Strategic planning for regulated companies

The need for strategic planning by firms to achieve an alignment with their environment is widely recognized. Various studies have analysed the structures and strategic processes utilized by firms in their attempts to establish domains and attain goals. Yet the problems faced by firms in regulated environments by and large have been ignored. This paper examines the critical differences found in regulated environments that affect strategic planning. Propositions which can serve as the basis of future empirical research are offered and a theoretical framework in which to view the regulated industry situation is developed.     

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.     

Strategic planning and individual temporal orientation

This paper examines the role of future orientation of organizational members in the strategic planning enterprise. It explores, conceptually and empirically, the relationship between the future time perspectives of individuals and their preferences for short and long planning horizons. Research with 207 corporate executives confirms the relevance of this individual future orientation. Implications of the temporal perspective for research and managerial practice are discussed.     

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.     

Strategic planning and strategic management in Australian organisations

Many planning and organisational aspects of 48 Australian organisations were examined. The empirical information tends to suggest that the process of adopting the strategic management concept is well advanced in some Australian organisations. Irrespective of size and ownership status, some organisations have already adopted strategic planning, and the process of evolution is continuing towards the final stage of strategic management. The increasing environmental volatility and growing international exposure of organisations in Australia and elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region will increase the pressure to implement international management systems, including strategic management.     

A systems approach for developing high technology products

Product development for high technology products is comprised of the three stages of assessment, development, and execution. In addition, all three stages consist of information and decisions involving technological, product, and market dimensions. This article presents a systematic approach for integrating these three dimensions by which a go—no-go decision can be reached prior to the expenditure of large amounts of funds for research and development.     

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.     

Strategic planning as a complex and enabling managerial tool

Research summary : The role of the strategic planning process in the ongoing generation of innovative knowledge is vital to the survival and growth of a firm, especially when technologies and market conditions are rapidly changing. We analyze data from a survey of firms in high‐technology industries to determine whether it is possible to break the commonly experienced trade‐off between strategic planning's positive influence on firm profitability and its negative influence on firm innovation. We draw on Adler and Borys's (1996) conceptualization of bureaucratic process types to identify several firm characteristics that have the potential to affect whether employees perceive strategic planning as enabling to their creative endeavors. We find that contingent effects between strategic planning and the identified firm characteristics exist that can break the trade‐off. Managerial summary : A tension exits in the literature about whether strategic planning hurts or helps innovative activity. Our analysis of data from 227 business units in high‐technology industries indicates that strategic planning is a complex process that can be perceived by employees as enabling or coercive. Our results confirm that strategic planning negatively affects innovative activity but positively affects profitability for average firms. We find, however, controllable firm characteristics—risk‐taking and knowledge‐based reward systems—affect the trade‐off. Given the higher levels of risk‐taking and knowledge‐based reward systems, firms can use strategic planning to achieve both high returns on investment and a high level of innovative activity. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

纸制品包装整饰技术的应用

目前，我国纸制品包装整饰技术无论在设备方面，还是在材料方面都在突飞猛进地发展。设备全自动化、联机生产线、印制时的涂、覆、压痕、分切一体化，大大简化了包装印刷的生产工艺，降低了生产成本，克服了环境污染，避免了脱膜、脱层等问题的发生。纸制品包装表面整饰生产工艺已经被消费者所接受，整饰的对象不断扩大，产品档次也在不断得到提高，产品使用寿命延长，     

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: valuing and managing portfolios of real options

This article presents a value-based strategic planning framework suitable for valuing and managing portfolios of corporate real options. The proposed framework combines insights from strategic management theory with novel quantitative valuation tools from finance. Strategic planning is viewed as a process of actively developing and managing portfolios of corporate real options in the context of competitive interactions. As such, the expanded valuation framework recognizes that future growth opportunity value deriving from the firm's resources and capabilities must explicitly account for uncertainty, adaptability, and competitive responsiveness. The resulting expanded valuation framework is able to capture the value of the adaptive resources and capabilities that enable a firm to adapt and re-deploy assets, develop and exploit synergies, and gain competitive advantage via time-to-market and first- or second-mover advantages. We show how two basic metrics in this value-based framework, current profitability of assets in place and future growth option value, can be obtained from financial market data and how they can be used in active portfolio planning.     

Identifying technology trends for R&D planning using TRIZ and text mining

The current pace of technological development has forced many companies to invest significant capital and resources in research and development (R&D) activities. A systematic and efficient method of identifying technology trends and their evolutionary potentials can help companies guide their R&D planning and wisely allocate their R&D resources. This study proposes a framework combining the evolutionary trends developed by the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving, or Teoriya Reshniya Izobretatelskikh Zadatch (TRIZ) in Russian, with the visualization technique of text mining to systematically identify technology trends from patent documents. As technological information in patent documents is stored almost entirely in text format, the text mining method allows R&D personnel to efficiently identify technology trends and effectively conduct R&D planning. Utilizing text mining method on patents of magnetic random access memory (MRAM) systems and the underlying principles of TRIZ evolutionary trends, this study shows that MRAM includes 10 important technology trends. These trends have almost reached the evolutionary limit phase defined by TRIZ, which means that MRAM is fast becoming a mature technology. Therefore, for businesses that intend to acquire MRAM technology they do not possess, a wise R&D plan may be licensing the technology, buying the technology from others, or participating in a joint venture rather than using in‐house R&D.     

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.