Internal Development Process Research Articles

Investment Value Analysis of Enterprise: Taking ZARA as an Example

This paper mainly expounds some financial problems encountered in the analysis of corporate investment value by taking the Spanish clothing and accessories brand ZARA as an example. As a leading brand in the field of fast fashion, ZARA will inevitably be affected by social and economic factors such as funds, distribution and development background during its development. This paper uses the very common SWOT analysis method to carry out a very detailed analysis of ZARA company, and at the same time uses the relevant financial indicators and market value analysis method to analyze the internal and external value development process of the company. Finally, as the first generation of fast fashion brand, ZARA's development in the market is not very stable. Although this paper has carried out a more detailed analysis, it contains a lot of theoretical elaboration, so it does not rule out the possibility of other influencing factors.

중기 구석기시대 석기 제작기술과 내재적 발달에 대하여

One of the controversial issues in Korean Paleolithic research is establishing the technical concept of the Middle Paleolithic. In this regard, the manufacturing technique of a 65,000-year-old lithic industry excavated from the first cultural layer of the Dosan site was analyzed. As a result, a technique of selecting appropriate pebble and manufacturing flakes for blank without pre-adjustment, a technique for producing sharp rectangular flakes by hitting at the corner of raw material, a technique for making tools by precisely calculating the strike point and order and a knapping technique of large flakes were identified. While the technical elements of the Lower Paleolithic remain, it is different from the blade technique representing the Upper Paleolithic. Therefore, it can be recognized as a distinct and characteristic lithic technology of the Middle Paleolithic. However, the three techniques except the knapping technique of large flakes, contain technical elements and concepts that are common or related to the blade technique. Therefore, we cannot rule out the possibility that Upper Paleolithic inhabitants invented the blade technique by choosing and combining the essential elements from lithic technology of the previous period and also by adopting new raw materials. Thus, 65,000 years ago, lithic technology was clearly different from those of the Lower and Upper Paleolithic, but there were elements related to manufacturing techniques of both ages. In addition, considering the research results showing that the emergence of the blade technique goes up to 42,000 years ago, and that the microblade technique appeared more than 30,000 years ago, it is interpreted that the lithic technology of the Korean Peninsula has undergone a continuous and internal development process since MIS 4 stage.

Morphological Study on the Differentiation of Flower Buds and the Embryological Stages of Male and Female Floral Organs in Lespedeza davurica (Laxm.) Schindl. cv. JinNong (Fabaceae).

Lespedeza davurica (Laxm.) is a leguminous plant with significant ecological benefits, but its embryonic development mechanism remains unclear. We investigated the flower bud differentiation, megaspore and microspore formation, gametophyte development, and embryo and endosperm development in L. davurica. Our aim was to elucidate the relationship between the external morphology and internal development processes of male and female floral organs during growth, as well as the reproductive factors influencing fruiting. The results indicated that although the pistil develops later than the stamen during flower bud differentiation, both organs mature synchronously before flowering. L. davurica pollen exhibits three germination grooves, a reticulate outer wall, and papillary structures on the anther surface. In vivo pollination experiments revealed abnormal spiral growth of L. davurica pollen tubes within the style and the occurrence of callus plugs, which may reduce the seed setting rate. The anther wall development follows the dicotyledonous type, with tetrads formed through microspore meiosis exhibiting both left-right symmetry and tetrahedral arrangements. L. davurica has a single ovule, and the embryo sac develops in the monosporic polygonum type. After dormancy, the zygote undergoes multiple divisions, progressing through spherical, heart-shaped, and torpedo-shaped embryo stages, culminating in a mature embryo. A mature seed comprises cotyledons, hypocotyl, embryo, radicle, and seed coat. Phylogenetic tree analysis reveals a close genetic relationship between L. davurica and other leguminous plants from the genera Lespedeza and Medicago. This study provides valuable insights into the regulation of flowering and hybrid breeding in leguminous plants and offers a new perspective on the development of floral organs and seed setting rates.

