Evolutionary Product Differentiation And Market Creation In Turbulent Economic Environments ∗

The assumption of given consumer tastes and production, loses ground very rapidly in information-intensive economic systems, where the ability to design products and services combinations for increasingly specific needs and skills is a key variable to competition. This article presents a search-oriented conceptual framework and proposes a schematic representation of endogenous product differentiation. The evolution of users' and producers' discriminating capabilities is shown to govern their interaction leading to product definition. Patterns of sub-market creation or standardization provide a central building block to market creation analysis.     

Technological Profiles And Economic Performance In The Italian Manufacturing Sector ∗

This paper applies multivariate analysis to a rich data set on technological innovation, in order to identify typical patterns of technological change. To single out the dominant forms of technological behaviour, twelve variables have been selected approximating firms' technological sources and innovation results. Multivariate analysis was applied to identify six main clusters or dominant technological profiles. Each cluster was then interpreted on the basis of a larger set of variables concerning firms' technological and economic performance. The results confirm recent emphasis placed by scholars of technical change on variety of bchaviour in technical change and industrial organization and, more specifically, Pavitt's seminal attempt at a classification of this variety. However, our clusters are somewhat more numerous than Pavitt's, thus showing a more complex combination of technological input and output. Moreover, representative industries of each cluster are less easily recognized as a less marked sectoral characterization of clusters emerges. The latter result seems to imply that variety in technological change is also shown by the existence of different technological trajectories and strategies within the same sector. We suggest that the diffuse nature of recent technical change has given firms greater freedom of strategic choice among different technological strategies.     

Innovative Assets And Inter-Asset Linkages—A Resource-Based Approach To Innovation

The paper proposes a framework for analyzing assets and inter-asset linkages associated with technological innovation. The framework is consistent with a Penrosian view of the firm and draws on recent contributions from both the more general resource-based perspective and the innovation and technology perspective of the firm.

Three broad categories of firm assets are distinguished: tradeable resources, technical/functional capabilities and managerial competences. Assets for technological innovation are defined as resources, technical capabilities and managerial competences for developing new products and processes. A taxonomy of generic innovative assets is proposed that distinguishes four generic categories of innovative assets: Scientific research assets, process innovative assets, product innovative application assets and aesthetic design assets. Critical inter-asset linkages are analyzed in terms of inter-asset specificity. It is argued that high degrees of inter-asset specificity provide greater scope for innovation and make higher demands on the innovative assets and their coordination than low degrees of inter-asset specificity. It is moreover suggested that complementary assets not only play the role of assuring proper commercialization of given innovations; they may also play a critical role as a ‘focusing device’ for directing the innovative process.

Finally, some implications for strategy in innovative firms are indicated. Thus, the proposed inter-asset framework may help to specify the notion of core competences and provide a more differentiated perspective on innovation strategy and first-mover advantages.     

Appropriation Of Returns From Technological Assets And The Values Of Patents And R&D In Japanese High-Tech Firms †

This paper investigates the extent that technological assets contribute to the value of the firm, using the sample of 90 Japanese firms in pharmaceutical, chemical, and electrical equipment industries. We use the firm's R&D expenditures and the number of patents (in stock) as the measures of its technological assets and show that the relative usefulness of these two measures varies across industries. Particularly, Tobin's q is positively related to the technological assets most strongly in the pharmaceutical industry. It is also most sensitive in this industry to the level of patent stock, coinciding with the view that drug patents are more effective than other patents as a means of appropriating returns from innovation. The communications equipment industry is also characterized by its q's dependence on patent stock. In addition, this industry's q is particularly sensitive to the level of net R&D investment in the most recent year, presumably because of the rapid technological progress in this industry.     

Demographic Factors,Corporate Social Responsibility,Employee Engagement and Corporate Reputation： A Perspective From Hotel Industries In Indonesia

Hotel as a hospitality industry should manage its reputation as a valuable asset for the business continuity. The hotel＇s reputation is built up by the employee＇s perceptions of treatment and sense of belonging and engagement of the hotel. The purpose of this study is to analyze employee＇s perceptions of corporate social responsibility （CSR） activities, employee engagement, and corporate reputation that have been undertaken by the hotel industry in Jakarta and how demographic factors influence these perceptions. The structure equation model （SEM） was implemented to find each variable influence. Samples were taken from hotel employees who work in five-star hotels in Jakarta with 221 respondents （response rate 78.9%）. The results indicate that CSR activities significantly influence employee engagement and corporate reputation, and at the same time, employee engagement significantly influences cor0orate reputation.     

From Less or No Waste Manufacturing and Cleaner Production to Recycle Economy —— A Review on the Theoretical Research and Practice of Ecological Enterprises in China

Based on systematical research on the conception evolution of ecological enterprise, theoretical and practical development of constructing ecological enterprise, the paper makes conclusion that ecological enterprises are developing into a new stage in which governments are launching some pilot projects about constructing ecological enterprises. And after that, governments should make policies to spread construction of ecological enterprises, to construct ecological enterprises in legal system and conforming to the standard as soon as possibly. 5o that, the basic units of ecological economy that fit to the conditions of China will be set up.     

Government Deficits,Output and Inflation In A Monetary Model Of The Balance Of Payments: The Case Of Haiti, 1970–83

A quarterly macro-econometric model of the Haitian economy is estimated over the period 1970–1983. The model is based on the Monetary Approach to the Balance of Payments, but differs from the standard formulation in that it takes explicitly into account autonomous components in the balance of payments. Simulation results show that an increase in government spending has only a weak effect on real output but a rather powerful impact on the trade balance and the net external assets position of the banking system. [431]