Tesi sul tema "Technological innovations Economic aspects"

This thesis examines the technological economics of glass recycling in Britain. Attention was focused on recovery schemes operated within Scotland, comparisons being made with schemes in the rest of Britain and in Europe. An examination was made of general recycling problems and of glass recycling problems in particular. The various systems for glass recycling were reviewed and were put in the context of the waste management system as a whole. A survey was undertaken of Local Authorities operating glass recycling schemes. The aim was to provide a comprehensive data set to enable a consistent assessment of glass recovery schemes to be taken. This emphasised the importance of taking a standard approach to assessing the viability of recovery schemes. This needs to be done in terms of both private and social costs and benefits to provide a full economic assessment of the system. A general computer model has been developed to allow local authorities to check the viability of their on-going operations. As they operate under different conditions this model was split into separate assessment of a Bottle Bank scheme and a trade collection scheme. In addition, an investment appraisal model was developed to cover both situations. These allow managers to assess the viability of their schemes and can be used to highlight key costs. An International review was undertaken to see what lessons may be learned and what actions may be taken by the local authorities, industry, the general public, and by central government.

Technological change and time preference are two important factors affecting the mechanics of the process of economic growth, and the endogeneity of these factors receives increasing attention in recent studies. This thesis provides analyses of the roles of endogenous technological change and endogenous time preference in the growth process, With particular interests in long—run growth7 the organization and direction of innovation, equilibrium dynamics, and improvements of household welfare. The thesis consists of the following chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the research. Chapter 2 reviews the related literature and the modelling foundations that are extended in the thesis. Chapter 3 extends the basic Schumpeterian growth model to investigate the relation between the cooperative R&D decision by firms and the aggregate technological Change (productivity growth). In a duopolistic intermediate—good market, duopolistic firms are concerned With their individual R&D cost and profits in noncooperative R&D, Which yields a constant successful probability of innovation; whereas in cooperative R&D, the learning ability and the probability of successful innovation for the duopohsts increase as the level of technology grows, but the R&D cost and profits are shared equally. We show that the duopolists prefer to cooperate in R&D as the economy converges Closer toward the frontier, Which is consistent With our empirical evidence. Moreover, we analyse the dynamics of the convergence paths induced by both R&D cooperation options, implying that if the learning ability of the duopolists is sufficiently high, the economy converges toward a high—technology steady state near the frontier; however, the economy’s technology relative to the frontier may stop growing in a nonconvergence trap if the cost of imitation is relatively low. Chapter 4 focuses on the direction of technological change and its effect on the growth process and individual welfare. This chapter proposes a directed technological change model where managerial skills become complementary to the production skills in intermediate—good production, and it provides the solutions of high— relative to low—skilled technologies and long-run growth rates. We derive several results from this framework. First, weak and strong equilibrium biases of technological change still hold for the management sectors such that an increase in the relative managerial skills raises the wage inequality between high— and low-skilled managers, which explains the empirical evidence in the US, Australian and British labour markets. Second, the transitional dynamics of the economy—wide technology implies that a sectoral management shock causes temporary growth in both the aggregate total factor productivity and the aggregate output, which is higher than the balanced growth path level. Third, we show that education but not on—the—job training can be a feasible scheme to acquire managerial skills if individuals are heterogeneous in their ability. Chapter 5 investigates the determinants of time preference and their effects on equilibrium dynamics in the canonical neoclassical growth model, the AK model, and the real business cycle (RBC) model. Two types of marginal impatience endogenize the representative household’s discount function to alter its time preference: increasing (Koopmans—Uzawa type) and decreasing (Becker-Mulligan type), which are induced by current consumption and future—oriented capital, respectively. In the canonical neo—classical growth model, we derive a set of sufficient conditions for a unique steady state equilibrium, in which local stability still holds when marginal return to capital decreases more slowly than marginal impatience. Moreover, based on functional forms and assumptions, this framework can be extended to the endogenous version of neo—classical growth: the AK model, which sustains long—run growth. In an application of the uncertainty version—the RBC model in a small open economy—the equilibrium level of future—oriented capital is obtained in a reduced form, which simultaneously overcomes the nonstationarity problem. The positive relation (procyclicality) between the turnover of future—oriented and current consumption is also consistent with the empirical evidence from Australia. Chapter 6 summarises the research results and points out directions of future research. This thesis has implications for improving a household’s welfare. In Chapter 3, we find that the representative household in a country that converges towards the frontier along the cooperative R&D path can have higher welfare than the household in a country along the noncooperative R&D convergence path. Moreover, we claim that the government could contribute a lump—sum subsidy as a growth maximization policy for the economy to ameliorate the under contribution to learning ability of duopolistic firms resulted from the decentralized equilibrium, which could lead to growth and welfare maximization, simultaneously. Chapter 4 shows that subsidies to encourage education can increase the supply of one type of skill. If an individual belongs to this type of skilled group, the between-group wage inequality will increase this individual’s welfare if the bias of technological change is strong enough to offset the time cost of education. Finally, Chapter 5 demonstrates that expenditures by the household on particular goods reduce the remoteness of future pleasures. If the effect of these expenditures on the rate of time preference exceeds their counterpart in current utility, the household’s welfare will also be improved.

This thesis studies the role of learning as a mechanism of economic change. Two areas are considered where this would seem to be important. First, how firms learn about new technology; and secondly, how agents learn to behave in interactive situations. A model of research and development is presented which models the process by which firms solve specific design problems. This may be by individual experimental search or by partial imitation. In the latter case, a close parallel is drawn between biological evolution, based on genetic reproduction, and technological evolution, based on firms blending existing technologies. Some economic implications of these processes are explored, including their application to stochastic learning curves, patent design and the transfer of technology to developing countries. The thesis continues by critically assessing the analogy between biological and cultural evolution often used to model how agents learn to behave in interactive situations. It is argued that the methods used by economists exploiting this analogy are often ill-suited to an economic context. Models are presented which deal with specific issues in the transition from a biological context to an economic context, including models of partnership formation, models of imperfect imitation, and models without payoff-monotonic dynamics. The issue of imperfect imitation is expanded upon in an evolutionary model of the infinitely repeated prisoners' dilemma, where it is shown that the problem of inter-generational copying fidelity may allow one to restrict attention to strategies with a very simple stochastic structure.

A challenge facing higher education institutions is the level of technological entrepreneurship of first-year students in the field of technological programmes. This challenge has put pressure on management of higher education institutions to introduce an entrepreneurial mindset and encourage innovation. According to Development Policy Research Unit (2007:18), 23 percent of students choose qualifications mainly for the employment opportunities. According to Shein, Crous, and Schepers (2010:1), not only in growing economies such as South Africa‟s, entrepreneurship contributes to a national growth and contributes to job creation. Shein, et al. (2010:1), further claim that recent studies have shown a shift towards studying entrepreneurship in an attempt to uncover its fundamentals and its importance in adding to the well-being of the country.

The research performed throughout this dissertation aims at implementing quantitative methods in order to assess economic and technological performances of firms, i.e. it tries to assess the impacts of the determinants of technological activity on the results of this activity. For this purpose, a representative sample of the most important R&D firms in the world is constituted. The micro-economic nature of the analysis, as well as its international dimension are two main features of this research at the empirical level.

The second chapter illustrates the importance of R&D investments, patenting activities and other measures of technological activities performed by firms over the last 10 years.

The third chapter describes the main features as well as the construction of the database. The raw data sample consists of comparable detailed micro-level data on 2676 large manufacturing firms from several countries. These firms have reported important R&D expenditures over the period 1980-1994.

The fourth chapter explores the dynamic structure of the patent-R&D relationship by considering the number of patent applications as a function of present and lagged levels of R&D expenditures. R&D spillovers as well as technological and geographical opportunities are taken into account as additional determinants in order to explain patenting behaviours. The estimates are based on recently developed econometric techniques that deal with the discrete non-negative nature of the dependent patent variable as well as the simultaneity that can arise between the R&D decisions and patenting. The results show evidence of a rather contemporaneous impact of R&D activities on patenting. As far as R&D spillovers are concerned, these externalities have a significantly higher impact on patenting than own R&D. Furthermore, these effects appear to take more time, three years on average, to show up in patents.

The fifth chapter explores the contribution of own stock of R&D capital to productivity performance of firms. To this end the usual productivity residual methodology is implemented. The empirical section presents a first set of results which replicate the analysis of previous studies and tries to assess the robustness of the findings with regard to the above issues. Then, further results, based on different sub samples of the data set, investigate to what extent the R&D contribution on productivity differs across firms of different industries and geographic areas or between small and large firms and low and high-tech firms. The last section explores more carefully the simultaneity issue. On the whole, the estimates indicate that R&D has a positive impact on productivity performances. Yet, this contribution is far from being homogeneous across the different dimensions of data or according to the various assumptions retained in the productivity model.

The last empirical chapter goes deeper into the analysis of firms' productivity increases, by considering besides own R&D activities the impact of technological spillovers. The chapter begins by surveying the alternative ways proposed in the literature in order to asses the effect of R&D spillovers on productivity. The main findings reported by some studies at the micro level are then outlined. Then, the framework to formalize technological externalities and other technological determinants is exposed. This framework is based on a positioning of firms into a technological space using their patent distribution across technological fields. The question of whether the externalities generated by the technological and geographic neighbours are different on the recipient's productivity is also addressed by splitting the spillover variable into a local and national component. Then, alternative measures of technological proximity are examined. Some interesting observations emerge from the empirical results. First, the impact of spillovers on productivity increases is positive and much more important than the contribution of own R&D. Second, spillover effects are not the same according to whether they emanate from firms specialized in similar technological fields or firms more distant in the technological space. Finally, the magnitude and direction of these effects are radically different within and between the pillars of the Triad. While European firms do not appear to particularly benefit from both national and international sources of spillovers, US firms are mainly receptive to their national stock and Japanese firms take advantage from the international stock.

Doctorat en sciences économiques, Orientation économie
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Includes bibliograhical references (leaves 239-251) Concerned with the influence that the production of innovative goods has on the economic growth rate of a country. Proposes that amongst the developed economies, the higher the level of production of innovative goods within a country, the higher the GDP growth rate, all else being equal.

The strategic importance of the adoption of innovative processing technologies was analyzed for building products businesses. This study examined the two components of wood building products businesses: the structural panel industry and the softwood Iumber industry. To ensure that the relevance of adopting of innovative processing technologies was examined within an accurate contextual environment, additional important strategies and performance were also measured. A mail survey of the seventy-five largest North American producers of these two products provided the primary data necessary to investigate the strategic importance of process technology adoption, forward vertical integration, relative market share, grade sector focus, and investment intensity on firm performance as measured by profitability surrogates and changes in relative market share. This survey collected direct measures of the proportion of 1987 production produced by respondent firms that used controlled distribution channels and each of twentythree processes indicative of innovative technologies in the manufacture of building products. Information concerning the other strategic and performance factors was collected from secondary data sources. Results indicate that the adoption of innovative processing technologies has a positive impact on firm profitability. Investment intensity and grade sector focus also contributed to superior profitability. Forward vertical integration, and relative market share had no impact in differences between performance levels for the firms studied. Technologies were examined for underlying dimensions that group different process technologies together. Firms were clustered according to their level of adoption of innovative processing technologies and these clusters were then described according to a variety of firm-dependent characteristics, strategies, and performance measures. A strategy-performance model was developed for standardized, industrial product-markets and empirically tested using the data collected for the building products industry as an industry representative of this type of competitive environment.
Ph. D.

Compared to the globalized markets of goods and services, technology production has been often described as “far from globalized” and mainly concentrated in the home country of multinational enterprises. However, academics and international organizations recognize that research and development (R&D) activities are increasingly performed at the international level. In particular, the globalization of innovation is a major concern since it is at the crossroads of the rising importance of knowledge economy and the increasing international slicing of firms’ value chains. In this context, the main motivations of this thesis are to investigate the extent to which innovation takes place across national borders and to analyze the drivers of this phenomenon across countries and across industries. For this purpose, this dissertation provides new evidence on the globalization of innovation in four empirical essays using patent-based indicators.

