Understanding dynamics of strategic decision-making in venture creation:a process study of effectuation and causation

This study draws upon effectuation and causation as examples of planning-based and flexible decision-making logics, and investigates dynamics in the use of both logics. The study applies a longitudinal process research approach to investigate strategic decision-making in new venture creation over time. Combining qualitative and quantitative methods, we analyze 385 decision events across nine technology-based ventures. Our observations suggest a hybrid perspective on strategic decision-making, demonstrating how effectuation and causation logics are combined, and how entrepreneurs’ emphasis on these logics shifts and re-shifts over time. We induce a dynamic model which extends the literature on strategic decision-making in venture creation.

Fabrication of surface nanoscale axial photonics structures with a femtosecond laser

Surface nanoscale axial photonics (SNAP) structures are fabricated with a femtosecond laser for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The inscriptions introduced by the laser pressurize the fiber and cause its nanoscale effective radius variation. We demonstrate the subangstrom precise fabrication of individual and coupled SNAP microresonators having the effective radius variation of several nanometers. Our results pave the way to a novel ultraprecise SNAP fabrication technology based on the femtosecond laser inscription.

Valuing transferred machine tool technology:Relating value to product attributes and preferences of acquirers

The value of technology and the appropriate form of transfer arrangement are important questions to be resolved when transferring technology between Western manufacturing firms and partners in industrialising and developing countries. This article reports on surveys carried out in the machine tool industries in the UK and China to establish the differences and similarities between owners and acquirers of technology regarding the relative importance of the factors they evaluate, and the assessments they make, when considering a technology transfer. It also outlines the development of a framework for technology valuation. The survey results indicate that the value of product technology is related to superior technical performance, especially on reliability and functionality, and the prospects of premium prices and increased sales of the technology transfer based machine tools. Access to markets is the main objective of UK companies, while Chinese companies are concerned about improving their technological capability. There are significant risks, especially related to performance in the market, and while owners and acquirers have benefited in the short term, the long term collaboration required for strategic benefits has been difficult to achieve because of the different priorities of the owners and the acquirers.

Introduction: improving manufacturing performance through technology diffusion, implementation and management

