High-technology Industries Research Articles

The Impact of Calling on Employee Creativity: Evidence From Internet Companies.

With the rapid development of technology and increasingly fierce competition in the global market, innovation has become the most important competitive advantage for enterprises. Employee creativity is widely considered the source of organizational innovation. This study explores the antecedents of employee creativity from the perspective of career development in the context of high-technology industry. Specifically, we examine the effects of calling on employee creativity through the mediation of career commitment and the moderation of responsible leadership. With data collected from a sample of 218 respondents from internet companies, a series of regression analyses was conducted to test the proposed hypotheses. In addition, a moderated mediation model was further examined. Discussion, implications, and limitations are presented.

Manufacturing Process Innovation in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Problem definition: Process innovation is commonly claimed to be a major source of competitive advantage for firms. Despite this perceived influence, it has received substantially less attention than product innovation, and much uncertainty remains about its true association with firm performance. We investigate the relationship between a pharmaceutical firm’s portfolio of manufacturing process innovations and its economic performance. Academic/practical relevance: We uniquely conduct a multidimensional evaluation of a firm’s portfolio of manufacturing process innovations at the product level. This allows a quantitative evaluation of both the relative benefit of the different dimensions of a portfolio as well as the potential complementarities between these in different technological landscapes. Methodology: Through a collaboration with expert patent attorneys, we develop a unique longitudinal data set that combines secondary data and evaluations of a firm’s portfolio of process patents along two key dimensions: novelty and scope. We conduct econometric analyses for a large-scale sample of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) whose product patents have expired and for which process innovation is thus the main source of competitive advantage. Results: We find a positive association between the presence of manufacturing process innovation and firm performance. However, although portfolio’s scope appears to always be beneficial to performance, the effect of novelty alone depends on the ruggedness of the technological landscape: negative in smoother landscapes and positive in more rugged landscapes. Results further suggest that novelty and scope of a portfolio of process innovations are complementary across technological landscapes. Managerial implications: Our results provide important practical insights that can inform the organization and execution of the research and development process across high-technology industries. In particular, although process innovations can be economically beneficial, investing in high-novelty process innovations without a corresponding high scope could jeopardize payoffs, especially in technological landscapes that are relatively smooth.

Balancing knowledge sharing with protecting: The efficacy of formal control in open innovation projects

A key challenge in open innovation (OI) projects relates to the tension of facilitating open knowledge exchange processes while ensuring sufficient protection to avoid knowledge leakage. Although prior research has discussed several solutions to balance sharing with protecting, these practices either tend to lay too much or not enough emphasis on knowledge protection. In this article, we complement current research by examining whether the formal control mechanisms, prespecified behaviors and prespecified outcomes, may serve as more efficacious project management solutions. We investigate their effect on OI project performance and knowledge leakage and compare their influence with that of contracts, using a data set of 106 new product OI projects in high-technology industries. We find that prespecified behaviors influence project performance in the form of an inverted U-shape, while prespecified outcome increases project performance in a linear fashion. Contracts decrease knowledge leakage while having no influence on project performance. Our study contributes to a more elevated understanding of the role of project management in coping better with the inherent sharing-protecting tension in OI.

Do technological investments promote manufacturing productivity? A firm-level analysis for India

This paper assesses the effects of firms' investments in Information Technology (IT) and Research and Development (R&D) on their productivity growth. Unlike prior studies, our models examine individual as well as combined effects of these investments. We employ recently developed methods to control for transmission bias in production function estimation. For analysis, we utilise a panel of 900 manufacturing firms in India during 2000–2016. Our results show that (i) firms in high-technology industries are more productive than those in low-technology industries (ii) combined use of IT and R&D inputs yields higher productivity growth (iii) export-oriented firms are more technology-intensive and more productive than non-exporting firms (iv) exporting firms' productivity gains from IT investment are higher by around 0.03–0.04 percentage-points compared to non-exporting firms’

Impact of industrial effluents on physico-chemical parameters of water and fatty acid profile of fish, Labeo rohita (Hamilton), collected from the Ramsar sites of Punjab, India.

