Development Of Technological Capabilities Research Articles

The rise of China as a cybersecurity industrial power: balancing national security, geopolitical, and development priorities

ABSTRACTThis article examines the development of China's cybersecurity industry over the past two decades since the arrival of the internet in that country. This analysis takes place from a primarily security and technology perspective because the national security apparatus occupies a powerful presence in China's cyber affairs. Moreover, the development of the cybersecurity industry is significantly driven by the development of technological capabilities. Key issues explored include: (1) Chinese decision-making and thinking on cybersecurity development within the context of the Chinese leadership's general approach to development, national security, and technology advancement; (2) the nature and characteristics of recent Chinese cybersecurity-related development strategies and plans; (3) the drivers behind the development of China's cybersecurity industry, looking especially at market failures, national security rationales, and government intervention; (4) the proliferation of principal actors and coalitions in the Chinese cybersecurity industry and how this influences its development; and (5) the nature of the relationship between the state and cybersecurity firms, in particular examining four types of interactions: the state as a customer; state hiring of talent; the state's direct regulatory power, and the state as an investor. The article concludes by considering the international implications of China's rise as an increasingly capable and confident cybersecurity power.

Knowledge flow in low-carbon technology transfer: A case of India's wind power industry

The degree of knowledge flow in low-carbon technology transfer is influenced by its organizational mechanism. While transfer mechanisms involving greater cross-border interaction and recipient effort may provide more learning opportunities, there remains a gap about the causal mechanisms and contingent variables involved in technology transfer and technological capability development. This study offers one of the first firm-level causal analyses of transfer mechanisms and technological capabilities, taking into account various firm- and context-specific factors. To this end, India's wind power industry is analyzed using firm-level data and semi-structured interviews conducted in 2013 with 15 wind turbine manufacturers covering 76% of the market share and 12 other organizations working on wind power. The analysis demonstrates that innovation capabilities are accumulated mainly through transfer mechanisms enabling recipients’ engagement in research and development. Mergers and acquisitions as well as international research and development centers are among the most effective examples. Joint ventures could be appropriate if a local partner gains a large majority shareholding. The knowledge transfer through wholly foreign-owned enterprises may be restricted because intellectual properties are tightly controlled by their parent firms. The creation of a predictable, performance-oriented market enhances firms’ financial resources and consequently encourages knowledge acquisition and capability development.

The impact of Euro 4 automobile emission regulations on the development of technological capabilities in ASEAN

ABSTRACTThis paper aims to evaluate the policies targeted at regulating automobile emissions among ASEAN countries but with specific attention to the Philippines. Technology-based regulations on motor vehicles play an important role in reducing green-house gas emissions. However, regulations differ based on the level of economic development, policies and technological base of each country. This paper uses an example of the Euro 4 automobile emission regulations to examine its implementation process and strategies of each ASEAN countries. It subsequently focuses on the Philippines to analyse the role of government, multinational automobile manufacturers and local suppliers. The findings show that the strategies of automobile manufacturers have positively affected local suppliers’ technological capabilities.

The role of networks in technological capability: a technology-based companies perspective

This study examined the influence of networks on the development of technological capabilities of 90 technology-based companies (TBCs) graduated by Brazilian incubators. The relational-based view theoretically supported the study. The data were processed via Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). A model with three hypotheses was tested. Two hypotheses were validated, proving that technological and financial networks built by those firms with external agents explained 70.6% of their capacity to innovate. The insertion into technology networks of licensing, universities, suppliers, and consulting shows that the TBCs are making use of relationships of high technical content, which is expected according to previous literature. As for the financial networks, it was observed that the insertion into networks of venture capital and economic subvention demonstrates that the innovation ecosystem presents advancements in the well-known challenge of financial support for technology-based startups. A third hypothesis was not validated, which provides another important finding: the planning effort presented a negative relationship on the technological capability, but a positive relationship on the insertion into relationship networks. This means that only direct planning is not able to support technological capabilities. In other words, planning is more effective when indirectly applied to relational resources of technical and financial networks, rather than when directly applied to technological capabilities. The insertion into technical and financial networks, in turn, positively affects the TBC’s innovation capability. Results demonstrate that this change in planning focus, from inside to outside of the company, could improve technological capabilities in R&D, patent, people, and products. Future studies could investigate the entrepreneur’s competencies in managing networks and further understanding of how networks could be constructed through formal and informal cooperation.

