Integration planning for technology intensive acquisitions

Rapid technological change, growing technological complexity and shortening product life cycles increasingly force companies to source technologies externally. One means of building up competencies and fostering innovation based on external resources such as knowledge is through the acquisition of technology-based companies. However as literature and practice have shown, technologically motivated and intensive acquisitions are highly vulnerable to failure. One of the main reasons for this value destruction lies in the miscarried and inappropriate integration of the technology-based company after the acquisition.
Based on eight in-depth case studies on technology intensive acquisitions in multi-national technology-based companies this paper aims to identify the main causes of failure in internalizing external knowledge during the integration of technology intensive acquisitions. It was derived that a lack of integrative decision-making, of systemic processes and of a holistic change of both companies during the integration hinders successful knowledge sourcing through acquisitions. Based on these findings, a concept for integration planning which is tailored towards the specific characteristics of technology intensive acquisitions is proposed. This concept is embedded in the acquisition process and encompasses the development of an appropriate integration strategy and the determination, assessment and planning of the required integration projects thus fostering successful knowledge sourcing.     

Production capacity planning for multiple products under uncertain demand conditions

This study chiefly deliberates issues regarding capacity allocation for multiple products. When producing multiple products, a manufacturer needs to allocate a favorable production quantity to each product under conditions of uncertain demand since the excess or shortage of a product will in turn cause the loss of profit. The proposed model and the corresponding algorithm in this study are used to find out the optimal capacity allocation under the given probability density function of specific demands and to effectively allocate limited capacity to multiple products with an aim to maximize profit. Finally, the numerical example suggests that the marginal profit, the inventory holding cost, the shortage cost, the loss of excess production, and market demands should be considered in an effort to discover an optimal capacity allocation with regard to multiple products.     

The planning of technology education for South African schools

One of the recommendations made in the discussion document,A Curriculum Model for Education in South Africa (CUMSA), which was released by the Department of National Education in 1991, is that technology education should be offered for the first nine years of pre-tertiary education as a compulsory subject and for the last three years as an optional subject. This paper aims to locate technology education in the context of the sociopolitical and economic background to education in South Africa and to assess to what extent it meets the emerging aims and needs of education. Further aims are to propose a rationale for the teaching of technology at school level in South Africa, to suggest possible broad aims for the teaching of technology, to outline the nature and character of technology education relevant to the South African situation and to propose a possible methodology for technology education in South Africa. The conclusion is reached that technology education can make an important contribution to South African education if the so-called technological process is the major emphasis as this can be transformative and promote quality education.Dr Piet Ankiewicz (M Sc, D Ed, HED) is a Senior Lecturer in Education at the Rand Afrikaans University. He is responsible for teacher education programmes in the field of Science, and for an M Ed course in technology education. His areas of research include education policy and curriculum development for technology education.     

Operational model for planning the harvest and distribution of perishable agricultural products

This paper presents an operational model that generates short term planning decisions for the fresh produce industry. In particular, the application developed helps the grower to maximize his revenues by making production and distribution decisions during the harvest season. The main motivation for this model comes from the fact that the profitability of producers is highly dependent on the handling of short term planning in the harvest season. Some of the factors affecting profitability include the management of labor costs, the preservation of the value of perishable crops, and the use transportation modes that provide the best trade-off between time (quality of products) and cost. These issues are interrelated, and their judicious management is fundamental for attaining good financial results. The results of the proposed planning model indicate that significant savings can be obtained by managing the trade-off of the freshness at the delivery of the product with the added labor and transportation cost at the grower's side. Moreover the results also show that dynamic, information based, management practices might be preferred over traditional practices based in fixed labor allocation and distribution practices.     

Strategic planning in a turbulent environment: evidence from the oil majors

The long‐running debate between the ‘rational design’ and ‘emergent process’ schools of strategy formation has involved caricatures of firms' strategic planning processes, but little empirical evidence of whether and how companies plan. Despite the presumption that environmental turbulence renders conventional strategic planning all but impossible, the evidence from the corporate sector suggests that reports of the demise of strategic planning are greatly exaggerated. The goal of this paper is to fill this empirical gap by describing the characteristics of the strategic planning systems of multinational, multibusiness companies faced with volatile, unpredictable business environments. In‐depth case studies of the planning systems of eight of the world's largest oil companies identified fundamental changes in the nature and role of strategic planning since the end of the 1970s. The findings point to a possible reconciliation of ‘design’ and ‘process’ approaches to strategy formulation. The study pointed to a process of planned emergence in which strategic planning systems provided a mechanism for coordinating decentralized strategy formulation within a structure of demanding performance targets and clear corporate guidelines. The study shows that these planning systems fostered adaptation and responsiveness, but showed limited innovation and analytical sophistication. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