In this contemporary era, wetlands and the entire aquatic diversity are suffering from major pollution problem. Not only the aggregation of higher population in metropolitan causes the production of plenty of solid, liquid and gaseous wastes, but also the high-technological industries contribute to a mammoth of wastes in the ecosystem. During the process of industrial effluent discharge into the water bodies, the toxic substances available in these wastes can affect the aquatic flora and fauna, resultantly disturbing the entire system and constituting human health hazards indirectly or directly. The objective of this study was to estimate the nutritional value of the liver and intestine of fish which is being discarded as waste during fish processing and pollution status by calculated water quality index (WQI) and comparison of both wetlands during diverse seasons. WQI of Harike Wetland was observed to be 56.68 which indicates that water quality in this wetland is “poor”, while at Nangal Wetland WQI was calculated to be 39.54 and comes under “good” water quality and safe for the entire ecosystem. HPI (heavy metal pollution index) for Harike Wetland was observed 144.9 and for Nangal Wetland was 3.12, indicating heavy load of heavy metal pollution at test sample site. MI (metal index) value was also detected higher at test sample site (4.76) as compared to that at control site (0.22). The mean total n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) declined in the liver of test fish samples (Harike Wetland) as compared to control fish (Nangal Wetland) samples except in winter season. Similarly, mean total saturated fatty acids (SFAs) were also found to decline significantly (p<0.05) in the liver of test fish sample as compared to control fish sample during autumn and winter seasons. Significant (p<0.05) decline of mean total n-3 PUFAs (except winter) and total n-6 PUFAs (except rainy) in the intestine of test fish sample was observed during all the seasons when compared to control fish samples. However, total SFAs were found to increase in the intestine of test fish samples as compared to control fish samples during all the studied seasons. In the present investigation, fluctuations recorded in the water quality parameters and major groups of FAs in the tissues were due to the geographical location and pollution load in the fish samples taken from Harike Wetland.

Qalification assessment practices: new possibilities and constraints

Introduction. The transformation of the educational system and the labour market determines the need for objective procedures for independent assessment of qualifications that meet the needs of all stakeholders. The need to overcome the qualification gap is becoming more acute, and it is necessary to change the configuration of connections and relationships in the process of qualifications assessment, which determines the relevance of the current research.Aim. The present publication is aimed to analyse social processes related to the development of practices for evaluating qualifications obtained in both formal and non-formal education in Russia.Methodology and research methods. The methodological framework of the research is based on the principles of the activity approach and the concept of structuration, in which the practice of qualifications assessment is viewed as a combination of social relations between individual and collective actors in the space of social and labour relations. Data collection and analysis was carried out using a qualitative methodology of the sociological approach. A semi-formal interview was selected as the method of expert survey. Twenty-four experts from various sectors of the economy (Moscow, Ekaterinburg and Tyumen) took part in the interviews.Results and scientific novelty. The possibilities and constraints of existing practices for qualifications assessment were identified: assessment centres, qualification assessment centres, internal certification, professional evaluation of working professions within the framework of the “WorldSkills” programme in Russia. The analysis of international experience is presented. Based on expert assessments, it was established that practices specific to the industrial model of the economy prevail in Russia. Thus, the infrastructure and regulatory field were established for the development of new practices of independent qualification assessment. However, the main participants of the process are not involved enough in mutual interaction. The primary sector of the economy hinders the development of the high-technology manufacturing industry and the employers who are interested in creating a competency framework. According to experts, the importance of non-formal education in the development of relevant competencies is increasing, and new mechanisms for qualifications assessment obtained in both formal and informal training are required. The authors presented the cases, which illustrate new configurations of participants’ relationships, when independent assessment of qualifications is integrated with the formal educational system at the stage of state final certification, ensuring the interrelated procedures. The article reveals the contradictions, which are manifested in the interaction between applicants/employees, employers and the state. It is concluded that such contradictions affect the institutional mechanisms for the formation of a national system of independent qualification assessment.Practical significance. The analysis of alternative models for qualifications assessment revealed the interests of different stakeholders involved in this process, the possibility of using “hybrid” forms of qualifications assessment, as well as a number of contradictions related to regulatory, functional and institutional features. The results of the study can be useful for managers of educational institutions and employers to synchronise the processes for mutual assessment of qualifications. As a result, recommendations for the development of an independent qualification assessment system in Russia are proposed, and the prospects for further research are outlined.

