Influence of task type on the relationship between communication and performance: the case of software development
Authors: Hauptman Oscar 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe relationships between communication patterns and performance of software development projects mostly resemble those of technical services, and not development projects, in hardware R&D. The local focus of software development projects in their information requirements is emphasized by the positive influence only of the informal and mostly internal literature, while external contacts, participation in conferences, and formal and external literature were inconsequential. The implications are two‐fold: a) on the conceptual level they suggest that a trade‐off between coordination and innovation requirements of the task might be an important determinant of optimal communication patterns; b) on the practical level it suggests that ‘software development’ consists of ‘software engineering’ and ‘software production’. Consequently, it should be recognized that as such, these activities should be managed differently—the former as R&D, the latter as manufacturing.
Stimulating creativity through managerial intervention
Authors: Lovelace R. F. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractBy linking creativity enhancement constructs to motivation theory, this paper theorizes how research managers, by virtue of their relationship with research personnel, may engage in behaviour which stimulates creative effort. Proposed is that the stimulation of creativity results from a basic scientist experiencing self‐actualization needs. Self‐actualization becomes prepotent in part as a result of the research manager's effort to satisfy lower level and higher level needs of scientists. Research managers may help satisfy such needs by virtue of their linking pin function, by engaging in goal setting and task definition, and by acquiring needed resources.The specific needs of basic scientists are specified based on the characteristics of basic scientists; two are predominant:—1. The scientist is a professional, exhibiting many of the characteristics of professionals.2. The scientist is a creative individual who, when sufficiently motivated produces novel ideas, combines old ideas in a novel way, or applies knowledge of one field to another.By satisfying the particular needs aroused by professional norms and creative ability, the research manager hence may help satisfy the needs of basic scientists.Appropriate managerial behaviours are linked to creativity enhancement in a model depicting the mechanisms whereby scientists are so motivated. Hypotheses are proposed as a basis for future research in testing the model.
A comparison of British and Japanese industrial energy management
Authors: Fawkes Steven D. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis paper compares methods of energy management in Japanese and British industrial companies. It is based on the premise that Japanese industry has been more successful at adopting energy conservation measures and aims to highlight differences between the two countries' approaches to energy management.In both successful Japanese and British companies the value of energy monitoring and target setting is stressed. In Japanese companies the information gained from monitoring is pushed out to the shopfloor employees who can use the information in ‘good housekeeping’ campaigns. In British companies monitoring information is usually held centrally, thus reducing its usefulness in good housekeeping. The decentralisation of information in Japan, coupled with the encouragement of employee participation results in Quality Circle type exercises aimed at implementing energy conservation measures.At the investment level of energy management co‐ordination and systematic thinking is necessary in order to prevent sub‐optimisation of investments. Japanese companies are notable for their very detailed explicit planning of energy management, something few if any British companies practice. This planning process, as well as encouraging employee participation through being bottom up, also encourages systematic thinking about the linkages of energy conservation investments to other parts of the business such as new plant investment and marketing.As well as the managerial factors the legal requirement in Japan for companies with a certain energy consumption to have a qualified energy manager with certain legally defined duties helps to encourage energy conservation.
R&D strategies and variable demand
Authors: Lowe Julian , Silver Mick 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis paper looks at some of the factors imposing on the resourcing of R&D in the face of fluctuating demand. R&D has various features that differentiate it from other aspects of corporate activity and consequently managerial strategies for dealing with R&D may vary substantially. The implications for R&D strategies and the acquisition of technology are considered under different demand conditions. Various alternative strategies are developed including contracting out, technology licensing and the maintenance of an in‐house facility through labour hoarding. New and existing empirical estimates are used to support the arguments and explain corporate strategy in this area.
Government support of clean technology research in West Germany: some evidence
Authors: Bongaerts Jan C. , Heinrichs Dirk 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe authors have set out to review the procedures used in the allocation of public money by the Federal German government for research into ‘clean’ technologies. Public sponsorship of this kind of research is necessary as industrial firms rarely see enough return for their R&D investment to warrant their carrying it out. The authors have surveyed the methods used by the government funding agency (BMFT) to identify projects and to allocate money to them. 82 projects were included in the survey in the fields of low‐emission processes.Projects were segmented in five ways: Status of the receiver; Type of technology; R&D stage (from basic through demonstration plant); Cooperative versus non‐cooperative, Environmental medium. Their broad conclusions are that (a) most of the funds went to projects for the development of ‘end‐of‐the‐pipe‐cum‐recycling’ technologies and integrated technologies, (b) where there was cooperation between a firm and a university the R&D concentrated on studying basic principles, and (c) success depends on the existence of a clear strategy for the research as a whole rather than on ad hoc monitoring against a narrowly conceived plan. The authors also summarise the problems met in ensuring that money allocated in this way is effectively used.