First, the relevance of patent statistics as indicators of innovation is evaluated by studying the relationship between expenditures in R&D activities and patenting efforts. Chapter 2 decomposes this relationship at the industry level to shed light on the origins of the worldwide surge in patent applications. The empirical investigation of the R&D-patent relationship relies on a unique panel dataset composed of 18 manufacturing industries in 19 countries covering the period from 1987 to 2005, for which five broad patent indicators are developed. This study shows that patent applications at the industry level reflect not only research productivity, but also two main components of the propensity to patent which are firms’ strategic considerations: the decision to protect an invention with a patent (the “appropriability strategy”) and the number of patents filed to protect an innovation (the “filing strategy”). The comparison between the results for various patent count indicators provides also interesting insights. While some industries (computers and communication technologies) and countries (South Korea, Spain, and Poland) have experienced a drastic increase in patent applications, the ratio of priority patent applications to R&D expenditures has been generally constant. This result suggests that there has been no spurt in innovation productivity. In contrast, regional applications (filings at the United States Patent and Trademark Office or at the European Patent Office) have been increasing since the early 1990s, suggesting that the patent explosion observed in large regional patent offices is due to the greater globalization of intellectual property rights rather than a surge in research productivity. Innovative firms are increasingly targeting global markets and hence have a higher tendency to seek protection in key markets worldwide.

Chapter 3 introduces, firstly, aggregate patent-based indicators to measure the globalization of innovation production. Secondly, it describes the patterns in international technology production for a large panel dataset covering 21 industries in 29 countries from 1980 to 2005. A strong growth in the intensity of globalization of innovation is confirmed not only in terms of cross-border ownership of innovation, but also in terms of international technological collaborations. More interestingly, heterogeneity across countries and industries is observed. On the one hand, more innovative countries (or industries) do not present more globalized innovation footprint. On the other hand, the ownership of innovation is still strongly concentrated in a few countries, although its location is increasingly dispersed across the world. Thirdly, it investigates empirically two main opposing motives driving the internationalization of innovation: home-base augmenting and home-base exploiting strategies. The results show that the degree of internationalization of innovation is negatively related to the revealed technological advantage of countries across industries. Countries tend to be more technologically globalized in industrial sectors in which they are less technologically specialized. The empirical findings suggest also that countries with multidisciplinary technological knowledge are more likely to take part in international co-inventions of new technologies and to be attractive for foreign innovative firms. This aggregated patent-based analysis provides additional evidence that globalization of innovation is a means of acquiring competences abroad that are lacking at home, suggesting that home-base augmenting motives matter in the globalization of innovation production. By contrast, the internationalization of innovation does not seem to be purely market-driven since large economies are not the target of foreign innovative firms and international patenting is more related to international competitiveness of country-industry pairs than to the direction of trade flows.

While the previous chapter studies the globalization of innovation of a country with the rest of world, Chapter 4 aims at explaining who collaborates with whom in the international production of technology. In particular, the impact of technological distance between partner’s economies is investigated for a panel dataset covering international co-inventions between 29 countries in 21 industries between 1988 and 2005. The descriptive analysis highlights that the overall growth in internationalization of innovation is due to both the increase in the number of international innovative actors and the rise of the average intensity of collaboration. The empirical findings then suggest that the two main arguments related to technological distance – ‘similarity versus diversity’ – can be reconciled by taking an industry approach. Indeed, the estimation results show that the impact of technological distance is twofold on the intensity of collaborative innovation at industry level. On the one hand, the more similar the industry-specific knowledge of two countries (low technological distance within the industry), the more easily they collaborate by sharing common industrial knowledge. On the other hand, the more different their non-industry-specific knowledge (high technological distance outside the scope of the industry), the more they collaborate to gain access to broad and interdisciplinary expertise. It suggests that the relative absorptive capacity between partner’s economies and the search for novel and complementary knowledge are key drivers of the globalization of innovation. Moreover, the results confirm the moderating effect of non-technological distance factors (spatial proximity, ease of communication, institutional proximity, and overall economic ties) in cross-border innovative relationships.

The topic of Chapter 5 is the cost-benefit analysis of the creation of a new ‘globalized’ patent: the EU Patent (formerly known as Community Patent) which consists in a single patent covering the entire EU territory for both application procedure and legal enforcement after grant. The objective of this chapter is threefold: (i) simulate the budgetary consequences in terms of renewal fees’ income for the European and national patent offices; (ii) evaluate the implications for the business sector in terms of absolute and relative fees; (iii) assess the total economic impact for the most important actors of the European patent system. Based on an econometric model explaining the determinants of the maintenance rate of patents, the simulations suggest that – with a sound renewal fee structure – the EU patent could generate more income for nearly all patent offices than under the current status quo. It would, at the same time, substantially reduce the relative patenting costs for applicants. Finally, the loss of economic rents by patent attorneys, translators and lawyers, and the drop of controlling power by national patent offices elucidate further the persistence of a fragmented European patent system.

Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion
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Creativity and innovation are significant for the creation of a knowledge and productive base economy with its associated growth, sustainability and job creation. However it is noticed that students will need to employ the techniques on creativity and innovation in order to prepare themselves sufficiently to become business owners and entrepreneurs in this current global world where government jobs are difficult to come by. Therefore, the primary objective of this study is to determine creative and innovative techniques that will prepare final-year students to become entrepreneurs. A hard copy Word document questionnaire was considered an appropriate measurement method for this study. The targeted population of the study included entrepreneurial experts, business owners, teachers and lecturers of business management/studies in the Sisonke District of Kwazulu Natal Province. Thus, some 100 entrepreneur experts, owners of businesses, teachers and lecturers were identified as part of the sampling frame. A total number of 67 questionnaires were administered out of the 100 targeted– giving a response rate of 67%. The quantitative data were processed using Excel, leading to appropriate descriptive statistical analyses, including frequencies, means, medians and standard deviations. In order to obtain a better understanding of a model that will prepare final year students to become entrepreneurs, problem statements and sub-problems were stated and a t-test was used to establish demographic variables, whilst correlation analysis among skills was conducted regarding the model of creative and innovative techniques. Factor analysis was conducted using the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient which confirms that training in the model will prepare students to become entrepreneurs. The results from the empirical study revealed that a model of creative and innovative techniques will prepare students to become entrepreneurs, with a total of 70% of respondents attesting to it. Based on the relevant literature study and the empirical results, recommendations were made in order to support the training needs of students on creativity and innovation techniques. However, the unavailability of an exhaustive entrepreneurial experts database and small number of further education and training colleges in the Sisonke District, did not allow the research to draw on a larger representative sample. Thus, this limitation has impeded in-depth statistical analysis that would have allowed the research to obtain more accurate findings. Further studies could be investigated from lecturers, business owners and experts whether an introduction of a special curriculum on creativity and innovation in further education and training schools may prepare students to become entrepreneurs.

This study employs duality theory to model the dairy industry. Supply and demands for milk, cull cows, feed, labor and veterinary services were simultaneously estimated using Weighted Least Squares. Elasticities and partial adjustments were obtained for the Nation and the following regions, Appalachia, Cornbelt, Northeast, Pacific, Southern Plains and Upper-Midwest. Predictions for the change in quantity of goods demanded and supplied were made assuming a parallel shift in the supply of milk and demand for feed. In conclusion, predictions on the impact of bovine Somatotropin are made assuming all results are correct.

This thesis investigates the optimal enforcement of competition policy in innovative industries and in the banking sector. Chapter 2 analyses the welfare impact of compulsory licensing in the context of unilateral refusals to license intellectual property. When the risk-free rate is low, compulsory licensing is shown unambiguously to increase consumer surplus. Compulsory licensing has an ambiguous effect on total welfare, but is more likely to increase total welfare in industries that are naturally less competitive. Compulsory licensing is also shown to be an effective policy to protect competition per se. The chapter also demonstrates the robustness of these results to alternative settings of R&D competition. Chapter 3 develops a much more general framework for the study of optimal competition policy enforcement in innovative industries. A major contribution of this chapter is to separate carefully a firm's decision to innovate from its decision to take some generic anti-competitive action. This allows us to differentiate between firms' counterfactual behaviour, according to whether or not they would have innovated in the absence of any potentially anti-competitive conduct. In contrast to the existing literature, it is shown that the stringency of optimal policy will be harsher towards firms that have innovated in addition to taking a given anticompetitive action. Chapter 4 develops a framework for competition policy in the banking sector, which takes explicit account of capital regulation. In particular, conditions are derived under which increases in the capital requirement increase the incentives of banks to engage in a generic abuse of dominance in the loan market, and to exploit depositors through the sale of ancillary financial products. Thus the central contribution of this chapter is to clarify the conditions under which stability-focused capital regulation conflicts with competition and consumer protection policy in the banking sector.

This D.Phil, thesis undertakes a theoretical analysis of the microeconomic incentives for scientific and technical knowledge-creating activities at the firm-level, the channels by which these activities impinge on industrial change and economic growth, and the effectiveness of governmental policies formulated to influence these systemic linkages. The motivation for this work is explained in Chapter 2, which reviews the state of the art in new growth theory and puts forward a typology of privately sponsored RandD activities and knowledge resources defining the premises on which the thesis rests. Chapters 3 and 4 investigate the RandD allocation and output decisions of a profitmaximising monopolist investing in exploratory- and applications-oriented research, dealing separately with product and process innovations. The characteristic properties of the optimal time paths are ascertained by means of formal and numerical optimal control methods, including comparative dynamics. The complementarity between the two modes of research is shown to generate increasing returns, but these turn out to be short-lived. The model is extended in Chapter 5 to study the development of multiple product lines. Knowledge spillovers and demand-side externalities across successive product lines can provide the basis for continued spending on RandD, allowing sustained output growth and profitability. Chapters 6 to 8 turn to the challenges of modelling the irreducible elements of uncertainty in the innovation process and their bearing upon the dynamics of market competition and industry structure. In the sequential game theoretic model introduced, firms can invest in fundamentally uncertain "innovative-RandD," or wait until the uncertainty surrounding original innovation is dispelled and invest in certain but costly "imitative-RandD." These decisions are taken in a vertically and horizontally differentiated market where noninnovating firms can compete with a "traditional" product. The industry-wide scale of RandD investments and the related evolution in market structure are determined endogenously. To do so, a symmetric equilibrium concept is defined and its uniqueness established. The model can support Schumpeterian industry evolutions, in which surges of innovative entry are followed by waves of imitation, and ensuing "creative destruction" in which traditional producers are driven out of the industry and innovators' rents are eventually eroded. Numerical simulations are employed in Chapter 7 to provide further insights into the evolution of product development, market structure, pricing, firm growth, profitability, and consumer welfare. The final chapter considers the implications of this game theoretic approach for competition and innovation policies.

1. The context: The European patent system has been affected by substantial changes over the past three decades, which have raised vigorous debates at different levels. The main objective of the present dissertation is to contribute to these debates through an exploratory analysis of different changes in patenting practices – in particular the way applications are drafted and filed to patent offices –, their drivers, association with the value of patents, and potential impact on the patent system. The coming essays are therefore empirical in their essence, but are inspired by economic motivations and concerns. Their originality is threefold: it resides in the novelty of the main questions discussed, the comprehensive database specifically built to address them, and the range of statistical methods used for this purpose. The main argument throughout these pages is that patenting practices have significantly evolved in the past decades and that these developments have affected the patent system and could compromise its ability to fulfil its economic purpose. The economic objective of patents is to encourage innovation and its diffusion through the public disclosure of the inventions made. But their exploitation in the knowledge economy has assumed so many different forms that inventors have supposedly developed new patenting and filing strategies to deal with these market conditions or reap the maximum benefits from their patents. The present thesis aims at better understanding the dimensions, determinants, and some potential consequences of these developing practices.

2. The evolution: Chapter 2 presents a detailed descriptive analysis of the evolution in the size of patent applications filed to the European Patent Office (EPO). In this chapter, we propose two measures of patent voluminosity and identify the main patterns in their evolution. Based on a dataset with about 2 million documents filed at the EPO, the results show that the average voluminosity of patent applications – measured in terms of the number of pages and claims contained in each document – has doubled over the past 25 years. Nevertheless, this evolution varies widely across countries, technologies and filing procedures chosen by the applicant. This increasing voluminosity of filings has a strong impact on the workload of the EPO, which justifies the need for regulatory and policy actions.

