Technical information,technical assistance,and technology transfer—the need for a synthesis*

In the literature and often in practice, technical assistance, technical information, and technology transfer are treated as three separate activities. This paper discusses the relationship between them. Illustrations are given of the inability of overspecialized systems to effectively serve a broad range of needs. Some suggestions are made for research that is needed in this area. to help improve the design of systems and institutions and the training of people to carry out these functions. Some experimental ideas are presented which can help to resolve some of the policy and design problems in this area.     

环保型沥青路面再生工厂布局优化

为解决传统沥青厂拌热再生过程中存在的污染问题,提升相关企业经济和环保效益,以环保型沥青路面再生工厂为研究对象,提出了一套工厂车间布局优化方法.首先,汇总了物料装卸点在各作业单元内部和整体车间范围内的表示方法.然后,以非物流关系密切程度最大、物料搬运成本最小和碳排放量最少为优化目标,建立了车间布局数学模型.最后,采用粒子...     

The role of incubators in overcoming technology ventures’ resource gaps at different development stages

Although incubation is considered important for overcoming resource challenges in technology ventures’ early life, there is a doubt about its relevance in later development stages, when the initial idea is commercialized and the venture tries to grow. Building on the resource‐based view of the firm and on a stage‐based perspective of venture development, this study argues that the resource gaps facing technology ventures differ between different development stages, and that the support provided by incubators therefore needs to be adapted to the venture’s development stage. We study the interaction between the iMinds incubator, located in Flanders, and eight technology ventures in its portfolio. In the Conception and Development stage, we observe resource gaps in terms of technical knowledge and access to end users, which the incubator addresses by offering direct technical support and access to its research and end user network. The subsequent Commercialization stage is dominated by business knowledge gaps, which the incubator amends through direct coaching and trainings. In the Growth stage, ventures typically lack the necessary team members, market players, and follow‐up financiers to grow their firm. The incubator addresses these resource gaps by providing access to its network. In all development stages, the incubator’s internal knowledge base, networking capabilities, and matching focus/selectivity are crucial in order for ventures to benefit from the incubator’s support. Our study suggests that these underlying capabilities can either be developed organically, or through the merger of different research institutes. Moreover, it points to the importance of local embeddedness for the geographical extension of these capabilities. These findings contribute to the literature on incubation and on venture development. They have important implications for policy makers, incubation managers, and entrepreneurs seeking incubation support.     

Design of the optimal feeding policy in an assembly system

This paper describes an innovative and integrated approach to component management optimization within a production/assembly system. In a mixed-models assembly process the handling of parts and components for each work station represents a substantial variable that can greatly affect job duration and efficiency. This paper is strictly related to Assembly to Order/Manufacturing to Order (ATO and MTO) systems, where lead time has to be very short and flexibility is at its maximum level. In Assembly to Order (ATO) or Make to Order (MTO) systems, the production is increasingly getting more customized in response to the demand, thanks to the progresses reached in both manufacturing and information technologies. It is becoming increasingly possible to assemble or make products specifically in response to the requests of either end customers or retailers. As a consequence of such customization, the design of the whole system must take into direct account several elements: parts warehouses location, feeding policies and feeding systems. In some cases the collection of parts and components required picking activities, in other the movement of entire units load.In several instances experts have analyzed the problems about material centralization/decentralization, storage policies and assembly feeding problem in different and independent ways, while the problem needs an integrated approach. While many researches regarding components allocation problems in ATO and MTO systems, did not consider feeding policies, material picking, packing activities and vehicles optimization, this paper cover focuses on filling such gap using an integrated framework that considers both aspects of the problem: the centralization/decentralization of components in order to minimize the total storage costs and the right feeding policies.Feeding problems in assembly lines are some of the most important aspects to consider during the analysis and design of an assembly system, to allow the maximization of efficiency and flexibility. To reach such goals, a multi-factorial analysis has been carried out during this experiment and will validate the introduced framework. An industrial application of the introduced framework is illustrated to explain its real significant production implication.     

A study of communication behaviour in an R & D laboratory

There is still much uncertainty about the determinants of technical communication flow in UK R & D laboratories and even more uncertainty about the causal link between communication behaviour and performance. Hence it is not clear what managerial action should be taken to improve technical communication flow and what effect such action would have on research productivity. In this study the main factors influencing communication flow are identified and the role of basic human characteristics in determining both communication behaviour and performance are studied and discussed.     