Individual differences and performance amongst R and D personnel: Some implications for management development
Authors: Payne Roy 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe literature on age and intelligence and scientific performance are briefly reviewed as a prelude to a more detailed consideration of recent work on the characteristics of innovative people. Attention is focussed on Kirton's measure of Innovation‐Adaptation and a suggestion is made that it measures a mixture of level of creativity and style of innovation, and that future work should concentrate on developing the three sub‐scales of originality, efficiency and rule‐conformity. Some implications for the selection and development of R and D personnel are outlined.
R and D Planning Techniques
Authors: Lovelace Robert F. 
Published: May 2007

The R and D manager who seeks to improve his ability to plan for R and D has available a plethora of descriptive and normative guidance offered by practitioners and theorists respectively. Nevertheless, while R and D planning models frequently are reported, the value of such to the practising manager merits further study inasmuch as issues of effectiveness generally are unexplored. This paper reviews the R and D planning models appearing in the literature, organizes them into a taxonomy constructed along two dimensions, considers three commonly reported planning model types, and offers suggestions to the manager regarding preferred planning model characteristics.A classification of R and D planning models is presented which organizes planning models by planning direction: top down, bottom up, mixed; and level of analysis: individual project, research program, corporate research agenda, and national/international research goals. Classified R and D planning models are explored using paradigms gleaned from the R and D and the planning literatures. The quantifiability of assumptions, the extent of internal environmental variables considered, and the recognition of external environmental interdependencies provided standards against which three commonly occurring R and D planning models are evaluated.The value of available planning models to the manager of R and D is hypothesized as is his ability to improve planning efforts through model evaluation and selection. An agenda for future research on R and D planning is proposed, based on insights gleaned from the application of the evaluation criteria to the taxonomy.
University innovation centres and academic venture formation1
Authors: McMullan W. , Melnyk Ken 
Published: May 2007

AbstractSuccessful innovation requires both products and product champions. Evidence suggests that academic projects are usually not products and few academics are able or willing to champion adequately their projects. Thus the role of university technology transfer officers and of university innovation centres is to find efficient ways of transforming research projects into potentially profitable products and also to obtain credible commitments from capable champions.
Trends in innovation and productivity: The case of chemical and textile industries in the U.S.
Authors: Chakrabarti Alok K. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis paper attempts to investigate an empirical linkage between technological innovation and productivity in two industries in the United States. During the period 1967—82, the chemical and textile industries experienced different rates of productivity growth. In spite of stiff competition from foreign manufacturers, American textile firms maintained a steady growth in productivity. This industry benefitted from major technological innovations occurring in industries supplying to it. The chemical industry faced crisis due to sudden changes in petroleum prices. Changes in regulatory requirements also imposed a different set of constraints on the chemical industry. Rate of innovation decreased quite severely in this industry during this time period.Innovation indicators were developed by obtaining data on new product/process announcements in the technical literature. Panels of technical experts from the industries and academia evaluated the data for their technical novelty. The data indicate a relationship between innovation and productivity growth.
Auditing product innovation activities in manufacturing firms
Authors: Johne Axel , Snelson Patricia 
Published: May 2007

AbstractIncreasing numbers of large firms are splitting themselves into self‐standing businesses for the purpose of targeting opportunities more accurately. Based on the findings of an empirical study of product development procedures in leading UK and US manufacturing firms this article provides R&D and other managers with a checklist of the processes involved in developing products speedily and efficiently. Businesses which use product innovation successfully as a competitive weapon are shown to approach development work in a way which is far more comprehensive than aiming only at efficient technical project management. In such businesses supportive top management and efficient interfunctional teamwork emerge as key factors concerned with running a total business both now and in the future.