The role of technology management in achieving improved manufacturing performance has been receiving increased attention as enterprises are becoming more exposed to competition from around the world. In the modern market for manufactured goods the demand is now for more product variety, better quality, shorter delivery and greater flexibility, while the financial and environmental cost of resources has become an urgent concern to manufacturing managers. This issue of the International Journal of Technology Management addresses the question of how the diffusion, implementation and management of technology can improve the performance of manufacturing industries. The authors come from a large number of different countries and their contributions cover a wide range of topics within this general theme. Some papers are conceptual, others report on research carried out in a range of different industries including steel production, iron founding, electronics, robotics, machinery, precision engineering, metal working and motor manufacture. In some cases they describe situations in specific countries. Several are based on presentations made at the UK Operations Management Association's Sixth International Conference held at Aston University at which the conference theme was 'Achieving Competitive Edge: Getting Ahead Through Technology and People'. The first two papers deal with questions of advanced manufacturing technology implementation and management. Firstly Beatty describes a three year longitudinal field study carried out in ten Canadian manufacturing companies using CADICAM and CIM systems. Her findings relate to speed of implementation, choice of system type, the role of individuals in implementation, organization and job design. This is followed by a paper by Bessant in which he argues that a more a strategic approach should be taken towards the management of technology in the 1990s and beyond. Also considered in this paper are the capabilities necessary in order to deploy advanced manufacturing technology as a strategic resource and the way such capabilities might be developed within the firm. These two papers, which deal largely with the implementation of hardware, are supplemented by Samson and Sohal's contribution in which they argue that a much wider perspective should be adopted based on a new approach to manufacturing strategy formulation. Technology transfer is the topic of the following two papers. Pohlen again takes the case of advanced manufacturing technology and reports on his research which considers the factors contributing to successful realisation of AMT transfer. The paper by Lee then provides a more detailed account of technology transfer in the foundry industry. Using a case study based on a firm which has implemented a number of transferred innovations a model is illustrated in which the 'performance gap' can be identified and closed. The diffusion of technology is addressed in the next two papers. In the first of these, by Lowe and Sim, the managerial technologies of 'Just in Time' and 'Manufacturing Resource Planning' (or MRP 11) are examined. A study is described from which a number of factors are found to influence the adoption process including, rate of diffusion and size. Dahlin then considers the case of a specific item of hardware technology, the industrial robot. Her paper reviews the history of robot diffusion since the early 1960s and then tries to predict how the industry will develop in the future. The following two papers deal with the future of manufacturing in a more general sense. The future implementation of advanced manufacturing technology is the subject explored by de Haan and Peters who describe the results of their Dutch Delphi forecasting study conducted among a panel of experts including scientists, consultants, users and suppliers of AMT. Busby and Fan then consider a type of organisational model, 'the extended manufacturing enterprise', which would represent a distinct alternative pure market-led and command structures by exploiting the shared knowledge of suppliers and customers. The three country-based papers consider some strategic issues relating manufacturing technology. In a paper based on investigations conducted in China He, Liff and Steward report their findings from strategy analyses carried out in the steel and watch industries with a view to assessing technology needs and organizational change requirements. This is followed by Tang and Nam's paper which examines the case of machinery industry in Korea and its emerging importance as a key sector in the Korean economy. In his paper which focuses on Venezuela, Ernst then considers the particular problem of how this country can address the problem of falling oil revenues. He sees manufacturing as being an important contributor to Venezuela's future economy and proposes a means whereby government and private enterprise can co-operate in development of the manufacturing sector. The last six papers all deal with specific topics relating to the management manufacturing. Firstly Youssef looks at the question of manufacturing flexibility, introducing and testing a conceptual model that relates computer based technologies flexibility. Dangerfield's paper which follows is based on research conducted in the steel industry. He considers the question of scale and proposes a modelling approach determining the plant configuration necessary to meet market demand. Engstrom presents the results of a detailed investigation into the need for reorganising material flow where group assembly of products has been adopted. Sherwood, Guerrier and Dale then report the findings of a study into the effectiveness of Quality Circle implementation. Stillwagon and Burns, consider how manufacturing competitiveness can be improved individual firms by describing how the application of 'human performance engineering' can be used to motivate individual performance as well as to integrate organizational goals. Finally Sohal, Lewis and Samson describe, using a case study example, how just-in-time control can be applied within the context of computer numerically controlled flexible machining lines. The papers in this issue of the International Journal of Technology Management cover a wide range of topics relating to the general question of improving manufacturing performance through the dissemination, implementation and management of technology. Although they differ markedly in content and approach, they have the collective aim addressing the concepts, principles and practices which provide a better understanding the technology of manufacturing and assist in achieving and maintaining a competitive edge.

Technology flows, outsourcing and productivity:an analysis of UK trade and FDI

By engaging in trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) with foreign partners, a country can access the R&D and related knowledge stocks of other countries (by accident or by design) and so benefit from those stocks of knowledge at a cost lower than that which would be incurred by developing the knowledge internally. This should lead to beneficial ‘spillover’ effects on the productivity of domestic firms. However, the literature on technology spillovers from trade and FDI is ambiguous in its findings. This may in part be because of the assumption in much of the work that trade and FDI flows are homogeneous in their determinants and thus in their effects. We develop a taxonomy of trade and FDI determinants based on R&D intensity and unit labour cost differentials, and test for the presence of spillovers from inward investment and imports on an extensive sample of UK manufacturing plants. We find that both trade and FDI have measurable spillover effects, but the size of these effects varies depending on the technological and labour cost differentials between the UK and its trading partners. There is therefore an identifiable link between the determinants and effects of trade and FDI which the previous literature has not explored. We also find that absorptive capacity matters for spillovers from FDI, but not from trade. Overall, these findings suggest that the productivity effects of FDI are largely restricted to plants with high absorptive capacity, while the productivity effects of imports occur largely among higher-technology plants regardless of their absorptive capacity.

