Industry Convergence Research Articles

Review of Research Status of Autonomous Mobile Robot Environment Recognition and Path Planning Algorithms

The convergence of Industry 4.0 and the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic amplify the growth prospects and market reach of autonomous mobile robots. This paper elucidates the current research landscape and forward-looking trajectory concerning perception systems for autonomous mobile robots. It advocates a future-oriented development path grounded in the utilization of vision sensors and multi-sensor configurations to enhance environmental recognition. Addressing the imperative of bolstering environmental discernment in intricate settings remains a priority. An emerging area of interest pertains to terrain prediction algorithms. The ensuing section deliberates upon the merits and demerits intrinsic to distinct robot path planning algorithms. These algorithms can be categorized into global path planning algorithms, entrusted with charting optimal overarching courses, and local path planning algorithms, designed to navigate impediments and effect localized route refinements. Envisioning the future, the maturation of robot path planning algorithms is poised to embrace multi-algorithm collaborative applications.

Information support for monitoring convergence of industries

Information support for monitoring convergence of industries

Analysis and Research of COVID-19 as a Turning Point of Online/Offline Integration in the New Retail Industry

The impact of Covid-19 has changed people's lives dramatically. Health factors and government quarantine orders have limited industry-wide growth. In the retail industry, the change in the shopping environment has led to a change in consumer behavior. The flexibility and variety of products offered by online shopping are increasingly meeting the needs of most people. This paper will further discuss the possible convergence of the new retail industry by examining the consumer behavior during COVID-19 and thus analyze the further development of the new retail industry online and offline. This paper uses a survey method and functional analysis, and through the research, found that the consumer-focused digital transformation will continue after the end of Covid-19, and with it will come the question of how companies can maintain innovation and grow steadily.

The impact of healthcare industry convergence on the performance of the public health system: a geospatial modeling study of provincial panel data from China.

This paper examines the impact of healthcare industry convergence on the performance of the public health system in the eastern, central, and western regions of China. Public health performance was measured by a composite index of three standards: average life expectancy at birth, perinatal mortality, and maternal mortality. The healthcare industry convergence was measured using a coupling coordination degree method. The spatial lag, spatial error, and spatial Durbin models were used to estimate the effect of healthcare industry convergence on public health system performance and this effect's spatial dependence and heterogeneity across eastern, central, and western China using panel data from 30 Chinese provinces from 2002 to 2019. The convergence of the healthcare industry significantly promotes regional public health [ =0.576, 95% CI: (0.331,0.821)]. However, the convergence does not have a spatial spillover effect on the public health system at the national level. Additionally, analysis of regional heterogeneity shows that the direct effects of healthcare industry convergence on public health are positive and statistically significant for Eastern China, statistically insignificant for Central China, and positive and statistically significant for Western China. The indirect effects are negative, statistically significant, positive, statistically significant, and statistically insignificant for these three regions, respectively. Policy efforts should strengthen the convergence between the healthcare industry and relevant industries. It can produce more current healthcare services to improve public health and reduce regional health inequality.

Digitalization Driving High-Quality Converged Development of Rural Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Industries: Mechanisms, Effects, and Paths

The convergence of rural primary, secondary, and tertiary industries is an effective way to establish a modern rural industrial system. The digital transformation of rural industries is a new idea to promote high-quality converged development. This paper focuses on the converged development of China’s rural industries, trying to explore the impact of digitalization on the high-quality converged development of China’s rural industries. Firstly, the mechanisms of digitalization driving rural industrial convergence are revealed. Secondly, we use panel data of 30 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) in China from 2011 to 2020 to empirically test the impact of digitalization on rural industrial convergence. Finally, considering the regional differences in industrial structure, the non-linear impact of digitalization on rural industrial convergence is examined. The results indicate digitalization has a significant positive effect on rural industrial convergence, and the impact of the latter has a dual threshold effect with regional heterogeneity based on industrial structure. Therefore, it is suggested to accelerate the construction of digital infrastructure, strengthen digital application, promote regional coordinated development, and improve the institutional system, which are expected to contribute to a deeper connection between digitalization and rural industries.

