International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management

In this work, we analyze the academic landscape of innovation research and compare its trend with policy reform of the national innovation systems in Japan and the United States. We collected papers that included the word ldquoinnovationrdquo in their title, abstract, and keywords, and then analyzed the structure of their citation network. We divided the citation network into clusters by clustering the network and found that the citation network of innovation research can be divided into three main clusters; with ldquotechnological innovationrdquo as the central core together with ldquoinnovation fundamentalsrdquo and ldquoinnovation management,rdquo they formed three layers. Historically, research on innovation started from innovation management, such as innovational organization research, but research in the other two cluster areas is currently more active. With this background, we prepared a historical overview of national innovation system policy in Japan and the United States. Finally, we compared the trend of global innovation research with that of the national innovation systems in Japan and the United States.

Technology roadmapping workshops are essentially a social mechanism for exploring, creating, shaping and implementing ideas. The front-end of a roadmapping session is based on brainstorming in order to tap into the group's diverse knowledge. The aim of this idea stimulation activity is to capture and share as many perspectives as possible across the full scope of the area of interest. The premise to such group brainstorming is that the sharing and exchange of ideas leads to cognitive stimulation resulting in a greater overall group idea generation performance in terms of the number, variety and originality of ideas. However, it must be recognized that the ideation stage in a roadmapping workshop is a complex psychosocial phenomenon with underlying cognitive and social processes. Thus, there are downsides to group interactions and these must be addressed in order to fully benefit from the power of a roadmapping workshop. This paper will highlight and discuss the key cognitive and social inhibitors involved. These include: production blocking, evaluation apprehension, free riding/social loafing, low norm setting/matching. Facilitation actions and process adjustments to counter such negative factors will be identified so as to provide a psychosocial basis for improving the running of roadmapping workshops.

This paper presents the research on the development of a new concept and methodology called Technology Development Envelope (TDE). The TDE approach is applied to identify the optimum path in developing a technology roadmap in which the company's technology strategies and business strategies are combined. TDE allows the executive level decision makers in corporations, as well as the policy level decision makers in governments to incorporate emerging technologies into the development of technology strategies. The combination of Delphi method and Hierarchical Decision Modeling (HDM) is used as a foundation for building the TDE concept. The judgments from technology developers and technology implementers are utilized in the process to ensure that the technology strategies are in full support of corporate goals and objectives.

In the face of the era of speedy revolution of high technology, the advanced technology becomes one of the key drivers to enhance productivity in a firm or even in a country. In order to compete in the global environment, the ability and effectiveness of acquiring new technology are essential for firms, especially for the traditional machinery industry. In Taiwan, the societal structure is built on the foundation of small-medium enterprises (SMEs). Thus most new technologies need and depend on the technology transfer (TT) from international firms and research institutes. Due to the complicity of influence factors of TT, such as features of industry, technology, organization, and talent, difficulties are encountered in evaluating the effectiveness of TT. This study develops a rule-based decision support mechanism using fuzzy set theory and the method of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to evaluate the effectiveness of TT. The characteristic of adopting fuzzy set theory is to construct the membership function for those features of influence factors and differentiate the indistinct linguistic terms in order to match true conditions. Finally this study discusses the hierarchical influence factors of TT and provides suggestions for machinery firms with respect to TT effectiveness.

One of the salient objectives of technology foresight is the determination of R&D priorities. However, there have been few systematic approaches proposed for prioritization of emerging technologies in the foresight context. This study is aimed at proposing a systematic approach based on multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) methods to setting R&D priorities of emerging technologies in the technology foresight context. The proposed approach consists of two stages with two MCDM methods. At the first stage, a number of emerging technologies are screened with macro-level criteria. The socio-economic cost-benefit analysis is conducted by use of data envelopment analysis (DEA). The second stage dealt with the detailed prioritization of the emerging technologies which have passed through the first stage. Analytic network process (ANP) is employed with micro-level criteria. The derived R&D priorities of emerging technologies are expected to aid decision making on how to allocate R&D resources

Current research in the field of pervasive information systems is predominantly focused on technical and engineering issues. In this paper, we look at the value chain boundaries of pervasive information systems as constituted by components from multiple industrial sectors. We identify a new value chain comprised of (1) infostructures, (2) devices, (3) interfaces, and (4) smart spaces that form the core elements of a pervasive information environment. We further investigate how businesses can achieve competitive advantage in this value-chain through the design and delivery of innovative products and services. Different stakeholders at each level of the value chain are identified with a goal of creating a virtually omnipresent range of services and delivery mechanisms. We survey current research in the area as well as specific firm-level strategies and business models to determine key success factors. Based on our survey, we develop a managerial framework for conceptualizing pervasive information systems in today's service-oriented organizations.

