The role of alliance capabilities in alliance portfolio management

The question of why some firms perform better in managing their alliances has raised interest among scholars and managers. Whereas inter-firm factors influencing the alliance performance such as strategic fit between partners and the existence of complementarities have been studied extensively, research on firm-level antecedents is rather scarce. Therefore this study investigates the role of firm’s alliance capability in the alliance success equation. Particularly it analyses the specialized mechanisms and processes set up by firm in order to facilitate alliancerelated know-how leverage organization-wise. Evidence from a cross-industry sample of R&D intensive Finnish companies supports the fact that firms which have invested in institutionalizing alliance capabilities outperform their counterparts in alliance portfolio management. Results also suggest that firms need to adjust alliance management tools depending on the alliance portfolio size, prior experience with inter-firm partnerships and the strategic importance of alliances. Furthermore, absorptive capacity is found to be crucial for successful alliance management, its role being complementary to that of alliance capability. Finally, firms that have successful alliances also enjoy higher financial, market and innovation performance.

El dèficit de R+D en el sector empresarial

Si ens fixem en la recerca bàsica, Catalunya és, sens dubte, líder a l'Estat. És el resultat d'una encertada tasca encetada a principi del decenni passat i que, malgrat les vicissituds pressupostàries negatives, s'ha mantingut i ha donat fruits. Tanmateix, les coses no són iguals quan ens referim al percentatge del PIB invertit pel conjunt de la societat catalana. Segons les darreres dades publicades per l'INE, referides al 2009, Catalunya hi va destinar l'1,68% del PIB regional. A una distància considerable trobem Navarra (2,13%), el País Basc (2,06%) i la Comunitat de Madrid (2,06%).

The state of research and development in Australia: implications for future development

The scale of research and development (R&D), and other technological activities, and the way in which the available resources are managed and organized at the enterprise and national level contribute to the rate of technological change in a country. A well organized national innovation system can be a powerful engine of progress, whereas a lack of interaction between institutions results in the slowing down of technological change, thereby diminishing its contribution to economic growth and welfare. The research object of this thesis is Australia’s national innovation system and the state of R&D in Australia. In order to establish an overall picture of the situation and to be able to make recommendations for future development, the general level of R&D activity and the main performers and funders of R&D within the system are analyzed. The framework policies supporting R&D and prevalent dynamics between different actors and sectors are of specific interest of the research. The findings reveal that the Australian culture is not a culture of research and innovation and that the main challenge is building a coherent system with strong domestic and international linkages.

Farmacologia i Toxicologia en R+D+i: adquisició de competències a través d'un exemple de desenvolupament d'un fàrmac

La implementació de l’assignatura en elGrau de Farmàcia ha suposat pensar en una nova estratègia per tal de desenvolupar algunes competències transversals de laUniversitat de Barcelona i afavorir en els alumnes la integració dels coneixements.Els professors, de les unitats i grups d’innovació docent de Farmacologia i de Toxicologia, vam estimar quins continguts eren imprescindibles, constatant que alguns d’ells s’impartien ja en altres assignatures, i vam adoptar la següent estratègia: 1) re-elaborar els continguts ja impartits i emmarcar-los en l’entorn de la indústria farmacèutica; 2) presentar nous continguts; iprincipalment, 3) elaborar una bateria d’activitats centrades en el procés de R+D+i d’un fàrmac concret, el dabigatran. El disseny i el desenvolupament de les activitats s’han elaborat en base alEuropean Public Assessment Report (EPAR) per el dabigatran i l’NDA (New Drug Application) a la FDA per la seva autorització.

Farmacologia i Toxicologia en R+D+i: adquisició de competències a través d'un exemple de desenvolupament d'un fàrmac

La implementació de l’assignatura en elGrau de Farmàcia ha suposat pensar en una nova estratègia per tal de desenvolupar algunes competències transversals de laUniversitat de Barcelona i afavorir en els alumnes la integració dels coneixements.Els professors, de les unitats i grups d’innovació docent de Farmacologia i de Toxicologia, vam estimar quins continguts eren imprescindibles, constatant que alguns d’ells s’impartien ja en altres assignatures, i vam adoptar la següent estratègia: 1) re-elaborar els continguts ja impartits i emmarcar-los en l’entorn de la indústria farmacèutica; 2) presentar nous continguts; iprincipalment, 3) elaborar una bateria d’activitats centrades en el procés de R+D+i d’un fàrmac concret, el dabigatran. El disseny i el desenvolupament de les activitats s’han elaborat en base alEuropean Public Assessment Report (EPAR) per el dabigatran i l’NDA (New Drug Application) a la FDA per la seva autorització.

Towards adoption of eLearning technologies at Lappeenranta University of Technology: Understanding Teachers‟ Adoption of Blackboard Learning System

The electronic learning has become crucial in higher education with increased usage of learning management systems as a key source of integration on distance learning. The objective of this study is to understand how university teachers are influenced to use and adopt web-based learning management systems. Blackboard, as one of the systems used internationally by various universities is applied as a case. Semi-structured interviews were made with professors and lecturers who are using Blackboard at Lappeenranta University of Technology. The data collected were categorized under constructs adapted from Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and interpretation and discussion were based on reviewed literature. The findings suggest that adoption of learning management systems by LUT teachers is highly influenced by perceived usefulness, facilitating conditions and gained experience. The findings also suggest that easiness of using the system and social influence appear as medium influence of adoption for teachers at LUT.