Can high-tech industrial convergence promote green innovation efficiency? Evidence from 30 Chinese provinces

Can high-tech industrial convergence promote green innovation efficiency? Evidence from 30 Chinese provinces

Hysong v. Gallitzin Borough School District: Industrialization, Immigration, and Nativism Converge in Gallitzin, Pennsylvania

ABSTRACT This article examines the convergence of industry, immigrants, and nativists in a public school in the Western Pennsylvania town of Gallitzin in the mid-1890s. In the court system, the Junior Order of the United American Mechanics, a nativist group, challenged the Gallitzin School District’s employment of the Sisters of St. Joseph as teachers in the public schools. This article explores the events leading up to the initial county trial; public school life in Gallitzin at the time as portrayed in the witnesses’ testimony at the trial; and its aftermath.

Retracted: A Study of Industrial Convergence in the Context of Digital Economy Based on Scientific Computing Visualization

Retracted: A Study of Industrial Convergence in the Context of Digital Economy Based on Scientific Computing Visualization

An overview of the SWOT analysis in India's pharmaceutical supply chain

PurposeThe Indian pharmaceutical industry has contributed significantly to global healthcare by securing superior-quality, inexpensive and reachable medicines worldwide. However, supply chain management (SCM) has been challenging due to constantly shifting requirements for short lifecycles of products, the convergence of industry and changeable realities on the ground. This study aims to identify, assess and prioritize the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities of the pharmaceutical SCM environment in India.Design/methodology/approachThe paper employs a Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat (SWOT) analysis and recognizes strategies to utilize the advantages of the strengths and opportunities, rectify weaknesses and resolve threats.FindingsA variety of strategies that could have a positive effect on the Indian pharmaceutical business are presented. Findings and suggested strategies can significantly advance knowledge, enhance understanding and contribute to the growth of a successful SCM for the Indian pharmaceutical sector.Originality/valueThis paper would act as a roadmap to greater comprehension of the market leaders and market leaders' operating climate. The findings from this study will offer academic scholars and business practitioners deeper insights into the environment of SCM.

Revealing future trajectories in sustainable food production: convergence and openness in the innovation ecosystem

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the evolutionary dynamics of innovation ecosystems in the food industry by adopting both open innovation and convergence approaches to derive practical policy implications to develop impactful innovation ecosystems to promote food production sustainably.Design/methodology/approachStarting from the cutting-edge case of Foodvalley in the Netherlands, the study adopts a backcasting approach to reach a future vision of food ecosystems from a sustainable food production perspective. The authors set the backcasting analysis in four steps: (1) description of the present and trends analysis, (2) selection of trustworthy criteria and goals, (3) development of future images and (4) analysis of how to reach the images.FindingsThe trends analysis has identified three existing innovation fields – protein shift, circular agrifood and food and health – and two strategic directions – convergence and localness decrease. The study reports how a long-term commitment may lead the valley toward a best future scenario.Practical implicationsThe study suggests that policymakers and stakeholders can promote innovation strategies in sustainable food production ecosystems by encouraging collaboration between different sectors, reducing regulatory barriers, attracting innovative actors, and investing in education and training programs. To achieve measurable environmental and social impact outcomes, policies should promote entrepreneurship and create an enabling environment that encourages innovation and risk-taking.Originality/valueThe originality of this paper concerns the backcasting perspective applied to the analysis of the food ecosystem. This approach facilitates the identification of a path direction for successfully managing open innovation and industry convergence toward a desirable future of sustainable food production.

Impact of Economic Policy Uncertainty on Industrial Convergence: Evidence from China

The uncertainties in current economic policies have increased, and Decisions about industrial convergence by businesses are impacted by uncertain macroeconomic policy. Using a fixed-effects model, the article selects annual data from A-share listed Chinese companies from 2010 to 2021 and empirically analyzes the relationship between economic policy uncertainty (EPU) and industrial convergence, as well as the mediating and moderating effects of diversification strategies and financial distress under this path of action. The findings are as follows: (1) EPU has a significant negative impact on industrial convergence, and this phenomenon is most obvious for non-state enterprises. (2) Enterprise diversification strategy mediate the relationship between industrial convergence and EPU (3) Corporate financial distress has a negative moderating effect on the relationship between EPU and industrial convergence. (4) The nature of firm property rights has a negative moderating effect on the relationship between EPU and industrial convergence. The aforementioned conclusions have implications for policy: the government should always ensure the long-term stability of economic policies and direct and encourage the development of cross-industry convergence of enterprises. Enterprises need to actively empower development with joint efforts to achieve win-win cooperation.

