Technology and Innovation Commons^™

Ssrn As An Initial Revolution In Academic Knowledge Aggregation And Dissemination, David Bray, Sascha Vitzthum, Benn Konsynski

Sascha Vitzthum

Within this paper we consider our results of using the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) over a period of 18 months to distribute our working papers to the research community. Our experiences have been quite positive, with SSRN serving as a platform both to inform our colleagues about our research as well as inform us about related research (through email and telephoned conversations of colleagues who discovered our paper on SSRN). We then discuss potential future directions for SSRN to consider, and how SSRN might well represent an initial revolution in 21st century academic knowledge aggregation and dissemination. Our paper …

Towards Self-Organizing, Smart Business Networks: Let’S Create ‘Life’ From Inert Information, David Bray, Benn Konsynski

David A. Bray

We review three different theories that can inform how researchers can determine the performance of smart business networks, to include: (1) the Theory of Evolution, (2) the Knowledge-Based Theory of the Firm, and (3) research insights into computers and cognition. We suggest that each of these theories demonstrate that to be generally perceived as smart, an organism needs to be self-organizing, communicative, and tool-making. Consequentially, to determine the performance of a smart business network, we suggest that researchers need to determine the degree to which it is self-organizing, communicative, and tool-making. We then relate these findings to the Internet and …

Leading Firms As Knowledge Gatekeepers In A Networked Environment, Deogratias Harorimana Mr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

This chapter introduces the role of the knowledge gatekeeper as a mechanism by which knowledge is created and transferred in a networked environment. Knowledge creation and transfer are essential for building a knowledge based economy. The chapter considers obstacles that inhibit this process and argues that leading firms create a shared socio-cultural context that enables the condivision of tacit meanings and codification of knowledge. Leading firms act as gatekeepers of knowledge through the creation of shared virtual platforms. There will be a leading firm that connects several networks of clients and suppliers may not interact directly with one another, but …

Emergence Of Nanodistricts In The United States: Path Dependency Or New Opportunities?, Philip Shapira, Jan Youtie

Philip Shapira

Multiple economic development theories suggest that research and innovation in emerging technologies will cluster in certain locations rather then distributing equally among all regions. If this is the case, this distributional pattern has implications for where future economic opportunities as well as future risks will be concentrated. In this paper, we probe nanotechnology (hereafter nano) research and commercialization at a regional level. The study examines the top 30 US “nanodistricts” or metropolitan areas which lead in nanotechnology research activity over the 1990-2006 timeframe. We explore the factors underlying the emergence of these 30 metropolitan areas through exploratory cluster analysis. We …

Eureka! Winning Ways: Analysis Of Early Client Experiences, Lynne Manrique, Kamau Bobb, David Roessner, Jan Youtie, Philip Shapira

Philip Shapira

The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has a longstanding record of helping small- and medium-sized (SME) manufacturers to identify and implement technologies and practices that improve manufacturing efficiency and product quality. More recently, MEP has begun to build a growth services portfolio to assist manufacturers with the development of new products, new customers, and new markets. Its first growth services offering, called Eureka! Winning Ways (E!WW), was piloted in late 2006 and has been implemented widely since the beginning of 2008. To explore the nature of early E!WW client experiences, as well …

Coercing Consensus: Unintended Success Of The Octopus Electronic Payment System, Leung-Sea, Lucia Siu

Prof. SIU Leung-sea, Lucia

This paper contrasts the success and failure of two electronic payment systems in Hong Kong, Octopus and Mondex, during 1996-2002. The case illustrates the new properties of electronic currencies, and provides insights for product designers and regulators. Mondex was endowed with the full legal status of money, launched by a mammoth banking group, with Mondex cards given away for free to consumers. Yet the Mondex system went into oblivion within five years. Octopus started as a modest stored value transport ticket that required a deposit. It ended up as a city-wide multipurpose payment card used by 95% of the adult …

Refining Search Terms For Nanotechnology, Alan L. Porter, Jan Youtie, Philip Shapira, David J. Schoeneck

Philip Shapira

The ability to delineate the boundaries of an emerging technology is central to obtaining an understanding of the technology’s research paths and commercialization prospects. Nowhere is this more relevant than in the case of nanotechnology (hereafter identified as “nano”) given its current rapid growth and multidisciplinary nature. (Under the rubric of nanotechnology, we also include nanoscience and nanoengineering.) Past efforts have utilized several strategies, including simple term search for the prefix nano, complex lexical and citation-based approaches, and bootstrapping techniques. This research introduces a modularized Boolean approach to defining nanotechnology which has been applied to several research and patenting databases. …

Do R&D Programs Of Different Government Levels Overlap In The European Union?, Andrea Fernandez-Ribas, Isabel Busom

Andrea Fernandez-Ribas

Multiple levels of government currently design and implement research and innovation programs both in the US and in Europe. Empirical analysis of interdependencies among programs has not been fully explored, however. Our contribution is a first step in understanding potential complementarities across R&D programs. Using a sample of Spanish manufacturing firms, we study the determinants of firms’ participation in national and in European level research programs and test for differences across programs. Our results suggest that firms’ participation in European and national R&D programs is largely driven by different factors. We interpret these results as suggesting that, ex-post, there is …

On Building Clusters Versus Leveraging Synergies In The Design Of Innovation Policy For Developing Economies, Edward J. Feser

Edward J Feser

This paper argues there are two broad ways policymakers might use industry cluster concepts to inform the design of regional innovation policy. The first, and clearly dominant approach, is to view identified technology-based clusters as targets for growth strategies, i.e., to nurture the growth of selected groups of innovative industries and research strengths in a limited set of regions as a means of increasing levels of innovation economy-wide (termed the cluster building approach). The second is to use cluster ideas to reorient development strategies so that they leverage synergies among businesses and non-market institutions, thus improving innovation rates (termed the …

Little Johnny And The Wizard Of Os: The Pc User As A Fool Hero, Dariusz Jemielniak

Dariusz Jemielniak

This chapter is an attempt to analyze the social perception of a computer user as a fool in the eyes of IT support professionals. It relies on a storytelling analysis of anecdotes and horror stories of really stupid users, shared by IT support people on the Internet fora.