3. The drivers: The evolution in patent voluminosity observed in chapter 2 calls for a multivariate analysis of its determinants. Chapter 3 therefore proposes and tests 4 different hypotheses that may contribute to explaining the observed inflation in size: the influence of national laws and practices and their diffusion to other countries with the progressive globalization of patenting procedures, the complexification of research activities and inventions, the emergence of new sectors with less established norms and vocabularies, and the construction of patent portfolios. The econometric results first reveal that the four hypotheses are significantly associated with longer documents and are therefore empirically supported. It appears however that the first hypothesis – the diffusion of national drafting practices through international patenting procedures – is the strongest contributor of all, resulting in a progressive harmonization of drafting styles toward American standards, which are longer by nature. The portfolio construction hypothesis seems a less important driver but nevertheless highlights substantial changes in patenting practices. These results raise two questions: Do these evolving patenting practices indicate more valuable patents? Do they induce any embarrassment for the patent system?

4. Measuring patent value: If the former of these two questions is to be addressed, measures are needed to identify higher value patents. Chapter 4 therefore proposes a review of the state of the art on patent value indicators and analyses several issues in their measurement and interpretation. Five classes of indicators proposed in the literature may be obtained directly from patent databases: the number of countries in which each patent is enforced, the number of years during which each patent has been renewed, the grant decision taken, the number of citations received from subsequent patents, and whether it has been opposed by a third party before the EPO. Because the former two measures are closely connected (the geographical scope of protection and length of maintenance can hardly be observed independently), they have been subjected to closer scrutiny in the first section of chapter 4, which shows that these two dimensions have experienced opposite evolutions. A composite measure – the Scope-Year Index – reveals that the overall trend is oriented downwards, which may suggest a substantial decline in the average value of patents. The second section of chapter 4 returns to the five initial classes of measures and underlines their main patterns. It appears that most of them witness the well-known properties of patent value: a severe skewness and large country and technology variations. A closer look at their relationships, however, reveals a high degree of orthogonality between them and opposite trends in their evolution, suggesting that they actually capture different dimensions of a patent’s value and therefore do not always pinpoint the same patents as being the most valuable. This result strongly discourages the reliance on one of the available indicators only and opens some avenue for the creation of one potential composite index of value based upon the five indicators to maximize the chances of capturing all potentially valuable patents in a large database. The proposed index reflects the intensity of the signal provided by all 5 constituting indicators on the potential value of each patent. Its declining trend reflects a rarefaction of this signal on average, leading to different plausible interpretations.

5. The links with patent value: Based upon the six indicators of value proposed in chapter 4 (the five classical ones plus the composite), the question of the association between filing strategies and the value of patents may be analysed. This question is empirically addressed in chapter 5, which focuses on all EPO patents filed between 1990 and 1995. The first section presents a comprehensive review of the existing evidence on the determinants of patent value. The numerous contributions in the field differ widely along three dimensions (the indicator of value chosen as dependent variable, the sampling methodology, and the set of variables tested as determinants), which have translated into many ambiguities across the literature. Section 2 proposes measures to identify different dimensions of filing strategies, which are essentially twofold: they relate to the routes followed by patent filings toward the EPO (PCT, accelerated processing), and to their form (excess claims, share of claims lost in examination), and construction (by assembly or disassembly, divisional). These measures are then included into an econometric model based upon the framework provided by the literature. The proposed model, which integrates the set of filing strategy variables along with some of the classical determinants, is regressed on the six available indicators separately over the full sample. In addition, the sensitivity of the available results to the indicator and the sampling methodology is assessed through 18 geographic and 14 industrial clustered regressions and about 30 regressions over random samples for each indicator. The estimates are then compared across countries, industries and indicators. These results first reveal that filing strategies are indicative of more valuable patents and provide the most stable determinants of all. And third, the results do confirm some classical determinants in their positive association with patent value, but highlight a high degree of sensitivity of most of them to the indicator or the sample chosen for the analysis, requiring much care in generalizing such empirical results.

6. The links with patent length: Chapter 6 focuses on one particular dimension of patent value: the length of patents. To do so, the censored nature of the dependent variable (the time elapsed between the filing of a patent application and its ultimate fall into the public domain) dictates the recourse to a survival time model as proposed by Cox (1972). The analysis is original in three main respects. First of all, despite the fact that renewal data have been exploited for about two decades to obtain estimates of patent value (Pakes and Schankerman, 1984), this chapter provides – to the best of our knowledge – the first comprehensive analysis of the determinants of patent length. Second, whereas most of the empirical literature in the field focuses on granted patents and investigates their maintenance, the analysis reported here includes all patent applications. This comprehensive approach is dictated by the provisional rights provided by pending applications to their holders and by the legal uncertainty these represent for competitors. And third, the model integrates a wide set of explanatory variables, starting with the filing strategy variables proposed in chapter 5. The main results are threefold: first, they clearly show that patent rights have significantly increased in length over the past decades despite a small apparent decline in the average grant rate, but largely due to the expansion of the examination process. Second, they indicate that most filing strategies induce considerable delays in the examination process, possibly to the benefit of the patentee, but most certainly to the expense of legal uncertainty on the markets. And third, they confirm that more valuable patents (more cited or covering a larger geographical scope) take more time to process, and live longer, whereas more complex applications are associated with longer decision lags, but also with lower grant and renewal rates.

7. Conclusions: The potential economic consequences and some policy implications of the findings from the dissertation are discussed in chapter 7. The evolution of patenting practices analysed in these works has some direct consequences for the stakeholders of the patent system. For the EPO, they generate a considerable increase in workload, resulting in growing backlogs and processing lags. For innovative firms, this phenomenon translates into an undesired increase in legal uncertainty, for it complicates the assessment of the limits to each party’s rights and hence of the freedom to operate on a market, which is precisely what the so-called ‘patent trolls’ and ‘submariners’ may be looking for. Although empirical evidence is lacking, some fear that this may result in underinvestment in research, development or commercialization activities (e.g. Hall and Harhoff, 2004). In addition, legal uncertainty is synonymous with an increased risk of litigation, which may hamper the development of SMEs and reduce the level of entrepreneurship. Finally, for society, we are left with a contrasted picture, which is hard to interpret. The European patent system wishes to maintain high quality standards to reduce business uncertainty around granted patents, but it is overloaded with the volume of applications filed, resulting in growing backglogs which translate into legal uncertainty surrounding pending applications. The filing strategies that contribute to this situation might reflect a legitimate need for more time and flexibility in filing more valuable patents, but they could also easily turn into real abuses of the system, allowing some patentees to obtain and artificially maintain provisional rights conferred by pending applications on inventions that might not meet the patentability requirements. Distinguishing between these two cases goes beyond the scope of the present dissertation, but should they be found abusive, they should be fought for they consume resources and generate uncertainty. And if legitimate, then they should be understood and the system adapted accordingly (e.g. by adjusting fees to discourage some strategies, raising the inventive step, fine-tuning the statutory term in certain technologies, providing more legal tools for patent examiners to reject unpatentable applications, etc.) so as to better serve the need of inventors for legal protection in a more efficient way, and to adapt the patent system to the challenges it is or will be facing.
Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion
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The national laboratories (NLs) play a critical role in the economic and social development of technological latecomer countries, yet no academic study has ever quantified how knowledge inflows and internal knowledge impact the performance of the NLs. This dissertation identifies and ranks the importance of factors pertaining to knowledge inflows and project-internal knowledge, which determine the success or failure of research projects in the NLs of Thailand. A survey of 123 project managers in the NLs, which covers 208 R&D projects, has been conducted. It consists of a questionnaire and unstructured interviews in which the project managers discuss their project(s). Data from the questionnaire are analyzed by factor analysis, multiple regression and logistic regression; qualitative data from the interviews are used to interpret the quantitative results from the questionnaire. The research finds that, regardless of a project's mission, knowledge inflows from outside the project group impact performance more significantly than knowledge from inside the project group does. Second, the capacity of R&D project groups within the NLs to absorb knowledge from external sources is very selective. Absorptive capacity does not just pertain to prior related knowledge; it is also a function of the source of external knowledge, the knowledge pathway into the project group, the source of complementary or substitutive knowledge that resides within the project group, and the mission to which the knowledge contributes. Third, the NLs face an ambidexterity challenge that is commonly observed in private industry--exploiting current capabilities interferes with the national laboratories' capability to explore. The discovery of selective absorption of knowledge provides practicing managers with a toolkit of micro-levers with which they can enhance performance as measured by a variety of metrics in highly specific ways. The dissertation also proposes and validates a theoretical framework for knowledge management that decomposes the national laboratory system into nine knowledge subsystems, which can be managed at a relatively low level of the organization. The methods by which this research has been conducted can be used as a tool to benchmark how knowledge management practices in different R&D organizations and environments impact performance. Guidelines for structural adjustments to the national innovation system, which are based on these contributions, should enable policymakers in most countries to implement an Open Innovation program for their national laboratories and enhance the ambidexterity of their organizations.

Maintaining and improving innovation is vital to any organisation.There are many challenges organisations are faced with, both internally and externally when it comes to maintain and improving innovation. Eskom is such an organisation. The employees, both non-managerial and managerial, of Eskom are faced with various challenges in their daily activities. The quest for innovation advantages requires increased creativity to assist employees in adopting an intrapreneurial outlook to provide proactive solutions. Intrapreneurship is an autonomous process. Eskom which bulk suppliers South Africa mission is to provide electricity reliably at a low cost to all South African. This seems less reachable with high operating cost, slow capacity growth and aging infrastructure. This study focused and contributed to the innovation environment of Eskom, with the area of study being confined within the Eastern Cape. The study objectives sought to review Eskom Distribution’s business plan and innovation policy, while identifying if employees have intrapreneurial trait, if organisational culture, system and managerial styles are conducive for intraprenuership, if the external environment will promote intrapreneurship within the organisation, and which ideas have best adoption rates of innovation within the organisation, these factors may hinder the success of innovation in the organisation, based on the theoretical findings of the literature study. Employees, at both managerial and non-managerial levels participated in a research study. The research instrument used comprised of questions that covered the various objectives listed above. This provided the basis for a quantitative study to be done. Using statistical methods to identify any special relationships or trends, the research was conducted and recommendations were made based on the objectives of this study in relation to the organisation under study, Eskom Distribution, Eastern Cape Operating Unit. Based on the findings, recommendations to improve innovation, through intrapreneurship methods were made.

With the growing trend of globalization and rapid development of high technologies, emerging economies face more challenges in technology development because they are chasing a fast-moving frontier. They need to identify global technology trends and adapt to local needs and capabilities. Strategies for technology development differ among countries at different developmental stages. In this research, a technology policy choice framework is developed to link prospective high-tech areas, technology development strategies, and various innovative resources. The research approach is to develop a hierarchical decision model (HDM) and apply the analytic hierarchical process (AHP). Experts are invited from diverse sources to provide a balanced perspective representing different stakeholders. This research focuses on the fast developing Chinese biopharmaceutical industry as a case study. The results of this research have identified thirteen prospective biotech areas that China should invest more resources for development. These technology areas include: recombinant therapeutic proteins, recombinant vaccines, monoclonal antibody technology, cell and tissue engineering, gene therapy, antisense therapy, RNAi, nanobiotechnology, synthetic biology, bioinformatics, pharmacogenetics, gene sequencing, and biotechnology diagnostics. For most of these technology areas, the results have indicated an imitative innovation strategy should be taken as a better strategy under current technological conditions in China. The research has further found that high-tech small-to-medium companies and multinational corporations are major innovation contributors in the Chinese biopharmaceutical sector. The research outcomes can serve as guidelines in resource allocation and policy making for technology development. Based on the overall research findings, policy-makers can apply more specific policy instruments to support innovation activities. Appropriate policy measures may help the country to construct an innovative ecosystem that can serve as the driving force for future technology development.