Sustainable development, environmental innovation and export firms: The moderating roles of external collaboration, creativity enhancement and internal development processes

AbstractExport firms are vital to a country's economic development and are distinctively positioned to engage in environmentally sustainable innovation. We extend the resource‐based view about the unique cross‐border challenges faced by export firms and the advantage they can generate from engaging in sustainable development. Using a large sample of 4949 Taiwanese export firms, our main effects test confirms the link between export firms and environmentally sustainable innovation. Furthermore, we find that creativity enhancement processes and internal development processes positively moderate the relationship, whereas external collaboration processes negatively moderate it. We contribute to the literature on the contingent factors that explain environmentally sustainable innovation for export firms. Additional tests are presented and discussed along with policy implications, future research directions and conclusions.

SOCIAL CAPITAL IN KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS FOR THE CREATIVE INDUSTRY SECTOR

The primary aim of this scholarly article is to examine the significance of social capital within the context of knowledge management systems (KMS) in the creative industry literature. The research adopts a comprehensive approach by employing both conceptual and literature analysis and empirical quantitative and qualitative investigations for validation purposes. According to existing literature, KMS is an essential organizational process and tool for acquiring, converting, applying, and safeguarding knowledge from internal and external sources, facilitating its utilization, development, and effective management.
 The findings of this study reveal that specific organizations acquire knowledge primarily through internal research and development (R&D) processes. However, in contrast, the creative industry heavily relies on knowledge stemming from social capital, including the social environment and community interactions. This social capital plays a pivotal role in providing the necessary knowledge required for the existence of the creative industry and its ability to generate innovative products that reflect the prevailing social context within which it operates. To analyze and classify prior research on the role of social capital for KMS in the creative industry, this study utilizes a meta-analysis as a robust analytical tool, building upon earlier works that have served as foundational pieces for this investigation.
 Previous research in the creative industry has demonstrated that knowledge acquisition within this domain results from a synergistic interplay between tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge obtained through diverse creative classes conducted within the industry. As a renewable resource-driven sector, the creative industry capitalizes on creativity, skill, and talent as valuable assets that can be leveraged for wealth generation, not only for significant enterprises but also for micro, small, and medium economies (UMKM), often orchestrated by local communities. This endeavor aims to stimulate employment opportunities by strategically exploiting intellectual property. Consequently, the creative industry can be regarded as a knowledge-based sector, necessitating the adept implementation of Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) in its operational framework.

Influences of Talent Cultivation and Utilization on the National Human Resource Development System Performance: An International Study Using a Two-Stage Data Envelopment Analysis Model

To enhance national competitiveness, countries are committed to building a National Human Resource Development (NHRD) system to develop talents. However, studies have rarely investigated the internal development process of the NHRD system and the performance at the system and sub-system levels. Thus, this study constructed the performance evaluation model of the NHRD system from a two-stage process efficiency perspective that first cultivates talents and then uses the talents produced to create value. In addition, considering the problem of international talent flow and the time-lag effect, the bad output and the time-lag between inputs and outputs were incorporated into the model. The subjects included 60 countries, including Argentina, China, and OECD member countries. The results reveal that countries that excel at nurturing talents do not necessarily have the ability to effectively use talents to create value. Only having high-efficiency talent cultivation cannot strengthen competitiveness. Sensitivity analysis was also conducted to identify the input that affects talent cultivation and utilization efficiency, which could be used as a reference for competitiveness and NHRD performance improvement.

Developing non-invasive 3D quantificational imaging for intelligent coconut analysis system with X-ray

