Review, analysis and classification of the literature on QFD—Types of research, difficulties and benefits

This paper presents a review, analysis, classification and codification of the literature on quality function deployment (QFD) produced between 2002 and 2006. The publications were classified into two main groups: conceptual research and empirical research. The studies focused more on quality matrix problem solving and the main difficulties are reported. However, few studies have been done on solutions for other important aspects. Further research is needed on how to reduce the difficulties of using QFD.     

Understanding the alliance data

A considerable body of research utilizes large alliance databases (e.g., SDC, MERIT‐CATI, CORE, RECAP, and BIOSCAN) to study interorganizational relationships. Understanding the strengths and limitations of these databases is crucial for informing database selection and research design. In this study I conduct an analysis of five prominent alliance databases. Focusing on technology alliances (those formed for the purposes of joint research or cross‐technology transfer), I examine the databases' consistency of coverage and completeness, and assess whether different databases yield the same patterns in sectoral composition, temporal trends, and geographic patterns in alliance activity. I also replicate three previously published alliance studies to assess the impact of data limitations on research outcomes. The results suggest that the databases only report a fraction of formally announced alliances, which could have detrimental consequences for some types of research. However, the databases exhibit strong symmetries in patterns of sectoral composition, alliance activity over time, and geographic participation. Furthermore, the replications of previous studies yielded results that were highly similar to those obtained in the original studies. This study thus provides some reassurance that even though the databases only capture a sample of alliance activity, they may yield reliable results for many—if not all—research purposes. This information should help researchers make better‐informed decisions about their choice of database and research design. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interventions in agriculture for nutrition outcomes: A systematic review focused on South Asia

Research on the potential impact of interventions in agriculture on nutrition outcomes is of particular relevance in South Asia where agriculture-related activities are a major source of livelihoods for large sections of society and where the population suffers from one of the highest global burdens of malnutrition in all its forms. This systematic review aims to assess the strength of the available evidence that agricultural interventions have an impact on intermediate and final nutrition outcomes in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan. We searched five literature databases and reference lists of previous systematic reviews to identify peer-reviewed studies published between 2012 and 2017, detailing impacts of household- or farm-level agricultural interventions on nutritional outcomes in South Asia. We identified six intervention studies (reported in nine papers) conducted in Bangladesh (two studies), India (two studies) and Nepal (two studies). The majority of studies examined the impact of provision of seed, plants and training to increase home garden fruit and vegetable production with or without integrated poultry provision and training. Other studies evaluated the impact of livestock or aquaculture provision and training. Study designs and quality were mixed; heterogeneity across studies precluded formal meta-analysis. Interventions had a positive impact on intermediate outcomes on the pathway from agricultural intervention to nutritional or health status including dietary quality and dietary diversity of households and individuals (reported in seven papers). The evidence on the impact on final nutritional outcomes was mixed: one paper reported that home gardens with poultry reduced the odds of anaemia but there was no convincing evidence of an impact of agricultural interventions on child anthropometric measurement (reported in four papers). In recent years, the Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition in South Asia (LANSA) research programme consortium has significantly expanded research on agricultural interventions for nutrition outcomes by conducting and commissioning a suite of formative and feasibility studies that have extended both the range and geographic location of interventions under study. This expanding body of research should, in the future, enable the identification of cost-effective interventions to enhance the impact of agricultural interventions sustainably to improve nutrition outcomes especially in women and children in South Asia.     

FCC policy research

Since 1967 the Federal Communications Commission has conducted a programme of research and policy studies to provide guidance on long-term technical and policy problems in all areas of telecommunications. This programme is now under the direction of the Office of Plans and Policy, which undertakes studies and research projects using the skills and expertise of its multidisciplinary staff. It organizes and implements conferences and symposia on behalf of the Commission, whereby Commission staff can interact with outside experts on topics of significant policy concern. Finally, it manages the FCC's programme of contractual research studies.     

Bibliometric assessment of research performance in Flanders: policy background and implications

We illustrate the use of bibliometric tools in the evaluation of scientific research conducted at Flemish universities and publicly funded research organisations, and in the assessment of scientific-technological performance in Flanders in the field of information technology. We sketch the policy background of a number of studies conducted during the past 6 years in Flanders. These studies have provided useful information to evaluators and policy makers in Flanders, and have generated indirect effects on policy decisions, as their outcomes were used in the policy debate to raise relevant questions, clarify concepts or distinctions, question assumptions or to substantiate impressions.     