企业财务风险规避的措施和方法

本文通过对企业财务风险成因分析,得出企业财务风险的防范性措施、方法以及在不同财务活动阶段规避的技术性方法,以期降低风险、提高效益。     

基于改进遗传算法的沥青路面再生工厂布局优化

为了帮助沥青路面再生工厂获得更好的经济与环境效益,提出一种基于改进遗传算法的布局优化方法。首先,确定再生工厂布局的约束条件,并以非物流相关性最大、物料搬运成本最低和碳排放最少作为优化目标建立工厂布局优化模型;其次,基于初始布局方案,采用实数分层编码及排列组合方法对各功能区的初始位置进行交叉互换,并根据约束条件进行筛选,得到合适的初始种群;再次,针对横坐标层与纵坐标层进行算数交叉,变异时坐标层采用多点变异,放置方式层采用单点变异,并引入模拟退火算子;最后,以某再生工厂为例对改进算法进行验证。结果表明：改进后的遗传算法迭代次数较传统遗传算法减少34次,目标函数值较文献中遗传算法减小0.009 9,提高了算法的寻优能力;优化后的方案每日物料搬运成本减少14 468.85元,碳排放减少30.59 kg,验证了方法的有效性。研究中所提出的优化方法效率较高,可为沥青路面再生工厂的建设提供技术支持。     

Determinants of Technical Success in Product Development When Innovative Radicalness Is Considered

Mushin Lee and Dohyeong Na present their analysis of data obtained from Korean project leaders in order to investigate the relationships between various factors and technical project success. When the radicalness of technical innovativeness is employed as a contingency variable, the result shows that existence of a champion is critical if the innovativeness is radical. Top management's support, R&D, production, and financial capabilities, and information acquisition during the development stage are related to the success, but there is no indication that the radicalness heavily affects the relationships. Information acquisition during the idea generation stage is not important for both radical and incremental improvement projects.     

Analysis of a general Markovian two-stage continuous-flow production system with a finite buffer

Fluid flow models are used in the performance evaluation of production, computer, and telecommunication systems. In order to develop a methodology to analyze general Markovian continuous material flow production systems with two processing stages with an intermediate finite buffer, a general single-buffer fluid flow system is modelled as a continuous time, continuous-discrete state space stochastic process and the steady-state distribution is determined. Various performance measures such as the production rate and the expected buffer level are determined from the steady-state distributions. The flexibility of this methodology allows analysis of a wide range of models by specifying only the transition rates and the flow rates associated with the discrete states of each stage. Therefore, the method is proposed as a tool for performance evaluation of general Markovian continuous-flow systems with a finite buffer. The solution methodology is illustrated by analyzing a production system where each machine has multiple up and down states associated with their quality characteristics.     

施工项目管理关键因素实证分析

针对施工项目管理目标和关键影响因素,以问卷调查为手段,从承包方和业主方不同的视角进行了实证分析。研究结果表明,在对施工项目管理的目标和工程质量、工期、成本控制关键影响因素的认识方面,承包方和业主方存在差异。本文对分析施工项目管理的具体问题,进而采取有针对性的措施以改进项目管理具有重要的参加价值。     

Stock Market Response to Strategic Technical Alliances between Drug and Biotechnology Firms

Traditionally, firms in the pharmaceutical industry have depended on their internal research and development (R&D) capabilities to maintain a productive new product pipeline. During the past two decades, however, the industry's pipeline productivity has decreased compromising the industry's ability to meet shareholder expectations. As a strategy to invigorate pipeline productivity, and impact financial performance, pharmaceutical firms have increased utilization of strategic technical alliances. Earlier research shows that the degree of financial impact resulting from strategic technical alliances varies in terms of partnership type and differences between client and partner firms. This research studies strategic technical alliances between pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms from 1985 to 2012. Event study methodology is used to determine the relationship between stock market response to alliance announcements, measured as cumulative abnormal returns, and factors representing the absorptive capacity of the pharmaceutical firms in the sample. Then, variables indicating the development stage of the drugs included in the alliances are added to assess the effect of project risk on the market response. The study finds that, in general, the stock market responds in a positive manner to strategic technical alliances in the pharmaceutical industry reflecting the market's immediate response, and expectations of future firm value, resulting from the alliance. The degree of the market's response varies in terms of the client firms’ absorptive capacity with new product introductions being the strongest driver. The market responds similarly to alliances across different drug development stages, however, a stronger response is observed in preclinical and extension stages.     