Environmental inFluences on the Adoption of Open Innovation: Analysis of Structural, Institutional and Cultural Impacts

The concept of open innovation has recently gained widespread attention, and is particularly relevant now as many firms endeavouring to implement open innovation, face different sets of challenges associated with managing it. Prior research on open innovation has focused on the internal processes dealing with open innovation implementation and the organizational changes, already taking place or yet required in companies order to succeed in the global open innovation market. Despite the intensive research on open innovation, the question of what influences its adoption by companies in different contexts has not received much attention in studies. To fill this gap, this thesis contribute to the discussion on open innovation influencing factors by bringing in the perspective of environmental impacts, i.e. gathering data on possible sources of external influences, classifying them and testing their systemic impact through conceptual system dynamics simulation model. The insights from data collection and conceptualization in modelling are used to answer the question of how the external environment affects the adoption of open innovation. The thesis research is presented through five research papers reflecting the method triangulation based study (conducted at initial stage as case study, later as quantitative analysis and finally as system dynamics simulation). This multitude of methods was used to collect the possible external influence factors and to assess their impact (on positive/negative scale rather than numerical). The results obtained throughout the thesis research bring valuable insights into understanding of open innovation influencing factors inside a firm’s operating environment, point out the balance required in the system for successful open innovation performance and discover the existence of tipping point of open innovation success when driven by market dynamics and structures. The practical implications on how firms and policy-makers can leverage environment for their potential benefits are offered in the conclusions.

Adoption of smartphones - Role of brand in adopting innovations

Tässä kvalitatiivisessa pro gradu -työssä tutkittiin brändin vaikutusta innovaation adoptoinnissa. Innovaationa käytettiin älypuhelinta. Päätutkimusongelmana oli selvittää kuinka brändi vaikuttaa älupuhelimen omaksuntaan. Brändin vaikutusta tutkittiin Rogersin Diffusion of Innovation -teoriasta adoptioprosessin sekä innovaation määritteiden avulla. Sosiaalisten suhteiden vaikutusta brändin valintaan sekä innovaation adoptointiin taas tutkittiin Technology Acceptance Modelin avulla. Empiirinen osio koottiin teemahaastattelun tulosten avulla. Tulosten saamiseksi tutkimuksessa haastateltiin kymmentä yliopisto-opiskelijaa. Vastaukset osoittivat brändin merkittävää vaikutusta älypuhelimen adoptoinnissa.

Substitution-Newton-Raphson method applied to the modeling of a vapour compression refrigeration system using different representations of the thermodynamic properties of R-134a

This paper gives a detailed presentation of the Substitution-Newton-Raphson method, suitable for large sparse non-linear systems. It combines the Successive Substitution method and the Newton-Raphson method in such way as to take the best advantages of both, keeping the convergence features of the Newton-Raphson with the low requirements of memory and time of the Successive Substitution schemes. The large system is solved employing few effective variables, using the greatest possible part of the model equations in substitution fashion to fix the remaining variables, but maintaining the convergence characteristics of the Newton-Raphson. The methodology is exemplified through a simple algebraic system, and applied to a simple thermodynamic, mechanical and heat transfer modeling of a single-stage vapor compression refrigeration system. Three distinct approaches for reproducing the thermodynamic properties of the refrigerant R-134a are compared: the linear interpolation from tabulated data, the use of polynomial fitted curves and the use of functions derived from the Helmholtz free energy.

Older Consumers’ Adoption of Online Shopping

The thesis is concerned with the online shopping behavior of older adults, who in this study are at least 60 years old. At the moment, the population is ageing and consumers are buying more and more via the Internet. The objective of the thesis is to understand the large group of older adults in Finland as online customers.The study explores older consumers’ adoption of online shopping with a qualitative research, and it is situated in the research tradition of hermeneutic phenomenology. Phenomenology focuses on the life-world of people. The empirical data was collected by three focus groups with 13 participants altogether. The focus group conversations brought forth that there is not tremendous difference in the motives of older consumers to shop online compared to other age groups. The study strengthened the previous conception of a change toward more ageless market. However, online stores should be designed to accommodate some special needs of older consumers as they occasionally struggle with the logic of websites. Finnish older consumers have adopted online shopping because of perceived convenience and because of tolerable perceived risk during first online shopping experience. Positive experiences strengthen positive attitude toward electronic channel.

Molecular identification of Sicilian (dß)º-thalassemia associated with ß-thalassemia and hemoglobin S in Brazil

We describe the clinical and molecular characteristics of two unrelated Brazilian families with an association of the Sicilian form of (dß)º-thalassemia with hemoglobin S and ß-thalassemia. Direct sequencing of the ß-globin gene showed only the hemoglobin S mutation in patient 1 and the ß-thalassemia IVS1-110 in patient 2. The other allele was deleted in both patients and PCR of DNA samples of the breakpoint region of both patients showed a band of approximately 1,150 bp, expected to be observed in the DNA of carriers of Sicilian (dß)º-thalassemia. The nucleotide sequence of this fragment confirmed the Sicilian deletion. There are few reports concerning the Hb S/(dß)º-thalassemia association and patient 2 is the first reported case of Sicilian type of (dß)º-thalassemia in association with ß-thalassemia documented at the molecular level.