Technology Payoff Research Articles

Spintronics: The molecular way.

Molecular spintronics is an interdisciplinary field at the interface between organic spintronics, molecular magnetism, molecular electronics and quantum computing, which is advancing fast and promises large technological payoffs.

Social Innovation: A New Paradigm Of Innovation Outcome Strategy In The Context Of Strategic Knowledge Management Processes

The current knowledge-innovation led economy requires a new paradigm of innovation to address critical issues, among others, namely: poor social health, poor living conditions, poor education systems, public income inequality, massive unemployment, poor economic growth and lack of new technological advances. Thus this paper explores the concept of social innovation in the context of strategic knowledge management processes. This paper suggested that social innovation is an outstanding solution in addressing social, economic and technological issues highlighted above, because the outcome of social innovation encompasses social, economic and technological payoffs concurrently. Strategic knowledge management processes, creates superior knowledge resource that is regarded as a new and novel solution that can be embedded into products, processes and services which in turn leads to the outcome of improving the quality of people’s life, stimulate economic growth and enhance technological advances i.e. social innovation. The old paradigm of innovation that refers to technological innovation is seen inadequate and obsolete in dealing with aforesaid social, economic and technological issues because it is very much focused and centred in fulfilling private needs. Therefore, social innovation and strategic knowledge management processes must be seriously considered by the policy makers, private sectors and also public institutions given the massive contribution that it might bring forward to many nations’ core aspirations.

Addressing Social Innovation in the Malaysian Knowledge Transfer Program: Gaining a Preliminary Insight

Only recently, developed countries such as the US, UK and some wealthy European Union countries have been chanting out social innovation as their new innovation outcome strategy. This is due to the fact that, the contribution of social innovation is said to be much greater and portrayed significant benefits as compared to technological innovation per se. Social innovation gives concurrent benefits towards social, economic and technological aspects, whereas technological innovation limitedly contribute to merely fulfilling private needs. Various developed countries staggered on social innovation as their new innovation outcome strategy through knowledge transfer partnership between private, academic and community institution, whereby new superior knowledge resource is created through the processes of creation, transfer and application of knowledge within the partnership ecosystem. This new superior knowledge is then embedded into products, processes and services which in turn produced highly innovative products, processes and services that contribute towards social, economic and technological payoffs. In tandem with the above thought, this paper promotes the concept of social innovation within the context of Malaysian Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) projects by addressing it through qualitative approach of inquiry. This paper provides an insight and suggests that so far, social innovation is quite a new theme for various actors involves in Malaysian KTP projects and technological innovation is still very much focused on the KTP projects outcome. Hence, a better understanding on social innovation as a new innovation outcome strategy must be internalized by all actors involved in the Malaysian KTP projects. It is evidence that, various actors within the Malaysian KTP projects have diverse objectives, interest and priorities towards their involvement in the Malaysian KTP projects. The presence of high bureaucracy practices, business disclosures issues, innovation requirements issues, understanding and commitment issues and financial constraints are the main challenges faced by various actors involves in the Malaysian KTP projects. Thus, having recognized all the said elements above and prioritizing further with careful coordination and organization, it is hope that the Malaysian KTP projects could be successfully enshrines social innovation as a new innovation outcome strategy that perhaps may give a massive contribution towards facilitating the aspiration of Eleventh Malaysia Plan (RMK-11; 2016-2020) with the theme anchoring growth on people in lights of fulfilling Malaysia to achieve a high income country status

Strategic IT Alignment: Twenty-Five Years on

All research streams can trace their lineage to an initial paper or series of papers. The information systems (IS) field – despite its relative youthfulness – can point to examples of seminal research by Davis (1989) on technology acceptance or Brynjolfsson and Hitt (1996) on information technology (IT) payoffs as the foundation of whole new areas of research. After almost a quarter century and 3200 citations (as of October 2014), many researchers would also include work by Henderson and Venkatraman (1993) – first published in the IBM Systems Journal under the heading, ‘Strategic Alignment: Leveraging Information Technology for Transforming Organizations’ – on the list of seminal and transformative IS publications.

A model for preparing case studies of environmental technology transfer with research hypotheses and learning outcomes

The purpose of the model presented here is to develop and critique a method for preparing case studies on environmental technology transfer and commercialisation. The general research goal is to observe and learn about the development and application of new technologies to improve environmental resources. Yet attention to the intervening variables between technology and environmental payoffs is necessary to provide the learning for all actors involved in the life cycle of any environmental technology. These intervening actions include technology development and transfer processes, commercialisation of environmental products and acceptance and application of technologies by users.