Factors impacting firm failure and technological development: A study of three emerging-economy firms

Several studies examine the successful globalization and technological development of emerging-economy firms. However, few discuss why some other emerging-economy firms do not develop sufficient technological capabilities, and thus, fail in domestics and global markets. Consequently, the understanding of emerging-economy firm diversity is limited. By analyzing the failure of three firms in two major industries in Turkey, this study identifies a complex set of factors contributing to this outcome. These factors include political risk, macroeconomic regime, national technology policies, and industry dynamics, as well as firm-related factors such as ownership, strategic intent, and the approach to, and current stage of, technology capability development. The results indicate that some of these factors support firm success in the short term but discourage learning and technological capability building, and thus, cause firm failures in the long term. Thus, the study illustrates the importance of studying emerging-economy firms from an extended contextual and temporal perspective.

FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF DEFENSE-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX OF ISRAEL AS A LEADING FACTOR IN ISRAELI INNOVATIVE ECONOMY

During evaluation of the potential and capabilities of Israel's innovative technologies, which has allowed this country to achieve compelling economic results, it is necessary to recognize and analyze those factors that are directly related to the field of defense and military events. At the same time, we point up the fact that it is Israeli defence sector that has had a fundamental influence on the development of technological and manufacturing capabilities of civilian industries, scientific-research and research-constructive work, higher education, and the quality of labor service unit. Israel's experience for Ukraine is very relevant and requires discussion of the issues of defense industry reforming and its capabilities in the development of high-tech industries and introduction of factors for innovative type of economic development.Taking into account above mentioned information, a comprehensive study of the factors is introduced behind the transformation of Israeli civilian sectors into a successful innovative sector based on the defense industry, when most of high-tech firms in Israel originated in defense industry, and defense sector is the most important source of the latest technological know-how and a field for training of experienced personnel for civilian branches.Israeli experience, as well, shows that a strong trigger for an innovative technological and military-technical breakthrough may be the need to preserve the state in a constant military conflict and the problem of obtaining armament from abroad. Today, Israeli Army is considered to be one of the most high-tech in the world, equipped with the first-rate armament and the latest information technologies.At the same time, Israel is on the list of the most dynamic developing countries, while making a significant contribution to global fundamental and applied sciences. It is also possible to state that Israel has become an innovative state, which creates the latest technologies and contributes to economic growth of the global economy. Certainly, such success is due to the fact that in the mid-1980s, the transition to the path of innovative development began in Israel, when at the first place a switch to the SRRSCW sphere was carried out, the point of which was to redirect the development of dual inventions to meet the needs of civilian industry, the reduction of purely military research and encouragement of private capital flow into the creation and commercial usage of conversional technologies.Keywords: defense-industrial complex, innovative economy, research and development (R&D), transfer of military technologies, factors of innovative development.

Small and Medium Venture Companies' Exterior Information Network Heterogeneity and New Technology Development Capability: The Mediating Role of Product Planning Capability

기업의 신기술 개발 역량은 기술 융합 및 발전과 함께 빠르게 변화하고 있는 사업 환경의 치열한 경쟁 속에서 성공적인 제품혁신과 프로세스 혁신을 창출하는 데에 필수적이다. 본 연구는 개방형 혁신의 관점에서 외부 정보 네트워크의 다양성이 중소 벤처기업의 신기술 개발 역량에 미치는 직접 효과와 이러한 직접 효과에 미치는 제품 기획 역량의 매개 효과에 대한 연구 모형을 개발한다. 683개의 중소 벤처기업 데이터를 사용하여 최소 자승 회귀 분석을 실시한 통계적 연구 모형 검증 결과를 통해, 본 연구는 다음과 같은 2가지의 주요 연구 결과를 제공 한다. 첫째, 중소 벤처기업의 외부 정보 네트워크의 다양성은 신기술 개발 역량에 정(+)의 영향을 미친다. 둘째, 중소 벤처기업의 제품 기획 역량은 외부 정보 네트워크의 다양성이 신기술 개발 역량에 미치는 정(+)의 영향을 완전 매개한다.

