Arenas of Development - A Space Populated by Actor-worlds,Artefacts, and Surprises

In this paper the notion 'development arena' is presented and discussed. The notion is suggested to function as a cognitive space for research. It seeks to catch and describe the relational, unstable and heterogeneous character of the development process. It should sensitize both researchers and managers towards processes of technology development that are poorly accounted for in economic and management theory. Thereby, we wish to contribute to critical discussions about the role of management and the directions it chooses for development of technologies and products. The elements and transformations involved in shaping and restructuring activities in a development arena are described and discussed based on a case study of the development of HDTV as the next generation television. It exemplifies different moments and aspects of technology development. A number of configurations of specific processes in a development arena are used to exemplify the strengths of this notion. The notion is compared with other theoretical concepts that have been proposed to explain and model the processes that structure industries, markets, and products.     

Managing for environmentally sensitive technology: networks for collaboration and learning

Environmental issues are acknowledged as problems which transcend boundaries at organizational and societal levles. By adopting the notion of product stewardship, companies are required to manage their products from conception to resurrection, while recognizing many stakeholder interests. This demands a new style of management which emphasizes collaborative structures. In the case of teh development of greener, more environmentally sensitive technology, there is a role for new collaborative networks which affect technology in either incremental or revolutionary ways. These networks can exist within the organization (intra-organizational), between organizations in the supply chain (trans-organizational) and with organizations at the domain level (supra-organizational). This paper analyzes the management, development and effect of thse networks on the greening of technology. It sets out a conceptual framework for exploring the role of collaborations in the management and development of environmentally sensitive technology. It than links the types of collaboration to empirical evidence from a detailed case study of a major internationa UK manufacturing company. The paper concludes by highlighting the implications for management and research that stem from the findings.     

科技安全：定义,内涵和外延

随着科技进步对社会发展的作用日益增强,科学技术与国家安全的关系越来越密切。本文从国家安全概念的演变出发,提出了科技安全的概念,并就这一概念的内涵和外延进行了必要的论述,还分析了容易引起对科技安全错误理解的几个问题     

Towards New Forms of Participatory Technology Development

Technical change is crucial for sustainable development. Yet, it is unclear what kind of technology policy would suit such development. In this article constructive technology assessment (CTA) is offered as a model. CTA proposes broadening design by bringing together all interested parties early on and throughout the design process. CTA activities are not automatically directed at substantive goals such as those incorporated in the notion of sustainable development. The purpose of CTA is to shape technology development processes in such a way that social aspects are symmetrically considered in the process itself. To evaluate and shape CTA processes three criteria are offered: anticipation, reflexivity and social learning. These criteria are applied to three case-studies to illustrate their usefulness.     

Strategic Planning for High-Tech Product Development

A three-questionnaire DELPHI management issues study of technology management problems identifies the top 24 technology management problems of advanced-technology product companies. These problems are ranked in order of importance. Strategic planning for technology products is found to be the dominant problem. A striking theme of the findings is the extent to which several of the twenty four issues are related to this dominant problem. Arguably, not only is strategic planning the top technology management problem of product development in high-tech companies but it is also the cornerstone problem. Dealing effectively with this top problem will require attention to aspects of several others of the management problems. This article first examines the area of strategic planning in advanced-technology product development. It then summarizes the DELPHI study's findings and explores the central role among these findings of strategic planning for technology products. The next 10 problems in importance then are examined in the context of their relationship to the top issue of strategic planning for technology products.     

Strategic Planning for High-Tech Product Development

A three-questionnaire DELPHI management issues study of technology management problems identifies the top 24 technology management problems of advanced-technology product companies. These problems are ranked in order of importance. Strategic planning for technology products is found to be the dominant problem. A striking theme of the findings is the extent to which several of the twenty four issues are related to this dominant problem. Arguably, not only is strategic planning the top technology management problem of product development in high-tech companies but it is also the cornerstone problem. Dealing effectively with this top problem will require attention to aspects of several others of the management problems. This article first examines the area of strategic planning in advanced-technology product development. It then summarizes the DELPHI study's findings and explores the central role among these findings of strategic planning for technology products. The next 10 problems in importance then are examined in the context of their relationship to the top issue of strategic planning for technology products.     