Porosity, cracks, and mechanical properties of additively manufactured tooling alloys: a review

Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies are currently employed for the manufacturing of completely functional parts and have gained the attention of high-technology industries such as the aerospace, automotive, and biomedical fields. This is mainly due to their advantages in terms of low material waste and high productivity, particularly owing to the flexibility in the geometries that can be generated. In the tooling industry, specifically the manufacturing of dies and molds, AM technologies enable the generation of complex shapes, internal cooling channels, the repair of damaged dies and molds, and an improved performance of dies and molds employing multiple AM materials. In the present paper, a review of AM processes and materials applied in the tooling industry for the generation of dies and molds is addressed. AM technologies used for tooling applications and the characteristics of the materials employed in this industry are first presented. In addition, the most relevant state-of-the-art approaches are analyzed with respect to the process parameters and microstructural and mechanical properties in the processing of high-performance tooling materials used in AM processes. Concretely, studies on the AM of ferrous (maraging steels and H13 steel alloy) and non-ferrous (stellite alloys and WC alloys) tooling alloys are also analyzed.

Investigating the spill overs and connectedness between financial globalization, high-tech industries and environmental footprints: Fresh evidence in context of China

China faces the challenge of promoting high-tech industries and concomitantly reduces ecological footprints. This research analyzes the directional spillover impacts and connectedness for financial and trade globalization, high-tech industries, and environmental footprints of China. The authors used the data of financial globalization, trade globalization, economic complexity, middle and high-tech industrial contribution, and ecological footprint of China throughout 1996Q1 to 2019Q4. The empirics contribute to the debate on the impacts of the high technology industry, financial globalization for the environmental sustainably in the era of the digital economy. The study finds positive spillover effects from financial globalization (FGI), and economic complexity towards ecological footprints. Further, the high technology industrial contribution has a less significant impact on reducing environmental footprints. Overall, the findings are robust to the presence of structural change effects and the cleaner production objectives for China's case. Concomitantly, the empirical findings allow us to report innovative conclusions and implications regarding the sustainable development goals (SDG-7, 10), high-industry, and environmental sustainability in China.

Determinants of firm-level energy productivity – Evidence from the Korean emission trading scheme

With increasing global pressure on transition to carbon neutrality, various technical and policy efforts such as emission trading scheme and carbon tax are being made to improve energy productivity. Yet, there are not many literatures that analyze determinants of firm-level energy productivity, which is an important issue as energy use in industry accounts for one fourth of global carbon emission. This study investigates factors affecting energy productivity such as technology innovation, environmental policy and energy price based on firm-level data from the Korean Emission Trading Scheme (KETS). The total factor energy productivity is estimated by industry based on stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) and panel data analysis is performed to identify determinants of firm-level energy productivity. The results show that energy productivity in Korea has been improved since 2016, and technical progress and environmental policy play an important role in promoting energy productivity. In addition, analysis identifying industry-specific characteristics is performed as their production process and energy consumptions structures vary. The result shows that innovation activity does not significantly affect energy productivity in process industries, but it does in the assembling and high technology industries. This paper implies that policy design reflecting industry-specific characteristics is important to improve energy efficiency more effectively.

Reconciling higher productivity with innovation paradox: mode of learning and innovation in India's manufacturing sector

ABSTRACT This study analyzed the factors behind the innovation paradox in developing countries using the innovation system perspective. Considering the central role of interactive learning in innovation, we analyzed the relative role of Science Technology Inovation (STI) and Doing Using Interacting (DUI) mode of learning in determining TFP and the inter-industry variation therein. The study used the firm-level panel data from India’s manufacturing sector. The results highlight the significance of interactive learning, both STI and DUI, on firm productivity. While STI mode of learning has a greater role in high-technology industries, in the case of low-technology industries DUI is more important. Despite the positive role of STI mode, DUI mode turns out to be the most widely preferred strategy. These findings suggest that innovation policy in developing countries needs to be cognizant of the crucial role of DUI in innovation and make the case for a balanced approach towards promoting STI and DUI mode of learning.