Editorial—IT Investment Payoff in E-Business Environments: Research Issues

E-business environments pose unique challenges to the measurement of information technology payoff. In this paper we discuss some of those challenges as stemming from issues such as the productivity paradox, level of measurement, choice of metrics and the process of measurement. Further, we discuss those characteristics that make investments in E-business environment different from other types of IT investment. In doing so, we draw upon the contribution of the papers in this special issue of Information Systems Frontiers and conclude with our proposal for areas where further research needs to be conducted.

Complementary Investment in Change Management and IT Investment Payoff

Measuring information technology payoff continues to be a challenge for organizations. Considering the impact of complementary investments on IT payoff has been proposed by recent studies. This paper examines the impact of one type of complementary investment on IT payoff: organizational change management initiatives to support IT implementation. The paper reports a case study of Cisco Systems' IT investment in an operating systems upgrade of over 34,000 computer systems in 117 countries. The findings of the exploratory case study indicate that planned communications and change management strategies developed by their Organizational Change Management group led to the smooth implementation of the upgrade process and contributed to the payoff from the IT investment, measured in terms of client satisfaction with the process and system and reduced cost and time to upgrade all systems. The findings were supported by pre- and post-implementation surveys of clients, analysis of the change management initiatives and their impact on the process, and comparison of actual and budgeted costs for the project.

A DNA-Based Methodology for Preparing Nanocluster Circuits, Arrays, and Diagnostic Materials

The following article is an edited transcript of the presentation given by Chad A. Mirkin (Northwestern University), recipient of the 1999 Outstanding Young Investigator award, at the 1999 Materials Research Society Spring Meeting on April 6 in San Francisco. Some examples of new work have been added to the transcript.Our group has been developing a couple of projects over the past few years, both of which deal with the general area of nanotechnology. We are very excited about this work because we think it will lead to a general methodology for preparing nanostructured materials from common inorganic building blocks and readily available DNA-interconnect molecules. The intellectual payoff from this work will be a greater understanding of the collective interactions between nanoscale building blocks in the context of organized materials, while the technological payoffs range from the development of new and useful types of DNA detection strategies, to highperformance catalysts, to the realization of bioelectronic nanocircuitry.The field of nanotechnology faces three main challenges. The first is to develop a combination of tools and materials that allows us to make small structures and control the architecture of large structures on the nanometer-length scale. Of course, we must be able to do this routinely before we can really explore this field in detail. The second important challenge is to determine the chemical and physical consequences of miniaturization, which is where the real science comes into play in nanotechnology.

The realities of software technology payoffs

The realities of software technology payoffs

Managing Technological And Financial Uncertainty: A Decision Science Approach For Strategic Drilling Decisions

This paper presents a framework to improve the quality of investment decisions in petroleum. The model presented enables the decision-maker to explicitly consider two major objectives when evaluating new petroleum opportunities—financial and technological gain. We utilize MultiAttribute Utility Theory (MAUT) to consider simultaneously the technological challenges of petroleum exploration into the capital budgeting process of an exploration and production firm. The MAUT methodology presented in this work demonstrates that in some mature areas the advantages to exploration are restricted further only to financial gain, based upon the present economic potential of the basin. On the other hand, other seemingly less attractive areas, such as deep horizons in deep-water basins, may represent attractive targets for new exploration as a result of the interaction of financial gain and technological advancement. This advantage reflects the technological gain as a key factor for future operations for oil discoveries in areas with big geological potential. The model presented in this work enables the decision-maker to consider explicitly the risk and rewards associated with both financial and technological payoffs, the decision-maker's tolerance for those types of risks, and the relative importance of each of those objectives in the context of ongoing petroleum exploration decisions.

1997 Noranda Award Lecture Chemical applications of electron–matter interactions: from probing low-temperature industrial plasmas and atmospheric chemistry of "environment-safe" Freon substitutes to enhancing novel surface reactions on metals and semiconductors

Since the discovery of the electron by Sir Joseph John Thomson a century ago, the limitless applications of the electron in chemistry have been both profound and fun. We present recent results from two of our experiments that involve such applications of the electron beam in the study of new aspects of gas-phase chemical physics and of surface chemistry. In particular, our precise measurements of momentum-transfer-resolved "absolute" excitation transition probabilities of the low-lying transitions in "environment-safe" Freon substitutes using a high-energy electron beam are finding applications in the modelling of low-temperature industrial plasma and atmospheric processes. The use of low-energy electrons as a powerful in situ means to activate and to probe "novel" surface reactions, including oxide and carbide formation and CO oxidation, has been demonstrated on Cu(100) and Si(111) surfaces. These experiments further illustrate the value and the enormous potential of technological payoffs of electron-based fundamental research. Keywords: electron scattering and interactions, surface chemistry.