A double‐edged sword?: a critical evaluation of the mobile phone in creating work–life balance

This article provides a critical review of the literature on the impact of mobile telephony on work–life balance (WLB). In particular, it focuses on their theoretical frameworks, the nature of the research questions, the methodological choices adopted and the research findings of empirical articles published internationally between 1998 and 2014. This research field is at the crossroads of two theoretical and empirical traditions, and can be characterised by diversity in terms of conceptualisation and operationalisation of measures, which burdens comparisons between findings. Four problems arise with the literature: (1) the consistency and transparency of the theoretical bases they employ; (2) a tendency to technological determinism and to diminish the impact of human choices; (3) difficulty with handling the complexity of factors; and (4) issues with finding sampling strategies that do not restrict the ability to generalise and/or result in omission of specific populations.     

对外直接投资、“走出去”企业与税收扶持

通过实证分析证明,我国正处于投资发展周期论的第二阶段后期向第三阶段初期发展的转型期。提出在这个探索性转型过渡阶段和面对当前全球性的金融危机双重背景下急需我国政府出台的相关政策、措施,大力扶持我国＂走出去＂企业的观点。在借鉴国际经验的基础上,剖析我国目前对外投资企业税收扶持体系存在的问题,并就我国政府应如何通过税收扶持体系有效的支持＂走出去＂企业展开具体论述。     

油气长输管线的安全性,可靠性和风险技术的研究策略

分析了开展油气长输管线安全性、可靠性和风险分析研究的重要性，说明了管线可靠性研究必须从防腐层开始，提出了管道本体安全性问题的三个研究领域：剩余强度、剩余寿命和风险分析技术。由于需要广泛的考虑众多主客观不确定性因素，还提出了模糊风险分析的研究思想。最后，为全面解决管线可靠性问题提出了需要进一步研究的方向。     

“To Own or Not to Own?” A Study on the Determinants and Consequences of Alternative Intellectual Property Rights Arrangements in Crowdsourcing for Innovation Contests

Firms are increasingly engaging in crowdsourcing for innovation to access new knowledge beyond their boundaries; however, scholars are no closer to understanding what guides seeker firms in deciding the level at which to acquire rights from solvers and the effect that this decision has on the performance of crowdsourcing contests. Integrating property rights theory and the problem‐solving perspective while leveraging exploratory interviews and observations, we build a theoretical framework to examine how specific attributes of the technical problem broadcast by firms affect the seekers’ choice between alternative intellectual property rights (IPR) arrangements that call for acquiring or licensing‐in IPR from external solvers (i.e., with high and low degrees of ownership, respectively). Each technical problem differs in the knowledge required to be solved as well as in the stage of development of the innovation process and seeker firms pay great attention to such characteristics when deciding about the IPR arrangement they choose for their contests. In addition, we analyze how this choice between acquiring and licensing‐in IPR, in turn, influences the performance of the contest. We empirically test our hypotheses analyzing a unique dataset of 729 challenges broadcast on the InnoCentive platform from 2010 to 2016. Our results indicate that challenges related to technical problems in later stages of the innovation process are positively related to the seekers’ preference toward IPR arrangements with a high level of ownership, while technical problems involving a higher number of knowledge domains are not. Moreover, we found that IPR arrangements with a high level of ownership negatively affect solvers’ participation and that IPR arrangement play a mediating role between the attributes of the technical problem and the solvers’ self‐selection process. Our paper contributes to the open innovation and crowdsourcing literature and provides practical implications for both managers and contest organizers.     