In search of the missing hand of ‘collaborative action’: evidence from the Indian medical device industry

ABSTRACTSome emerging countries have made significant progress in developing local pharmaceutical and biotechnology but had less success in building medical device industries (MDIs). This paper explores the weak development of local MDIs by analysing the contrasting evolutionary trajectories of Indian healthcare technology sectors. The Indian pharmaceutical and biotechnological industries have emerged as leading global suppliers of generic drugs and vaccines, in marked contrast to the medical devices industry. This paper reveals that existence of a weak collaborative linkage between medical device manufacturers and the Indian health system, which largely lacks a systemic and cross-sectoral linkages, and weak communication between industry and government policy-makers have become a huge barrier to the development of the Indian MDI in the contemporary neo-liberal environment. The weak connection between technology and industrial policy and healthcare policy objectives has severely hampered both development of national technological capabilities and the creation of affordable health care.

Enfoque estratégico, orientación emprendedora y experiencia: factores que impulsan el desarrollo de capacidades tecnológicas en el sector automotriz

El nivel de capacidades tecnológicas que logra desarrollar una organización es de gran relevancia para generar ventajas competitivas. El estudio de las capacidades tecnológicas se ha centrado en analizar su relación con el desempeño empresarial, el aprendizaje, la internacionalización, las estrategias de cooperación, entre otros. Este estudio se enfoca en el análisis de la orientación emprendedora, el enfoque estratégico de la organización y la experiencia, y su impacto en el desarrollo de capacidades tecnológicas de las empresas del sector automotriz de la región centro de México. Los resultados muestran que las empresas que quieran mejorar su nivel de capacidades tecnológicas deben establecer una filosofía empresarial enfocada en la innovación, lo que conlleva a tomar decisiones de manera proactiva, escaneando continuamente el entorno y gestionar el conocimiento organizacional para aprender de las experiencias.

Knowledge Creation Process and Sustainable Competitive Advantage: the Role of Technological Innovation Capabilities

This study examines the relationship between the knowledge creation process and technological innovation capabilities, and analyzes their effect on a firm’s sustainable competitive advantage using a knowledge-based view theoretical framework. We conduct structural equation modeling analyses using survey data from 315 Chinese industrial firms to test the direct and indirect effects of the knowledge creation process on sustainable competitive advantage. Technological innovation capabilities—operationalized to reflect the dimensions of process innovation capability and product innovation capability—are used as the mediating variable for explaining the relationship between the knowledge creation process and sustainable competitive advantage. The results indicate that the knowledge creation process does not have a significant direct effect on sustainable competitive advantage. Rather, the knowledge creation process can only influence the sustainable competitive advantage through the mediating effect of technological innovation capabilities completely. Consequently, the knowledge creation process favors the development of technological innovation capabilities for processes and products, because processes and products can lead to a sustainable competitive advantage.

Agendas, influences, and capability: Perspectives on practice in design and technology education

A philosophical shift in policy now situates the development of technological capability as the focus of Irish technology education. Internationally, the effectiveness of curricular reform in the discipline has previously been called to question, as the legacy of the preceding vocational craft subjects has been seen to throttle the evolution of practice in aligning with emergent policy. As Irish technology education shares this vocational heritage, this research seeks to explore the effectiveness of policy change through an investigation of current practices in the discipline. Specifically, this research seeks to explore the alignment of teachers’ perceptions of practice in terms of the focus of learning activities and educational outcomes as prescribed by curricula. A methodological framework was developed to explore teachers’ (n = 15) perceptions, ecologically rooted in the tasks and activities they use to teach in their classrooms. The results suggest a misalignment between what teachers conceive as important to the discipline, and their enacted practices. The paper unpacks the contentions surrounding this misalignment and discusses factors which appear to influence teachers’ perceptions, forming a greater understanding of what influences practice in the discipline.