Around the world, knowledge and technology transfer have moved to the forefront of attention in economic, social and industrial policy. As the origins of future development increasingly derives from innovation, attention is paid more and more to non-traditional sources that have the potential to become the basis for creation of new businesses or the catalyser for the rejuvenation of old ones. Among those sources, we find university. These last years, academic patents have been one of the emerging phenomena witnessing the growing evolvement of university in the innovation process. The aim of this doctoral dissertation is to analyse the transfer of technology from university to industry through the analysis of patents. This work pursuits a threefold approach. First, it intends to analyse which characteristics determine the propensity of a university to get involved in technology transfer and more specifically to apply for a patent. Second, it disentangles the underlining value determinants of the patents to decode the value of academic patents and to identify the research processes that are leading to the most valuable inventions. Finally, it investigates the relevancy of academic patenting for innovation in general and wonders if on the long run, such practices could put innovation at risk.
Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

University-firm collaboration has been regarded as central to the innovation performance of firms and, at aggregate level, of countries. These linkages have been widely promoted as part of innovation policy in many countries. However, there are no conclusive studies of the dynamics of these interactions in developing countries and most of the research on the topic has focused on one side of a two-sided interaction. This gap in our understanding is particularly relevant in the case of developing countries since their innovation systems are 'immature.' This thesis attempts to explain how multi-level factors shape the incentives for agents to engage in collaboration. The analysis reveals conflicting incentives on both sides of university-firm interactions. The productive and institutional environment, as well as the public policy under which academics, universities, and firms operate, create, often unintended, incentives both for and against collaboration. Increasing understanding of these interactions helps to align policy design. By studying university-firm collaboration in Chile, this thesis aims at advancing scholarship in four key ways: (i) by studying university-firm linkages in a developing country that possesses comparative advantages in natural resources; (ii) by incorporating management and innovation theories in the study of innovation incentives, which, until recently, have only been studied using market failure analysis in developing country settings; (iii) by using a novel analytical approach that combines the analysis of the supply and demand sides of these linkages, while also incorporating the multi-level factors influencing them; and (iv) by assessing the impact of university-firm collaboration on the innovation performance of a sample of Chilean firms using a novel dataset specially prepared for this thesis. This quantitative analysis provides valuable insight about the type of firms that benefit from collaboration with universities and about the type of innovations activities that produce these benefits.

This thesis examines the introduction of computers into Queensland Government from the late 1950s. It examines the extent to which there was an awareness of the problems of information technology that emerged over the next forty years and in particular the decision-making processes and arguments that determined major outcomes. It reveals that many Government Departments were overloaded with paper-work bottlenecks and the coming of decimal currency posed a significant problem due to the mammoth task of currency conversion. These pressures, when combined with the increasing costs of labour, became the justification for the introduction of computers. The decision to introduce computers was considered an inevitable business decision that stemmed from installing earlier punched card technologies. Some years later the problems of unemployment and privacy were realised but it was too late to turn back. Computers were here to stay. Thus, this thesis highlights some key issues relating to government decision-making processes surrounding significant new technology applications. It also provides an opportunity to examine Cabinet minutes, submissions and decisions in relation to technological innovation. In essence it is a study of decision-making, which aims to develop a better understanding of how governments deal with possible future ethical and policy dilemmas associated with major technological innovation.

Product innovation and its efficient diffusion are important to enhance factor productivity, market access, job creation and trade. Innovative firms remain competitive in an increasingly global environment. Product innovation add maximum economic value when the new knowledge and technical know-how are spread through the economy. Standardisation of products is regarded as a vital tool to enable the diffusion of product innovations. The economic rationale for standardisation is based on the theory market failure that requires some sort of correction. Standardisation is regarded as a public good, a form of technical infrastructure. It reduces transaction costs and information asymmetries
increased the willingness of consumers to pay, which in turn increases the success and diffusion of innovation. Lower transaction costs result in reduced production and distribution costs. For consumers it also results in reduced search and testing costs as well as reduced time and effort to evaluate quality. Studies on the impact of standardisation were done for some developed countries, but not for developing countries. Unlike most studies that have a narrow industry-focus, this report has a broader focus on the impact of various types of standards on product innovation, market access and trade. It presented specific case studies for various industries in South Africa as well as studies on the impact of standards internationally.

The impact of Automatic Section Control (ASC) as a tool of Precision Agricultural Technology as considered in the more efficient application of inputs to produce the four major crops, corn, soybean, HRSW, and canola in the North Dakota Prairie Pothole Region. Reduction in machinery overlap in the sample 105 fields was calculated by simulating the routing paths of a 60-feet wide planter with 24 sections controlled and a 120-feet wide boom sprayer with individual nozzle control. The dollar and percentage seed and chemical costs that a farm can save by reducing overlapping area were calculated. Impact of field parameters on net savings were estimated by developing and estimating an econometric model. Results show that ASC can save substantial cost in the sample fields while field shape had the highest significant impact on net cost savings.
North Dakota State University. Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The central question that this research report attempts to answer is how southern African countries can leapfrog from agrarian to knowledge-based economies. There is no single answer to this question, but rather a complex solution. This can best be answered using scenario planning; hence the title 'Scenario planning 2020 for southern African economic empowerment'. Scenario planning is not the only way of answering the central question, but is the one preferred by the author. The scenario-building process helps to identify a number of key forces or factors that impact on the region. Culture and openness were top of the list with regard to importance and uncertainty in answering the central question. Using culture and openness, the author was able to develop a matrix with four quadrants. With these quadrants the author developed four plausible futures for the region, using the other forces identified and listed as characters, guided by the technique developed by experts in the field of scenario planning. The scenario process gives insightful information that helps one appreciate the dynamic forces, both positive and negative, and how they interact with each other to translate into an outcome - be it a desirable or undesirable outcome. There is a strong business case for recognising and appreciating the existence of culture and that this is the reason why people (and their culture) cannot be separated from the way of business. People have a way of life and, in order to do business with them, their culture must be understood.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die sentrale vraag wat hierdie navorsingsverslag probeer beantwoord, is hoe lande in Suider Afrika die sprong van landbou- tot kennis-gebaseerde ekonomiee kan bewerkstellig. Daar is geen enkel-antwoord tot hierdie vraag nie, maar eerder 'n komplekse oplossing. Dit kan die beste beantwoord word deur scenariobeplanning; daarom die titel 'Scenario planning 2020 for Southern African economic empowerment. Scenario-beplanning is nie die enigste wyse om die sentrale vraag te beantwoord nie, maar is die een wat deur die skrywer verkies word. Die scenariobouproses help om 'n aantal sleutelkragte of -faktore te identifiseer wat 'n impak op die streek het. Kultuur en openheid was bo aan die lys met betrekking tot belangrikheid en onsekerheid. Met die gebruik van kultuur en openheid, was dit vir die skrywer moontlik om 'n matriks te ontwikkel met vier kwadrante. Met hierdie kwadrante het die skrywer vier geloofwaardige toekomsbeelde vir die streek ontwikkel, met gebruikmaking van die ander kragte wat geldentifiseer en gelys is as karakters, gelei deur die tegniek deur kenners ontwikkel in die veld van scenariobeplanning. Die scenarioproses hied insig wat 'n mens help om die dinamiese kragte te waardeer, positief sowel as negatief, en hoe hulle met mekaar in wisselwerking is om'n uitslag te bewerkstellig - wenslik of nie-wenslik. Daar is 'n sterk saak uit te maak vir sakeondememings om herkenning en waardering te gee vir die bestaan van kultuur en dat dit die rede is waarom mense (en bulle kultuur) nie geskei kan word van die wyse waarop sakebelange bedryf word nie. Mense het 'n leefwyse en om sake met hulle te bedryf, moet hul kultuur verstaan word.

This qualitative study of networks of entrepreneurs in the mobile technology industry in three ecosystems - Kathmandu, Nairobi and London - examines perceptions and attitudes of entrepreneurs related to their networking activities. The focus is on understanding the entrepreneurs' motivations for, and benefits and risks of networking, as well as the overall trends of development of the three ecosystems, which are very different from each other in terms of socioeconomic circumstances. The findings provide new insights into the link between the concept of a community of supportive peers and the acquisition of subjective resources, such as self-efficacy and legitimacy, while also supporting conclusions of earlier empirical and theoretical work linking networks with the acquisition of resources necessary for founding and building a new firm. A comparison of results across the three ecosystems uncovers a strong tendency towards institutional convergence of the three ecosystems based on a model inspired by the Silicon Valley experience. The mechanisms through which this is found to occur are mimesis and storytelling, motivated primarily by learning goals and the pursuit of legitimacy for entrepreneurial action in the mobile technology industry, as well as for the individual ventures. The overall finding emerging from the cases is that, despite significant differences, the three ecosystems are reliant on a shared pool of relevant information and knowledge, via the Internet and through personal and organizational connections. They resemble one another not only in terms of resources sought by entrepreneurs through their networks, but also in the ways entrepreneurs signal their purpose and value to their community, and in the way the describe their environment - through references to other entrepreneurship ecosystems. In the absence of an existing theoretical approach to analyzing convergence of diverse entrepreneurship ecosystems, the study proposes a framework based on DiMaggio and Powell's theory of institutional isomorphism, and integrating the works of Wiewel and Hunter, on legitimacy-building by association through networks, and Djelic, on the process of cross-national transfer, or export, of economic models. The type of isomorphism perceived is termed "aspirational," since it is found to occur in the context of pursuing a specific outcome previously achieved by the application of a particular institutional model. The difference between "aspirational isomorphism" and behaviours described by DiMaggio and Powell lies in the interpretation and adaptation of a model that can then be embedded in a nascent institutional environment (in this case, an entrepreneurial ecosystem). Rather than pure mimesis, aspirational isomorphism is a flexible and creative endeavor.

Thesis (DTech (Tourism and Hospitality Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017.
Prior studies have shown that the information communication technology sector worldwide is perceived as a transformative and enabling tool for the other economic activities to improve citizens’ lives. In a Rwandan context, information communication technology integration in economic sector activities such as tourism, with the adoption of a value chain approach, is thought to be an answer to a number of social and economic challenges, including unemployment, customer care services, and poor information knowledge. In combination with the tourism sector, it is possible that job creation opportunities could benefit unemployed Rwandans, particularly the young, where information communication technology is identified as a business in itself, and an enabling tool to improve inter-economic and crosscutting activities in a growing economy. Despite mixed results from various studies, information communication technology for a tourism village could be an enabling tool for national and regional development, if priority focus on ICT and tourism quality infrastructures is maintained. Research on the evolving nature of the information communication technology sector, through tourism activities in Rwanda, could yield many off-farm jobs besides solely agrarian activities. The study was conducted on an extensive scale, in order to facilitate the generalisation of the results, employing 720 tourism stakeholders’ surveys, ten interviews with government tourism officials, and ten focus group discussions to garner both quantitative and qualitative data. A mixed research method was used to minimise possible research bias and maximise the accuracy of the findings in the four provinces and Kigali City in Rwanda. Of the 720 questionnaires distributed, 615 were usable. Regarding the interviews with government officials, focus group discussions, field observations and secondary data analysis, the researcher found that the information communication technology contribution to tourism stakeholders’ economic lives was at variance with residents’ perceptions in the provinces and districts, and contradicted the information communication technology benefits of connectivity, internet accessibility and usability in their locality. It was also confirmed that information communication technology contributions to tourism stakeholders were at a very low level, where the contribution was limited to telephone subscriptions and their uses, for example for mobile money transfers. The future of information communication technology contributions to tourism stakeholders is positive, if integrated value chain approaches are adopted to benefit poor communities at a tourist destination being visited. A model of an information communication technology village for the development of a tourism village is proposed. This could serve as a catalyst to measure the impacts on both the information communication technology and tourism sectors discussed in this study. More importantly, it was clearly found that the culture of approaching local communities in the process of policy drafting, or any developmental programme, is not present in Rwanda, and this was shown as a critical issue because of the costly nature of implementation of changes. Consequently, this study found that there was potential to support projections for information communication technology policies to achieve the objectives of sustainable development through tourism, promoting rural development, and a reduction of poverty in general
Rwandan Government, through the Ministry of Education

“We provide a solution that allows saving 15 to 20 euros per invoice.It is very important in a strategy of service and cost reductions for our customers and for us.”

“For us, it is very important as we generally reduce our inventories by 30%, thus we recover cash flow. It is not negligible.”