对煤炭企业物资供应管理信息化建设的思考

为了提高煤炭企业物资供应管理水平,构建科学、规范、高效的物资供应管理信息化体系,文章分析了当前煤炭物资供应管理信息化建设面临的主要问题,并提出相应对策。     

Some people aspects of knowledge engineering

if an Expert System is to work effectively it must be fitted to its users' needs and preferences, not to its creators' convenience.
The elegance of the programming language or the brilliance of the logical mechanisms will be wasted if the system is difficult to use or irrelevant in action.
The capture of the knowledge when setting up an Expert System, and the use of a working system are both areas which involve Man/Machine interaction. This paper will draw attention to developments in the modelling of Human Learning Styles and Problem Solving Processes which could contribute to Knowledge Engineering methods.
Models drawn from such disciplines can help the designers of Expert Systems to take account of human requirements as well as technical and logical factors. In addition, methods exist whereby the specific needs and objectives of potential users can be incorporated at the design stage, rather than as a result of criticism of systems already provided.
Examples will be given of the contribution these methods are making to the progress of several Man/Machine Interface projects that the author is currently engaged upon.     

Cost analysis of material handling systems in open pit mining: Case study on an iron ore prefeasibility study

Selection of the optimal material handling system is one of the most significant decisions to be made in mineral industries. Rapid economic changes and technological improvements make cost analysis a complicated process. On the other hand, current low commodity prices have put a greater emphasis on cost reduction and process optimization to ensure viability of mining projects. In this article, two material handling systems, a semimobile in-pit crusher and conveyor systems (IPCC) and traditional truck and shovel systems (TS), are compared through the cost analysis of an iron ore prefeasibility study. Furthermore, robustness of the design parameters is evaluated through a sensitivity analysis to determine the relative importance of project parameters. Finally, risks associated with uncertain design parameters affecting cost analysis are assessed through Monte Carlo simulation. The results indicated that IPCC is more cost effective than TS.     

Key Factors Affecting Customer Evaluation of Discontinuous New Products

Common sense, as well as plenty of research, tells us that customer feedback can play an important role in successful product development efforts. By understanding the key factors that affect customers' evaluations of a new product, a project team improves its chances of making the right decisions throughout the design and development effort. However, customers typically lack a useful frame of reference for evaluating discontinuous, or really new products. In all likelihood, the key factors that affect customers' evaluations of radically new products differ from those for incremental innovations. Robert Veryzer describes the results of a study that examines the customer research efforts and findings of seven firms involved in the development of discontinuous new products. This study has the following objectives: gaining insight into the customer research inputs such companies use during the development of discontinuous new products, and exploring the critical factors that influence customers' evaluations of these really new products. The subjects in this study conducted relatively little formal customer research during the early stages of the NPD projects. The methods used for obtaining customer input during the concept generation and exploration stages were primarily qualitative. Although the companies in the study still did not focus consistently on customer issues during the technical development and design stage, the less discontinuous projects did use such traditional quantitative techniques as concept tests, clinics, and experiments during this phase of NPD. Throughout the projects in this study, the real opportunities for obtaining customer input came during the prototype testing and commercialization phases of the NPD projects. Several key factors appeared to influence customer evaluations of the products that were being developed by the NPD teams in this study. Lack of familiarity was manifested in customers' resistance to the new products in the study. Similarly, unfamiliarity with these new products often seemed to lead customers to focus on product attributes that development team members viewed as relatively unimportant. Other factors that affected customer evaluation of the products in this study included customer uncertainty about the benefits and risks associated with the product, customers' ability to understand how the product operates, perceptions of the product's safety, and product aesthetics.     

数字化交付在煤化工项目中的实施及优化探讨

为探索更优的数字化交付技术架构及实施路线,提高数字化交付在煤化工项目中的应用水准,以某公司数字化交付项目为研究对象,详细梳理了三维建模、管道仪表流程图绘制、结构化文档及非结构化数据收集等方面在航天炉气化岛数字化交付项目中的实施情况,对实施方案及重点内容进行讨论,对比分析了各平台之间的优劣。结合数字化交付领域的现状,对当前煤化工产业数字化交付项目中存在的问题进行了探讨,从政策、业主、工程公司及软件平台商等方面给出了解决方法和优化建议。结果表明:1）采用PDMS,SP P&ID及其他专业技术软件支持下的AVEVA NET数字化交付平台体系架构合理,并且能够顺利完成交付实施;2）合理的实施步骤、更高的重视程度、明确的政策规范以及有效的信息传递方式可以明显改善数字化交付项目的优化效果,目前应着重提升工程公司的三维建模能力及软件商的技术水平。探讨结果不仅可以为其他企业的数字化交付工作提供借鉴,还可为实现智能工厂提供了建设思路和数据支持。