Strategic Management and the Politics of Production in the Development of Work: A Case Study in a Danish Electronic Manufacturing Plant

After presenting different conceptions of work politics in industrial sociology and sociology of organization, the authors argue that changes in work and technology, and hence the politics of work, may be better comprehended through a concept of the social constitution of the company. Subsequently, this concept is used as a theoretical and methodological basis for an in-depth case study of the processes of social change connected with the introduction of semi-autonomous working groups in a Danish electronic manufacturing plant. It is shown that the historically developed norms and culture of the organization - referred to here as the social constitution of the company - contribute to the creation of profound, ambivalent attitudes among management as well as workers towards more fundamental changes of work content and organization. Finally, the implications for strategic management for the development of work at the company level are discussed.     

Strategic Management and the Politics of Production in the Development of Work: A Case Study in a Danish Electronic Manufacturing Plant

After presenting different conceptions of work politics in industrial sociology and sociology of organization, the authors argue that changes in work and technology, and hence the politics of work, may be better comprehended through a concept of the social constitution of the company. Subsequently, this concept is used as a theoretical and methodological basis for an in-depth case study of the processes of social change connected with the introduction of semi-autonomous working groups in a Danish electronic manufacturing plant. It is shown that the historically developed norms and culture of the organization - referred to here as the social constitution of the company - contribute to the creation of profound, ambivalent attitudes among management as well as workers towards more fundamental changes of work content and organization. Finally, the implications for strategic management for the development of work at the company level are discussed.     

Technological entrepreneurship and commercialization of research results in the west and in china: comparative perspectives

The concern with commercialization of research results has been one of the most prominent issues in the reforms of the science and technology management system in the People's Republic of China. These reforms, which unfolded during the 1980s, led to the promotion of technological entrepreneurship and the establishment of a large number of 'science parks' in China. In this paper, these attempts to generate technological entrepreneurship in China are discussed in the light of four different conceptual models which emerge from the Western experience. It is concluded that a 'social agent model' might provide a useful approach for Chinese policy-making in this area, emphasizing the interaction of teh scientists as entrepreneurs with the socially facilitated development of complementary assets to form actual agents of technological change and commercialization of new high-tech products in China.     

Local niche planning and its strategic implications for implementation of energy-efficient technology

It is widely recognised that the world is facing climate challenges that necessitate transitions towards more energy-efficient buildings. A key challenge is that visions of energy efficient buildings in policies often fail to become aligned with existing local practices. In order to overcome such a gap between policy visions and their implementation in practice specific forms of strategic work is needed, according to new transformative ideas in spatial planning. The aim of this paper is to characterize the transformative capacities of this kind of strategic work at the spatial scale of the town in order to assess how such activities engage with sustainable transitions. The theoretical contribution of the paper is to compare strategic work performed in transformative forms of spatial planning with the strategic work intended in strategic niche management, which represent a change-management process for enabling transitions. The study outlines the proactive spatial planning of a Danish local authority in order to illustrate how the strategic work performed in this kind of local development project represents a special form of niche management that is able to create room for innovation and challenge existing socio-technical regimes in the building sector, but still different to typical strategic niche management processes. Based on this empirical study, the paper challenges the narrow focus on niches around technology development processes in strategic niche management by pointing towards niche planning in local development projects as another relevant context for niche management. However, as discussed in the paper, this assumes a more strategic form of planning than is often practised today, where more emphasis is put on how planning can contribute to promoting sustainable transitions.     

The death knells of mature technologies

The oscillatory behavior in the mature phase of some technologies' diffusion-related S curves are investigated, specifically with regard to the influences that other technologies can have on the oscillations. The notion of mortality indicators is raised, that is, whether such behavior is a signal that the mature technology is under attack from an emerging technology. The case of structural panels in the wood products industry is considered as an example, and an updated forecast of the substitution of oriented strand board for plywood is made. It is concluded that factors such as macroeconomic business cycles are primarily responsible for the oscillations in plywood's S-curve, although it is argued that an emerging technology can also contribute to perturbations in a mature technology's S-curve. Two possible alternative explanations for the oscillatory behavior are also discussed, a previously proposed chaos formulation, and a mathematical model based on modified Lotka-Volterra equations. This model shows that the oscillatory behavior in mature technologies' S-curves can also result from symbiotic interaction between two technologies under certain circumstances.     