UNDERSTANDING INTERNATIONAL PRODUCT STRATEGY IN MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS THROUGH NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT APPROACHES AND EVOLUTION

International product strategy regarding global standardisation and local adaptation is one of the challenges faced by multinational corporations (MNCs). Studies in this area have tested the antecedents and consequences of standardisation/adaptation, but lack a new product development (NPD) perspective. In this study, we explore how product standardisation/adaptation is determined in the NPD context. Through a qualitative case study of four MNCs, we found three NPD approaches: multi-local, adaptation-based and platform-based. We analysed the advantages and challenges of each approach. In addition, we reveal how the factors (development of information and communication technology, competition pressure, brand awareness and technical capability) could influence the choice of a certain NPD approach. We draw implications on the paths to ensuring full leveraging of the benefits of a platform-based approach.

Regulatory Framework for the Decommissioning of Indonesian Nuclear Facilities

The decommissioning of nuclear facilities in Indonesia are mainly based on Nuclear Energy Act of 1997 on, Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency (BAPETEN) Chairman Regulation (BCR) No. 4 of 2009, and Government Regulation (GR) No. 2 of 2014 that cover general provisions and licensing requirements of decommissioning and the detailed requirements and guidelines for preparing the decommissioning plan and licensee applications. BCR No. 4 of 2009 was developed based on the adoption and adaption from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Safety Guide, WS-G-2.1. Currently, one of three research reactors, Training Research Isotopes General Atomics (TRIGA) research reactor 2 MW (the oldest which went critical at 250 kW in 1964, and was operated at maximum in 1971, and was upgraded to 2 MW in 2000), has operated for 45 y, but there is no decision for decommissioning this reactor yet. Indonesia has experience in decommissioning of the phosphoric acid purification facility of the Gresik petrochemical plant. Some aspects of decommissioning, which have been successfully addressed to date, are: regulation, communication, and decommissioning team. Development of human resources, technological capability, and information flow from more advanced countries are an important factor for the future of the nuclear facility decommissioning plan in Indonesia. Some regulations have still not anticipated all the regulatory challenges that might be encountered in the near future. More regulations and guidance are needed to be established by BAPETEN in order to complete the current regulations so that problems can all be anticipated.

Toward a Process Approach of Orchestrating Resources in New Product Development

In order to be competitive on the market, firms need to create value for their customers by using resources. While resource-based theory assumes the possession of valuable and rare resources as crucial to value creation; more recently scholars have devoted further attention to the process of resource orchestration, investigating how managers structure, bundle and leverage resources in order to create value for customers. Although this framework has started shedding light on the mechanisms of using resources, empirical research has scantly adopted the processual approach so far, missing the opportunity to investigate how firms and organisational actors enact the “orchestrating” process. Among organisational processes, innovation - triggering resource renovation, technological and creative capabilities development, and creation of innovative outputs - emerges as salient to investigate resource orchestration. By implementing multiple cases, this study explores how firms orchestrate resource in product innova...

India promotes industry-academia R&D collaborations

India has approved the first-ever industry-academia partnership program to accelerate discovery research and enable development of products such as vaccines, biotherapeutics, and diagnostics. Called the Biopharma Mission, it is aimed at improving the health of India’s population through affordable product development, a goal in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government’s recently released National Health Policy. The new effort, which includes training a skilled workforce, is expected to enhance India’s technological and product development capabilities in the biopharmaceutical sector so it becomes globally competitive in the next 10–15 years, the government says in a statement. The program will aim to enhance technology transfer capabilities in the public and private sectors and enable start-ups and small and medium-size enterprises to build the capacity for sharing innovative research. The $250 million initiative, which includes $125 million in a loan from the World Bank, is expected to roll ou...

