A policy dimension required for technology roadmapping: Learning from the development of emerging wind energy industry in China

Innovation policies play an important role throughout the development process of emerging industries. However, existing policy studies view the process as a black-box, and fail to understand the policy-industry interactions through the process. This paper aims to develop an integrated technology roadmapping tool, in order to facilitate the better understanding of policy heterogeneity at the different stages of new energy industries in China. Through the case study of Chinese wind energy equipment manufacturing industry, this paper elaborates the dynamics between policy and the growth process of the industry. Further, this paper generalizes some Chinese specifics for the policy-industry interactions. As a practical output, this study proposes a policy-technology roadmapping framework that maps policy-market-product- technology interactions in response to the requirement for analyzing and planning the development of new industries in emerging economies (e.g. China). This paper will be of interest to policy makers, strategists, investors, and industrial experts. © 2011 IEEE.

Policy entrepreneurship in the development of public sector strategy: the case of London health reform

The development of health policy is recognized as complex; however, there has been little development of the role of agency in this process. Kingdon developed the concept of policy entrepreneur (PE) within his ‘windows’ model. He argued inter-related ‘policy streams' must coincide for important issues to become addressed. The conjoining of these streams may be aided by a policy entrepreneur. We contribute by clarifying the role of the policy entrepreneur and highlighting the translational processes of key actors in creating and aligning policy windows. We analyse the work in London of Professor Sir Ara Darzi as a policy entrepreneur. An important aspect of Darzi's approach was to align a number of important institutional networks to conjoin related problems. Our findings highlight how a policy entrepreneur not only opens policy windows but also yokes together a network to make policy agendas happen. Our contribution reveals the role of clinical leadership in health reform.

A policy dimension required for technology roadmapping: Learning from the emergence of Chinese wind turbine industry

Innovation policies play an important role throughout the development process of emerging industries in China. Existing policy and industry studies view the emergence process as a black-box, and fail to understand the impacts of policy to the process along which it varies. This paper aims to develop a multi-dimensional roadmapping tool to better analyse the dynamics between policy and industrial growth for new industries in China. Through reviewing the emergence process of Chinese wind turbine industry, this paper elaborates how policy and other factors influence the emergence of this industry along this path. Further, this paper generalises some Chinese specifics for the policy-industry dynamics. As a practical output, this study proposes a roadmapping framework that generalises some patterns of policy-industry interactions for the emergence process of new industries in China. This paper will be of interest to policy makers, strategists, investors and industrial experts. Copyright © 2013 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Implications of local lifecycle analyses and low carbon fuel standard design on gasohol transportation fuels

State and regional policies, such as low carbon fuel standards (LCFSs), increasingly mandate that transportation fuels be examined according to their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We investigate whether such policies benefit from determining fuel carbon intensities (FCIs) locally to account for variations in fuel production and to stimulate improvements in FCI. In this study, we examine the FCI of transportation fuels on a lifecycle basis within a specific state, Minnesota, and compare the results to FCIs using national averages. Using data compiled from 18 refineries over an 11-year period, we find that ethanol production is highly variable, resulting in a 42% difference between carbon intensities. Historical data suggests that lower FCIs are possible through incremental improvements in refining efficiency and the use of biomass for processing heat. Stochastic modeling of the corn ethanol FCI shows that gains in certainty due to knowledge of specific refinery inputs are overwhelmed by uncertainty in parameters external to the refiner, including impacts of fertilization and land use change. The LCA results are incorporated into multiple policy scenarios to demonstrate the effect of policy configurations on the use of alternative fuels. These results provide a contrast between volumetric mandates and LCFSs. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

Policy as a struggle for meaning: disentangling knowledge translation across international health contexts

Over the last decade, research in medical science has focused on knowledge translation and diffusion of best practices to enable improved health outcomes. However, there has been less attention given to the role of policy in influencing the translation of best practice across different national contexts. This paper argues that the underlying set of public discourses of healthcare policy significantly influences its development with implications for the dissemination of best practices. Our research uses Critical Discourse Analysis to examine the policy discourses surrounding the treatment of stroke across Canada and the U.K. It focuses in specific on how concepts of knowledge translation, user empowerment, and service innovation construct different accounts of the health service in the two countries. These findings provide an important yet overlooked starting point for understanding the role of policy development in knowledge transfer and the translation of science into health practice. © 2011 Operational Research Society. All rights reserved.

Improving productivity - Opening the black box

Hourly productivity levels in the UK still remain behind those in some competitor countries. The government devotes much policy attention to enhancing productivity and continues to emphasise its five drivers - investment, innovation, skills, enterprise, and competition. This article argues that it is investment broadly defined that is the key to sustained productivity improvement. The emphasis should be on improving productivity simultaneously with improving the quality of production. Only thus will the gains be widely shared. In achieving these aims there are two prerequisites for policy-makers. The first is to ensure better coordination of policy than appears to be currently achieved by the present departmental structures in Whitehall. The second is to recognize fully the long and complex chain of causation that can be triggered by pulling on one policy lever. Such complexity can only be fully understood by more research on what actually goes on inside the black box of the organization. © 2006 Oxford University Press.