The impact of knowledge transfer on innovation in multinational corporations: Exploring the contingent effects

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Phenomenological turbulence and innovation in knowledge systems

Most considerations of knowledge management focus on corporations and, until recently, considered knowledge to be objective, stable, and asocial. In this paper we wish to move the focus away from corporations, and examine knowledge and national innovation systems. We argue that the knowledge systems in which innovation takes place are phenomenologically turbulent, a state not made explicit in the change, innovation and socio-economic studies of knowledge literature, and that this omission poses a serious limitation to the successful analysis of innovation and knowledge systems. To address this lack we suggest that three evolutionary processes must be considered: self-referencing, self-transformation and self-organisation. These processes, acting simultaneously, enable system cohesion, radical innovation and adaptation. More specifically, we argue that in knowledge-based economies the high levels of phenomenological turbulence drives these processes. Finally, we spell out important policy principles that derive from these processes.

Growth accounting in items of turbulence and death: efficiency, technology, capital accumulation and human capital 1929-1950

We employ a non-parametrical approach to growth accounting (Data Envelopment Analysis,DEA) to disentangle the proximate sources of labour productivity growth in 41 nationsbetween 1929 and 1950 by decomposing productivity growth into four components:technological change; efficiency catch-up (movements towards the production frontier),capital accumulation and human capital accumulation. We show that efficiency catch-upgenerally explains productivity growth, whereas technological change and factoraccumulation were limited and distorted by the effects of war. War clearly hamperedefficiency. Moreover, an unbalanced ratio of human capital to physical capital (a gap to thetechnological leader) was crucial for efficiency catching-up.

Structural reforms, productivity and technological change in Latin America

Includes bibliography

Study of the equatorial Atlantic Ocean mixing layer using a one-dimensional turbulence model

The General Ocean Turbulence Model (GOTM) is applied to the diagnostic turbulence field of the mixing layer (ML) over the equatorial region of the Atlantic Ocean. Two situations were investigated: rainy and dry seasons, defined, respectively, by the presence of the intertropical convergence zone and by its northward displacement. Simulations were carried out using data from a PIRATA buoy located on the equator at 23º W to compute surface turbulent fluxes and from the NASA/GEWEX Surface Radiation Budget Project to close the surface radiation balance. A data assimilation scheme was used as a surrogate for the physical effects not present in the one-dimensional model. In the rainy season, results show that the ML is shallower due to the weaker surface stress and stronger stable stratification; the maximum ML depth reached during this season is around 15 m, with an averaged diurnal variation of 7 m depth. In the dry season, the stronger surface stress and the enhanced surface heat balance components enable higher mechanical production of turbulent kinetic energy and, at night, the buoyancy acts also enhancing turbulence in the first meters of depth, characterizing a deeper ML, reaching around 60 m and presenting an average diurnal variation of 30 m.

Turbulence in collisionless plasmas: statistical analysis from numerical simulations with pressure anisotropy

In recent years, we have experienced increasing interest in the understanding of the physical properties of collisionless plasmas, mostly because of the large number of astrophysical environments (e. g. the intracluster medium (ICM)) containing magnetic fields that are strong enough to be coupled with the ionized gas and characterized by densities sufficiently low to prevent the pressure isotropization with respect to the magnetic line direction. Under these conditions, a new class of kinetic instabilities arises, such as firehose and mirror instabilities, which have been studied extensively in the literature. Their role in the turbulence evolution and cascade process in the presence of pressure anisotropy, however, is still unclear. In this work, we present the first statistical analysis of turbulence in collisionless plasmas using three-dimensional numerical simulations and solving double-isothermal magnetohydrodynamic equations with the Chew-Goldberger-Low laws closure (CGL-MHD). We study models with different initial conditions to account for the firehose and mirror instabilities and to obtain different turbulent regimes. We found that the CGL-MHD subsonic and supersonic turbulences show small differences compared to the MHD models in most cases. However, in the regimes of strong kinetic instabilities, the statistics, i.e. the probability distribution functions (PDFs) of density and velocity, are very different. In subsonic models, the instabilities cause an increase in the dispersion of density, while the dispersion of velocity is increased by a large factor in some cases. Moreover, the spectra of density and velocity show increased power at small scales explained by the high growth rate of the instabilities. Finally, we calculated the structure functions of velocity and density fluctuations in the local reference frame defined by the direction of magnetic lines. The results indicate that in some cases the instabilities significantly increase the anisotropy of fluctuations. These results, even though preliminary and restricted to very specific conditions, show that the physical properties of turbulence in collisionless plasmas, as those found in the ICM, may be very different from what has been largely believed.

Multifractality in plasma edge electrostatic turbulence

Plasma edge turbulence in Tokamak Chauffage Alfven Bresilien (TCABR) [R. M. O. Galvao et al., Plasma Phys. Contr. Fusion 43, 1181 (2001)] is investigated for multifractal properties of the fluctuating floating electrostatic potential measured by Langmuir probes. The multifractality in this signal is characterized by the full multifractal spectra determined by applying the wavelet transform modulus maxima. In this work, the dependence of the multifractal spectrum with the radial position is presented. The multifractality degree inside the plasma increases with the radial position reaching a maximum near the plasma edge and becoming almost constant in the scrape-off layer. Comparisons between these results with those obtained for random test time series with the same Hurst exponents and data length statistically confirm the reported multifractal behavior. Moreover, the persistence of these signals, characterized by their Hurst exponent, present radial profile similar to the deterministic component estimated from analysis based on dynamical recurrences. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Influence of the technological innovation degree on knowledge creation: Evidence from a Brazilian firm

The aim of this paper is to analyze the process of knowledge creation when developing high technology products in projects having various innovation degrees. The main contribution to the literature is the systematization of an approach to analyze knowledge creation during the product innovation process. Three innovation projects developed by a company specialized in industrial automation systems were investigated using case studies. The knowledge creation processes, which took place in these three projects, were analyzed comparatively. As a distinctive result of this paper, the main features of the knowledge creation processes influenced by a degree of technological innovation are identified.