石油工程技术服务公司服务产品化初步研究

美国IBM公司正在向"服务产品化"转型.石油工程技术服务公司也正在走向服务产品化,以应对石油勘探与生产对石油工程技术服务提出的短服务周期、高可靠性、高稳定性、高质量、高性价比等要求.服务产品化的核心是提高服务、硬件、软件、管理的复用性.在服务产品化的基础上,结合可度量的、一定程度的客户化(个性化),石油工程技术服务公司可以在有效满足石油勘探与生产要求的同时,使本公司的效率最大化、利润最大化.石油工程技术服务公司实现服务产品化的途径包括:(1)实施服务产品化战略;(2)制定服务产品化开发规划;(3)研发、设计和生产服务产品;(4)推介与宣传服务产品.服务产品化的方法包括标准化、模块化、组合化和系列化.服务产品化是中国的石油工程技术服务公司发展的一个方向,需要关注、加强研究、确定实施方案并积极实践.     

提高竞争力的战略选择

背景链接:广东省粤电集团有限公司是广东省特大型的发电企业,2005年底装机容量1171万千瓦,年发电量643.95亿千瓦时。至2006年5月底,粤电集团资产总量超过1000亿元人民币,约占广东省属国有企业资产总量的28.7%,约占全省省属国有企业销售收入总量的14.9%,约占全省省属国有企业净利润总量的32.5%。粤电集团概况广东省粤电集团有限公司是电力体制改革的产物。根据“厂网分开”的要求,2001年8月,原广东省电力集团公司分立为广电集团有限公司和粤电资产经营有限公司,分别承继电网和发电业务。2003年5月,粤电资产经营有限公司变更为广东省粤电集团…     

Strategic arguments for semiconductor trade policy

If foreign firms supplying inputs to domestic user industries enjoy significant monopoly power, domestic subsidies intended to reduce monopoly rent extraction may be desirable. This argument is evaluated in the case of U.S. production of 1-megabit DRAM chips. I develop a two-stage model of a high-technology industry in which both learning and scale economies, and capacity constraints are important. My simulations display more realistic outcomes than earlier attempts to model semiconductor production. Precise specification of learning economies is crucial; consumer welfare losses due to successful cartelization are potentially large, greatly exceeding the monopoly rents created.     

试谈电力企业战略预算管理

战略预算是以战略目标为编制起点,针对战略行动计划而编制的确保战略行动开展所需资源的预算,是执行企业战略的有效手段.随着以厂网分开、竞价上网为核心的电力体制改革的推进和电力行业市场化进程的加快,电力企业面临全新的外部环境和激烈的市场挑战,战略在电力企业经营管理中的地位越来越重要.为了确保战略的有效实施,电力企业要改变旧有的预算管理模式,重视战略预算的编制和执行,建立完善的战略预算保障体系,以确保从战略到预算的有效衔接.     

公司战略计划及其成功要素

战略计划是一套把组织战略、目标管理和分析方法三者相结合,运用于公司战略形成和贯彻之中的先进管理方法。我国石油企业战略计划的引手,必将加速公司改制及管理现代化进程。战略计划体系包括公司战略,战略计划结构和战略计划程序等三方面的内容,公司战略计划的形成是一项不断实践和挑战组织自身的渐进完善过程。有效战略计划的建立与形成一般需要以下条件和因素：（1)战略计划切合组织实际;(2)战略计划动态更新;(3)战略目标具有挑战性,并可能实现;(4)战略目标具体并可衡量;(5)全方位的组织沟通计划;(6）激励团队实施组织战略;(7)胜任、团结和民主的管理层;(8)行之有效的程序。     

中国电力市场结构的战略选择

本文首先回顾了世界性的电力改革趋势和中国的电力改革情况,并从理论上分析了电力行业结构的四个模型的基本特征,这四个模型分别是垂直垄断模型;单一购买者模型;批发竞争模型和零售竞争模型。然后分析了电力行业重组的国际经验,在国际经验比较的基础上,认为我国下一个阶段的电力市场结构改革最好的选择将是批发竞争模型。     

Learning curves for new products

A recent article addressing the extrapolation of learning curves fails to point out that the resulting learning curve is not, in general, a straight line but sharply alters its shape at high cumulative outputs.     

把战略管理放在战略的位置上--中油集团第二届企业战略管理学习研讨班侧记

企业运行的复杂性,企业运行环境的易变性,使战略管理越来越成为市场经济条件下企业管理的核心,成为决定企业生存与发展的关键。江泽民总书记明确指出:企业要加强发展战略的管理,要根据不断变化的市场要求,制定和实施明确的发展战略、技术创新战略和市场营销战略。国家经贸委李荣融主任在一次会议上也深刻地指出:“战略决策是企业发展中最大的事,一个决策失误就把一个大企业拖入泥潭的教训是很多的,因此大公司和企业集团必须十分重视战略决策管理”。据统计,目前世界上有85％的破产企业是因为决策失误造成的。事实上,在中国向市场经济转轨的过程中,一些企业拍脑袋随意决策导致失败的例子不胜枚举。还