Foreign direct investment and technology spillovers in Mexico: 20 years of NAFTA

This article analyses the development of technology capabilities in the manufacturing sector of Mexico during the last two decades. It has been argued that the inclusion of Mexico in the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994 would be enough to catch up with Canada and the United States. In this regard, trade liberalisation and foreign direct investment (FDI) would have been two strategic tools to close the technology gap between Mexico and its commercial partners in North America. Yet, after twenty years of NAFTA, it has been demonstrated that many indigenous firms in Mexico must develop an absorptive capacity to benefit from FDI. This paper suggests that the debate on the Asian miracle in the 1990s could be an adequate theoretical framework to discuss technology development and industrialisation in the case of emerging economies. In fact, this debate reveals two alternative approaches to explain the development of technology capabilities: (i) the accumulation view of growth, and (ii) the assimilation view of growth. Therefore, the Asian miracle exemplifies how entrepreneurship, learning and a supporting innovation policy could be an adequate strategy to benefit from FDI and technology spillovers in the case of emerging economies.

Technological capabilities development in Pakistan's automotive industry: a case of stalled development

The automotive industry is considered to hold the key to successful development agendas as it has been responsible for rapid transformation of economies. Considering the state of the industrial sector that Pakistan inherited at the time of independence, the automotive industry has grown by leaps and bounds in more than half a century. However technological prowess and competitiveness has eluded the industry for the most part. The burning question for development planners in Pakistan is to determine the state of the industry, and to identify where success has been achieved and what bottlenecks still exist. This paper aims to address these issues by examining the development of technological capabilities and competitiveness of domestic component manufacturers based on an extensive industry level survey conducted by JICA. We conclude that industry performance is plagued with low levels of productivity and quality. These bottlenecks will need to be addressed to allow the industry to achieve its full potential and drive development of the domestic economy.

Technological capabilities development in Pakistan's automotive industry: a case of stalled development

The automotive industry is considered to hold the key to successful development agendas as it has been responsible for rapid transformation of economies. Considering the state of the industrial sector that Pakistan inherited at the time of independence, the automotive industry has grown by leaps and bounds in more than half a century. However technological prowess and competitiveness has eluded the industry for the most part. The burning question for development planners in Pakistan is to determine the state of the industry, and to identify where success has been achieved and what bottlenecks still exist. This paper aims to address these issues by examining the development of technological capabilities and competitiveness of domestic component manufacturers based on an extensive industry level survey conducted by JICA. We conclude that industry performance is plagued with low levels of productivity and quality. These bottlenecks will need to be addressed to allow the industry to achieve its full potential and drive development of the domestic economy.

Solution providers’ strategic capabilities

PurposeDrawing on the resource-based view of the firm, this study aims to analyze solution providers’ strategic capabilities that facilitate above-average returns.Design/methodology/approachThe study applies a qualitative comparative case method. In addition to an extensive set of secondary data, the results are based on interviews with 35 executives from nine leading industrial solution providers, their strategic customers and suppliers. The analyzed solution providers were identified based on quantitative survey data.FindingsBy observing six distinctive resources and three strategic business processes, the present study identifies seven strategic capabilities that occur in different phases of solution development and deployment: fleet management capability, technology-development capability, mergers and acquisitions capability, value quantifying capability, project management capability, supplier network management capability and value co-creation capability.Research limitations/implicationsThe study develops a generic model for the strategic capabilities of servitization. Application of the developed model to different contexts would further validate and enhance it.Practical implicationsManagers can use the developed model to benchmark, identify, build and manage solution providers’ strategic capabilities and associated practices.Originality/valueThe study develops a valuable conceptual model based on the comparative case data. Case firms were selected for the study based on a representative quantitative data set. The results were verified and triangulated with external data.

The Mediating Effects of the Process Design Capability and Product Interior Design Capability on the Relationship between SMEs’ External Information Network Diversity and Their New Technology Development Capability

New technology development capability plays a key role in making small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) increase their innovation performance, such as in product or process innovation. To examine the influencing factors of SMEs' new technology development capability, this study empirically analyzes the mediating effects of SMEs' process design capability and product interior design capability on the positive association between their external information network diversity and new technology development capability. This study performs the ordinary least squares regression on a sample of 2,000 South Korean SMEs. Results reveal that SMEs' process design capability fully mediates, and product interior design capability partially mediates the positive association between the external information network diversity and new technology development capability.