BackgroundAs one of the largest drupes in the world, the coconut has a special multilayered structure and a seed development process that is not yet fully understood. On the one hand, the special structure of the coconut pericarp prevents the development of external damage to the coconut fruit, and on the other hand, the thickness of the coconut shell makes it difficult to observe the development of bacteria inside it. In addition, coconut takes about 1 year to progress from pollination to maturity. During the long development process, coconut development is vulnerable to natural disasters, cold waves, typhoons, etc. Therefore, nondestructive observation of the internal development process remains a highly important and challenging task. In this study, We proposed an intelligent system for building a three-dimensional (3D) quantitative imaging model of coconut fruit using Computed Tomography (CT) images. Cross-sectional images of coconut fruit were obtained by spiral CT scanning. Then a point cloud model was built by extracting 3D coordinate data and RGB values. The point cloud model was denoised using the cluster denoising method. Finally, a 3D quantitative model of a coconut fruit was established.ResultsThe innovations of this work are as follows. 1) Using CT scans, we obtained a total of 37,950 non-destructive internal growth change maps of various types of coconuts to establish a coconut data set called “CCID”, which provides powerful graphical data support for coconut research. 2) Based on this data set, we built a coconut intelligence system. By inputting a batch of coconut images into a 3D point cloud map, the internal structure information can be ascertained, the entire contour can be drawn and rendered according to need, and the long diameter, short diameter and volume of the required structure can be obtained. We maintained quantitative observation on a batch of local Hainan coconuts for more than 3 months. With 40 coconuts as test cases, the high accuracy of the model generated by the system is proven. The system has a good application value and broad popularization prospects in the cultivation and optimization of coconut fruit.ConclusionThe evaluation results show that the 3D quantitative imaging model has high accuracy in capturing the internal development process of coconut fruits. The system can effectively assist growers in internal developmental observations and in structural data acquisition from coconut, thus providing decision-making support for improving the cultivation conditions of coconuts.

Globalisation and Its Challenges: Reflections on Social Order and Chaos through the Prism of Social Nomos-Anomie Concept

Abstract Anomic situations in societies are often brought about by social changes. Social anomie is a phenomenon that emerges when traditional norms are not sufficient enough to adequately respond to the new emerging situations, although this does not necessarily imply a state of normlessness in a society. These emerging new situations might result from society’s internal development processes or can be externally imposed. The process of globalisation has brought many major changes in the world political and social-cultural systems. The hitherto unprecedented flow of capital in the name of globalisation has led to a more stratified world than it was before. This process, mainly driven by economic rationalities, has led to social, cultural, environmental and political instabilities in many societies around the world. In a world that lacks a real-world social order, this article reflects on how globalisation impacts on social systems and proposes a spaceship ethic value orientation in charting out ways towards reaching the new world order, where every society can be an indispensable part of the world nomos.

Practicing secrecy in open innovation – The case of a military firm

In order to keep up with the pace of innovation, military firms have recently launched a series of open innovation (OI) initiatives to search for and integrate external knowledge into their internal development process. Adopting OI in such a secretive environment unlocks new possibilities to analyze how firms can pursue openness and secrecy. This article builds on a qualitative research conducted inside a large military firm that has implemented an inbound OI strategy. Relying on multiple case studies and interviews with individual players involved in the firm's OI initiatives, we analyzed how these players deploy secrecy practices when participating to OI projects. They actually combine cognitive practices (aiming at modulating the contextual depth of the knowledge revealed through reframing) with relational practices (aiming at controlling the visibility and exposure of this knowledge). We highlight how these combinations evolve during the lifecycle of OI partnerships. By emphasizing different modes by which individual actors practice secrecy in OI, we contribute to previous research addressing how organizations navigate the paradox of openness. Besides, this study proposes new theoretical insights on the role and features of secrecy practices in innovation activities, and thus contributes to the emerging research field of managerial secrecy.

Towards cost-benefit evaluation for continuous software engineering activities

Context:Software companies must become better at delivering software to remain relevant in the market. Continuous integration and delivery practices promise to streamline software deliveries to end-users by implementing an automated software development and delivery pipeline. However, implementing or retrofitting an organization with such a pipeline is a substantial investment, while the reporting on benefits and their relevance in specific contexts/domains are vague.Aim:In this study, we explore continuous software engineering practices from an investment-benefit perspective. We identify what benefits can be attained by adopting continuous practices, what the associated investments and risks are, and analyze what parameters determine their relevance.Method:We perform a multiple case study to understand state-of-practice, organizational aims, and challenges in adopting continuous software engineering practices. We compare state-of-practice with state-of-the-art to validate the best practices and identify relevant gaps for further investigation.Results:We found that companies start the CI/CD adoption by automating and streamlining the internal development process with clear and immediate benefits. However, upgrading customers to continuous deliveries is a major obstacle due to existing agreements and customer push-back. Renegotiating existing agreements comes with a risk of losing customers and disrupting the whole organization.Conclusions:We conclude that the benefits of CI/CD are overstated in literature without considering the contextual and domain complexities rendering some benefits infeasible. We identify the need to understand the customer and organizational perspectives further and understand the contextual requirements towards the CI/CD.