How FDI and technology innovation mitigate CO2 emissions in high-tech industries: evidence from province-level data of China.

The high technology (high-tech) industry of China has gained a key strategic position in the Chinese economic goals. In this positioning, foreign direct investment (FDI) and technological innovation have emerged as strong pillars of the high-tech industry. However, there are growing concerns of carbon emission from this industry which is still debatable. In this context, this study measures the effect of FDI and technology innovation on carbon emissions in the high-tech industry from 28 provinces of China. The study uses the provincial data for China over the period 2000-2018. In addition to examining unit root properties, structural breaks, and cointegration, this study uses quantile regression for estimating long-run relationships among study variables. The findings reveal the negative impact of FDI on carbon emissions. Technology innovation positively impacts in the initial three quantiles, whereas negatively impacts in the next six quantiles. These results indicate that FDI and technology innovation have shaped the energy intensity in the high-tech industry, which causes fluctuation in carbon emissions over time. After controlling the effects of urbanization, energy intensity, and economic growth, this study recommends that policymakers should emphasize on the heterogeneous effects of FDI and technology-lead emissions at different quantiles during the process of CO2 emission reduction.

Industry life cycle, geographic diversification and performance of international new ventures

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how geographic diversification affects the performance of international new ventures.Design/methodology/approachThis study develops hypotheses about the individual and joint effects of geographic diversification and industry life cycle on the performance of international new ventures. This paper also introduces industry technology characteristics as a contingent factor for the above relationships and tests the hypotheses on a large panel data set.FindingsBased on the analyses of the strategies and performance of 699 listed Chinese international new ventures between 1991 and 2014, this study finds that the impact of geographic diversification on performance is contingent on the stage of the industry life cycle and that the moderating effect differs across high-technology and low-technology industries. The results suggest that it is fruitful for international new ventures in high-technology industries to undertake geographic diversification in earlier stages of the industry life cycle, but international new ventures in low-technology industries are better off undertaking geographic diversification during the later stages of the industry life cycle.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the literature on international entrepreneurship by identifying the industry life cycle conditions under which the learning advantages of international new ventures are effective and facilitate the achievement of better performance. This paper also shows that industry technology type matters for geographic diversification strategies of international new ventures.

The Effects of CEO Original Family Harmony on Firm Product Innovation Performance

In this study, we integrate work-family enrichment theory and upper echelons theory to examine how and when chief executive officers’ (CEOs’) original family has impacts on their firm performance. We argue that CEO original family harmony has an indirect effect on firm product innovation performance through CEO family supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB) and top management team (TMT) behavioral integration, which operate in sequence. Additionally, we propose that CEO founder status strengthens the effects of CEO original family harmony. Results of data from 125 CEOs and 568 TMT members in various high-technology industries in China indicated that the positive relationship between CEO original family harmony and firm product innovation performance is serially mediated by CEO FSSB and TMT behavioral integration. Moreover, CEO founder status exacerbates the direct effect of CEO original family harmony on CEO FSSB and its indirect effect on firm product innovation performance. The findings provide insightful theoretical contributions, practical implications, and new research directions for understanding CEO family-work spillover and CEO-TMT interface.

Playing Defense or Playing Offense? CEO Regulatory Focus on Firm Exploratory Innovation

This study draws on the regulatory focus theory to postulate that CEOs who are predominantly promotion focused would demonstrate more innovation in novel technological areas, while CEOs who are predominantly prevention focused would not do so. We further investigate contextual factors would moderate the effect of CEO relative regulatory focus including CEO education, firm absorptive capacity, and industry technological uncertainty. Results based on three high-technology industries in the U.S. suggest that the extent to which a CEO is more promotion than prevention focused will motivate the CEO to generate innovation in new technological fields. Our results also indicate that this effect is contingent on certain boundary conditions including CEO education, firm absorptive capacity, and industry technical uncertainty. The findings suggest that the degree to which a CEO is relatively promotion focused influences his or her motivation in engaging in exploratory innovation.

Founder team prior work experience: An asset or a liability for startup growth?