Strategic evaluation and selection of R&D projects
Authors: Danila Nicolas 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe most important families of R&D project evaluation and selection methodologies and associated techniques are briefly reviewed. For each family, generally one or two methods were chosen to be analysed from the point of view of the integration with the strategy. But, first some definitions and some aspects of the new strategic role of the evaluation and selection of R&D projects, which were in mind during the interviews, are presented.Finally, some empirical results of the use of these methodologies in France and Japan are presented. The strong and weak points of the most prevalent methods are described as they are considered by the users.
The strategic management of re‐innovation
Authors: Rothwell Roy , Gardiner Paul 
Published: May 2007

AbstractMost studies of the management of the technological innovation process cover the range of activities that culminate in the commercial introduction of a new product. In certain sectors of industry, however, especially those characterised by extended product lifecycles, continued competitiveness depends on vigorous and continuous product improvement, i.e. on the process of ‘re‐innovation’ to satisfy evolving user requirements. Ongoing research at SPRU has investigated the process of re‐innovation in a number of industry sectors, and the paper presents material relating to two of the characteristic patterns of re‐innovation identified in this research.The first characteristic pattern is re‐innovation combining the existing with the new. Two brief case studies are presented. In both cases, the manufacturer and customer gained significant benefits from this re‐innovation strategy. For the manufacturer there were reduced development and testing costs, scale and learning curve benefits, distributed inventories of spares and servicing experience. For the customer there were familiarity benefits and reduced entry risks associated with proven reliability of parts and sub‐systems.The second, and more general pattern of re‐innovation is based on the concept of the ‘robust design’. This is a basic design which has sufficient inherent technological slack or flexibility to enable it to evolve into a significant design family of variants. Product design families offer the producer economies of scale in R&D, manufacturing, marketing and sales and servicing. They offer the user learning from experience, the enhanced possibility of user‐inspired modifications, a wider range of price/ performance packages and rapid adaptations to changing environments. Robust designs can effectively combine economies of scale with economies of scope; they are strategically more flexible than leanly configured designs which satisfy only transient user requirements.
The division of labour in innovation management
Authors: Chakrabarti Alok K. , Hauschildt Juergen 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe literature shows a plethora of roles in innovation management. These roles have not provided a systematic and unique pattern of relationship which can serve as an instrument of organization. An analysis of the empirical findings shows the existence of division of labour in innovation management in a multiple role concept. The concepts like ‘product champion’, ‘gatekeeper’, ‘sponsor’, ‘business innovator’, ‘technical innovator’, ‘promoter’ etc. have some elements of commonality and complementarity. Two underlying principles can be delineated: division of labour according to phases of the innovation process and according to sources of power of the incumbents. An interaction model and a process linkage model for innovation management are developed to explain the different findings. These models help to integrate these empirical concepts and serve as guidelines for possible organization of the innovation process.
In‐house R&D management development — strategy and implementation in a major government R&D agency
Authors: Gupta Vinod K. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe paper describes the experiences of CSIR in developing an in‐house capability and implementation process of R&D management development programmes. The conceptual approach of the laboratory‐based R&D management development programmes is described. Different phases in the process of implementation are presented along with the case studies of recent training programmes in two different laboratories. Some of the key aspects of the training programmes —‐ successful implementation, relationship with policy‐making, and improving R&D performance have been examined. The role of international co‐operation in R&D management development is suggested. The paper also discusses the future prospects of R&D management development programmes in the country.
R&D collaboration as a global competitive tactic —Biotechnology and the ethical pharmaceutical industry
Authors: Sapienza Alice M. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractIn a technology driven industry, emergence of a new technology can trigger changes in the associated market structure and in the nature of competitive forces – changes herein defined as an industry paradigm shift. Biotechnology has precipitated such a paradigm shift in the ethical pharmaceutical industry, and one consequence is a proliferation of R&D collaborations. However, this paradigm shift is occurring at the same time that global competition is intensifying, and biotechnology R&D collaboration has become a tool in the geopolitical strategies of the major industrial nations. Government intervention to promote such collaborations can have deleterious long‐term effects, as described earlier for the semiconductor industry. These effects are posed again for biotechnology and the ethical pharmaceutical industry, in the hopes of provoking a dialogue among concerned parties. These issues must be addressed soon, if the competitive position of this industry –as well as governments and universities – is not to be compromised.