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.

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.

Full cost accounting for the life cycle of coal.

Each stage in the life cycle of coal-extraction, transport, processing, and combustion-generates a waste stream and carries multiple hazards for health and the environment. These costs are external to the coal industry and are thus often considered "externalities." We estimate that the life cycle effects of coal and the waste stream generated are costing the U.S. public a third to over one-half of a trillion dollars annually. Many of these so-called externalities are, moreover, cumulative. Accounting for the damages conservatively doubles to triples the price of electricity from coal per kWh generated, making wind, solar, and other forms of nonfossil fuel power generation, along with investments in efficiency and electricity conservation methods, economically competitive. We focus on Appalachia, though coal is mined in other regions of the United States and is burned throughout the world.

Suppliers' Associations in the Japanese Automobile Industry

This paper analyzes the structure and functions of suppliers' associations (kyoryokukai) in the automobile industry in Japan. The bilateral assembler-supplier relationship has received much attention recently as a source of Japanese industrial competitiveness. However, this paper argues that the hitherto neglected area of inter-supplier coordination in technology diffusion is at least as important as the bilateral assembler-supplier relationship in accounting for the overall performance of the Japanese automotive industry. On the basis of company visits and a largescale survey of first-tier suppliers conducted by the author, the paper analyzes the reasons why suppliers' associations were established, why they continue to exist today, and their effects on economic performance.

Análisis del efecto de engranaje generado por la entrada en vigor del Tratado de Lisboa el 1 de diciembre de 2009 en el marco de la Política Común de Seguridad y Defensa (PCSD) en la Unión Europea

El proceso de integración en Unión Europea se caracteriza por la incorporación de los asuntos de seguridad exterior y defensa, tras el Tratado de Lisboa se enmarcaron en la PCSD. Dicha política por un proceso de integración progresiva, Spillover, ha tenido periodos de reactivación y de letargos.

Las TIC en la administración de la cadena de suministro y su incidencia en el desempeño operacional

Las tecnologías de la información han empezado a ser un factor importante a tener en cuenta en cada uno de los procesos que se llevan a cabo en la cadena de suministro. Su implementación y correcto uso otorgan a las empresas ventajas que favorecen el desempeño operacional a lo largo de la cadena. El desarrollo y aplicación de software han contribuido a la integración de los diferentes miembros de la cadena, de tal forma que desde los proveedores hasta el cliente final, perciben beneficios en las variables de desempeño operacional y nivel de satisfacción respectivamente. Por otra parte es importante considerar que su implementación no siempre presenta resultados positivos, por el contrario dicho proceso de implementación puede verse afectado seriamente por barreras que impiden maximizar los beneficios que otorgan las TIC.

Análisis de los componentes de la cadena de suministro y su relación con el desempeño superior de la organización en el sector manufacturero

En este documento se evidencia como el desempeño organizacional de una empresa, entendido como el rendimiento superior de la misma, se ve modificado por las prácticas o metodologías utilizadas, aplicadas e integradas a cada uno de los componentes de la Cadena de suministros. Es así que el propósito principal es demostrar cual es la relación entre los componentes de la Cadena de Suministros y su gestión sobre los rendimientos económicos de la empresa. De esa manera se encontraron múltiples actividades que toman lugar en los procesos característicos de cada uno de los componentes de la cadena de suministros y que al final nos presentan una variabilidad sobre los rendimientos de la empresa. Cabe recalcar que la investigación se realizó con respecto a empresas pertenecientes al sector manufacturero y abarca una buena parte de este. La importancia que tiene la investigación, es el haber entregado como resultado, el conocimiento sobre algunas de las practicas más utilizadas en el sector en cada uno de sus componentes, lo cual hace de la Cadena de suministros, un factor por excelencia para ser tratado e implementado con el fin de alcanzar mayores rendimientos económicos a nivel de empresa. En la investigación se utilizaron los casos de empresas reales tanto nacionales como internacionales y se encontraron situaciones claves que evidenciaban la hipótesis de la relación entre la cadena de suministros y el desempeño organizacional. Es por ello, que si bien es ahora cierto, que las actividades desarrolladas en los componentes de la Cadena de Suministros de las empresas influyen en el incremento de los rendimientos, es importante que las empresas conozcan de esta información para tener una idea de cómo desarrollar ventajas competitivas que los posicionen como empresa y les genere entonces mayores rendimientos, o por el contrario, les genere ahorros en costos y por ende altos beneficios y nuevas inversiones en prácticas que a la larga volverá a la empresa en un organismo eficientes y próspero.

Measuring construction industry competitiveness: A holistic approach

The link between competitiveness and sustained prosperity of a nation, industry or firm, is a well established argument and serves as the basis for making policy decisions and directing strategic change. The importance of construction industry competitiveness is currently receiving considerable attention from countries such as Finland, Sweden and the UK. This paper critically reviews the existing measures of competitiveness, challenges productivity and profitability as the dominant measures of construction industry competitiveness and introduces a more holistic set of measures that addresses the needs of investors, employees, clients and overall society. The research also reports upon the application of this more holistic set of measures for measuring competitiveness and presents results for the Swedish construction industry. The paper principally sets out to present the preliminary findings of an ongoing research project, which will eventually compare the competitiveness of the Swedish construction industry with that of Finland and the UK.

Inferring conduct under the threat of entry : the case of Brazilian cement industry

This paper demonstrates that when an industry faces potential entry and this threat of entry constrains pre-entry prices, cost and conduct are not identified from the comparative statics of equilibrium. In such a setting, the identifying assumption behind the well-established technique of relying on exogenous demand perturbations to empirically distinguish between alternative hypotheses of conduct is shown to fail. The Brazilian cement industry, where the threat of imports restrains market outcomes, provides an empirical illustration. In particular, pricecost margins estimated using this established technique are considerably biased downward, underestimating the degree of market power. A test of conduct is proposed, adapted to this constrained setting, which suggests that outcomes in the industry are collusive and characterised by market division.

Sustainable miracles : protection and competition in the Brazilian oil industry

It is often suggested that competition improves productivity, however, the underlying support for this idea is surprisingly thin. This paper presents a case study examining the e ects of a change in the competitive environment on productivity at the Petrobras, Brazil's state-owned oil company. Petrobras had a legal monopoly on production, re ning, transportation and importation of oil in Brazil until it was removed in 1995. Even though Petrobras continues to have a de facto monopoly, the end of legal monopoly labor productivity growth rate more than doubled. A growth accounting of the industry shows that between 1977 and 1993 output growth rate (and productivity growth rate) is explained by the accumulation of capital, while Total Factor Productivity (TFP) decreased. Between 1994 and 2000 labor productivity growth rate is completely explained by the growth rate of TFP. The results suggest that the threat of competition alone is su cient to improve productivity. They also provide evidence that restricting competition help cause Brazil's depression of the 1980s.

Business process in supply chain integration in sugar and ethanol industry

This article presents the application of a diagnosis method in a Brazilian company from the sugar and ethanol industry to identify the level of supply chain integration. The diagnosis method is based on Cooper, Lambert and Pagh reference model for SCM. The method involves nine referential axes established from the eighth key business processes of the reference model.