AbstractResearch SummaryWe examine the effects of founder teams' firm‐ and industry prior work experience on startup growth in the context of high technology industries. We study these effects both on the early growth of startups and on their growth, after accumulating experiential knowledge. Integrating the literatures on human capital, imprinting and competency traps, we develop a typology of four combinations of founder prior experience: founder same firm and same industry experience, founder same industry but other firm experience, founder same firm but other‐industry experience, and founder other‐industry and other firm experience. Using data from 153 Israeli high technology startups, we find significant variations in the effects of these combinations on startup growth, which also vary between the early and later years of these startups.Managerial SummaryFounders play a key role in the lives of their startups, applying their resources, knowledge and experience. Therefore, we ask: how does founder experience influence high technology startups' growth? To answer this question, we examine four combinations of founder prior experience: founder same firm and same industry experience, founder same industry but not same firm experience, founder same firm but other‐industry experience, and founder other‐industry and not same firm experience. Our analyses show significant differences in startup growth based on these combinations of founder prior experience and, importantly, the effect of these four combinations on startups' growth in their early years of existence differs significantly from later years, when these firms can increasingly draw on their own experiential learning.

Will bad air quality affect the siting of foreign-invested manufacturing enterprises? The evidence from China

ABSTRACT Albeit notably increasing studies dedicated to investigating the impact of air pollution on enterprises’ productivity and profit, few have oriented onto explicitly probing how the enterprises, particularly those foreign-invested firms, made their location choices concerning air quality. Accordingly, this study contributes to explain the impact of air pollution on the site selection of foreign-invested manufacturing enterprises with a unique firm-level dataset of China. The study also discloses the heterogeneity of air pollution effects attributable to enterprises’ various features regarding ownership property, host country, industrial classification, and investment scale. Our result justifies a statistically significant and negative impact of air pollution on the siting of foreign-invested manufacturing enterprises. The heterogeneous effects of air pollution manifest that the location choice would be remarkably more sensitive for the sole-venture enterprises, and for those headquartered in developed countries, engaged in high-technology industries, and at small and medium investment scales. The study finds that the siting of small-scale firms in high-technology sectors appears to be the most sensitive to air pollution, signifying that air pollution severity would be a pivotal factor pushing aside high-quality foreign-invested enterprises to invest in polluted areas in general.

Glass ceramic ZERODUR®: Even closer to zero thermal expansion: a review, part 1

Observational astronomy has striven for better telescopes with higher resolutions from its start. This needs ever-larger mirrors with stable high precision surfaces. The extremely low expansion glass ceramic ZERODUR® enables such mirrors with more than 50 years of significant improvements in size and quality since its development. We provide a survey of the progress achieved in the last 15 years. The narrowest coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) tolerance is now ±7 ppb / K. It is possible to adapt the material for lowest expansion to temperature-time courses given for special environments. At cryo temperatures, expansion is low and adaptable. Improved measurement capabilities allow for absolute CTE uncertainty of 3 ppb / K and reproducibility of 1 ppb / K (2σ). The influence of ionizing radiation on the surface figure integrity is subject to new investigations. Improved measurement capabilities increase the reliability of structure designs. Some outstanding examples are given for applications of ZERODUR in astronomy and in the very important high technology industry. The progress of thermal expansion homogeneity, the mechanical strength of ZERODUR, production capabilities in melting, precision machining, light-weighting, and dimensional metrology is presented in the second part of the paper.

Steam Turbine Governor (STG) Controller Design Based on Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO)

A reheat and non-reheat steam turbines governor is a component of the turbine control system that regulates rotational speed in response to changing load conditions. The governor output signal manipulates the position of a steam inlet valve or nozzles which in turn regulates the steam flow to the turbine. The application of PID (proportional integral derivative (controller has been widely used from small industry to high technology industry. Tuning the parameters of a PID controller is very important in PID control, Ziegler-Nichols method also used to tune the coefficients of a PID controller. The compensation has been proposed to be 4%, 6%, 8%, 10% and 15% of the actual load.This paper evaluates the feasibility of using the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) method for determining the optimal PID controller parameters for steam turbine speed control. The PSO optimization technique is compared with Ziegler-Nichols method and (PID) controllers. It is validated that PSO based controller is more efficient in reducing the steady-states error, settling time, rising time, and overshooting limit in speed control of the steam turbine control. In which the maximum peak overshoot has been reduced from 44.8% in case of the original system without any controller to 3.45% for the case of PSO based controller and that for 15% load change.