The Technology Payoff: How to Profit with Empowered Workers in the Information AgeThe Technology Payoff: How to Profit with Empowered Workers in the Information Age By Hoffman Gerald M., Burr Ridge, IL: Richard D. Irwin, 1994 – 280 pages, hardcover, $25.00

The article presents a review of the book “The Technology Payoff: How to Profit With Empowered Workers in the Information Age,” by Gerald M. Hoffman.

A review of: “The Technology Payoff: How to Profit with Empowered Workers in the Information Age” G. M. Hoffman, 1994 New York, Irwin ISBN 1 55623 838 X

A review of: “<i>The Technology Payoff: How to Profit with Empowered Workers in the Information Age</i>” G. M. Hoffman, 1994 New York, Irwin ISBN 1 55623 838 X

Advanced technology payoffs for future small propulsion systems

The objectives of the NASA/Army-sponsored Small Engine Component Technology (SECT) study were to identify high-payoff technologies for year-2000 small gas turbine applications and to formulate the required technology programs. The projected technologies were evaluated in terms of their influence on operating cost for the four candidate applications: rotorcraft, commuter, cruise missile, and auxiliary power unit (APU). This paper reviews the reference missions, engines, and aircraft, the year-2000 technology projections, cycle studies, advanced engine selections, and technology evaluations. Conventional simple cycles and heat-recovery cycles were both evaluated. The resulting direct operating costs (DOC) were nearly equal for simple and heat-recovery engines at low fuel prices ($l/gal). Heat-recovery engines clearly were advantageous at high fuel prices ($2/gal). System DOC improvements ranged from 6 to 11 % for the rotorcraft and the commuter application. Reductions in engine DOC for the APU ranged from 37 to 41%. Missile cost per mile was reduced by nearly 80%, relative to today's rocket-powered system, and by 50% over a near-term turbojet propulsion system. The high-payoff technologies identified include ceramic materials for the rotorcraft, commuter, and APU engines and carboncarbon (C-C) materials and boron slurry fuel for cruise missiles.

Urban and wildland fire phenomenology

Mankind's concern with unwanted fires likely predates the first practical use of combustion in unrecorded history. Yet the science of fire protection has progressed more slowly than other aspects of combustion science. This state of affairs is due partially to the complexity of the problem and partially to the fact that relatively large technological payoffs generally are not anticipated to be obtained from scientific investigations of fires. Numerous promises and problems in the use of combustion in heat and power production, in locomotion and in industrial endeavors have generated intensive scientific efforts. By way of contrast, the ever-present fire problems have attracted fluctuating interest with a relatively low average level of concern. Although periodic disasters engender beliefs that more should be done in fire science, these beliefs often are short-lived and are replaced by more immediate concerns. Rarely has a disaster or a series of disasters provoked a program of scientific study of fire phenomena. The long-term efforts that have been mounted in the field instead have been motivated mainly by detailed comparative evaluations of the magnitude of the fire problem. There is reason to believe that today's rapid technological advances intensify problems of unwanted fires. Hosts of new processes and new combustible materials are emerging and finding their way into widespread use. Too often these innovations become commonplace before their fire hazards are properly understood. Therefore there seems to be justification for more extensive development and dissemination of knowledge in fire science. The present article has been prepared with the objective of bringing together many aspects of fire science for a nonspecialized audience. It is based on an undergraduate course by the same name, given only once, at the University of California, San Diego. It focuses on basic aspects of fire as a phenomenon, presented in an elementary but unified manner. It is more restricted than other treatments of the subject in that physiological, social, economic, organizational and operational aspects are not covered. However, it is broader in that both urban and wildland fires are considered equally; most presentations are slanted toward one or the other of these classes of fire problems. I hope that this article will help to introduce nonspecialists to the scientific phenomenology of fires.

Software technology payoff: Some statistical evidence

A statistical analysis was conducted of structured programming and programmer performance, with productivity measured as lines of code per man-month. The study findings support the following productivity hypotheses: 1. (1) Increasing the complexity of programming projects tends to lower productivity. 2. (2) The use of structured programming results in increased productivity. 3. (3) Structured programming technology has the highest payoff for severely constrained complex projects, the improvement ranging from 200% to over 600% as compared to similar projects using conventional technology. The study tends to rule out the possibility that the following factors could be responsible for the higher productivity of projects using structured programming: 1. (1) the application of structured programming only to less complex, less constrained projects that would be likely to exhibit higher productivity anyway; 2. (2) the assignment of more experienced programmers, who would probably exhibit higher productivity, to projects using structured programming; and 3. (3) a “code explosion” (an increase in the number of lines of code produced due to the tabular format of structured programs).