The antecedents and consequences of e-business adoption in Malaysian manufacturing firms

Theory suggests that firms that adopt innovation share some common characteristics, just as those who do not adopt innovation and firms adopt a particular technology because the functions provided by the chosen technology fulfils their needs. Building on these arguments, this research project investigates the antecedents and consequences of e-business adoption among manufacturing firms in Malaysia. This thesis develops from the existing literature of organisational innovation adoption, information technology and strategic marketing/management. It further adds to the existing literature by using cultural-based predictors representing organisational characteristics consisting of market orientation, innovativeness and organisational learning. The study also formalises the theoretical framework of organisational-environment-technology. This study develops a new construct called technology motivation in addition to the introduction of several e-business technology scales. The results substantiate the significance of firm technology motivation in determining firm adoption of the various e-business initiatives. In addition, business environment and market orientation are found to influence firm choice of technology motivation. Meanwhile, innovativeness and organisational learning are shown to influence the magnitude of a firm’s e-business adoption. Finally, the results show that firm adoption of e-business technology does not influence organisational performance. This investigation clarifies the rationale and importance of firm technology motivation in adopting the various e-business initiatives. It also highlights the importance of having the appropriate organisational culture in ensuring a successful technology adoption.

Progress in multichannel all-optical regeneration based on fiber technology

Multiwavelength all-optical regeneration has the potential to substantially increase both the capacity and scalability of future optical networks. In this paper, we review recent promising developments in this area. First, we recall the basic principles of multichannel regeneration of high bit rate signals in optical communication systems before discussing the current technological approaches. We then describe in detail two fiber-based multichannel 2R regeneration techniques for return-to-zero-on-off keying based on 1) dispersion managed systems and 2) direction and polarization multiplexing. We present results illustrating the levels of performance so far achieved and discuss various practical issues and prospects for further performance enhancement.

Learning by exporting:lessons from high-technology SMEs

We investigate the learning by exporting hypothesis by examining the effect of exporting on the subsequent innovation performance of a sample of high-technology SMEs based in the UK. We find evidence of learning by exporting, but the pattern of this effect is complex. Exporting helps high-tech SMEs innovate subsequently, but does not make them more innovation intensive. There is evidence that consistent exposure to export markets helps firms overcome the innovation hurdle, but that there is a positive scale effect of exposure to export markets which allows innovative firms to sell more of their new-to-market products on entering export markets. Service sector firms are able to reap the benefits of exposure to export markets at an earlier (entry) stage of the internationalization process than are manufacturing firms. Innovation-intensive firms exhibit a different pattern of entry to and exit from export markets from low-intensity innovators, and this is reflected in different effects of exporting. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

Strategies for sustaining manufacturing competitiveness:case studies of Australian firms

This study investigates the strategies adopted by Australian manufacturing firms to sustain their local production and competitiveness, including during the period of the recent global financial crisis. Six Australian manufacturing organisations in different sectors were selected and analysed using the market-based and resource-based views, and components of the DRAMA framework. The findings highlight several factors and company efforts to sustain manufacturing operations. These organisations pursued a range of manufacturing strategies to enable distinctive offerings in the marketplace and used various ways to differentiate themselves. This was possible through the portfolio of capabilities that determine their continued production and business performance over the period. This study provides important lessons for managers in manufacturing organisations and demonstrates how differing capabilities and strategies of firms can impact the competitiveness of local production, not only in times of economic crisis but also in the long run to sustainable competitiveness in the future.