Advertising in streaming video: An integrative literature review and research agenda

Streaming video (SV), such as YouTube, is a new media widely used nowadays. Nevertheless, there is a lack of knowledge about advertising in SV. In view of this, through a search in the rich depository of the Scopus database, this article presents the first integrative literature review about advertising in SV. Searching every article and conference paper related to the topic published until May 04, 2020, 59 studies were found and classified into two main topics: marketing studies (35), mostly focused on evaluating or exploring advertising in SV, and computational studies (24), focusing on the development of systems for the insertion of ads into SV. All knowledge present in these studies was summarized so that readers (both scholars and practitioners) could have easy access to the main contributions and information present in each study. Moreover, future research directions in six main themes are presented through a research agenda.     

Approaches for the experimental examination of the dialectic

A great deal of attention has focused on the potential benefits of the dialectic during strategic decision making. Some field studies have shown favourable perceptions of the dialectic. Exclusive use of field studies, however, is inadequate for a comprehensive evaluation of the dialectic. Controlled studies in the laboratory and the field are needed. Operationalizing the dialectic and measuring its effectiveness in controlled settings has been the subject of debate. This paper reviews three controlled approaches—lens model studies, creative task experiments, and case studies. The applicability of these approaches to dialectical research is discussed. Basic assumptions underlying controlled research are that the dialectic can be created in controlled settings and its effectiveness can be measured in terms of better decisions.     

Top Management Involvement in New Product Development: A Review and Synthesis

Established literature on new product development (NPD) management recognizes top management involvement (TMI) as one of the most critical success factors. With increasing pressure to sustain competitive advantage and growth, NPD activities remain the focus of close interest from top management in many organizations. TMI in the NPD domain is receiving increasing academic attention. Despite its criticality, there is no systematic review of the existing literature to inform and stimulate researchers in the field for further investigation. This paper introduces the current state of literature on TMI in NPD, synthesizes important findings, and identifies the gaps and deficiencies in this research stream. The contents of the selected articles, which investigated TMI in NPD, are analyzed based on the type of the study, level of analysis, research methodology, operationalization of TMI, and main findings. Additionally, other studies, which did not directly investigate TMI and support in NPD, but were sufficiently related, are briefly summarized. As a result of this detailed literature review, it can be stated that both exploratory and relational studies provide rich evidence on the critical role of top management in NPD. However, the identified gaps and deficiencies in this research stream call for a better theoretical understanding and well‐defined constructs of TMI in the NPD domain for different levels of analysis for future studies.     

From strategy to tactics: Building, implementing, and managing brand equity in business markets

Industrial marketers have long argued that brands play little role in the decision making process. Several macro-level changes have occurred challenging these notions some of which are reviewed. We review past research on brand building and brand management in business markets and identify that less research has focused on key strategic and tactical issues in relation to building, managing, and refreshing business brands. We then introduce six studies that add to our understanding of the nature and importance of branding in the business-to-business context. Finally, these studies provide important avenues for further research.     

Connecting IMP and entrepreneurship research: Directions for future research

As a research field, entrepreneurship emerged from an increasing interest in fostering new business ventures. Over the past decade, interest in entrepreneurial phenomena also triggered several studies in the IMP research stream. We examine connections between these two research streams in terms of the phenomena in focus, key concepts, and approaches to identify research areas fruitful for advancing our understanding of entrepreneurial phenomena. In pursuit of this aim, we analyzed 48 IMP-based entrepreneurship studies and the abstracts of the 227 most cited papers in eight main entrepreneurship journals; among the latter, we conducted an in-depth analysis of 30 articles, in which we found connections with IMP studies. Based on our analysis, we identify four directions for future research, where confronting and bridging the key concepts has the potential to contribute to conceptualizing entrepreneurial phenomena and related theory development. The four areas are: variety in the context of new ventures; multiplicity of networks embedding new ventures; connecting the new venture to its context; and the new venture's learning and management.     

Critical success factors of Six Sigma implementations in Italian companies

The present paper discusses the results of a research project going on at Politecnico di Milano, aiming at analysing the idiosyncrasies of Six Sigma implementations in Italian companies. In particular, the project addresses the following research questions, regarding the approach of Italian companies towards Six Sigma: are Italian companies implementing Six Sigma exactly as it was originally conceived at Motorola or, rather, is there an Italian way to Six Sigma? do Italian companies which implemented Six Sigma recognize the same set of critical success factors singled out in the international literature?Bibliographic analysis showed a lack of literature concerning Six Sigma implementation in Italian companies. The research was then based on the study of real life application of Six Sigma in an Italian company and on discussion through a set of workshops organized at Politecnico di Milano with Six Sigma experts. In particular, we will concentrate on a set of case studies and on one workshop specifically addressing the second research question.The insights coming from the analysed case studies and discusses with industry experts - if further explored, validated and reorganized - could constitute a Road Map for Six Sigma implementation in Italian companies; the validation and re-organization process is still on-going and its completion could constitute a further research objective.     