Praca Oparta Na Wiedzy. Praca W Przedsiębiorstwach Wiedzy Na Przykładzie Organizacji High-Tech, Dariusz Jemielniak

Dariusz Jemielniak

No abstract provided.

Software Engineers Or Artists? Programmers’ Identity Choices, Dariusz Jemielniak

Dariusz Jemielniak

This paper explores how assigning software developers the identity of “engineers” metes out specific assumptions about IT projects. To this end, the paper describes an alternative metaphor of programming as art, which is commonly used by the programmers interviewed. In addition, the discussion draws conclusions from the discrepancies between the two views as well as from the proposed metaphor, explaining organizational reluctance to aesthetical vocabulary. This paper discusses occupational identity—emphasizing the identity of programmers—using qualitative research methods. As such, it enriches the literature currently available on this profession.

Sources Of Uncertainty In Project Management: A “Real Life” Account, Dominika Latusek, Dariusz Jemielniak

Dariusz Jemielniak

Although the studies of IT project management abound, they rarely present in one study the perspective of both the customers and the providers. The very relation between customers and provides has been rather rarely explored (Latusek and Jemielniak, 2007). It may be partially due to the fact that usually neither clients, nor providers, are willing to let outsiders into the details of the project. Through this paper we want to take advantage of our unique research setting in which we were allowed to interview representatives of both parties. Through presenting their stories we wish to cast light on the actual …

Clinician Assessments Of Workplace Security Training - An Informatics Perspective, Juanita Fernando, Linda Dawson

Associate Professor Linda Dawson

This paper describes and analyses clinicians’ assessments of workplace privacy and security (PaS) training in the context of contemporary health information system (HIS) practice. The PaS training underpins national e-health frameworks. The paper draws on findings from a forthcoming dissertation. The ‘questerview’ technique was applied to this case study of 26 clinicians in three Victorian (Australia) public hospitals. The technique relies on data collection that applies standardised questions and questionnaires during interviews. Respondents were recorded while they completed the standardised questions and questionnaires and were encouraged to discuss their responses to items in detail. Data analysis involved the scrutiny of …

Action Research W Teorii Organizacji I Zarządzania, Dariusz Jemielniak, Aleksander Chrostowski

Dariusz Jemielniak

Niniejszy artykuł ma na celu zwięzłe opisanie metody Action Research w teorii organizacji i zarządzania. Poprzez przybliżenie założeń, aksjomatów, celów i his-torii AR, tekst umożliwia zrozumienie filozofii tego podejścia. AR jest pokazane jako metoda umożliwiająca połączenie dwóch pozornie rozłącznych sposobów uprawiania pracy naukowej: podejścia praktycznego, nastawionego na rozwią-zywanie realnych problemów świata (czasami uznawanego za nienaukowe i nad-miernie przyziemne) z podejściem teoretycznym, nastawionym przede wszyst-kim na tworzenie abstrakcyjnych modeli i analiz umożliwiających generalizacje (czasami uznawanym za niepraktyczne i nadmiernie oderwane od realiów). Na podstawie akademickiego i biznesowego doświadczenia autorów AR jest przedsta-wiony jako atrakcyjny, spójny sposób uprawiania pracy badawczej i konsultingu.

Firm Size And Innovation In European Manufacturing, Mario Pianta, Andrea Vaona

Mario Pianta

The paper investigates the differences between small, medium-sized and large firms regarding their performance in the introduction of new products and processes. After a review of the relevant literature, two models are proposed and tested in search for different business strategies and innovation inputs connected to product and process innovations. The empirical analysis uses innovation survey (CIS 2) data at the industry level for 22 manufacturing sectors, broken down in three firm size classes, for eight European countries. Special attention is devoted to tackling the issues of possible endogeneity of the regressors and of unobserved sectoral heterogeneity. The results – …

Innovations, Profits And Wages, Mario Pianta, Massimiliano Tancioni

Mario Pianta

New Process And New Products In Europe And Italy, Mario Pianta, Francesco Crespi

Mario Pianta

Innovation After Lisbon: New Ideas For Innovation Policies In Europe, Mario Pianta, Andrea Vaona

Mario Pianta

Demand And Innovation In Productivity Growth, Mario Pianta, Francesco Crespi

Mario Pianta

The labour productivity impact of demand and innovation is investigated in this paper combining insights from the Kaldorian and Schumpeterian traditions. After a review of studies in such traditions, a general model is proposed for explaining productivity growth in European manufacturing and service industries in the late 1990s, followed by two distinct specifications for the industries oriented toward product innovation, and for those where process innovation dominates. The empirical analysis is based on the match of the SIEPI-CIS2 database developed at the University of Urbino and Eurostat Input–Output Tables at the industry level, for 22 manufacturing sectors and 10 services …

Diversity In Innovation And Productivity In Europe, Mario Pianta, Francesco Crespi

Mario Pianta

The diversity in innovation patterns across manufacturing and service industries and in their outcomes in terms of hourly labor productivity are investigated in this article considering six European countries. The Schumpeterian insights into the variety of innovation are developed in this work by identifying different innovation–performance relationships for industries and countries, relying either on the dominant role of product innovation, or on the diffusion of process improvements. Moreover, the “push” effect of innovation is combined with the “pull” effect of demand, by considering the impact of the dynamics of consumption and investment at the sectoral level. The results point out …