Institute of Science and Technology

On the North Camous of the Univeristy of Michigan at Ann Arbor, consists of three structures; a central office building, a laboratory unit and a high bay laboratory facility connected by underground corridors.

Emergent strategy and the measurement of performance:the formulation of performance indicators at the microlevel

This article presents some evidence on an aspect of the design of a strategic control system, at the microlevel, within a single organization. The research we report used an ethnographic approach to provide an understanding of strategy formulation. Our aim is to contribute to an area of literature which is of increasing significance, but relatively underdeveloped in terms of the application of in-depth, field-research techniques. We take an intensive look at the manner in which performance measures are formulated, at the microlevel, within a single organization. The article presents, as an in-depth case analysis, the experience of a fisheries holding company in New Zealand. The article recounts the experiences of managers within the organization of the process of identification of such things as critical success factors and key performance indicators (KPIs) and, more broadly, the formulation of a strategic performance measurement system.

From national innovation systems to national innovation capacity:internationalisation and technology transfer perspectives

The last decade or so has witnessed the emergence of the national innovation system (NIS) phenomenon. Since then, many scholars have investigated NIS and its implementation in different countries. However, there are very few investigations into the relationship between the NIS of a country and its national innovation capacity. This paper aims to make a contribution in this area by examining the link that currently exists between these two topics. Whilst examining this relationship, we also explore internationalisation and technology transfer, being cognate areas that have been investigated during the same period. This follows our assertion that the link between NIS and national innovation capacity is the mechanism of internationalisation and technology transfer. The NIS approach was introduced in the late 1980s (see Freeman, 1987; Dosi et al., 1988) and further elaborated later (see Lundvall, 1992; Nelson, 1993; Edquist, 1997). In essence, a country?s NIS is a historically grown subsystem of the entire national economy consisting of organisations and institutions which play a major role in the innovative activity in the country. In the NIS approach, interactions within organisations as well as the interplay between organisations and institutions are of central importance. The NIS approach has been used to reveal the structure of the innovation processes and the main actors involved in them in industrialised and emerging countries. Although the national focus remains strong, it has been accompanied by studies seeking to analyse the notion of systems of innovation at an international level and at a sub-national scale (Archibugi et al., 1999). Dosi in the edition of Archibugi et al. (1999) argues that the general background of the discussion of national systems is the observation of non-random distributions across countries of: corporate capabilities; organisational forms; strategies; and ultimately revealed performances, in terms of production efficiency and inputs productivities, rates of innovation, rates of adoption/diffusion of innovation themselves, dynamics of market shares on the world markets, growth of income and employment. They also mention that there are several approaches to NIS. Nelson (1993) focuses upon the specificities of national institutions and policies supporting directly or indirectly innovation, diffusion and skills accumulation. Patel and Pavitt (1991) have stressed the links between the national patterns of technological accumulation and the competencies and innovative strategies of a few major national companies. Amable et al (1997) and Soskice (1993) and Zysman (1994) focus on the specifics of national institutions including, for example, the forms of organization, financial and labour markets, training institutions, forms of state intervention in the economy etc. However, the most common reference is by Lundvall (1992) who argues that the focus on the national level is associated with the fact that national economies vary according to their production system and their institutional framework and these differences are in turn strengthened by different historical experiences, language and culture. On the other hand, the national innovation capability consists of abilities to create and carry new technological possibilities through to economic practice. The term covers a wide range of activities from capability to invent to capability to innovate and to capability to improve existing technology beyond the original design parameters (Kim, 1997). The term innovation is often associated by many with technological change at international frontiers. However, technological capability is not the same as innovation capability. Technological capability refers to assimilation, use, adaptation, and change to existing technologies. It also enables the creation of new technologies and development of new products and processes in response to changing economic environments. It denotes operational command over knowledge (Kim, 1997). It is manifested not merely by the knowledge possessed, but, more important, by the uses to which that knowledge can be put and by the proficiency with which it is applied in the activities of investment and production and in the creation of new knowledge (Westphal et al., 1985). Therefore, the analytical framework that is used in this paper is based on the way a country derives from its NIS a national innovation capacity. There are two perspectives that are identified on this way. These are internationalisation and technology transfer. Even though NIS is not directly related to national innovation capacity, to achieve national innovation capacity from NIS, the country should have the ability for technology transfer. Technology transfer is a link between these two phenomena. On the other hand, internationalisation can be either the input or the output of the relationship between NIS and national innovation capability. If a company is investing in a country because of its national innovation capacity, this can be regarded as an input to the relationship between NIS and national innovation capacity. If this company is investigating the national innovation capacity of a country then, for its internationalisation, the national innovation capacity should be important, which in turn means this company is active in innovation and innovation is also an important success factor. The interrelationship between the investment of the company and the NIS of the country (assuming that the country is competent and competitive in technology transfer) will generate and improve that country?s national innovation capacity. This is the output of internationalisation from the relationship between NIS and national innovation capacity. When companies are evaluating whether to internationalise, they investigate certain factors in the countries in which they are considering to invest. The ability to transfer technology is dependent on ability to adopt a new technology and also on the learning derived from this technology. If countries wish to attract innovation related investment they need to show their ability to have a NIS and also the capability to transfer technology. Without the technology transfer capability, the NIS is not functioning. Therefore, companies that internationalise will investigate the factors common to NIS, technology transfer, and their business needs. Through this paper we will demonstrate this link though its mechanisms. Our research will be through extensive literature review and identifying relevant aspects of previous research carried out by the authors. It will investigate certain factors of different countries that are successful in attracting innovation related foreign direct investment. Through these, we will point out the factors that are important for the link and mechanisms of NIS and national innovation capability.