These quotes out of my case studies show that the primary goal of the implementation of Web-based applications is the achievement of transaction cost efficiencies: cost cutting, time saving, and information integration. But do they achieve such results? Sometimes they do sometime they don’t. In order to understand why, I consider it is necessary to take a different perspective from the one taken until now.

Indeed, existing studies on interorganizational information systems focus on economical and strategic issues and consider organizations as opaque entities. First, issues at hand may not be economic or strategic but social or legal. Next, they neglect that inter-organizational relationships imply a number of long-standing social interactions between individuals of each organization. Moreover, these individuals interpret the mediation project and act taking decision, implementing, or using the mediating technology – that these individuals make sense of the IT mediation project. In the present research, I propose to open the black box of organizations and explore how people sensemaking conditions the achievement of transaction cost benefits and is conditioned by the interorganizational context. My overarching research question is: How do people make sense of the Internet mediation of long-standing interorganizational relationships?

Doctorat en sciences de gestion
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Orientador: Bastiaan Philip Reydon
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Economia
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-17T12:47:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Barbosa_RafaelKellermann_M.pdf: 6398196 bytes, checksum: 4d151dd88acefe9fe677c69579b30321 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011
Resumo: A dissertação utiliza dados patentários para discutir as principais características e determinantes da eco-inovação na Universidade Estadual de Campinas. A definição de eco-inonvação se baseia no conceito neo-shumpeteriano de progresso técnico e no debate econômico ecológico sobre o papel da tecnologia na construção do desenvolvimento sustentável. A revisão teórica a respeito deste tema indica que a tecnologia tem função essencial na construção do estado estacionário à medida que permite ao sistema econômico elevar a provisão de serviços mantendo estável o volume de matéria e energia consumido. Contudo, o uso das tecnologias deve observar a existência de limites ecossistêmicos. Limites esses que tem influenciado a dinâmica de geração de inovações através de sua ação sobre o ambiente seletivo, direcionando os agentes que integram o sistema nacional de inovação para a geração e adoção de soluções ambientalmente amigáveis. Sendo a universidade um desses agentes, foram usadas patentes para identificar se esta também está sujeita às mesmas influências. A análise descritiva das patentes depositadas pela Unicamp indica que a dinâmica inovativa da mesma guarda semelhanças e diferenças em relação às demais instituições. Mudanças institucionais/legais podem elevar a atividade patentária da universidade bem como a interação entre essa e as empresas privadas. Todavia, as pressões seletivas a que está sujeita a universidade geram respostas diferentes das observadas para a inovação em geral. Predominam as eco-tecnologias de processo em relação às de produto e tecnologias mais limpas sobre fim-de-tubo (end-of-pipe). Em relação às demais patentes desta universidade, as eco-patentes são mais licenciadas e tem maior proporção de parcerias, principalmente com instituições privadas. Além dessas conclusões pode-se extrair deste trabalho uma revisão teórica a respeito do uso de patentes e eco-patentes por universidades; uma proposta de classificação das mesmas que considera alguns preceitos econômico ecológicos; e uma breve descrição das percepção de alguns inventores da Unicamp a respeito da dinâmica eco-inovativa
Abstract: This work uses patent data to discuss State University of Campinas eco-innovation features and determinants. Eco-Innovation definition is based on technological progress neo-shumpterian concept and ecological economics debate concerning technology role on the sustainable development construction. Theoretical review indicates that technology is an essential aspect of steady-state economy construction as it allows service provision growth with constant matter and energy consumption. However, technology use must consider ecosystem limits. This limits has influenced innovation generation dynamics through its effect on selective environment, driving national innovation system agents towards environmentally friendly solution generation and adoption. Considering University one of its agents, patent data is used to identify if it is under the same sort of influence. Unicamp's patent descriptive analysis show's that it has both similarities and differences comparing to other institutions as private companies. Institutional and legal changes are able to increase university patent activities as its private firms interactions. Nevertheless, selective pressures impulse in university innovation creates different effects. They are predominantly eco-innovation product instead of process and cleaner technology instead of end-of-pipe. Compared to the others patent within the university, eco-innovations are more transferred and has larger share of collaborative initiatives, especially with private institutions. Beyond this conclusions this work provides a theoretical review concerning university patent and eco-patent use, as well as a classification standard's proposition witch attain economic ecological aspects and a brief description of Unicamp's inventors perception on eco-innovation dynamics
Mestrado
Desenvolvimento Economico, Espaço e Meio Ambiente
Mestre em Desenvolvimento Econômico

Os parques tecnológicos são habitats de inovação que estão espalhados por quase todos os países do mundo. Assim como qualquer empreendimento, os parques demandam o estabelecimento de uma organização que realize a gestão executiva do empreendimento, que, no caso dos parques, contempla tanto aspectos imobiliários quanto os relacionados a ciência, tecnologia e inovação. Desta forma, o modelo de negócio da organização gestora, ou seja, a forma pela qual tal organização estrutura seus serviços e infraestruturas visando resultados que permitam a continuidade de suas atividades e a geração de retorno ao investimento recebido, precisa estar adequado ao contexto financeiro. Neste sentido, emerge a pergunta de pesquisa: Qual o modelo de negócio de organizações gestoras de Parques Tecnológicos que leva à sustentabilidade econômico-financeira das mesmas no contexto brasileiro? Esta pesquisa tem como foco o entendimento do modelo de negócio de tais organizações visando propor um modelo no contexto brasileiro, que se adeque às características do empreendimento \"parque tecnológico\" e que permita uma menor dependência de recursos públicos para a sua operacionalização. A partir de abordagem qualitativa e exploratória, fortemente enraizada nos dados, foram elaborados os casos de organizações gestoras de parques de diferentes naturezas, quais sejam: a) Núcleo de Gestão do Porto Digital (Porto Digital/Recife/ Brasil), COPPETEC (Parque Tecnológico do Rio/ Rio de Janeiro/ Brasil), departamento da Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (Tecnopuc/ Porto Alegre/ Brasil), Bidwells (Cambridge Science Park/Cambridge/ Inglaterra); departamento da University of Surrey (Surrey Research Park/Surrey/Inglaterra), e Birmingham Science Park Aston Ltd (Birmingham Science Park Aston/ Birmingham/ Inglaterra). A proposição dos elementos do modelo de negócios levou em consideração a revisão bibliográfica e as práticas observadas nos estudos de caso. O modelo passou por avaliação crítica de especialistas e, a partir dos parâmetros do mesmo, foi realizado um ensaio de viabilidade financeira. Dos ajustes promovidos pela análise crítica e pelo ensaio de viabilidade, foi realizada a proposição final do modelo, que contempla os componentes do modelo de negócio para uma gestora de parque tecnológico instituída como organização privada sem fins lucrativos. Em relação à literatura relacionada a ambientes de inovação, esta tese contribui de forma original na medida em que trata de assunto ainda pouco estudado, ainda mais considerando o nível de detalhamento apresentado. Apesar de já ser utilizado como ferramenta na avaliação de negócios inovadores, a utilização de forma exploratória do modelo de negócio vinculado à operação de organizações gestoras de parques é algo ainda não utilizado em publicações acadêmicas e, portanto, uma aproximação diferenciada do tema. Ainda, a tese apresenta, de forma detalhada, os principais componentes de receitas e custos deste tipo de empreendimento e suas possibilidades jurídicas de operação no contexto brasileiro, ao mesmo tempo que lança críticas sobre tal contexto. Esta pesquisa sistematizou elementos que antes haviam sido estudados de forma individualizada e os coloca na perspectiva de um outro conjunto de elementos (modelo de negócio) que necessitam ser complementares e ajustados a um contexto para que a operação do parque possa acontecer com a menor dependência de recursos públicos. Nesta perspectiva, esta tese pode contribuir, na prática, para a estruturação das organizações gestoras dos parques e lança a sugestão do estudo de novos modelos que contemplem características diferentes e que estariam dentro de um contexto institucional também diferente, que não era escopo desta pesquisa.
Technology parks are innovation habitats spread over almost all the countries around the world. As any other business, the parks require the establishment of an organization that performs the executive management of the enterprise which, in the case of parks, covers both aspects of real estate as those related to science, technology and innovation. Thus, the business model of the management organization - i.e. the way such organization settles its services and physical infrastructure in order to enable the continuity of its activities and generates return on investment - must fit the financial context. In this sense, emerges the research question: What is the business model of technology parks management organizations that contributes to their economic and financial sustainability in the Brazilian context? This research focuses on understanding the business model of such organizations aiming to propose a model in the Brazilian context that fits the characteristics of the enterprise \"technology park\" and allows less dependency on public funds to its operation. The research has a qualitative and exploratory approach, and is strongly rooted in the data drawn from management organizations cases of different parks, which are: a) Núcleo do Porto Digital (Porto Digital / Recife / Brazil), COPPETEC (Rio Technology Park/ Rio de Janeiro/Brazil), Department of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (Tecnopuc/Porto Alegre/Brazil), Bidwells (Cambridge Science Park /Cambridge/England); Department of the University of Surrey (Surrey Research Park/Surrey/England), and Birmingham Science Park Aston Ltd (Birmingham Science Park Aston/ Birmingham/England). The proposition of the business model took into account the literature review and practices observed in the case studies. The model was submitted to critical evaluation by experts. From the parameters of the model, it was performed a financial feasibility essay. After the adjustments that emerged from the evaluation of experts in parks and from the financial feasibility essay, it was presented the final proposition of the model that comprises the business model components for a technology park management organization established as a non for profit private organization. Regarding the literature on innovation habitats, this thesis contributes in an original way, as it deals with poorly studied subject so far, especially considering the level of detail presented. Despite being used as a tool in the evaluation of innovative businesses, the exploratory use of the business model tool linked to the operation of management organizations of parks is not yet applied in academic publications and, therefore, it is a differentiated approach to the theme. The thesis presents in detail the major components of revenues and costs of this type of enterprise and its legal scope of operation in the Brazilian context, while launches criticism on such context. This research systematized elements that had previously been studied individually and put them in the perspective of another set of elements that need to be complementary and fit a context for the operation of the park in a way it can happen with less dependence on public resources. In this perspective, this thesis can contribute in practice to the structuring of management organizations of parks and suggest the development of a research about new models that include different features and also would be in a different institutional context, as it was not the scope of this research.

Construction delays are a global phenomenon. Factors causing construction delays in construction projects differ from country to country, due to different prevailing conditions. The prevailing conditions that could exert an influence on project delivery time are: political, economic, and physical factors as well as level of technological development; management style, and construction techniques. The construction industry is a major player in the economy, generating both employment and wealth. However, many projects experience extensive delays and thereby exceed initial time and cost estimates. This study aims at determining the causes of delays in project delivery in South Africa; evolving interventions, and developing a model for the delivery of projects on time. Inferential and linear regression statistical tools were used in the analysis of data for the study. The sample population consists of architects, builders, quantity surveyors, structural engineers, and clients, and the metropolitan cities of five provinces constituted the geographical delimitation of the study. The provinces are: Eastern Cape; Free State; Gauteng; KwaZulu-Natal, and Western Cape. The metropolitan cities are: Bloemfontein; Cape Town; Durban; Johannesburg, and Port Elizabeth. Findings which negatively influence project delivery time in South Africa include the following: lack of adequate planning; management style; the lack of constructability reviews of designs; inadequate motivation of workers; economic policies; lack of prompt payment to contractors, and quality of management during design and construction. Recommendations include: (1) The introduction of the following courses in built environment tertiary education � quality management competences; operational planning; design management, and generic management; (2) pre-qualification of suppliers; (3) inclusion of the following in tender documentation � human resource schedule; plant and equipment schedule; quality assurance plan, and work schedule; (4) appointment of materials specialists on a large projects; (5) the model developed should be adopted for use in the South African construction industry for the delivery of projects on time, and (6) the linear regression equation: Y = 13.1159 + 1.1341x or 35.3 percent addition on time for the estimation of project delivery time.

Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016.
In both developed and developing countries, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) create employment opportunities and can therefore improve the standard of living. The South African Government have embarked on a number of initiatives in support of SMEs. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the SEDA Technology Programme (STP) have a number of assistance programmes that are being implemented in support of SMEs. Although there have been many varied studies on business incubators, there is still a need for research to determine the importance of entrepreneurial skills for the development of successful incubators.Business incubators are essentially organisations that assist to increase survival rates of innovative start-up companies and support the entrepreneurial process. Incubators provide resources and services to entrepreneurs, including working space or physical offices, technical expertise, management mentoring, assistance in compiling an effective business plan, shared administrative services, technical support, business networking, advice on intellectual property and sources of financing, markets as well as strict admission and exit rules, which are designed to ensure that the incubator concentrates its efforts in helping innovative and fast-growth business start-ups that are likely to have a significant impact on the local economy. This therefore reduces the start-up capital and overhead costs, and allows the entrepreneur to focus on his/her core business whilst receiving operational support and hand-held coaching. The incubator concept supports the clients’ development journey to ensure business sustainability and growth.The main objective of the study is to determine the role that business incubators play in filling entrepreneurial-skills requirements for SMEs in the Cape metropolitan District. The population of this study comprised all the business incubators on the data base of one of the organisations that promotes SME development strategies and programmes in the Cape Metropolitan Area (CAM). All of the five business incubators that were registered on the database of a local organisation, known as Traction, during the course of the investigation, were deemed suitable for the study and therefore comprised the sample, which promotes SMEs’ development. The study utilises a mixed approach of quantitative and qualitative methods to collect data. From a quantitative point of view, questionnaires are utilised, while face-to-face interviews is used as a qualitative method. A maximum of seventy questionnaires is administered to incubated SMEs, 28 questionnaires were returned and all qualified for data analysis. This amounts to a 40% response rate. To complement the survey questionnaire, five face-to-face interviews were conducted with business incubators. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software was utilised to analyse the quantitative data, whereas qualitative data was analysed by means of content analysis and the results for both methods were presented in the format of figures, tables and charts.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2000.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Since the late 80s and early 90s there has been a sustained debate on the concept of globalisation. This has been, to a larger extent, due to global industrial restructuring In most countries the effects have been felt mostly in the manufacturing sector, and these were evident in areas such as technology, employment pattern and composition of labour force. Globalisation introduces a tendency to create a division of labour between a core of relatively well paid, skilled and secured workers, and a large pool of workers doing non-regular forms of work e.g. 'casual' jobs or part-time contracts, and with much of the work sub-contracted to companies with less unionised and low paid workers. This research assignment explores the effects that changes in global production have on the South African automotive industry. As South Africa is becoming increasingly integrated into the world economy it certainly will not be unaffected by effects of globalisation. The auto industry, and Volkswagen in particular will be use as a case. The industry is one of the largest export industries in South Africa at the current moment, and is said to have embraced the realities of globalisation. It is also a fairly well developed industry, technologically. The auto industry has always epitomised 'Fordist' forms of production with inward-looking industrial activity. The waves of changes in the sphere of production globally have both positive and negative etfects on the automotive industry. They are spurring development and innovation in an ailing industry, and thrusting it on a path towards 'world-class' manufacturing. On the other hand festructuring trend which is an outflow of global isation poses a great threat on employment patterns, and in the long run may lead toil"'decline in formal employment and introduction of non-regular forms of work e g. part-time, casual employment, and subcontracting. This will happen as pressures mount on the industry in line with the logic of international competitiveness to rationalise and cut costs.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die konsep "globalisering" lok reeds sedert die laat tagtigerjare wydverspreid debat uit. Die kontensieuse aard van die begrip kan grootlike toegeskryf word aan die verskynsel van globale industriele herstrukturering. Wereldwyd is die impak van laasgenoemde veral gevoel in die vervaardigingsektor. Hierdie tendens het by uitstek in aspekte soos tegnologie, indiensnemingspatrone en die samestelling van die arbeidsmag gemanifesteer. Globalisering het die geneigdheid om 'n verdeling van arbeid te bewerkstellig in terme waarvan 'n kern van relatief goed besoldigde, geskoolde en beskermde werkers onderskei kan word van 'n relatief swak besoldigde groep wat stukwerk verrig. Die tweede groep verrig deeltydse werk, wat in baie gevalle uitgekontrakteer word aan maatskappye met lae vakbondverteenwoordiging. Die fokus van hierdie werkstuk val op die impak wat veranderinge in globale produksie op die Suid-Afrikaanse motornywerheid het. Namate Suid-Afrika toenemend deel word van die wereldekonomie, raak dit al hoe moeiliker om die negatiewe effekte van globalisering vry te spring. Die motornywerheid, en spesifiek die vervaardiger Volkswagen, word as gevallestudie gebruik. Die tegnologies ontwikkelde industrie is een van Suid-Afrika se vernaamste uitvoernywerhede, en volgens kenners het veral hierdie sektor die realiteite van globalisering ter harte geneem. Kenmerkend van die motornywerheid was nog altyd sy "Ford-agtige" vorm van produksie, gefokus op inwaartsgekeerde industriele aktiwiteit. Die golwe van verandering in wereldwye produksie hou sowel positiewe as negatiewe gevolge vir die motornywerheid in. Aan die positiewe kant moedig dit innovasie in 'n andersins stagnerende industrie aan. Die negatiewe sy hiervan is egter die bedreiging wat dit inhou vir indiensnemingspatrone. Dit mag op die langtermyn lei tot die agteruitgang van formele indiensneming en 'n toename in nie-algemene vorme van werk (bv. tydelike indiensneming en subkontraktering). Hierdie neiging sal posvat namate industriee deur die logika van internasionale mededingenheid gedwing word om te rasionaliseer.

Thesis (MPhil) -- Stellenbosch University, 2012.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The emerging classification of Sustainability-oriented Innovation Systems places an emphasis on the social elements of change, as well as the technological. However, sustainability-oriented problems are too vast for one person or discipline to comprehend; thus people tend to want to collaborate, meaning they form teams. As a further extension to address sustainability-oriented problems, there is an increasing emphasis on transdisciplinary research and development (R&D) efforts, whereby co-production transgresses boundaries, and science becomes visible before it becomes certain. To reach the objectives of transdisciplinary R&D efforts will require two key concepts: the gathering of information from experts, namely knowledge transfer; and making connections between them, namely knowledge integration. Nevertheless, challenges have been noted in terms of academic tribes that impede teamwork, and, importantly, the lack of combined thought and action in R&D. This research, which is compiled as two journal articles, explored the collaboration, between disciplines, that has been described as the means of meeting the requirements of transdiscplinary R&D to identify, structure, analyse and deal with specific problems in such a way that it can: grasp the complexity of problems; take into account the diversity of life-world and scientific perceptions of problems; link abstract and case-specific knowledge; and develop knowledge and practices that promote what is perceived to be the common good. However, the latter brings into question how values and culture influence collaboration and thus transdisciplinary R&D efforts. The first article set out to investigate, from a literature analysis, how the culture and values of individuals in a transdisciplinary R&D team, as well as those of the organisation, determine the potential success or failure of the R&D effort. A conceptual framework is derived based on the theories of complexity, as it relates to knowledge management, learning within organisations, cognitive and behavioural approaches to culture and values, and communication. The framework also builds on previous research that has been conducted with respect to the management of transdisciplinary R&D. The second article then utilises the introduced conceptual framework for an in-depth investigation of a case study in the bioenergy field. The R&D project, which spanned over three years in South Africa, required a transdisciplinary team of engineers and scientists of various fields to collaborate with stakeholders outside the R&D team. The case emphasises that the lack of disciplines to recognize, understand and incorporate values and culture into R&D practices will lead to project failure; pre-empting and managing expectations of social change (often) far outweigh the necessity for technological change. A number of recommendations are thus made to improve R&D practices.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die opkomende klassifikasie van Volhoubaarheid-georiënteerde Innovasie Sisteme plaas 'n klem op die sosiale elemente van verandering, sowel as die tegnologiese. Volhoubaarheid-georiënteerde probleme is egter te groot vir een persoon of dissipline om te verstaan, dus neig individue om saam te wil werk, wat beteken dat hulle spanne vorm. As 'n verdere uitbreiding om volhoubaarheidgeoriënteerde probleme aan te spreek, is daar 'n toenemende klem op transdissiplinêre navorsing en ontwikkeling (N&O) pogings, waardeur mede-produksie grense oortree, en die wetenskap sigbaar word voor dit sekerheid bereik. Om die doelwitte van transdissiplinêre N&O pogings te bereik sal twee sleutelkonsepte vereis: die insameling van inligting van deskundiges, naamlik die oordrag van kennis, en die maak van skakels tussen hulle, naamlik kennis integrasie. Desondanks is die uitdagings wel bekend in terme van akademiese stamme wat spanwerk belemmer, en, baie belangrik, die gebrek aan gekombineerde denke en optrede in N&O. Hierdie navorsing, wat saamgestel is as twee joernaal artikels, ondersoek die samewerking, tussen dissiplines, wat al beklemtoon is vir die vereistes van transdissiplinêre N&O om spesifieke probleme te identifiseer, struktuur, ontleed en hanteer in 'n manier wat: die kompleksiteit van probleme op 'n verstaanbare wyse beskryf; rekening hou met die diversiteit van die lewe-wêreld en wetenskaplike persepsies van probleme; abstrakte en geval-spesifieke kennis skakel; en die ontwikkeling van kennis en praktyke bevorder wat beskou word as die algemene goed. Maar die laasgenoemde bring in twyfel hoe die waardes en kultuur samewerkings, en dus transdissiplinêre N&O pogings, beïnvloed. Die eerste artikel, met behulp van 'n literatuur-analise, ondersoek hoe die kultuur en waardes van individue in 'n transdissiplinêre N&O span, sowel as dié van die organisasie, die potensiële sukses of mislukking van die N&O poging bepaal. 'n Konseptuele raamwerk is afgelei wat gebaseer is op die teorieë van kompleksiteit, soos dit verband hou met die bestuur van kennis, leer binne organisasies, kognitiewe en gedrag benaderings tot kultuur en waardes, en kommunikasie. Die raamwerk bou op vorige navorsing wat gedoen is met betrekking tot die bestuur van transdissiplinêre N&O. Die tweede artikel gebruik dan die konseptuele raamwerk vir 'n in-diepte ondersoek van 'n gevallestudie in die gebied van bio-energie. Die N&O-projek, wat gestrek het oor 'n tydperk van drie jaar in Suid- Afrika, het van 'n transdissiplinêre span van ingenieurs en wetenskaplikes, van verskeie gebiede, verwag om saam te werk met belanghebbendes buite die N&O-span. Die gevallestudie beklemtoon die gebrek van dissiplines om waardes en kultuur te erken, verstaan en inkorporeer in N&O-praktyke wat sal lei tot die mislukking van sulke projekte; vooruitskatting en die bestuur van die verwagtinge van sosiale verandering is (dikwels) veel swaarder as die noodsaaklikheid van tegnologiese verandering. 'n Aantal aanbevelings word derhalwe gemaak om N&O praktyk te verbeter.

CAPES
Neste trabalho, temos como objetivo investigar as associações entre tecnologias domésticas e tipos de feminilidades na revista Casa & Jardim como mídia de pedagogias de gênero. O recorte de estudo tem como foco os discursos textuais e imagéticos sobre tecnologias do lar veiculados na revista Casa & Jardim durante as décadas de 1950 e 1960. Neste período, as revistas direcionadas para públicos femininos buscavam criar uma identificação das mulheres com o espaço e o consumo domésticos, apresentando as tecnologias do lar, especialmente os eletrodomésticos, como recursos capazes de garantir o conforto doméstico, facilitando as rotinas das donas de casa e proporcionando maior bem-estar às famílias. Neste registro, as tecnologias do lar tanto favoreciam quanto glamourizavam as atividades cotidianas. Contudo, em paralelo, os padrões de limpeza, organização e administração do lar também tornaram-se significativamente mais exigentes. A partir de uma abordagem qualitativa de natureza interpretativa, visamos compreender como eram configuradas as representações da “dona de casa ideal” na revista Casa & Jardim. Percebemos que, nos discursos do periódico, as tecnologias do lar assumiram um papel importante na construção de expectativas sociais acerca das práticas de consumo das donas de casa das camadas médias, cuja identidade social estava estreitamente vinculada às imagens de esposa e mãe.
This paper proposes to investigate the associations between domestic technologies and types of femininity in the magazine Casa & Jardim (House & Garden) as gender pedagogies media. The outline of the study focuses the discourses of textual and image about domestic technologies in the magazine Casa & Jardim during the 1950s and 1960s. In this context, the magazines aimed at female audiences sought to create an identification of women with space and domestic consumption, presenting the home technologies, especially appliances, as resources that could ensure domestic comfort, facilitating the daily routines of housewives and providing more welfare families. In this record, the household technologies both favored as charmed everyday activities. However, in parallel, the standards of cleanliness and organization of homes also become significantly more demanding. From a qualitative interpretative approach, will understand how they were configured representations of "ideal housewife" in the magazine Casa & Jardim. We point out that the discourses in the magazine of the household technologies played an important role in the generated expectations regarding the middle class modern housewife role, whose social identity was closely tied to images of wife and mother.

