Hi-tech Industries Research Articles

Industry and firm effects on IT diffusion processes: firm-level evidence in Italian enterprises

This article examines the antecedents and performance consequences of capabilities developed from the use of information technology (IT) in a sample of 186 Italian large enterprises. Attention is given to the influence of industry and firm characteristics on the creation of capabilities and on the returns from IT investments. Our work makes three principal contributions. First, the IT diffusion patterns reveal that these technologies have a dual nature. Some capabilities derived from IT use (i.e., administrative capabilities) diffuse evenly across industries because the underlying technologies easily adapt to industry- and firm-specific conditions. In contrast, the use of IT in supporting other capabilities (such as those related to product development) is less developed and more concentrated in the high-tech and information service sectors. Second, using a resource-based perspective, this articles shows the positive effects that firm-specific preconditions have on the accumulation of IT resources and capabilities that exhibit a rare diffusion at the industry level. Third, given industry-level differences in competitive environments, we show how the value appropriation of capabilities that firms have developed using IT depends on industry type, with hi-tech and information services industries exhibiting lower profit returns.

Statistical Analysis of the Development Tragedy of Low Carbon Economy of Hi-Tech Industry in Shandong Province

Low carbon economy is the main direction of the future development of China. The hi-tech industry area has the features of tech-intensified, high energy consumption, high pollution, to develop hi-tech industry is good for the transfer from traditional industry to the low carbon economy mode. As a big province of China, it is imperative for Shandong Province to develop the low-carbon economy. Therefore scientific solution on carbon emissions of high-tech industrial area in Shandong province is a problem for government and academic workers to have to face and resolve. This paper analyzes the low-carbon economic situation of high-tech industry in Shandong province, and puts forward some countermeasures for low carbon economy development of high-tech industry in Shandong province.

Correlation Between the Level of Socio-economic Development and the Use of the Information and Communication Technologies

During recent decades, the rate of structural shifts in the world economy has been especially fast. One of the factors used to influence these processes was to actively develop hi-tech industries and information and communication technologies. With the course of time, the level of informatization of society becomes a defining factor for a country’s competitiveness and predefines its ability to integrate into the global economy. The article characterizes the readiness of different countries to make a move to an innovative way of development based on analysis of combined rating tables that contain integral indices of society’s informatization level. The level of accomplishment of the task to form an innovative type of economy can be assessed in the link between implementation of science and technology progress achievements (i.e.: through the use of information and communication technologies) and the level of socio-economic development of the world countries. Current positions held by Russia and Poland according to some integral indices are also being analyzed.

Industry Convergence��Technology Progress and the Growth of Hi-Tech Industry

Industry convergence and technology progress are two important factors which influence industry growth. it has theoretical and practical significance for accelerating high-tech industry development to study mechanism of industry growth in the perspective of Industry convergence and technology progress. This paper proposed three theoretical hypothesis firstly , then used patent method and DEAMalmquist index method respectively calculates technology convergence rate and industry technology progress level of ICT sub-industry , then based on the calculation result this paper use C-D function regression analyzed the contribution to industry growth, used panel data regression method investigate the causal relationship between the two factors. We got the empirical results as follows: industry convergence and industry technology progress are both important factors which promote the Hi-tech industry growth; there was really a cause-and-effect relationship between the two parts. Synergetic effect of the two parts is the key factors which promote the high-tech industry evolution.

Pricing and inventory policies for Hi-tech products under replacement warranty

Companies, especially in the Hi-tech (high-technology) industry (such as computer, communication and consumer electronic products), often provide a replacement warranty period for purchased items. In reality, simultaneously determining the price and inventory decisions under warranty policy is an important issue. The objective of this paper is to develop a joint pricing and inventory model for Hi-tech products under replacement warranty policy. In the first model, we consider a Hi-tech product feature in which the selling price is declining in a trend. We determine the optimal inventory level for each period and retail price for the first period while maximising the total profit. In the second model, we further determine the optimal retail price and inventory level for each period in the dynamic demand market. This study develops solution approaches to solve the problems described above. Numerical analysis discusses the influence of system parameters on the company's decisions and behaviours. The results of this study could serve as a reference for business managers or administrators.

Structural changes in Serbian industry during transition

Transition is complex process whereby a country in transition is stimulating structural changes with the goal to achieve economic growth and improved social wellbeing. In this paper the authors strive to prove that during transition in Serbia, such changes in the structure of manufacturing industry occurred, that resulted with only modest growth which was, in fact, slower than in other transitional countries. By the means of theoretical and empirical approach the authors have come to conclusion that structural changes did not improve industry branches like the hi-tech industry that contribute the most to PPP generation. At the same time, some low productive industries have gained on importance, therefore holding the living standard on the low levels with no capacity to rapidly converge towards EU average, which was set as an ultimate goal of transition in Serbia.