REE fractionation controlled by REE speciation during formation of the Renju regolith-hosted REE deposits in Guangdong Province, South China

• A 78 m long weathering profile developed in quartz diorite of the Huangshe regolith-hosted LREE deposit was investigated. • LREE-rich minerals, e.g., titanite and allanite , were dissolved preferentially during the breakdown of rocks during weathering. • The activated REEs are immobilised, occurring mainly as ion exchangeable and Fe-Mn (hydr)oxide fractions, with a few amounts of the organic and carbonate binding fractions. • Most HREEs were preferentially scavenged in the Fe-Mn (hydr)oxide fraction, which leads to LREE enrichment in the ion exchangeable fraction. Regolith-hosted rare earth element (REE) resources in South China are the dominant global source of heavy REEs (HREEs), which are critical for high technology and military industries. Most previous studies focused on the proportion of ion exchangeable REE fractions, but other speciations thereof and their effects on REE fractionation are still poorly understood. Therefore, to address this issue, this study focused on a systematic analysis of the geochemistry and mineralogy of a complete weathering 78 m profile in the Renju regolith-hosted REE deposit in northeast Guangdong Province, China. In the quartz diorite bedrock, the main REE minerals were titanite, allanite, and REE fluorocarbonates abundant in REEs (332–338 ppm). During the breakdown of rocks due to weathering, the light REE (LREE)-rich minerals, e.g., titanite and allanite, were dissolved preferentially, resulting in the release of the REEs. Thus, the HREE-rich minerals, including xenotime and zircon, are preserved with progressive weathering. The results of sequential extraction show that the activated REEs are immobilised, occurring mainly as ion exchangeable and Fe-Mn (hydr)oxide fractions, with a few amounts of the organic and carbonate binding fractions. Fe (hydr)oxides, as seen via transmission electron microscopy, usually occur in the form of goethite and hematite in the lower and upper parts of regoliths, respectively, while Mn is present as a trace element in Fe (hydr)oxides. The lower La/Yb ratios in the Fe-Mn (hydr)oxide fraction indicate that HREEs are preferably bonded on Fe-Mn (hydr)oxides, causing LREEs to exist mainly as ion exchangeable fractions. In addition, positive Ce anomalies exist in both the lateritic horizon with strong oxidation of weak acid and in the Fe-Mn (hydr)oxide fraction as a co-precipitate with Fe oxides. The results obtained advance our understanding of the mechanisms of REE fractionation and the mutual effect of REE speciation on the formation of regolith-hosted REE deposits in South China.

Diversifi cation model of a holding company’s activity (in case of the Rosatom State Corporation)

The empirical research conducted by the authors revealed a number of models for diversifying defense enterprises in Russia. The model characteristic for Rosatom State Corporation has been examined in a precise detail. The main parts of the model include strategy, product, technologies, technology transfer, structural organization, marketing, financing, state regulation. The parts consist of a number of elements configured in various ways depending on the tasks to be done, external conditions, resources, etc. The model takes into consideration three basic targets: raising sustainability of a large holding company’s activity; diversifying activities of the defense enterprises that are part of the state company; performing government functions such as developing high-technology industries, exploring areas of presence, shaping public policy in these directions. The model involves exploiting technologies developed by the enterprises of the state corporation, by traditional defense partners, by external non-defense partners including foreign ones. These technologies provide the basis for creating new civil products with market novelty, high technology, perspective, profitability, and also there must be a possibility to manufacture these products at the enterprises of the state corporation. The peculiar features of the model include arranging diversification at three levels – the corporation level, the division level and the enterprise level; using an integrator – a company which unites and coordinates activities of different enterprises in a certain direction, provides marketing, attracts external partners, deal with customers, etc. Development of the model involves development of innovative facilities in the areas of presence, more active cooperation with non-defense organizations, developing forms of transfer of technologies.