Research on problems and countermeasures of rural industry integration development

Advancing the integration development of rural industry is not only the important means to raise farmers' income and the objective requirement to promote rural sustainable development, but also the inevitable choice to promote the integration development of urban and rural China, to realize the development of agricultural modernization has the important significance. This article aims at current problems such as the low level of rural industry convergence, the lack of effective guarantee of the benefit linkage mechanism, and puts forward countermeasures to speed up agricultural modernization, improve the innovative ability of rural industry convergence, so as to provide feasible suggestions for the relevant policies of rural industry convergence in our country.

Globalization of Arms Production And Hierarchical Market Economies: Explaining the Transformation of the South Korean Defense Industry

The global arms industry has experienced a major transformation in the post-Cold War era, with production becoming increasingly transnational and larger in scale. While many scholars and policymakers predicted the widespread adoption of market-enhancing reforms aimed at increasing domestic competition and attracting FDI, globalization of arms production has not led to a convergence of national defense industries into a liberal- market model. Drawing on the varieties of capitalism (VoC) literature, recent scholarship has demonstrated how an interdependent web of economic institutions has shaped each country's response in varied ways. This paper builds on the VoC literature and argues that the hierarchical market economy (HME) as a distinct variety serves as a better model for understanding the trajectory of defense industries in many second-tier producers that do not fit the existing categories of VoC. We conduct an in-depth case study of South Korea's defense-industry reform initiated in 2008 and the subsequent threefold increase in its arms exports. We show that the trajectory of South Korea's defense-industry reform can be seen as the result of an HME's attempt to adapt to the globalization of arms production in ways that preserve its distinct comparative advantage. As the HME model has broad applicability for many countries in Asia and Latin America, our findings have important implications for future developments in the global arms industry.

Comprehensive evaluation of integrated applications of photovoltaics: case study of three projects in Tianjin, China.

Solar energy has gradually become one of the priorities to sustainable energy supply, driven by the urgent need for energy security and the imminent threats of climate change. Diverse photovoltaic (PV) technologies can be applied and integrated with various industries to significantly increase the usage and output value of different assets, such as land appreciation within limited space. In order to quantitatively evaluate the overall performance of various integrated applications of PV, a comprehensive benefit evaluation index system, involving economy, environment, society, and land use, was proposed and applied to three selected PV projects, PV-JWZ, PV-NHPZ, and PV-DPBD, namely, in Tianjin, China. The results indicated that these projects all have great development potential due to their remarkable benefits of energy saving and emission reduction. Therein, the total income of PV-JWZ within 25 years is equal to 1441.9 million CNY, which is dominated by extra income from industrial convergence; PV-NHPZ can offset 231.8 t/(a·hm2) CO2, attributed to its larger installed capacity; while PV-DPBD would acquire strong policy support for distributed PV to further promote the zero-carbon buildings, owing to lower land consumption of 1.4 hm2/MW. By revealing the effectiveness and feasibility of various PV projects, this study could provide a theoretical reference for the promoting and planning various integrated applications of PV in different areas, according to local conditions.

Spatial Analysis of Tertiary Industry Evolution Based on Gravity Model: A Case of Central Plains Economic Region in China

The service and knowledge economy has emerged as the primary drivers of national economic growth, with the tertiary industry leading the way. To promote growth in the central plain region and achieve structural convergence of industries for sustainable, rapid, and healthy economic development, conducting a spatial structural analysis of the evolution of the industrial structure is essential. However, traditional statistical analysis needs to keep pace with the dynamic and non-linear relationships within and outside industries. In this paper, we propose a novel spatial analysis method based on the gravity model to examine the tertiary industry in China’s central plains economic region (CPER). By analyzing statistical data from 2018 to 2022, our results reveal that the economic linkage intensity (F-value) of the tertiary industry in CPER has increased over the years. Specifically, F-values for the high-end, general, and other service industries are 2815, 9882, and 14,826, respectively. The network density (D-value) indicates a single-core structure, with D-values of 0.71, 0.74, and 0.82 for high-end, general, and other service industries. Our findings suggest that the economic linkage network of the tertiary industry in CPER has matured, with solid industry integration and convergence of the regional financial industry structure. There is a high correlation (p < 0.01) among various network structures in the service industry, and a stable and cohesive subgroup with multicentre characteristics is beginning to emerge. These findings provide valuable insights for the development of the tertiary industry in CPER during the later stage of the 14th Five-Year Plan in China.