Indigenous R&D effectiveness, technology transfer and productivity growth: evidence from the hi-tech industry of China

The study employs the panel data of 15 hi–tech industries over the period 2000–2010 to examine the effectiveness of R&D with respect to productivity change and to identify the significant contributing factors in the hi–tech sector of China. The Malmquist productivity indexes are calculated by using the non–parametric programming technique and the censored regression model is followed to conduct the empirical investigation. We find that, on average, the sector confronts the productivity deterioration, mainly owing to the technical inefficiency. The office equipment industry shows the optimal productivity gain in our sample at an average rate of 3.7% per annum mainly owing to the technical change. Furthermore, the Electronic Components Industry is found to be the most efficient industry in the sector, showing productivity progress on an average rate of 1.7% per year over the study period. Lastly, the Tobit model results convincingly indicate that spillovers through foreign direct investment (FDI) and technology import have significantly positive effect on the productivity progress.

Fundamental investigations of capacitive radio frequency plasmas: simulations and experiments

Capacitive radio frequency (RF) discharge plasmas have been serving hi-tech industry (e.g. chip and solar cell manufacturing, realization of biocompatible surfaces) for several years. Nonetheless, their complex modes of operation are not fully understood and represent topics of high interest. The understanding of these phenomena is aided by modern diagnostic techniques and computer simulations. From the industrial point of view the control of ion properties is of particular interest; possibilities of independent control of the ion flux and the ion energy have been utilized via excitation of the discharges with multiple frequencies. ‘Classical’ dual-frequency (DF) discharges (where two significantly different driving frequencies are used), as well as discharges driven by a base frequency and its higher harmonic(s) have been analyzed thoroughly. It has been recognized that the second solution results in an electrically induced asymmetry (electrical asymmetry effect), which provides the basis for the control of the mean ion energy. This paper reviews recent advances on studies of the different electron heating mechanisms, on the possibilities of the separate control of ion energy and ion flux in DF discharges, on the effects of secondary electrons, as well as on the non-linear behavior (self-generated resonant current oscillations) of capacitive RF plasmas. The work is based on a synergistic approach of theoretical modeling, experiments and kinetic simulations based on the particle-in-cell approach.

A coordination system for seasonal demand problems in the supply chain

This article considers a single product coordination system using a periodic review policy, participants of the system including a supplier and one or more heterogeneous buyers over a discrete time planning horizon in a manufacturing supply chain. In the coordination system, the demand of buyer in each period is deterministic, the supplier replenishes all the buyers, and all participants agree to plan replenishment to minimize total system costs. To achieve the objective of the coordination system, we make use of small lot sizing and frequent delivery policies (JIT philosophy) to transport inventory between supplier and buyers. Moreover, demand variations of buyers are allowed in the coordination system to suit real-world situations, especially for hi-tech industries. Furthermore, according to the mechanisms of minimizing the total relevant costs, the proposed method can obtain the optimal number of deliveries, shipping points and shipping quantities in each order for all participants in the coordination system.

A Study of Marketing Performance Evaluation System for Notebook Distributors

The hi-tech industry plays an important role in the industry structure of Taiwan as evidenced by the developmentof the information industry, with the notebook industry in the lead. The aim of this study is to develop amarketing performance evaluation model for Taiwanese notebook distributors. A total of 19 marketingperformance evaluation indicators, including financial-perspective factors, customer-perspective factors, internalprocess factors, and innovation and learning factors are established based on a review of the relevant literature.Each indicator is arranged into four criteria according to the balanced scorecard method. The analytic hierarchyprocess (AHP) is used to decide the priority and relative weights of the criteria. The management of notebookdistributorships can use this marketing performance evaluation model to objectively assess their performance.

An Expert Fault Diagnosis System For Auto Wire Bond Machine

In the modern world, computing is essential in all aspects of manufacturing activity. Computers have brought to life terms like artificial intelligence, and have played a critical role in reinvention of manufacturing industry. In continuing quest to decrease the interval time between conceptualization of a product, information technology has been fused with manufacturing practice. This paper describes the use of expert system shell to develop a rule-based expert for an auto wire bond machine fault diagnosis system for hi-tech semiconductor industry. The main aim of the expert fault diagnosis system is to diagnose the problem of auto wire bond machine. In semiconductor industry, production equipment and machine have depended heavily on the use of human expertise for maintenance and it is costly. Without an expert system, his/her experience is lost when human is unavailable. With the developed expert system, the diagnosis process for the auto wire bond machine is standardized and accuracy will be increased compared to the conventional way. Therefore, the quality of products that are produced will improve. The constrains values for the fault diagnosis are based on design data and experience of the engineer. The expert fault diagnosis system is to improve bonding quality by reducing the production yield loss.