This research investigates the relationship between innovation and leadership in First National Bank in South Africa. In an information age paradigm, innovation is a key driver of organisational success. Innovation allows an information age company to create a sustainable competitive advantage over its competitors. First National Bank (FNB) has recognised the need for innovation and measures the amount of innovation generated in each business unit on an annual basis. Leadership is a key factor influencing innovation in large, multi-segment organisations, particularly transformational leadership. Large multi-segment organisations often have multi-functional teams and transformational leadership of these teams more effectively promotes innovation. Large multi-segment organisations also often have complex decision making processes. Transformational leadership ensures optimal innovative decisions rather than adequate decisions are reached. FNB is a multi-segment organisation comprising ten business units each headed by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The relationship between the level of innovation being generated annually by each business unit and the leadership style of the business unit CEO formed the focus of this research. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire was used to gather information on the leadership style of each CEO's. Data on the level of innovation within each of these business units was supplied by First National Bank. Data was statistically analysed against the innovation generated by each business unit using correlation analysis. Most of the results testing the relationship between transformational and transactional leadership and innovation were found not to be significant. This contradicts the theory which suggests a positive relationship between transformational leadership and innovation.

116 leaves single sided printed, preliminary pages i-viii and numbered pages 1-106. Includes bibliography.
Scanned using a Hp Scanjet 8250 Scanner to pdf format (OCR).
Thesis (MPhil (Sociology)--University of Stellenbosch, 2003.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In South Africa few systematic studies have been done on university-industry partnerships. This research investigated the evolution of the University of Cape Town (UCT) and SASOL partnership involving heterogeneous catalysis. As part of this investigation, I analysed the driving force and sought to determine the motivations and benefits that UCT and SASOL have since accrued as a result of their partnership. I also analysed knowledge transmission or technology transfer processes such as the hiring of graduates, intellectual property etc. In light of all of these I sought to draw lessons that could be learnt from UCT-SASOL partnership for future purpose. I followed four themes or sections in order to situate the study. These were, (a) the socio-economic context (global and knowledge economy, innovation, knowledge society etc.), the changing modes of knowledge production ("Mode 2") and the changing ways of interactions among stakeholders industry, university and government (Triple Helix). The key argument here is that the university industry partnership cannot be seen as an independent development, but is interrelated or partly the consequence of changes in the socio-economic, science, technology and higher education fields, (b) The driving force behind the partnership, (c) motivations, benefits, and (d) knowledge or technology transfer/transmission processes. I used the case study research design. I conducted interviews with the UCT Chemical Engineering Department, UCT Centre for Research and Innovation and SASOL officials. I collected several documents related to the study and also visited the laboratories in which UCT-SASOL partnership research activities were happening. Some of the findings of the study include the following. The partnership demonstrates the significant role of an individual academic, who steered transformation in terms of research activities and culture in the Chemical Engineering Department. The legacy of the individual academic's strong personality and commitment to research is evident and continues to stimulate high levels of research interest and teamwork among staff members which is characteristic of this department. A strong link is maintained between the basic disciplinary "Mode 1" teaching and research on the one hand and the multidisciplinary "Mode 2" applied and strategic research and training on the other: This is evident in the strong emphasis on the solid undergraduate disciplinary education as a basis for a high quality multidisciplinary postgraduate education. All staff members are involved in both teaching and research. A strong link is maintained between academic, research and postgraduate activities: The department utilizes surpluses generated through industrial-oriented research to cross-subsidize the academic and postgraduate activities.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Daar is weinig sistemiese studies in Suid-Afrika reeds uitgevoer oor universiteit-industrie samewerking. Hierdie studie ondersoek die ontwikkeling van 'n vennootskap tussen die Universiteit van Kaapstad (UK) en SASOL wat heterogene katalise insluit. Ek analiseer in hierdie studie die dryfkrag van die vennootskap, en probeer die motivering en voordele bepaal wat beide die UK en SASOL toegekom het as deel van hulle vennootskap. Ek analiseer ook die oordrag van kennis of oordrag van tegnologiese prosesse, die aanstelling van graduandi, intellektuele eiendom, ens. Ek probeer op grond hiervan lesse van die UK-SASOL vennootskap uitlig vir toekomstige doeleindes. Ek het vier temas of afdelings gebruik om hierdie studie te vestig. Dit is, (a) die sosio-ekonomiese konteks (globale en kennis ekonomie,innovasie, kennis samelewing ens.), die veranderende modus van kennis produksie ("Modus 2") en die veranderende wyses van interaksie tussen belanghebbendes - industrie, universiteit en regering (Triple Helix). Die sleutel argument hier is dat die universiteitindustrie vennootskap nie gesien kan word as 'n onafhanklike ontwikkeling, maar dat dit verband hou met of deel is van die gevolge van die veranderinge in die sosio-ekonomiese, wetenskap, tegnologie en hoer onderwys arenas; (b) die dryfkrag agter die vennootskap; (c) motivering en voordele; en (d) die oordrag van kennis of tegnologie/oordrag van prosesse. Ek gebruik die gevallestudie metodologie in hierdie studie. Ek het onderhoude gevoer met die UK Chemiese Ingenieurswese Departement, die UK Sentrum vir Navorsing en Innovasie, asook die SASOL betrokkenes. Ek het die projekdokumentasie versamel en het ook die laboratoriums besoek waarin die navorsingsaktiwiteite van die UK-SASOL vennootskap plaas vind. Die bevindinge van hierdie sluit dus die volgende in. Die vennootskap demonstreer die belangrike rol van 'n individuele akademikus wat transformasie bewerkstellig het in terme van navorsingsaktiwiteite en die kultuur in die Chemiese Ingenieurswese Departement. Die nalatenskap van die individuele akademikus se sterk persoonlikheid en toewyding tot navorsing is duidelik en stimuleer steeds hoe vlakke van belangstelling in die navorsing en spanwerk in die departement. Dit is ook een van die kenmerke van hierdie departement. Daar is 'n sterk skakel gehandhaaf tussen die basiese dissiplinere "Modus 1" onderrig en navorsing aan die een kant, en die multidissiplinere "Modus 2" toegepaste en strategiese navorsing en onderrig aan die ander kant. Dit is duidelik in die sterk kleim wat gele word op die stewige voorgraadse dissiplinere onderrig as 'n basis vir 'n hoe kwaliteit multidissiplinere nagraadse onderrig. Alle personeel is betrokke by beide onderrig en navorsing. 'n Sterk skakel is behou tussen akademiese, navorsings- en nagraadse aktiwiteite: die departement gebruik die oorskotte van industrieverwante navorsing om akademiese en nagraadse aktiwiteite te kruissubsideer.

Nowadays, business technologies present equipment and services, which ensure the company’s work. Also, an integral part of the business is communication. The spread of the internet, cloud computing, networks and wireless communication in the 21st century gives more opportunities for advertising and conversations.

O projeto de dissertação tem como tema central a sustentabilidade, assunto que está cada vez mais em evidência devido à crise socioambiental vivida pela sociedade contemporânea. Analisar o nível de desenvolvimento das práticas relacionadas com as dimensões da sustentabilidade (ecológica, social, econômica e cultural) presentes nas ecovilas é o seu objetivo principal. A pesquisa é exploratória utiliza método bibliográfico para a contextualização teórica e para o embasamento empírico faz uso de levantamento de dados por amostragem (survey) com a aplicação de questionário on-line a representantes de (50) cinquenta ecovilas originárias da América Latina, a qual resultou em (9) nove respostas efetivas, das quais foram selecionadas 2 (duas) ecovilas para a realização das visitas de campo. Visa à investigação da forma como os moradores das ecovilas se relacionam entre si, com a natureza e quais tecnologias utilizam. Entre os resultados encontrados, ressalta-se o mapeamento das principais práticas, além do nível de desenvolvimento destas de acordo com a percepção dos respondentes e da observação realizada em campo. Finalmente destaca-se que os resultados encontrados na pesquisa podem auxiliar no aprimoramento de comunidades já existentes e no planejamento de novas iniciativas.
The dissertation project is focused on sustainability, an issue that is increasingly evident due to the environmental crisis in contemporary society. Analyze the level of development of practices related to the dimensions of sustainability (ecological, social, economic and cultural) present in the ecovillage is your main goal. The research is exploratory uses literature method for the theoretical context and the empirical support makes use of data sample survey by applying online questionnaire to representatives of (50) fifty ecovillages from Latin America, which resulted in (9) nine effective responses, of which were selected two (2) ecovillages to carry out the field trip. Visa to the investigation of how the residents of the ecovillage relate to each other, with nature and which technologies they use. Among the results, we emphasize the mapping of the main practices, and the development level of these according to the perception of the respondents and observation performed in the field. Finally, we highlight that the results found in the research may help in the improvement of existing communities and planning new initiatives.

We live in the era in which the internet is now available on the majority of mobile phones at a very cheaper rate. This advancement in technology has created a boom in the use of mobile phone social networking as a primary communication tool - not only for individuals but also commonly used by professionals in most fields. The trends and growing usage of social networking via mobile phone indicate a potentially effective new platform for increasing production especially in agricultural sectors. In this age of information technology, farming communities can be empowered with the latest information and knowledge through mobile phone social networking to enhance agricultural development. The study investigates the use of mobile phone social networking as an extension tool in small-scale (emerging) farmers in selected farming communities in the Cacadu District Municipality of the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Specifically, the study investigates the use of available mobile phone social networks; what they are used for; and the importance and benefits of social networking both generally and to the farming communities. The study further identifies problems inhibiting the use of mobile phone social networking. Other channels through which the small-scale (emerging) farmers acquire agricultural information, aside from via mobile phone, and the type of agricultural information these farmers acquire, are also investigated. This study focuses on the use - and not the testing or adoption of - mobile phone social networking in small-scale (emerging) agriculture. In the exercise to investigate the use of social networking apps via mobile phone, data was collected from 40 small-scale (emerging) farmers using a purposive sampling method. This study used a survey design, exploratory and descriptive research methodologies. Data was captured by administering a questionnaire through personal face-to-face interviews. Descriptive statistics such as simple frequency tables, percentages and bar graphs were used. From the Chi-square testing, it was found that agricultural knowledge levels, internet access and size of production farm land influence the use of social networking by the small-scale (emerging) farmers. However, the result of this study showed that gender, age, other income and educational level of the small-scale (emerging) farmers are not statistically significant determinants of social networking use. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was found to be 0.95. To establish the strength of associations of the variables, Cramer’s V ranging between 0.04 and 0.9 (signifying relationships from negligible to very strong association) was used. The findings showed that different social networks are used by the farming communities, such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and Blackberry messenger, MXit, Twitter and YouTube. The various uses of these social networks by the farmers are discussed. The benefits and problems inhibiting their use are also outlined. Other sources of acquiring agricultural information by the farmers aside from social networking via mobile phone are examined. The result of the study shows that [agricultural extension officers, other farmers, farmers’ discussion groups, friends and family,] are major sources of agricultural information to the small-scale (emerging) farmers while other sources are television, radio, print media and result demonstrations. The study suggests that to enhance mobile phone social networking to ensure that timely and effective agricultural information is readily accessible to the small-scale (emerging) farmers. These include agricultural extension officers making optimal use of social networking via mobile phone, due to the strong interaction and trust between them and the farmers. This interaction can be instrumental in the effective use of this technology as a resourceful medium for accessing agricultural information to enhance productivity. Proper awareness and understanding of the potential and benefits of mobile social networking by the farmers will motivate the small-scale (emerging) farmers to use the technology for effective agricultural purposes. Also, ensuring the availability of agricultural information to small-scale (emerging) farmers by setting up on-line pages or websites to discuss matters of interest and educate and update farmers on agricultural issues should be encouraged. This may attract the younger generation and the youth to participate fully in agricultural activities - thereby enhancing agricultural development.