Engineering solutions to software problems: Some institutional and social factors shaping change

Software is the core of information technology systems, the major factor i n system costs and the main source o f system malfunctions. The software development process is currently characterized as a labour-intmsive craft activity which has resisted automa- tion. Software engineering covers a set of approaches which are intended to address the long-standing twin problems of low productizlity in software development and the poor quality of software products. It encompasses a range of tools, methods and procedures which aim to assert a n engineering culture to displace existing ad hoc processes. Many governments have supported programmer of software engineering R&D. This article argues that the adoption of sotiware engineering is mediated and resisted by social, organizational, cultural and in~titutionat factors. These are identified and their implications discussed.     

Engineering solutions to software problems: Some institutional and social factors shaping change

Software is the core of information technology systems, the major factor i n system costs and the main source o f system malfunctions. The software development process is currently characterized as a labour-intmsive craft activity which has resisted automa- tion. Software engineering covers a set of approaches which are intended to address the long-standing twin problems of low productizlity in software development and the poor quality of software products. It encompasses a range of tools, methods and procedures which aim to assert a n engineering culture to displace existing ad hoc processes. Many governments have supported programmer of software engineering R&D. This article argues that the adoption of sotiware engineering is mediated and resisted by social, organizational, cultural and in~titutionat factors. These are identified and their implications discussed.     

外部环境、资源拼凑与“军技民用”新产品开发关系研究

基于资源拼凑理论视角,运用扎根理论对传统军工企业“军技民用”新产品开发过程进行探究,并探索外部环境、资源拼凑对“军技民用”新产品开发的作用机理。结果发现：“军技民用”新产品开发包括信息获取、技术选择、技术再造3个过程;资源拼凑是“军技民用”新产品开发的有效措施;外部环境对资源拼凑开发“军技民用”新产品过程具有调节作用。     

场景驱动的创新：内涵特征、理论逻辑与实践进路

新发展阶段，科技创新要超越传统的技术驱动，把握场景驱动的新范式、新机遇，发挥我国超大规模市场和丰富应用场景的优势，实现从创新追赶到创新引领的跨越。结合数字经济时代世界科技强国建设理论与实践，在回顾现有创新范式的基础上，系统探讨场景驱动的创新的内涵特征、理论逻辑、实践进路与典型案例，并展望未来研究和实践前沿。场景驱动的创新既是将现有技术应用于特定场景，进而创造更大价值的过程，也是基于未来趋势与愿景需求，驱动战略、技术、组织、市场需求等创新要素及情境要素整合共融，突破现有技术瓶颈，开发新技术、新产品、新渠道、新商业模式，乃至开辟新市场和新领域的过程。研究成果可为数字经济时代坚持创新引领发展，加快推进技术、场景和商业模式融合创新，以场景驱动原始性创新、关键核心技术突破、重大技术应用提供重要理论和实践启示。     

Will low technology products disappear?: The hidden innovation processes in low technology industries

Political discussions and analyses have usually been devoted to an understanding of the development of high technology products, although low technology products have dominated the industrial structure of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. The important role of low technology products in these countries raises the question of whether we can observe a technological paradox in the industrial structure of the more advanced nations, the dominant role of this sector in spite of its competitive disadvantages because of high wages. Using the Danish packaging industry as an example, a central thesis in the article is that innovation processes are important in low technology industries. They are also often an integrated part of the marketing and production functions of the firm. The innovation processes in the low technology industries are therefore too complex for traditional R&D analyses to handle. The article points out that—especially in small firms—the “practical man” and his “tacit knowledge” play a very central role in both product and process development, and that low technology, even in the future, will play a central role in the industrial structure of the OECD countries.     