Productivity Measurement of Hi-tech Industry of China Malmquist Productivity Index – DEA Approach

The study uses the Panel data of fifteen hi-tech industries over the period of 2000-2010 in order to measure the productivity changes of Chinese hi-tech industries by using the Malmquist productivity index. It concludes that the electronic component and office equipment industries are considered to be efficient. The mix result obtained with respect to productivity changes and its sources. Office Equipment industry is the leading in productivity gain by 3.7% over the study period.

Principals’ Perceptions of the Use of Total Quality Management Concepts for School Improvement in Mauritius: Leading or Misleading?

As a small island country, Mauritius is relying on its human capital and innovative hi-tech industry to ensure future economic viability in the global market. As such, Mauritian education authorities are seeking ways to raise educational standards. One idea being canvassed is that Total Quality Management (TQM) could provide the framework for Mauritian school leaders to deliver imperatives for change and improvement and to achieve the aim of ‘world- class quality education.’ This paper reports the findings of a research into Mauritian principals’ current practices in line with TQM tenets and their perceptions about the usefulness or otherwise of ideas implicit in TQM. The findings indicate that whilst principals agree with current progressive notions and thinking compatible with the TQM philosophy, they have not fully translated them into their practice. The paper identifies challenges and opportunities worthy of discussion for school improvement in twenty-first century Mauritius with its high-tech, world-class ambitions.

Planning Control of Automobile Trade Logistics Park: The Case of Auto Parts Logistics Center in TAIAN

Automobile Trade Logistics Park is one of the most important industrial zones for specific automobile trade and distribution in auto industry cities. The development control of physical spatial planning has a profound effect on the construction and operation of Automobile Trade Logistics Park. Three factors, including advantages of transportation, geographic features and industrial cluster, influencing the location of Logistics Park are discussed. The scales of automobile trade spaces built recent years in China are compared. Analyzing dual function of commerce and distribution, facilities in Automobile Trade Logistics Park are summarized. According to the arrangement of land use and spatial structure, development intensity of different space types for auto trade is proposed. The final section of this article examines the experience in Regulatory Plan of Auto Parts Logistics Center in TAIAN Hi-tech Industry Development Zone.

Beyond property: Industrial estates and post-suburban transformation in Jakarta Metropolitan Region

Past studies on urbanization in East Asia in general and in Indonesia in particular have taken the edge of large cities as the extension of the metropolitan core where the zones of urban–rural transition take shape. The current article argues that the emergence of global cities and decentralization trends in the last decades have challenged this traditional conception. Jakarta Metropolitan Region (JMR) is beginning to join the global trend of post-suburbia, which refers to the decentralization of urban life to the outskirts of a metropolis. Several post-suburban elements in JMR are identified in this article, including planned deconcentration of hi-tech industries and multinational companies, followed by the growth of projects beyond land and property development, including suburban cultural centers with a Western flavor. Despite these commonalities, this article argues that post-suburbia in JMR has its own uniqueness due to the reduced carrying capacity of the metropolitan core, the persistent yet relatively passive influence of the state, symbiotic relations between the market and the public sector, and the privatization of planning rules.

Present and future: a trend forecasting and ranking of university types for innovative development from an intellectual capital perspective

In today’s knowledge-based economy, by well intellectual capital (IC) managing to enhance innovative ability and performance has become critical as many nations struggle to gain sustainable competitive advantage. Knowledge, innovation, and IC are at a university’s core. Given its function of cultivating innovative assets, R&D researchers, hi-tech professions and interdisciplinary talent, universities have become a critical factor in building sustainable competitive advantages worldwide. The important role universities play is particularly essential in Taiwan. The hi-tech industry, as the most profitable industry sector, directly impacts the growth of the Taiwanese economy. However, as global competition in higher education becomes fierce, higher education in Taiwan is losing its competitive standing and global market share for students and, additionally, Taiwan is losing its overall competitive advantage in the global economy. Universities today face significantly unbalanced student enrollment numbers and several universities have failed to keep operating from late 2008 to 2009. In order to understand both current and future development trends in higher education and to conquer above difficulties, it has become crucial to understand the manifestation of innovative development with respect to IC for different university types. In this regard, the aim of this study was to explore the rankings of five university types in terms of innovative development from an IC perspective and to provide recommendations for future improvements, taking basic development trends into account. Trend forecasting from Grey Model (GM) was initially used to investigate and forecast current and future Taiwanese birth rates and the basic development trends of five university types. After that, VIKOR was utilized to rank the five university types in accordance with opinions from twenty senior experts with regard to IC. In agreement with the research findings, universities in Taiwan are encouraged to improve their innovative ability from an IC perspective in order to regain a sustainable competitive advantage globally in the future.