This dissertation consists of three papers on the theme of technological capabilities. Patent information can be viewed as indicators of inventive activities emanating from a certain underlying technological capability. Cumulative patents may, therefore, be considered as the r&barbelow;evealed manifestations of those t&barbelow;echnological c&barbelow;apabilities (hereafter abbreviated as RTC) Patent databases have stored a wealth of publicly-held and verified knowledge. Each of the papers in this thesis takes-up the challenge of examining some particular aspects of RTC based on patents; and will advance our knowledge of the subject modestly in a different direction, by taking advantage of invaluable competitive information contained in patent databases. In the sense of data-mining into knowledge, we formulate and introduce a series of concepts, measurements and a methodology under the title of " patent calculation" in the first paper to mine this invaluable information. We apply this methodology, with multiple indicators, to detect the existence of technological capabilities and examine it in relation to the pattern of global collaboration in patented inventions. In the second paper we study the over time, patterns of technological capabilities in a number of countries in relation to their market and industrial structure. In the third paper we search for' potential patterns of selective concentration and specialization in the patent-intensive industries of newly industrializing countries by using the index of revealed technological advantage (RTA), which has been used as the conventional indicator in advanced countries since 1960s in technology-oriented studies. We also examine if the inherent complexities of this measure impacts the remits. In summary, we develop concepts, measures and tools, in the three essays, to take advantage of patent information to characterize the patterns of revealed technological capabilities and its variations in relation to collabor

Entre espace informé et espace géographiqueNous observons une grande diversité des champs d’application, statuts, fonctions, usages de la e-médiationterritoriale, selon les contextes socio-économiques, politiques, géographiques ou écologiques. Cette hétérogénéitérévèle l'existence d'un lien épistémologiquement fécond entre numérique, espace informé et espace géographique.Cette thèse circonscrit et approfondit ces dimensions complexes, articulées, parfois divergentes, mais qui sont desparamètres essentiels de l’action et du développement territorial. Face aux grands enjeux, socio-économiques,écologiques, sociétaux et multiculturels qui pèsent aujourd’hui plus ou moins uniformément sur le monde, cesdimensions sont essentielles à la construction de modèles de développement spécifiques dans lesquels le numériquetient une place décisive. Plus la e-médiation territoriale se subordonne à la logique fonctionnaliste du branchementdu global vers le local, plus elle favorise l’usage de données territoriales tracées, capturées et marchandisées. Cettestratégie internationale de définition, d’homogénéisation, d’analyse et de traitement massif (big data) des donnéesnumériques territoriales, produit un appauvrissement qualitatif de ces données, induit de nouvelles normativitéspolitiques, limite les recherches théorico-pratiques d’innovations sociales et d’usages, conduisant à unrefroidissement numérique des territoires. La notion centrale de e-médiation, « objet frontière » entre les disciplines,fonctionne dans cette thèse comme une matrice d’interprétation du territoire à partir de laquelle s’élabore un canevasthéorico-pratique. Cette thèse rassemble, analyse et référence des articles, documents, publications, travauxthéoriques, contributions professionnelles, politiques et pratiques, explore ce lien entre espaces informé,géographique et numérique, qui déplace le centre de gravité d’interprétation théorique des territoires, à la mesuredes mutations et des représentations auxquelles ils sont confrontés. Ce canevas, nous l’expérimentons avec leterritoire de la Seine-Saint-Denis sur la base d’un schéma d’intervention numérique qui combine acteurs et actions,innovation technologique et innovation sociale afin de donner du sens aux différentes modalités d’actions dans laperspective du développement durable et du bien commun. Des territoires très éloignés et de cultures différentespourraient, sous certaines conditions méthodologiques, utiliser un tel schéma d’intervention afin d’exprimer etexpérimenter des modèles de développement, et des e-médiations autoriseraient alors des comparaisons inter et intraterritoriales, des analyses fines des contextes historiques, géographiques et sociaux d’émergence, des observationsdétaillées de certains traits ou solutions locales comme globales
Between informed space and geographical spaceWe observe a wide range of territorial e-mediation’s concrete fields, statutes, functions and uses, according to socioeconomics,political, geographical or ecological contexts. This diversity reveals an epistemologically productivelink between digital, geographical and informized spaces. This thesis aims to circumscribe and deepen thosearticulated, sometimes divergent, complex dimensions, keys parameters of action and territorial development.Indeed, in the face of the major issues, socio-economic, ecological, societal and multicultural that weigh more orless uniformly today on the world, these dimensions of digital territorial mediation, are essential and necessary tobuild specific development models in which digital is one of the most significant. Moreover the higher the territoriale-mediation obeys a logic of branching, from the global to the local, the more it favors the use of territorial data thatare easy to track, capture, analyze and merchandise by the Data-Broker. This relative homogenization and thisqualitative impoverishment of the numerical data available on the territories, can induce new political normativities,limit the theoretical-practical researches on the social and usages innovations and lead to a numerical cooling of theterritories. This central notion of territorial e-mediation, is a « Boundary Objects » operates in this thesis as a amatrix for interpreting territories from which a theoretical-practical frameworks is designed. This thesis collect,analyse, reference, documents, publications, theoretical works, professional contributions, policies and practices onthis link between digital, geographical and informized spaces that is shifting the centre of gravity of territoriestheorical interpretations, proportionate to mutations and représentations that are facing them. For a number of yearswe experiment this framework with the Seine-Saint-Denis (Paris) territory, based on an interventions outline whichcombines stakeholders and actions, technical an social innovations in order to give meaning to the various forms ofaction, in view of sustainable development and common good. Distant territories and from different cultures couldunder certain methodological conditions through e-mediations, use this kind of framework to experiment andexpress their developpment models, comparisons, detailed analysis, the context of emergence, detailed comments,« traits » or solutions.Those mediations would permit

Digital Video Communication (DVC) is an emerging technology which ultimately extends to include applications of "Virtual Reality" where both computers and participants interact in created worlds: "worlds of information, hubs, data bases and networks," which overlay "the physical manifestations of power, walls, boundaries, highways and cities" (Mulgan, 1991, p.3). This new technology combines the power of the current visual media with the power of the computer, creating an intelligent communication system with increased data capacity, greater reliability and a greater potential for synergism. The direction and development of DVC can be influenced by the key stakeholders with interests in the business, industry service and entertainment sector of technology. Knowledge of the interpretive frameworks that key stakeholders use to understand DVC may help to clarify the present and future courses of DVC. In particular the possibility of public influence on the emergence of DVC is examined. This study, then, is an attempt to describe the ways in which key stakeholders understand the emergence of DVC as revealed by their communication about DVC. The analysis therefore emerges from the described experiences of the people who comprise the study group To achieve this, detailed secondary analyses of interviews with twenty of Australia's key stakeholders in the emergence of DVC were conducted. Follow-up interviews were conducted with twelve of the original respondents to review the original transcripts as well as to establish a longitudinal perspective. Theoretically, the study is anchored in the debate regarding technological determinism. The thesis takes the perspective that an extreme determinist stance must be rejected as part of the process of making decisions and implementation of this emerging technology. The themes of analysis revealed in the study were: • The Technological Mindset, • The Economic Rationalist Mindset, • Decision Making, Control and Knowledge, • Participation and Consultation, • New Technology and Information Access. In place of a deterministic model for technology, DVC will be viewed as being socially constructed. However, it is argued that a holistic, co-evolutionary approach be adopted for introducing new technologies such as DVC where there is an emphasis on human values and human actions which affect future systems outcomes (Stevenson, 1992). In sum, this thesis will argue that the process of technological development ought to be open to the influence by the "collective will." This development should not assume the diffusion of technology through society and thereby become a singular power of repressive interest to enforce ownership and participation (Hill, 1988), but rather it should merge economic and social goals with individual goals, and in doing so, recognise that different types of ends must necessarily co-exist in any system of communication (Mulgan, 1991).

This dissertation analyzes problems related to barriers to innovation. In the first chapter, “Delegation and Learning”, I study an agency problem which is common in many contexts involving financing of innovation. Consider the example of an entrepreneur, who has an idea but not the money to implement it, and an investor, who has the money but not the idea. In such a case, how should a financial contract between the investor and the entrepreneur look like? How much money should the investor provide the entrepreneur? How should the surplus be divided between them in case the idea turns out to be profitable? There are certain common elements in situations such as these. First, there is an element of learning. This is because initially it is unknown if the idea is profitable or not and hence the idea has to be tried out in the market and both the investor and entrepreneur learn about the profitability of the idea from observing market outcomes. Second, there is an element of delegation in the above situation. This is because decision rights regarding where and when should the idea be tried out is typically in the hands of the entrepreneur and he knows his idea better than the investor. Finally, the preferences of the investor and the entrepreneur might not be aligned. For instance, the investor may receive private benefits, monetary or reputational, from launching products even when these are not profitable. In such a case, how should a contract that incentivizes the entrepreneur to act in the investor’s interest look like? To study these issues, I develop a model in which a principal contracts with an agent whose ability is uncertain. Ability is learnt from the agent’s performance in projects that the principal finances over time. Success however also depends on the quality of the project at hand, and quality is privately observed by the agent who is biased towards implementation. I characterize the optimal sequence of rewards in a relationship that tolerates an endogenously determined finite number of failures and incentivizes the agent to implement only good projects by specifying rewards for success as a function of past failures. The fact that success becomes less likely over time suggests that rewards for success should increase with past failures. However, this also means that the agent can earn a rent from belief manipulation by deviating and implementing a bad project which is sure to fail. I show that this belief-manipulation rent decreases with past failures and implies that optimal rewards are front-loaded. The optimal contract resembles the arrangements used in venture capital, where entrepreneurs must give up equity share in exchange for further funding following failure. In the second chapter, “Informal Risk Sharing and Index Insurance: Theory with Experimental Evidence”, written with Francis Annan, we study when does informal risk sharing act as barrier or support to the take-up of an innovative index-based weather insurance? We evaluate this substitutability or complementarity interaction by considering the case of an individual who endogenously chooses to join a group and make decisions about index insurance. The presence of an individual in a risk sharing arrangement reduces his risk aversion, termed “Effective Risk Aversion” — a sufficient statistic for index decision making. Our analysis establishes that such reduction in risk aversion can lead to either reduced or increased take up of index insurance. These results provide alternative explanations for two empirical puzzles: unexpectedly low take-up for index insurance and demand being particularly low for the most risk averse. Experimental evidence based on data from a panel of field trials in India, lends support for several testable hypotheses that emerge from our baseline analysis. In the third chapter, “Investment Timing, Moral Hazard and Overconfidence”, I study how overconfidence and financial frictions impact entrepreneurs by shaping their incentives to learn. I consider a real option model in which an entrepreneur learns about the quality of project he has, prior to implementation. Success depends on the quality of the project as well as the unknown ability of the entrepreneur. The possibility of the entrepreneur diverting investor funds to his private uses, creates a moral hazard problem which leads to delayed investment and over-experimentation. An entrepreneur who is overconfident regarding his ability, under-experiments and over invests compared to an entrepreneur who has accurate beliefs regarding his ability. Such overconfidence on behalf of the entrepreneur creates inefficiencies when projects are self financed, but reduces inefficiencies due to moral hazard in case of funding by investors.

Defence date: 22 April 2002
Examining board: Prof. Daniel Verdier (supervisor, EUI) ; Prof. Colin Crouch (EUI) ; Prof. Raymund Werle (MPIfG, Köln) ; Prof. Philipp Genschel (Int. Univ. Bremen)
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digitised archive of EUI PhD theses completed between 2013 and 2017