Walls and bridges: towards a multi-disciplinary approach to the concept of flexibility

Writers from different academic and functional disciplines and perspectives have analyzed and prescribed the development of flexibility, primarily as a means for enabling organizations to cope with changing competitive conditions. However, there is somewhat little agreement, or even awareness, of what is meant by 'flexibility' within and across various fields (e.g. strategic management, organization theory and science and technology studies, and operations management). The degree of confusion and looseness associated with the use of the term 'flexibility' has prompted some researchers in one area (organization studies/ industrial relations) to call for a move away from the concept. The purpose of this paper is to consider various treatments of flexibility that reside within the walls of different, disconnected discourses on the notion. By applying a range of concepts which have relevance to flexibility to a reinterpretation of a study of North Sea oil technology, first conducted some years ago, it is intended to examine the bridges that may be built between different reserchers on flexibility approaching the notion from differing vantage points. Recognizing that the strategic management version of flexibility, strategic flexibility, is perhaps the least developed, and the extent to which that field is founded upon borrowing from other academic disciplines, the paper adopts a multi-disciplinary perspective to flexibility, which may contribute to the further development of strategy as an interdisciplinary field.     

Integration,Diversity, Plurality: Territorial Governance and the Reconstruction of Legitimacy in a European ‘Postnational’ State

This article deals with the European ‘legitimacy crisis’ from a neglected perspective, looking at ‘Europe’ not primarily as a set of formal (or formalisable) institutions, but rather as an emergent, policy-driven institutional construct. In this perspective, European integration may be very much seen as the outcome of the policies that are enacted in the European supra-national arena as well as of the way such policies are continuously reinterpreted, renegotiated and re-enacted in the different arenas of its multi-level polity. What is at stake in adopting a policy approach to the European legitimacy issue is, hence, a critical appraisal of development of processes of ‘institutionalisation of Europe’ that range far beyond issues of constitutional design. A crucial consequence is the need to ‘spatialise’ discourse on European reforms. The conclusion is a plea for an integration model for Europe not only constitutionally respectful of diversity, but constitutively enhancing diversity, and for an approach to policy reforms acting upon a ‘political geography of differences’.     

Technological Threat and Opportunity Assessment

One of the major challenges in the management of innovation is a practical and useful implementation of technology forecasting. This article proposes the concept of aniticpating the technological future, and that a structured approach to this concept could be an invaluable aid to technical decision-making. The notion of technological threat and opportunity assessment is presented as a useful framework for anticipating technological change. This notion is based on a dual approach.Firstly, a rapidly changing global technological landscape necessitates keeping track of technological developments. However, since we are dealing with innovation (rather than mere invention), the market implications are as important as the technological ones and have to be accounted for as such. Secondly, any organisation could be considered to be technology-based to some or other degree, implying that technologies have the ability to affect the bottom line of the organisation in some way. It is thus required to assess the business impact of such technologies, typically through a technology or innovation audit.Having assessed specific technological threats and opportunities facing the organisation, an innovation strategy needs to be developed in response to the identified threats and opportunities. Various possible offensive and/or defensive responses should be considered, culminating in the selection and implementation of an optimal strategy.     

Development of internal resources and capabilities as sources of differentiation of SME under increased global competition: A field study in Mexico

This paper draws on the resource-based view of the firm and contributes to our understanding of how the development of internal resources and capabilities in SMEs can provide sources of competitive advantages in the international arena and improve their business performance.This research found statistical evidence to suggest that business performance measured by growth rate, efficiency, productivity and shareholder's financial returns, is positively related with the development of internal capabilities such as soft technology (methods and processes that support the firm) and hard technology (externally acquired equipment, in-house development of machinery and innovation in raw materials) and a strategy of continuous improvement, innovation and change.A number of relevant contributions are proposed in this piece of research that expands our understanding of how SMEs can compete in the international context: (1) firms whose explicit business strategy emphasizes innovation and knowledge creation have been able to successfully participate in global contexts; (2) even though financial resources are important for a firm to leverage performance it was found that development of internal capabilities has been more important than limited financial resources in order to develop competitive advantages to compete with larger and multinational competitors; (3) results of this research support the proposition that from an associational economy perspective the development of a geographical region or country should be an interaction among a number of constituents namely government policies, the firms themselves and universities and research centers among others.