Value drivers of development stage biopharma companies

ObjectiveScholars previously estimated research and development (R&D) costs of the internal drug development process. However, little is known about the costs and value arising from externally acquired therapeutics. This study identifies and estimates the magnitude of factors associated with Biopharma acquisition value.MethodsSDC Thomson Reuter and S&P Capital IQ were screened for majority acquisitions of US and EU Biopharma companies developing new molecular entities for prescription use (SIC code: 2834) from 2005 to 2020. Financial acquisition data were complemented with variables characterizing the target’s product portfolio extracted from clinicaltrials.gov, Drugs@FDA database, US SEC filings, and transaction announcements. A multivariate regression assesses the association of firm value with extracted variables.Results311 acquisitions of companies developing prescription drugs were identified over the study period. Acquirers paid 37% (p < 0.05) more for companies with biologics and gene therapeutics than small-molecule lead drugs. Multi-indication products were acquired for a 12% premium per additional indication (p < 0.01). No significant valuation difference between companies developing orphan and non-orphan designated lead products was observed (18%, p = 0.223). Acquisition value positively correlated with the total number of further products, headquarter location in the US, underlying market conditions, and acquirer market capitalization (p < 0.05).ConclusionsInternal and external drug development consumes many financial and human resources, yet it is important for entrepreneurs, regulators, and payers to understand their precise magnitude and value drivers. This information permits the design of targeted pricing and industrial policies that incentivize the development of novel drugs in areas with high unmet needs.

POSC282 Development of a Value Framework to Conclude on Clinical Added Benefit in Hungary

Although the critical appraisal procedure of health technologies in Hungary traditionally focuses on cost-effectiveness, the assessment of clinical added benefit (CAB) should not be neglected. To standardize the assessment procedure, we propose implementing a framework, which provides a uniform set of criteria to determine the conclusion on CAB. The aim of this research is to illustrate the internal development process within the Department of Health Technology Assessment.

With a Little Help From Change Management

Abstract. Change-management activities require extensive interventions, for which small and medium-sized companies often lack the expertise. Thus, we examined whether a short-term intervention could be an innovative approach that affects employees’ attitudes and behavior. In the cooperative project IviPep, a company developed digital tools for its own internal development process. Our intervention was part of the corresponding training and consisted of a 5-minute presentation about prototypical reactions to change and a 45-minute workshop. Employees could voice their concerns, reflect on advantages, and work on potential solutions to address their concerns. Results of a survey before and after the training ( N = 22) showed that the short-term intervention significantly increased readiness for change ( d = 0.72) but did not significantly increase overall attitude toward change ( d = 0.16) or behavioral resistance to change ( d = -0.37), although the effects pointed in the intended direction. Our results indicate that even small change efforts can make a difference.

Towards Building a Functional Whole-of-Government Monitoring and Evaluation System for Zambia: The Demand Side

Every monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system is comprised of two sides—the supply side and the demand side. This study focused on the demand side of Zambia’s whole-of-government M&E system (WoGM&ES). It investigated the gaps that characterised the public sector system for M&E and proposed a new model for improving the demand side. Primary and secondary sources were used to collect data for the study. Questionnaires and interview guides are the instruments employed to collect information. Essentially, Zambia’s WoGM&ES was found to be very weak on the demand side. The system lacked a unified arrangement for demanding and utilising M&E information. Government and non-government structures and institutions such as the presidency, parliament, line ministries, civil society, the academia and cooperating partners remained fragmented and uncoordinated in the manner they demanded for M&E information to feed into their internal development processes. The general public too had no clear means of engaging the public sector on development issues that affected them. In many cases, M&E reports were not in the reach of the public, making it difficult to engage. More so, political championship at the level of the Presidency and Cabinet ministers as well as at several technical levels across the public sector lacked in Zambia. To address the gaps, this paper is a proposed blueprint for consideration by the Government of Zambia. The model proposes that Government implements the following to build and sustain the demand side: transform the Presidency and top government positions (political and technical) into M&E champions; promote the use of M&E information by the Presidency; link M&E to planning, budgeting and policy processes; promote the use of M&E information by parliament, civil society, academia, media and donors. Decentralised structures of government as well as the general public will also need to be stimulated on the acquisition and use of M&E information. Equally, Government would need to incentivise the strategic users of M&E information across the country. Another similar study has been conducted on the supply side of Zambia’s WoGM&ES. Evidence on both sides will be useful for building and sustaining Zambia’s WoGM&ES going forward!