TURBULENCE AND THE FORMATION OF FILAMENTS, LOOPS, AND SHOCK FRONTS IN NGC 1275

NGC 1275, the central galaxy in the Perseus cluster, is the host of gigantic hot bipolar bubbles inflated by active galactic nucleus (AGN) jets observed in the radio as Perseus A. It presents a spectacular H alpha-emitting nebulosity surrounding NGC 1275, with loops and filaments of gas extending to over 50 kpc. The origin of the filaments is still unknown, but probably correlates with the mechanism responsible for the giant buoyant bubbles. We present 2.5 and three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) simulations of the central region of the cluster in which turbulent energy, possibly triggered by star formation and supernovae (SNe) explosions, is introduced. The simulations reveal that the turbulence injected by massive stars could be responsible for the nearly isotropic distribution of filaments and loops that drag magnetic fields upward as indicated by recent observations. Weak shell-like shock fronts propagating into the intracluster medium (ICM) with velocities of 100-500 km s(-1) are found, also resembling the observations. The isotropic outflow momentum of the turbulence slows the infall of the ICM, thus limiting further starburst activity in NGC 1275. As the turbulence is subsonic over most of the simulated volume, the turbulent kinetic energy is not efficiently converted into heat and additional heating is required to suppress the cooling flow at the core of the cluster. Simulations combining the MHD turbulence with the AGN outflow can reproduce the temperature radial profile observed around NGC 1275. While the AGN mechanism is the main heating source, the SNe are crucial to isotropize the energy distribution.

Bicoherence in electrostatic turbulence driven by high magnetohydrodynamic activity in Tokamak Chauffage Alfven Bresilien

During some discharges in Tokamak Chauffage Alfven Bresilien [R. M. O. Galvao et al., Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 43, 1181 (2001)] high magnetohydrodynamic activity may appear with a peaked frequency spectrum. Whenever this peak occurs, the ambient broadband electrostatic turbulence is remarkably modified, synchronizing into the dominant magnetic fluctuation frequency and presenting high bicoherence in the whole plasma edge with a maximum bicoherence inside the plasma. A phenomenological model is introduced to investigate this driven turbulence bicoherence, consisting of nonlinearly coupled phase-randomized drift modes with time-periodic external driving at the dominant magnetic fluctuation frequency. The bicoherence spectrum of this model can mimic features of the experimental results. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3099701]

Electrostatic turbulence driven by high magnetohydrodynamic activity in Tokamak Chauffage Alfven Bresilien

In Tokamak Chauffage Alfven Bresilien [R. M. O. Galvao , Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 43, 1181 (2001)], high magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) activity may appear spontaneously or during discharges with a voltage biased electrode inserted at the plasma edge. The turbulent electrostatic fluctuations, measured by Langmuir probes, are modulated by Mirnov oscillations presenting a dominant peak with a common frequency around 10 kHz. We report the occurrence of phase locking of the turbulent potential fluctuations driven by MHD activity at this frequency. Using wavelet cross-spectral analysis, we characterized the phase and frequency synchronization in the plasma edge region. We introduced an order parameter to characterize the radial dependence of the phase-locking intensity. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Emergence of Turbulence in an Oscillating Bose-Einstein Condensate

We report on the experimental observation of vortex tangles in an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of (87)Rb atoms when an external oscillatory perturbation is introduced in the trap. The vortex tangle configuration is a signature of the presence of a turbulent regime in the cloud. We also show that this turbulent cloud suppresses the aspect ratio inversion typically observed in quantum degenerate bosonic gases during free expansion. Instead, the cloud expands keeping the ratio between their axis constant. Turbulence in atomic superfluids may constitute an alternative system to investigate decay mechanisms as well as to test fundamental theoretical aspects in this field.

Technological advances and mechanistic basis for fungal biopulping

Biopulping fundamentals, technology and mechanisms are reviewed in this article. Mill evaluation of Eucalyptus grandis wood chips biotreated by Ceriporiopsis subvermispora on a 50-tonne pilot-plant demonstrated that equivalent energy savings can be obtained in lab- and mill-scale biopulping. Some drawbacks concerning limited improvements in pulp strength and contamination of the chip pile with opportunist fungi have been observed. The use of pre-cultured wood chips as inoculum seed for the biotreatment process minimized contamination problems related to the use of blended mycelium and corn-steep liquor in the inoculation step. Alkaline wash restored part of the brightness in biopulps and marketable brightness values were obtained by one-stage bleaching with 5% H2O2 when bio-TMP pulps were under evaluation. Considering the current scenario, the understanding of biopulping mechanisms has gained renewed attention because more resistant and competitive fungal species could be selected with basis on a function-directed screening project. A series of studies aimed to elucidate structural changes in lignin during wood biodegradation by C. subvermispora had indicated that lignin depolymerization occurs during initial stages of wood biotreatment. Aromatic hydroxyls did not increase with the split of aryl-ether linkages, suggesting that the ether-cleavage-products remain as quitione-type structures. On the other hand, cellulose is more resistant to the attack by C subvermispora. MnP-initiated lipid peroxidation reactions have been proposed to explain degradation of non-phenolic lignin substructures by C subvermispora, while the lack of cellobiohydrolases and the occurrence of systems able to suppress Fenton`s reaction in the cultures have explained non-efficient cellulose degradation by this biopulping fungus. (C) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Relationship between technological properties and slab surface roughness of siliceous dimension stones

Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP)[06/52521-0]