Investment in the state of art machinery, tooling, and R&D is widely seen as a prerequisite for achieving industry competitiveness in the long term. Therefore, the provision for investment-based incentives by countries is perceived as a way of supporting industry competitiveness. Despite this being a global phenomenon, there is no formal process to guide the offer of industry incentives. The process of designing such incentives is often based on intuition rather than on formal models, making it difficult to assess such industry interventions objectively and to improve on them. Specific to South Africa, the offer of incentives to the automotive industry to support its competitiveness has had mixed results. In particular, investment in R&D has remained minimal. The paper presents a system dynamics model as a proposed instrument in formalising the offer of incentives, applied to the South African governmentpsilas offer of incentives to the automotive manufacturing sector. The model was developed from qualitative and quantitative information on how the incentive dispensation had been structured. Simulations with the incentive model reveal that the incentive dispensation, as a stand-alone intervention, has had a significant and positive effect on industry investment, but has had no specific policy lever to direct investment into R&D and consequent innovative activities. By this measure, the model has not been a strong policy instrument for supporting long-term industry competitiveness.

All enterprises need creativity and innovation to maintain and sustain long term profitability. This paper advocates the rapid development of the creative process by applying an ENGAGE model. In order to frequently generate new ideas, creative people need to pursue new thinking strategies, which are outlined by a second ENGAGE model. It is believed that by consistently emphasizing both the creative process and the thinking strategies outlined in these two ENGAGE models, individuals and companies could become inventive and innovative much sooner than otherwise, thus contribute more effectively to the wellbeing of their enterprises and to the society at large.

Purpose - The last two decades have seen a remarkable increase in both interest and reactions to the concept of preserving the environment. This can be attributed to the increasing statutory and regulatory requirements of government and the pressure from consumers and the life- threatening of global ecosystem deterioration. Therefore, organizations are constantly under pressure to develop and implement Environmental Management System (EMS). While some sincere efforts have been made by the Indian organizations to implement EMS and their performance have been very good, still countrywide efforts are not adequate. Methodology/approach - This paper presents the adoption of EMS in Indian organizations, extent of EMS elements used and the status of implementation of cleaner production activities by the industries. This paper also presents the benefits accrued by the Indian industries based on 56 industries feedback who are either ISO 14001 certified companies or in the advance stage of ISO 14001 implementation. This has been supplemented by some case studies of the leading Indian organizations. Findings - Most of the Indian organizations feel that EMS has a positive effect in their performance. It is observed that Indian organizations are more inclined towards getting ISO 14001 certification rather than taking full advantage of EMS However, it is evident from the analysis that overall adoption of cleaner production activities are at the low level. The majority of the organizations seem to be implementing EMS out of pressure from competition, customer, government, domestic and export market. The paper concludes that though environmental awareness is on the increase in India, and commitment as well as compliance levels are far higher than before, India still lags behind in the implementation and has to go a long way. Research limitations/implications - The investigation and research findings are still exploratory. Future research can focus on the organizations that are at t- - he initial stage of EMS implementation and comparison can be drawn. Future research can focus on sector wise performance. Broadly based and larger sample size would provide better picture of EMS implementation status in Indian organizations. Originality/value - Analysis is based on questionnaire based feedback. The study has been able to identify the extent of the usage of key EMS elements/ implementation of cleaner production activities and drivers for the implementation of EMS. The findings have been supported by the select Indian case studies.

Expectations for cooperation between industry and the academic sector, as a means for recovering their industrial competitiveness, have been heightened in Japan since the latter half of the 1990s. Recognition in the 1980s showed the policy of technology transfer from universities to private enterprises was actively implemented in the United States and proved to be fruitful, to a certain extent, in contributing toward the economic growth of the country. This, as well as an orientation for taking this example as a model for Japan's own purposes, is in the background of such debate over the policy. However, any operation relating to the redefining of the reality recognized as a prerequisite for the policy is already a non-issue. This is to say that the perception of expectations that are in the background for cooperation between industry and the academic sector, which is driven with the TLO as the axis, shows that "the flow of knowledge from universities to the industrial sector was much less in Japan in comparison with countries like the United States" or that "the flow of knowledge through the transfer of intellectual property from universities can promote innovation in the industrial sector" are considered to be stylized facts hardly ever verified through experience. This paper presents an attempt to contribute towards offering evidence based on debates over policies by investigating the stylized facts with experiential data. The results of our analysis indicated that the flow of knowledge from the scientific sector to private firms in Japan was not necessarily less than that of the United States. Further, it was also indicated that enterprises in Japan utilized the domestic scientific sector and not scientific sectors overseas, as useful sources of information for innovations. Furthermore, the results of the analysis for industries made it apparent that the importance of intellectual property as a medium of knowledge flow from universities to private enterprises w- as limited in nature in Japan

In this paper, the focus is on finding an answer to the question why Mobile R&D prototypes are not being implemented. To find an explanation, we formulated propositions, moving from a macro-economic view on innovation, via innovation strategies to explanations that focus on the design of the artefact and the supporting business models. We concluded that, in the design process, the focus is on the business models, at the expense of managing relationships with potential providers of the mobile service. In our view, design approaches should therefore focus on the artefact as well as the underlying business models, but managing the relationship with potential service providers has to be part of a project from the very beginning.