Analysing the Development of Alcohol-Dependent Women’s Identity: The Main Findings of Grounded Theory

Women’s alcohol dependence is a serious concern for the whole of society, negatively affecting not only various important areas of the lives of women themselves, but essentially the mental health of future generations. Researchers have attempted to address the main problems associated with women’s drinking; nevertheless, their findings are still incomplete. Moreover, relatively little scholarly attention has been paid to exploring idiosyncratic alcohol-dependent women identity development processes. This study aims to fill the existing gap in the literature, by conducting an empirical study that would help elucidate the main psycho-social aspects contributing significantly to the identity development of alcohol-dependent women. Ten self-identified alcohol-dependent women participated in the study. Data was collected through life stories and in-depth interviews. The constructivist grounded theory approach (K. Charmaz) was used as a methodological strategy to explore how alcohol-dependent women develop and express their identities in their life stories. In this study, we present internal and external identity development processes, revealing the dilemma of internal detachment by alcohol-dependent women developing an illusory identity. The main aspects of this theoretical structure include compensatory adaptation, power seeking, and avoiding helplessness, which create a vicious triangle, with the need for acceptance and the fear of rejection at its core, all contributing to the development of an illusory identity. Moreover, based on traditional theoretical frameworks, the study builds on the premise that such internal detachment is linked to self-integrity problems, which is further associated with participants’ pursuit of a search for self-meaning in important others. The findings provide new insights about alcohol-dependent identity development processes, discuss the limitations and strengths of the current study, suggest directions for future studies, and highlight the need to see alcohol-dependent women’s problems from the perspective of identity, which is different from traditional psycho-pathological views. Key words: , , . DOI: http://dx.doi.org/

The Effect of Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction on the Re-Patronage Intention of Customers at PT Liga Technic

The manufacturing industry is one of the sectors that is very significant in boosting economic growth in Indonesia. PT Liga Technic imports industrial burners, spare parts and service. PT Liga Technic has carried out business operations since 1987. This research was carried out to support the internal development process of PT Liga Technic. The study was conducted on customers of PT Liga Technic to determine the effect of service quality on customer satisfaction, customer satisfaction on re-patronage intention, and service quality on re-patronage intention. The minimum sample size was 30 and 32 respondents were included (Roscoe in Sugiyono 2012:91). The criteria for the sample were customers who had bought products from PT Liga Technic at least two times within two years. Based on the analysis results with the Partial Least Square (PLS) method, service quality had a significant effect on customer satisfaction, customer satisfaction had a significant effect on customer re-patronage intention, and service quality had a significant effect on re-patronage intention of customers at PT Liga Technic.&#x0D; Keywords: customer service quality, customer satisfaction, re-patronage intentions

ІНСТРУМЕНТИ ФІНАНСУВАННЯ РОЗВИТКУ ТЕРИТОРІЙ

The importance of developing international and transnational cooperation necessitates a high level of economic development of the region. The smart regional development strategy is introduced by Ukraine in the framework of the Association Agreement with the EU. This strategy aims to focus its efforts on the usage of creative resources, ensures interaction between science, business, state and public. Also, it assures maximum harnessing of the region's internal resources. Ukrainian regions determined the strategic directions of smart specialization, which is reflected in the "Regional Development Strategy 2021–2027". Ensuring adequate funding is one of the main priority conditions for innovation. European experience demonstrates that innovative forms of project financing are beginning to create a significant competition with traditional forms of fundraising. That is why Ukraine should provide an enabling environment and develop new forms of financing its innovative activity. This article is devoted to the problems of search and effective involvement of domestic financial resources in the internal development processes of the region. Risk-related projects are funded through instruments such as investment funds, business angels, venture capital, and crowdfunding. Although these tools are used in Ukraine, they have not been properly disseminated in the process of financing innovations. There are measures that would help attract financial resources to replenish innovation capital. It includes development of the securities market of innovative enterprises; improving tax regimes and regulating the activities of innovative enterprises; creation of innovative credit lines; establishing mechanisms for guaranteeing and insuring innovative projects; development of non-banking mechanisms of indirect investment; development of leasing and property lease; providing mechanisms for mutual lending and cooperation of innovative enterprises. Along with the analysis of the main reasons for ineffective usage of the above-mentioned; tools, it is proposed to consider new methods of financing innovations such as financial clusters.