Theory of constraint methodology where the constraint is the business model

This paper addresses the issue of business model (BM) management and its relationship to the theory of constraints (TOC). Coman and Ronen (Coman, A. and Ronen,B., 2007. Managing strategic and tactical constraints in the hi-tech industry. International Journal of Production Research, 38(7), 1631–1639) have extended TOC methodology to include the alignment of the organisation's competencies with the business arena's strategic constraints. The aim of this paper is to take TOC one step further and to combine it with the business models theory. Business models have become important value creators due to the proliferation of new and innovative business models (i.e. new ways of creating value). New firms with new business models are threatening and replacing established companies and conventional ways of doing business. Among these are the music, publishing, books, retail, airline and many other industries. This paper argues that in the wake of the World Wide Web, contract manufacturing and globalisation it not enough to manage the firms (internal, external or strategic) constraints. In addition, the management of the firm's BM as a potential constraint is a key factor in the modern management theory.

The typology of technology clusters and its evolution — Evidence from the hi-tech industries

Clustering is one of the key drivers for regional economic growth. Development of clusters is a dynamic process shaped by a variety of internal and external factors such as availability of skilled labor, presence of functioning networks and partnerships, technological changes, and market competition, etc. As a result, the patterns of cluster growth may differ from one another. Although each cluster is unique in some way, previous research has attempted to identify few simplified models of evolution of clusters. In this study, we briefly reviewed the literature on a variety of models of clusters. Based on these models, we investigated 15 hi-performing metropolitan-based clusters in the United States, covering communications equipment manufacturing, information technology, and biopharmaceutical industries, in order to find out the similarities and differences between real-world clusters. Specifically, by examining the composition of these high-tech clusters, we attempted to find out the following: 1) What are the typologies of these technology clusters? 2) Whether different industries tend to support different cluster typologies? and 3) How do clusters change their typologies over time? Our analysis results suggest that the real-world clusters rarely feature any single type of typology; a mixed type of typology is much more prevalent in reality. We also found that different industries tend to support different types of cluster typologies. In other words, an individual cluster's typology is to some extent shaped by the industry group it belongs to. In addition, we note that, as a cluster goes through different stages of its lifecycle, its typology may change significantly.

Comparing ANFIS and SEM in linear and nonlinear forecasting of new product development performance

Though the hi-tech industry has focused on value innovation and improving the quality of the new product development (NPD) process to drive new product performance, new product success has not changed dramatically over the years. This study presents a novel approach based on structural equation modeling (SEM) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) to forecast value innovation and the effects of the quality of the NPD process on NPD performance. Results demonstrate that value innovation directly affects NPD performance as well as the nonlinear relationships between the quality of NPD processes and NPD performance, and that ANFIS achieves better forecasting performance than the SEM technique. The ANFIS model effectively explains the nonlinear relationships that SEM cannot. This paper thus offers a new perspective on forecasting and modeling useful to both researchers and practitioners.

Vibration control and shock absorption techniques for Hi‐Tech manufacturing plants

SUMMARYThe Hi‐Tech industrial plant that houses manufacturing processes of high precision requires much more vibration‐proof and earthquake‐proof structures than conventional plants. Taiwan is densely populated in limited space so that the Hi‐Tech industry does not have too much leeway for locating the manufacturing plant at locations that are away from sources of vibration. Hence, strengthening the capacity of Hi‐Tech plant structures to resist vibration is of primary importance to Hi‐Tech industries. In this research, the TFT‐LCD plant structure is selected for improving its shock absorption capability by replacing the braces at soft floor of the structure with Viscous Damper (VD) and Velocity and Displacement Hydraulic Damper (VDHD). The reinforced structure is then subject to vibrations of various accelerations for analysing the dynamics and efficiency of vibration reduction. The results show that: (1) When subject to micro vibration, VD and VDHD that have similar capabilities in controlling displacement and responding to acceleration are more effective than Buckling Resistant Bracing, BRB; (2) When subject to medium vibration, VD, BRB and VDHD show tremendous improvements in controlling the momentum of story drift or slab acceleration. However, BRB shows buckling that may lead to permanent structural deformation whereas the overflow occurs in the Relief valve of VDHD causing the energy‐dissipating viscosity of VDHD from a VD‐like to BRB‐like behavior; (3) Under strong vibration, when the maximum force of a VD exceeds its design value, the VD has inferior capacity than BRB and VDHD in reducing acceleration. The VDHD always has smaller acceleration response than BRB because the former has damping effect under strong vibration. The results obtained in this research will obtain the suitability of VDHD in reducing vibration and confirm its superior vibration reduction capability. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.