The implementation of lean thinking in innovation management has not been executed systematically yet. For instance, high uncertainties of processes or limited possibilities for automation in research and development (R&D) indicate special requirements for the implementation of lean thinking. A competitive R&D requires a holistic rethinking for the implementation of lean thinking. The lean innovation system represents the systematic interpretation of lean thinking principles with reference to product or process innovation and development. One core element of lean innovation is the value system, which is the basis for the value stream design in innovation and development projects. The value system defines, structures and prioritizes "values" adaptively for one specific innovation project. The values are defined by all relevant stakeholders in the innovation and development process, like external and internal customers, considering an organization's strategy and culture. It represents the basis for a consequent value-oriented alignment of project and processes in R&D. This paper introduces lean innovation and the core findings of the recent survey "Lean innovation" of the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering WZL at RWTH Aachen University. Subsequently, the paper focuses on the value system, describes its elements, and shows how to use and benefit from the value system toward a powerful lean innovation.

Technology roadmapping (TRM) is gaining momentum as a strategic management tool for an organization to integrate technology into business strategy. This paper reviews over a hundred of TRM related publications to provide the community with the current state of roadmapping research and practice. From the literature, the issue of keeping a roadmap alive has been identified as the key challenge in the field. To address this challenge, operationalization and effective implementation of TRM are highlighted as the potential areas for future research.

The paper revisits the success case of Boston Route 128 in commercializing technology. The study applies the concept of industrial clusters to explain the development of technologically sophisticated region of Boston Route 128. Boston Route 128 has transformed its structure from the minicomputer and microprocessor-based technology industry in the 1980s to biotechnology industry in the late 1990s and 2000s. It is argued that the successful commercialization process of Boston Route 128 is rooted in innovation, entrepreneurial management and the policy towards technology commercialization. To consider the argument, the paper proposes the cluster model to explain the strengths of Boston Route 128 in biotech clusters. It represents a model of the universities working with industries to form a cluster of high technology based firms. The venture capital accelerates the process of technology commercialization, giving rise to a new Boston model of innovation management. Policy makers may use the Boston model as a benchmark to evaluate their performance in supporting Hi-Tech industries.

The keyword that most effectively describes 21st-century higher education is "expansion," as suggested by Daniel et al. [2009]. The present contribution aims to analyze current higher education requirements, offers a general insight into how to respond to pressing needs by exploiting the added value of networking potentiality, and reports on a successful case: the Licence Professionnelle "Management des Organisations de l'Economie Sociale" course (University Marne-la-Vallée, France).

Since the first commercial launch of cellular telecoms by NET in Tokyo Japan in 1979 and the launch of the NMT system in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden in 1981, the mobile phone has undergone continual incremental innovation for changing market needs. This study investigates the factors affecting the attitudes towards the social acceptance of mobile phones in public places and how this attitude affects its usage. Theories on innovation and technology acceptance were reviewed, and studies relating demographic factors to technology acceptance were examined. A model was proposed relating the usage frequency and attitudes towards acceptance of mobile phone in public places to demographic factors, such as country, age, education, gender, and work status. A survey was conducted among mobile phone users, and the sample consisted of 1079 respondents in the United States, France, Italy, Turkey, and Finland. A structural equation model was developed to analyze the survey data. Results of the analysis indicate that the attitudes about mobile phone use in public places depend on country, and age factors. This attitude in turn significantly affects the usage frequency of mobile phones. In addition, usage frequency also is affected by gender and work status. Implications of the findings for both academicians and practitioners are discussed.

It is well known that the diffusion of the Internet over society has been faster than that of the traditional telecommunication service such as the telephone. There are some differences between the demand diffusion patterns of telephone services and the Internet as well as among the demand attributes, thus we focus on these differences. With each service, demand attributes comprise of business-use and household-use. In particular, Loglet analysis is used for comparing the diffusion pattern demand-attributes for the services. Firstly, from the analysis, during the overall reference period, the diffusion rate of the Internet is larger than that of telephone. Secondly, the gap between the diffusion rates of household-use and business-use in the Internet is much larger than it is for the telephone. Thirdly, the estimated potential demands of the Internet household-use are surprisingly similar to the present number of telephone users. We also examine country-specific factors underlying the diffusion of Internet access service in Korea.