The relationship between internationalisation and innovation:internationalisation strategies, foreign firms', patenting behaviour and FDI spillovers

This thesis aims to contribute to the understanding of the relationships between internationalisation and innovation. Based on large comprehensive firm level data from China, this thesis comprises of three empirical chapters examining internationalisation from different aspects. Specifically, the first empirical work studies how firms internationalise. It links the choice of firms’ internationalisation strategies with firm characteristics. Additionally, it re-examines the stepwise internationalisation theory by distinguishing different foreign direct investment (FDI) motives. It proposes two pecking orders of firm performance in internationalisation strategies. The second empirical study investigates what kind of innovation activities internationalised firms do. It analyses the factors that drive foreign firms to patent in an emerging host country context. It stresses the importance of the intellectual property rights protection aspect of business environment at regional level in promoting patents, the role of industry dependence on external finance in shaping foreign firms’ patenting behaviour, as well as links foreign firms’ patent production with FDI motivation. The third empirical research examines the effect of internationalisation by examining the links between inward FDI and domestic innovation in a host country. It specifically examines technology spillovers from inward FDI through the direct lens of innovation (captured by grant patents), instead of adopting the indirect productivity approach widely employed by the literature. Distinguishing different types of innovation, it provides direct evidence of heterogeneous innovation spillovers from FDI.

Do manufacturing firms need informality in ERP post-implementation? A study of Chinese manufacturing sites

Purpose - Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are limited due to their operation around a fixed design production process and a fixed lead time to production plan and purchasing plan. The purpose of this paper is to define the concept of informality and to describe the notion of a system combining informality and ERP systems, based on empirical research from four manufacturing case studies. Design/methodology/approach - The case studies present a range of applications of ERP and are analysed in terms of the three characteristics of informality, namely, organisation structure, communication method and leadership approach. Findings - The findings suggest that systems consisting of informality in combination with ERP systems can elicit knowledge fromfrontlineworkers leading to timely improvements in the system. This is achieved by allowing users to modify work procedures or production orders, and to support collaborative working among all employees. However it was found that informality is not required for manufacturers with a relatively stable environment who can deal with uncertainty with a proactive strategy. Research limitations/implications - This study was carried out in China, with four companies as unit of analysis. Future work can help to extend this study across countries. Originality/value - The use of Four dimensions of informality that relate to manufacturers implementing ERP are defined as "technology in practice", "user flexibility", "trusted human networks" and "positive reaction to uncertainty". This is a new construct not applied before to ERP implementations.

The adoption and use of diagnostic and prognostic technology within UK-based manufacturers

Manufacturers are seeking increasingly innovative ways to achieve competitive advantage. An emerging trend is to exploit diagnostic and prognostic technology to support service-led competitive strategies where the emphasis is put on the 'sale of use' rather than the 'sale of product'. However, little is known about the extent to which this technology is being exploited, the drivers and inhibitors, and the sectors where adoption is most prolific. This paper introduces the results of a survey conducted across the UK manufacturing sector to explore the extent, motivations, benefits, and challenges of deploying diagnostic and prognostic technology as an element of competitive strategy.

A three-level RFID-based automation approach to enhance network competitiveness

Today, the question of how to successfully reduce supply chain costs whilst increasing customer satisfaction continues to be the focus of many firms. It is noted in the literature that supply chain automation can increase flexibility whilst reducing inefficiencies. However, in the dynamic and process driven environment of distribution, there is the absence of a cohesive automation approach to guide companies in improving network competitiveness. This paper aims to address the gap in the literature by developing a three-level framework automation application approach with the assistance of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and returnable transport equipment (RTE). The first level considers the automation of data retrieval and highlights the benefits of RFID. The second level consists of automating distribution processes such as unloading and assembling orders. As the labour is reduced with the introduction of RFID enabled robots, the balance between automation and labour is discussed. Finally, the third level is an analysis of the decision-making process at network points and the application of cognitive automation to objects. A distribution network scenario is formed and used to illustrate network reconfiguration at each level. The research pinpoints that RFID enabled RTE offers a viable tool to assist supply chain automation. Further research is proposed in particular, the area of cognitive automation to aide with decision-making.