The Role of Communication Depth for Overcoming Blindness to Knowledge Utilization

The open innovation literature highlights the need for firms to search deeply across the organizational boundaries to allow the subsequent internal development process to move forward. This study complements and extends prior research on search depth in open innovation by focusing on how a deep link to external partners within one particular search channel, public research organizations (PROs), shapes a firm’s perception of new technology concepts. It examines how the depth of communication, conceived as a composite notion of high-quality information and close participation by the partners, in such collaborations helps firms in utilizing new knowledge in the future. However, due to narrowed perceptions, attention allocation problems, and increased internal communication boundaries, it can also blind firms to identify new opportunities for co-developed knowledge. We address these mixed implications of communication depth in conjunction with two context-specific factors—partner fit and the asset specificity of co-developed knowledge—that can weaken the curvilinear (inverted U-shaped) effect of communication depth on knowledge utilization. The results of our study suggest that firms may need no excessive communication depth with PROs and may align it with partner- and asset-specific contexts to best utilize knowledge from R&D collaborations with PROs in the long-term.

Meeting the Challenge

Meeting the Challenge

Valuing human capital career development: a real options approach

PurposeThere has been a long controversy in the literature on assessing the value of human capital – a long-sought but elusive and challenging task. The ability to quantify flexible human capital (FHC) has been a shortcoming in extant literature. We make a meaningful contribution by showing how real options (RO) methodology can be used to quantify FHC and we provide complementary case study evidence from Fortune 500 “best companies to work for” that the value of employee career development is higher in more volatile sectors in line with real options theory (ROT).Design/methodology/approachThis article provides a prescriptive RO methodology for adopting a more flexible, staged SHRM organizational perspective suitable for uncertain environments, and explores its theoretical and empirical implications through the dual use of RO methodological modelling and multi-case study data involving ten Fortune 500 companies. The case study approach is aimed at creating managerially relevant knowledge. The relevance of our approach to managerial practice is shown through guidelines on how a company like Google might use the RO methodology to estimate the career development option value so as to inform its internal development program for employees to create and capture value.FindingsOur focus is on the staging flexibility in HR as exemplified by the internal career development process. This process can be viewed as a multi-stage (compound) option involving various types of HC uncertainty, HC options, and HR practices. We model staging HR deployment via the option to promote staff employees to middle-level management, itself embedding the option to rise to the top management. To empirically validate our valuation approach, we present case study research that enables quantifying the option value of a career development program and allows assessing how much a mismatch exists in a sample of ten public U.S. companies.Research limitations/implicationsThe overall staging quantification idea is important as it offers guidance as to how to value HR as a sequential investment process under uncertain demand or skill conditions. The analysis is limited to the extent that staged career development might interact with other types of human capital (e.g. switch and learning) options and HR practices (e.g. training). Human resources may also interact with other organizational intangibles, such as brand equity. Our analysis also does not account for psychological considerations from the employees' perspective, such organizational commitment facilitating trust to enable reciprocal commitments, which remains a fruitful subject for future extensions.Practical implicationsROT can provide useful guidance and tools for HR scholars and managers. By keeping tabs on HR-based flexibility value and focusing on the key input variables driving HR flexibility, HR managers can determine the flexibility value unleashed from staging the deployment of HC resources in the face of unanticipated demand and skills shifts.Originality/valueThis is the first paper that attempts to quantify the value of staged career development flexibility using the RO methodology. This article will be cited for its innovativeness in being the first to quantify the value of human capital's contribution to corporate value creation and provide objective evaluation in the context of organizational career-development programs. Besides providing useful insights to scholars, the article also demonstrates how the RO methodology can apply to actual companies and inform managerial practice offering guidelines of relevance to HR practitioners on how to quantify the value of staged HC development in an uncertain environment.