How to succeed in the market? Predicting startup success using a machine learning approach

Predicting startup success is a critical task for startup entrepreneurs and investors. Previous studies focused only on the internal conditions of startups and did not extensively consider the effects of industry characteristics on startup success. To fill this research gap, this study proposes a model for predicting startup success, which considers the external environment and internal conditions. A machine learning model for predicting the success of a firm was developed, incorporating industry characteristics. Data were collected from 218,207 companies in Crunchbase from January 2011 to July 2021. After data preprocessing, six machine learning models were used to predict startup success and identify features significant for the prediction. Feature importance was also calculated to determine how each feature affects startup success prediction. The results indicate that media exposure, monetary funding, industry convergence level, and industry association level are significant for determining startup success.

Industry Convergence for Startup Businesses: Dynamic Trend Analysis Using Merger and Acquisition Information

It is beyond dispute that convergence drives innovation in the current business environment. In particular, industry convergence becomes critical because of the increased complexity of technology and diversified customer needs. This is especially true in many startups, where mergers and acquisitions are considered viable exit strategies. Despite the gravity of analyzing industry convergence, only a few studies have conducted quantitative approaches owing to the lack of comprehensive data available to analyze this. In response, this article analyzes the dynamic trends and phenomena of industry convergence using merger and acquisition information sourced from a Crunchbase dataset. How business startups integrate and merge together to create new value can be an important proxy for analyzing industry convergence. This article collected merger and acquisition data from 2010 to 2019 and divided it into three periods to analyze the dynamic trends of industry convergence and then visualized these trends using a network analysis. This article is expected to assist both managers and policymakers understand the dynamic changes in industry convergence and provide insight into future trends.

Systematic Literature Review of Convergence: A Systems Perspective and Re-evaluation of the Convergence Process

This article examines convergence by providing a systematic literature review using scientometric method. Despite the steady growth of convergence literature, we still have an incomplete understanding of convergence concepts as well as the processes of industry convergence (IC). Our systematic review highlights several key findings. First, our review highlights six clusters of research on convergence. Second, our analysis suggests that the process of convergence does not necessarily progress in the three- to four-step supply-side process as postulated in the literature, i.e., from scientific convergence, technology convergence, market convergence, and finally to IC. Although existing literature suggests that IC occurs as a result of supply-side convergence, we expand on this proposition and put forth market-driven convergence processes. Third, we provide a typology of the convergence concepts to bring clarity and avoid indiscriminate use of the various convergence concepts. Finally, our article offers new debates on the literature of convergence, providing scholars with research directions that extend beyond the standard convergence processes. Our systematic review is relevant to scholars and managers as the study highlights a taxonomy of convergence scholarship, a typology of convergence concepts, and a re-evaluation of the IC process model to drive the research forward.

The Making of Convergence: Knowledge Reuse, Boundary Spanning, and the Formation of the ICT Industry

While mastering technology and industry convergence are essential for firms across a growing number of industries, convergence is often rapid and abrupt, challenging firms to develop appropriate strategic responses. Focusing on the historical convergence between information technology and communication technology, we examine the microlevel behaviors of scientists initiating and driving convergence. Analyzing a bibliometric dataset of 257 641 scientific articles, we demonstrate how <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">industry convergence</i> manifests in a microlevel <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">scientific convergence</i> , preceding industry convergence by several decades. Our article contributes to the literature on convergence by developing new bibliometric measures for scientific convergence, and by contrasting microlevel behaviors that underpin convergence. Based on our findings, we offer a set of methods and strategies to assist managers in technology-based businesses with anticipating and responding to convergence in a timely manner.

Industrial Convergence and Industrial Crisis: A Situational Analysis About Precision Medicine During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Convergence, and its various configurations, is an established topic in technology and innovation management literature. This article contributes to the extant literature about industrial convergence by conducting an explorative analysis of the industrial crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. In this article, we aim to explore how industrial convergence affects the business dynamics of the healthcare markets. To fulfill our research purpose, we perform a qualitative study by exploring retrospectively the case study of precision medicine. Thus, we use a case study approach based on the triangulation of the multiple sources of evidence gathered. We propose a conceptual framework attesting to the continued recourse to digitalization for the need for data integration and the creation of hybrid figures within healthcare markets during the industrial crisis. This article proposes various implications for researchers and practitioners dealing with the management and development of innovation in convergent sectors.