The DRAMA methodology for analysing strategy and its links with production system design

This paper describes a methodology: 'decision rules for analyzing manufacturing activities', which is designed to be a practical system of enquiry linking a strategic analysis to the design of production systems. The paper describes the development of the system, an industry specific design methodology, into DRAMA II which is a model that serves as an analytical tool for studying decision processes and implementation of production systems.

Ownership identity, strategy and performance:business group affiliates versus independent firms in India

We consider whether the impact of entrepreneurial orientation on business performance is moderated by the company affiliation with business groups. Within business groups, we explore the trade-off between inter-firm insurance that enables risk-taking, and inefficient resource allocation. Risk-taking in group affiliated firms leads to higher performance, compared to independent firms, but the impact of proactivity is attenuated. Utilizing Indian data, we show that risk-taking may undermine rather than improve business performance, but this effect is not present in business groups. Proactivity enhances performance, but less so in business groups. Firms can also enhance performance by technological knowledge acquisition, but these effects are not significantly different for various ownership categories.

A study of the relationship between employee virtuality and technology deviance as mediated by leadership and employee perceptions

Recent studies found that organizations have been investing significant capital in developing teams and employees in geographic areas where labor and resources are considerably cheaper. Furthermore, organizations are moving core operational activities such as research and development and back-office processes to globally distributed teams. ^ However, several factors that are inherent to these virtual teams can have a negative impact on employee perceptions and engagement; specifically, the physical and temporal differences between employees and their supervisors, the lack of meaningful social interaction intrinsic to working relationships, and cultural biases that can be fostered when close, daily interactions is not there to help bridge the dissimilarity. ^ When strategies are not in place to mitigate these deficiencies, it can cause virtual employees to disengage emotionally and intellectually from the organization, or lead them to feel justified in working against the best interest of the company. ^ Past research indicates that although deviant behavior in the workplace is not new, transgressions committed by employees have been increasing significantly every year. Beyond the focus of why employees are motivated to act against the organization, to what extent do the recent changes to the organization’s structure influence this type of behavior through their actions at the macro (organizational) and micro level (leadership). ^ In addition, there is a related phenomenon that has aided the transformation of the workplace—namely, the ubiquity of technology. In the context of workplace deviance, established research has documented an increasing trend of employees utilizing company technology as a medium and amplifier when harming the organization. It is important to understand whether technology has facilitated or hindered workplace deviance by virtue of the technology itself (as a means), and as part of the new employee roles created by the evolving technology (i.e., virtual employees). Therefore, it is important to identify how individual attitudes and behaviors can be affected by an employee’s degree of virtuality. ^ This study will add to the understanding of how social interaction and physical proximity, leadership and other perception factors contribute to the changes organizations are experiencing as their structure evolves and adapts to compete in the new global environment. ^

