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Several Industries (several + industry)
Selected AbstractsIncome Smoothing and Discretionary R&D Expenditures of Japanese Firms,CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTING RESEARCH, Issue 2 2000VIVEK MANDE Abstract During the recent recession (1991 to present), Japanese firms decreased their spending on R&D for the first time since World War II. The decreases have raised concerns that Japanese managers may be making suboptimal allocations to R&D. We test whether Japanese managers adjust R&D based on short-term performance. Our results show that Japanese firms in several industries adjust their R&D budgets to smooth profits. Interestingly, adjustments to R&D are larger in expansion years. These results, similar to those documented with U.S. managers, point to myopic decision making by Japanese managers. [source] Stakeholders Influence and Internal Championing of Product Stewardship in the Italian Food Packaging IndustryJOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY, Issue 1 2000Marcello Braglia Summary Environmental management is becoming a top issue on managers' agendas in several industries. The adoption and implementation of a sound "green" strategy involves following product stewardship practices. Product stewardship is the idea that manufacturers, rather than consumers, governments, or waste companies, ought to take responsibility for the recycling and disposal of their products at the end of their life cycle. This article is aimed at investigating the relationships between the adoption of product stewardship practices and the involvement of different actors in the decision-making process. By means of discriminant analysis, 120 firms have been classified into two different environmental profiles. Results indicate that firms that are more committed to product stewardship differ from less-committed firms in the influence exerted by different stakeholders and in the supportive role played by the management at different hierarchical and functional levels. In general, it appears that top management involvement in the decision-making process is a critical condition for the successful championship of product stewardship. In addition, the effective implementation of product stewardship along the product life-cycle stages is correlated to a strong commitment on the part of chief technical officers and development engineers rather than of manufacturing or marketing managers. [source] Microwave dielectric properties of polybutylene terephtalate (PBT) with carbon black particlesMICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 1 2005L. C. Costa Abstract The synthesis of composites based on polymers containing carbon as additives is rather relevant because it has been found that applications in several industries are increasing, particularly due to their unusual mechanical and electrical properties. By choosing the adequate doping concentrations, we can precisely control the electrical properties in the microwave frequencies, in order to tailor the desired behavior. In this study, we present the results of the complex-permittivity measurements, ,* = ,, , ķ ,,, at 2.7, 5, and 12.8 GHz, on polybutylene terephtalate (PBT), with different concentration of black carbon particles, using the resonant-cavity method. Measuring the shift in the resonant frequency of the cavity, ,f, caused by the insertion of the sample, we can calculate to the real part of the complex permittivity, ,,, while the measure of the change in the inverse of the quality factor of the cavity, ,(1/Q), allow us to calculate the imaginary part, ,,. Maxwell,Wagner,Sillars (MWS) and Looyenga mixture laws are applied to the obtained results. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 46: 61,63, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.20901 [source] The influence of sociodemographic characteristics on agreement between self-reports and expert exposure assessments,AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 10 2010Grace Sembajwe ScD Abstract Background Often in exposure assessment for epidemiology, there are no highly accurate exposure data and different measurement methods are considered. The objective of this study was to use various statistical techniques to explore agreement between individual reports and expert ratings of workplace exposures in several industries and investigate the sociodemographic influences on this agreement. Methods A cohort of 1,282 employees at 4 industries/14 worksites answered questions on workplace physical, chemical, and psychosocial exposures over the past 12 months. Occupational hygienists constructed job exposure matrices (JEMs) based on worksite walkthrough exposure evaluations. Worker self-reports were compared with the JEMs using multivariable analyses to explore discord. Results There was poor agreement between the self-reported and expert exposure assessments, but there was evidence that agreement was modified by sociodemographic characteristics. Several characteristics including gender, age, race/ethnicity, hourly wage and nativity strongly affected the degree of discord between self-reports and expert raters across a wide array of different exposures. Conclusions Agreement between exposure assessment tools may be affected by sociodemographic characteristics. This study is cross-sectional and therefore, a snapshot of potential exposures in the workplace. Nevertheless, future studies should take into account the social contexts within which workplace exposures occur. Am. J. Ind. Med. 53:1019,1031, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Internal vs. external learning in new product development: effects on speed, costs and competitive advantageR & D MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2000Eric H. Kessler The purpose of this study was to investigate how different technology sourcing strategies throughout the new product development process influenced innovation speed, development costs, and competitive advantage. We studied 75 new product development projects from ten large, U.S.