The maximum achievable profit method of patent valuation mitigates problems associated with the contemporary discounted cash flows method. According to this new method, the maximum incremental profit that commercialization of a patent can achieve under ideal circumstances is determined. The present value of this profit is the highest valuation that the patent can receive. All of the factors that are known to affect the value of a patent are graded to provide a score. A transfer function uses the score, the present value of the maximum achievable incremental profit, and an investment amount to determine a valuation.

This study examines the contribution of a pair of opposite factors: technology versus people, and innovation vs. continuous improvement to obtain manufacturing flexibility. These factors are opposing as they play different roles in TQM and BPR. An exploratory multiple case study was conducted that involves three Malaysian manufacturing companies from electronic and electric sector. The results show that flexibility could not be achieved through technology solely, but by combining technology with people, the required outcome is attainable. By applying innovation and continuous improvement simultaneously, it will yield better flexibility than if only one of them was used. The contribution of these factors in the selected manufacturing setting could guide practitioners to obtain flexibility and verify the research model that could be tested further in a survey.

Many Chinese companies rely on externally acquired innovations rather than developing their own. The best way to rapidly commercialize externally acquired innovations in a Chinese company, however, is still a rather new research topic. This paper reports research towards development of an integrated model for commercialization of acquired innovations. Development of the preliminary model was based upon a review of the literature. The preliminary model covers four main factors, namely, technological collaboration, organizational collaboration, customer collaboration and resource collaboration. Managers from four entrepreneurial Chinese companies evaluated the model. Each of the four case companies had acquired innovations from external sources. Our empirical results indicate that the factors of partner matches/relationships, product champions, pioneer users and financial alliances tend to be more important than other factors. The managers also added two more factors, namely, government regulations and university support. This paper provides initial empirical evidence that demonstrates the multifaceted determinants of rapid commercialization of acquired innovations in the context of Chinese manufacturing. Our findings suggest that the innovative firms operating in China integrate technological collaboration, government policies and university research activities in order to facilitate commercialization of their acquired innovations. In summary, collaborations both inside and outside of companies are critical for successful commercialization.

The Global Manufacturing Network (GMN) is a new manufacturing system, which provides great opportunities for local firms in developing countries to acquire knowledge and upgrade capabilities through collaborations in the GMN. This paper hypothesizes that local firm's potential absorptive capacity has a positive impact on its knowledge acquisition in the GMN, and the association between them is moderated by network embeddedness. Using data from Chinese manufacturing firms, this paper confirms the hypothesis that local firm's potential absorptive capacity can contribute to its knowledge acquisition in the GMN, and the hypothesis of the moderating effect of network embeddedness is partially supported by the results.

This study explores differences in decision making processes of public and private organizations in the service industry when they acquire information technologies (IT). The service sector has become increasingly important for economic growth and wealth in the United States. It is the fastest growing sector among the three traditional sectors: goods, manufacturing and services. Aside from the fast growing privately organized service business, public organizations have played an important role as service providers for many years. The public sector has also undergone significant changes towards privatizations. Public service organizations have started to compete with the private sector. Thus, they are forced to improve the speed and efficiency of their decision making processes. The study accomplishes this by specifically investigating IT-purchasing decisions of three private corporations, one academic institution and the United Nations. The study makes use of expert interviews done on site or on line with mid and high-level decision makers of the five organizations.

New product development (NPD) has typically had strategic implications for the success and prosperity of an organization. This paper applied refined failure mode and effect analysis and genetic algorithm techniques to develop and establish an integrated risk analysis model for improving preliminary design of NPD. Three core items, technological performance, cost, and schedule risk, were used to improve the process of preliminary design and resource allocation in NPD projects. Risk severity, occurrence, and correlation characteristics are collected for each core item. A real study case was implemented to conclude an improving design decision and process change for NPD project.

A common business conceptual framework is indispensable for achieving the necessary level of collaboration among interlinked business players for planning the timeframe of modern multi-layered technology-intensive services. This paper proposes a service conceptual framework using a hierarchical classification with five needs levels based on Maslow's needs theory and three customer segments. This framework was used as a basis for wide intra-industry collaboration towards performing the roadmappings to be shared for services using RF identification technology. Action research demonstrated the framework's viability for enhancing the intellectual productivity of an interdisciplinary team of collaborating business planners and engineers.

The front-end phase is in the literature generally regarded as the most critical phase of the innovation process. Front-end management has a strategic nature since important decisions related e.g. to target markets and the main functionalities of products are done in the front-end phase. This article examines how the integration of strategic and operative level front-end activities is perceived by top managers in the product innovation context. The findings indicate that companies exploit different strategy-making processes, and that each strategy-making mode is prone to particular integration challenges. The results show that the effectiveness of integration of strategic and operative level front-end activities is dependent on the level of concreteness of the defined business strategies, the amount of business-minded decision making, and the balance between control and creativity.