A Study of the Relationship between Employee Virtuality and Technology Deviance as Mediated by Leadership and Employee Perceptions

Recent studies found that organizations have been investing significant capital in developing teams and employees in geographic areas where labor and resources are considerably cheaper. Furthermore, organizations are moving core operational activities such as research and development and back-office processes to globally distributed teams. However, several factors that are inherent to these virtual teams can have a negative impact on employee perceptions and engagement; specifically, the physical and temporal differences between employees and their supervisors, the lack of meaningful social interaction intrinsic to working relationships, and cultural biases that can be fostered when close, daily interactions is not there to help bridge the dissimilarity. When strategies are not in place to mitigate these deficiencies, it can cause virtual employees to disengage emotionally and intellectually from the organization, or lead them to feel justified in working against the best interest of the company. Past research indicates that although deviant behavior in the workplace is not new, transgressions committed by employees have been increasing significantly every year. Beyond the focus of why employees are motivated to act against the organization, to what extent do the recent changes to the organization’s structure influence this type of behavior through their actions at the macro (organizational) and micro level (leadership). In addition, there is a related phenomenon that has aided the transformation of the workplace – namely, the ubiquity of technology. In the context of workplace deviance, established research has documented an increasing trend of employees utilizing company technology as a medium and amplifier when harming the organization. It is important to understand whether technology has facilitated or hindered workplace deviance by virtue of the technology itself (as a means), and as part of the new employee roles created by the evolving technology (i.e, virtual employees). Therefore, it is important to identify how individual attitudes and behaviors can be affected by an employee’s degree of virtuality. This study will add to the understanding of how social interaction and physical proximity, leadership and other perception factors contribute to the changes organizations are experiencing as their structure evolves and adapts to compete in the new global environment.

Managerial skills required by innovative and technology-based firms

This paper aims to investigate the Business Administration professional profile specifically required to manage innovative and high technology-based companies. It is a qualitative study outlined by an exploratory-descriptive research, supported by questionnaires and interviews addressed to a sample of executives of technology-based companies, located in São Paulo metropolitan region, Brazil. Accordingly, modular innovation arises from the existence of an architectural knowledge improved in association with the conceptually destroyed knowledge's component, meaning that architectural innovation arises from an improvement in the knowledge of the parties allied to the architectural knowledge's destruction. Results show that managers see innovation as one essential pillar for competitiveness and commonly associate innovation with team expertise related with the structure for this purpose. However, to instill innovation as an organizational discipline, it is necessary to redesign organizational processes, namely those considered critical to innovate. The company must revise its management model aiming to emphasize innovative behavior, which means readiness to respond to external environment change's requirements. Moreover, once it is necessary to change the manager's mindset about innovation, higher education institutions also have to adapt their Business Administration courses according to both changes, essentially concerning a more dynamic and more diffuse business environment in comparison to their curricular contents. The institutional pragmatism generates professionals who reach the job market with a historical and non-managerial overview on innovation. Nevertheless, results highlight that attitude is more appreciated than knowledge, or business management skills, what makes managerial behavior a key element in the innovation process in technology-based firms.

Nitrogen removal in a sequencing batch biofilm reactor with liquid circulation: Effect of feed strategy and carbon source in the denitrifying step

Ammonium nitrogen removal from a synthetic wastewater by nitrification and denitrification processes were performed in a sequencing batch biofilm reactor containing immobilized biomass on polyurethane foam with circulation of the liquid-phase. It was analyzed the effect of four external carbon sources (ethanol, acetate, carbon synthetic medium and methanol) acting as electron donors in the denitrifying process. The experiments were conducted with intermittent aeration and operated at 30+/-1 degrees C in 8-h cycles. The synthetic wastewater (100 mgCOD/L and 50 mgNH(4)(+)-N/L) was added batch-wise, while the external carbon sources were added fed-batch-wise during the periods where aeration was suspended. Ammonium nitrogen removal efficiencies obtained were 95.7, 94.3 and 97.5% for ethanol, acetate and carbon synthetic medium, respectively. As to nitrite, nitrate and ammonium nitrogen effluent concentrations, the results obtained were, respectively: 0.1, 5.7 and 1.4 mg/L for ethanol; 0.2, 4.1 and 1.8 mg/L for acetate and 0.2, 6.7 and 0.8 for carbon synthetic medium. On the other hand using methanol, even at low concentrations (50% of the stoichiometric value calculated for complete denitrification), resulted in increasing accumulation of nitrate and ammonium nitrogen in the effluent over time.