-based companies in several industries. Results indicated that: (1) more external sourcing during the early (i.e., idea generation) stage was related with lower competitive success; (2) more external sourcing during the later (i.e., technological development stage was related with slower innovation speed; and (3) development costs tended to rise with greater reliance on external sources of technology, but this result was not statistically significant. [source] What about Design Newness?THE JOURNAL OF PRODUCT INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 6 2009Investigating the Relevance of a Neglected Dimension of Product Innovativeness In several industries, new products are very similar in functional features but compete on their unique design. Firms like Alessi, Apple, Bang & Olufsen, Dyson, or Kartell all follow a design-driven innovation approach and use their products' visual appearance as the main mean for differentiation. In spite of this, design newness is never discussed among the dimensions of product innovativeness. Instead, conceptualizations of product innovativeness mostly focus on a product's technical newness or the changes it implies for the innovating firm or for the market it enters. This paper seeks to build an argument for why design newness should be considered as a dimension of product innovativeness. In addition to providing conceptual rationale, empirical evidence is offered on the influence of design newness on sales performance across a product's life cycle. To be able to put the findings into perspective, the performance effects of design newness are compared with those of technical newness. As several products exemplify that design newness and technical newness can go hand in hand, not only direct performance effects but also interaction effects between both newness dimensions are investigated. The arguments are tested on a sample of 157 new cars launched between 1978 and 2006 in Germany. The automobile industry is selected because of the strategic role of both technical and design aspects in product innovation. Putting a focus on this industry also has the advantage that historical information on car specifics and objective sales data over time are accessible. The results emphasize that both design and technical newness are important drivers of car sales. However, the effects differ widely across the product life cycle. While design newness has a positive impact right after the introduction and persists in strength over time, technical newness drives sales with a lagged effect and decreases toward the end of the life cycle. The test of a combined influence of design newness and technical newness on sales performance produces no significant results. These results open interesting avenues for future research on product innovativeness in general and design newness in particular. For management practice, the findings emphasize the importance of overall product innovativeness, clarify the different performance effects of design and technical newness across the product life cycle, and show the value of creating a unique visual product appearance to positively trigger product diffusion. [source] The Impact of Technological Opportunities and Innovative Capabilities on Firms' Output InnovationCREATIVITY AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2003Marķa J. Oltra In this study, we analyse the effect that external sources of knowledge and absorptive capacity exert on a firm's output innovation. In addition, we examine the moderating influence of absorptive capacity on the effect that technological opportunities have on output innovation. Empirical research was carried out on a sample of 91 Spanish firms from the ceramic tile industry. Absorptive capacity is operationalized by ,systematic or continuous R&D' and output innovation by ,percentage of sales from new products'. Technological opportunities are divided into several industry and non-industry related variables. Our results show the positive effect that both the industry's technological opportunities and a systematic approach to R&D exert on output innovation. Moreover, firms with a systematic approach to R&D usually achieve higher innovation output than firms which do not follow this approach. The innovation results of this second group decrease as a result of embedded technology acquisition. [source] Challenges and trade-offs in corporate innovation for climate changeBUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Issue 4 2010Jonatan Pinkse Abstract The international debate on addressing global climate change increasingly points to the role that companies can play by using their innovative capacity. However, up till now companies have been rather cautious in taking decisive steps in facilitating an innovation-based transition towards a low-carbon economy. This paper conceptually explores some key challenges related to innovating for climate change, in the broader context of technological change, complementary capability development and sociotechnical systems, to point to trade-offs to be made by companies. We adopt a firm-level perspective to discuss (a) how companies strike a balance between further development and deployment of emissions-reducing technologies, in view of the fact that there is no ,silver bullet' solution for climate change yet, (b) how and in what way low-carbon solutions are brought to the market, by targeting consumers in either mainstream markets or niche markets, and (c) to what extent the success or failure of climate change innovations depends on companies' bargaining power and willingness to cooperate with others. The paper shows how several industry- and firm-specific factors , technological dynamism, complementarity between new technologies and existing assets, and ownership of specialized assets for commercialization , influence how companies strike a balance between the different trade-offs and deal with the uncertainty created by the current ,climate policy deadlock'. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] | ||||||||||