涂布彩色喷墨打印纸涂层技术

涂布彩色喷墨打印纸的涂层对印刷质量起着决定性作用,涂层结构的优化将会明显提高喷墨打印质量。本文系统介绍了典型涂布彩色喷墨打印纸的涂层组成、表面结构和特性以及其对喷墨打印质量的影响;综述了涂布彩色喷墨打印纸涂层技术的最新研究进展;并对涂层结构的检测技术做了重点评述,这些手段为深入研究涂层结构与印刷质量的关系提供了重要支持。     

金属材料表面摩擦层研究进展

在材料摩擦磨损过程中,形成于接触表面的摩擦层直接影响着配副材料的摩擦学性能。分析了金属材料干滑动磨损条件下其表面摩擦层的研究现状,阐述了现有研究存在的问题,对金属材料摩擦学研究的前景进行了展望。     

Towards a typology of transparency for marketing management research

This paper explores and extends the concept of transparency, as transparency-related terminology in marketing management research is limited in its typological development. Building on previous research, it outlines four types of transparency and extends them by adding three related facets. The four types are: cost transparency, supply transparency, organizational transparency and technological transparency. The expanded concept of transparency is discussed and analyzed using four illustrations, based on case studies conducted at two focal firms in the Swedish manufacturing industry. The study contributes to the field of marketing management research by showing the interrelatedness of information technology exploitation, trust and transparency. In addition, the study highlights the dynamic aspects of the transparency concept. In contrast to results of former studies, the present findings indicate that increased transparency in buyer-supplier relationships brings about not only positive, but also some negative effects.     

Construct measurement in strategic management research: illusion or reality?

Strategic management research has been characterized as placing less emphasis on construct measurement than other management subfields. In this work, we document the state of the art of measurement in strategic management research, and discuss the implications for interpreting the results of research in this field. To assess the breadth of measurement issues in the discipline, we conducted a content analysis of empirical strategic management articles published in leading journals in the period of 1998–2000. We found that few studies discuss reliability and validity issues, and empirical research in the field commonly relies on single‐indicator measures. Additionally, studies rarely address the problems of attenuation due to measurement error. We close with a discussion of the implications for future research and for interpreting prior work in strategic management. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

PERSPECTIVE: An Analysis of 22 Years of Research in JPIM*

Numerous articles have been published in the Journal of Product Innovation Management (JPIM) since its inception in 1984, representing the most advanced studies dedicated to the management practice in all of the functions involved in the total process of product innovation. It is timely to draw a research profile by investigating the research patterns and development in JPIM to reflect the evolution of the field. First of all, the present study performed a text analysis of 544 research articles published from 1984 to 2005 and then developed a list of research streams. Next, each article was analyzed by coding the following information: the author's background (i.e., academic or professional), the author's country of affiliation, the research topic, the structure of theoretical framework (i.e., analog, composite, or propositional), the type of research design, the quantitative analytical technique, the types of industries, and the countries investigated in the empirical studies. The results indicated that JPIM had made substantial progress in two points. The first is the expanded collaborations of authors, which are not only within the national boundary but also across countries and continents. With such a divergence of research traditions and cultural perspectives, this cooperation offers the potential to enrich the stock of new product development and innovation management theories as well as methodologies more than single‐country arrangement. The second is a high degree of science in respect of methodology. Although JPIM has become a major journal for business research, three opportunities of knowledge advancement were suggested. The first is to reduce the domination of American and European publication and to promote article submission from developing countries. The second concerns the need of relatively broad theoretical schema and diversified research methods. The last opportunity lies in the encouragement of research on certain promising topics.     

Paradigm development in Chinese management research: The role of research methodology

Kuhn’s paradigm framework asserts that scholarly fields differ in their level of development, and that such differences will be reflected in research norms and practices. In particular, early stage subfields are expected to have less consensus regarding theory and methods, negatively affecting both the consistency and sophistication of research designs. We examine Kuhn’s framework in the context of a rapidly advancing subfield: Chinese management research. This paper reports a content analysis of China-based studies against a matched set of management articles, focusing on methodology. In partial support of the paradigm framework, we find many differences in several important research design characteristics. Additionally, consistent with expectations, many of these differences decline over time. Based on these findings, we discuss the applicability of Kuhn’s framework to management research, and also identify normative guidelines for the design of future Chinese management studies.     

Questions about Change over Time in Cross-Cultural Organizational Research

Conceptually, the phenomena of interest in many organizational research questions are in fact about changes and processes that unfold in various ways over time. Unfortunately, longitudinal studies that explicitly assess change over time is generally lacking in organizational research and virtually absent in cross-cultural organizational research. The large majority of the literature on cross-cultural measurement in organizational research is focused exclusively on cross-sectional data, addressing cross-cultural differences in measurement and constructs without examining the temporal dimension of measurement and constructs. This article explicates nine fundamental questions about change over time and applies them to the study of changes over time in cross-cultural organizational research.