The Fornax spectroscopic survey I. Survey strategy and preliminary results on the redshift distribution of a complete sample of stars and galaxies

The Fornax Spectroscopic Survey will use the Two degree Field spectrograph (2dF) of the Angle-Australian Telescope to obtain spectra for a complete sample of all 14000 objects with 16.5 less than or equal to b(j) less than or equal to 19.7 in a 12 square degree area centred on the Fornax Cluster. The aims of this project include the study of dwarf galaxies in the cluster (both known low surface brightness objects and putative normal surface brightness dwarfs) and a comparison sample of background field galaxies. We will also measure quasars and other active galaxies, any previously unrecognised compact galaxies and a large sample of Galactic stars. By selecting all objects-both stars and galaxies-independent of morphology, we cover a much larger range of surface brightness and scale size than previous surveys. In this paper we first describe the design of the survey. Our targets are selected from UK Schmidt Telescope sky survey plates digitised by the Automated Plate Measuring (APM) facility. We then describe the photometric and astrometric calibration of these data and show that the APM astrometry is accurate enough for use with the 2dF. We also describe a general approach to object identification using cross-correlations which allows us to identify and classify both stellar and galaxy spectra. We present results from the first 2dF field. Redshift distributions and velocity structures are shown for all observed objects in the direction of Fornax, including Galactic stars? galaxies in and around the Fornax Cluster, and for the background galaxy population. The velocity data for the stars show the contributions from the different Galactic components, plus a small tail to high velocities. We find no galaxies in the foreground to the cluster in our 2dF field. The Fornax Cluster is clearly defined kinematically. The mean velocity from the 26 cluster members having reliable redshifts is 1560 +/- 80 km s(-1). They show a velocity dispersion of 380 +/- 50 km s(-1). Large-scale structure can be traced behind the cluster to a redshift beyond z = 0.3. Background compact galaxies and low surface brightness galaxies are found to follow the general galaxy distribution.

Modern scientific methods and their potential in wastewater science and technology

Application of novel analytical and investigative methods such as fluorescence in situ hybridization, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), microelectrodes and advanced numerical simulation has led to new insights into micro-and macroscopic processes in bioreactors. However, the question is still open whether or not these new findings and the subsequent gain of knowledge are of significant practical relevance and if so, where and how. To find suitable answers it is necessary for engineers to know what can be expected by applying these modern analytical tools. Similarly, scientists could benefit significantly from an intensive dialogue with engineers in order to find out about practical problems and conditions existing in wastewater treatment systems. In this paper, an attempt is made to help bridge the gap between science and engineering in biological wastewater treatment. We provide an overview of recently developed methods in microbiology and in mathematical modeling and numerical simulation. A questionnaire is presented which may help generate a platform from which further technical and scientific developments can be accomplished. Both the paper and the questionnaire are aimed at encouraging scientists and engineers to enter into an intensive, mutually beneficial dialogue. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Implications of missed opportunities for learning and assessment in design and technology education

Supporting student learning can be difficult, especially within open-ended or loosely structured activities, often seen as valuable for promoting student autonomy in many curriculum areas and contexts. This paper reports an investigation into the experiences of three teachers who implemented design and technology education ideas in their primary school classrooms for the first time. The teachers did not capitalise upon many of the opportunities for scaffolding their students' learning within the open-ended activities they implemented. Limitations of the teachers' conceptual and procedural knowledge of design and technology were elements that influenced their early experiences. The study has implications for professional developers planning programs in newly introduced areas of the curriculum to support teachers in supporting learning within open-ended and loosely structured problem solving activities. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rio Branco, grand strategy and naval power

This article addresses Baron of Rio Branco's grand strategy and the role played by the naval reorganization program (1904-1910) in this context. The ensuing case study determined the domestic and international constraints that affected the program, as well as the worldview of the patron of Brazilian diplomacy regarding military power's instrumentality to foreign policy.