Site competence dynamics in international manufacturing networks: instrument development and a test in Eastern European factories

The objective of this paper is to introduce an instrument that enables the measurement of dynamics in the roles of factories in international networks. Starting from Ferdows’ framework on strategic factory roles, a clear definition and more precise operationalization of ‘site competence’ is provided. Our proposed instrument is tested in a context, being the Eastern European factories of Dutch multinationals, where it is plausible to expect changes in the strategic factory roles over time. This test comprises four exploratory case studies that provide the basis for future, more extensive empirical work. At the same time, they contribute to the under-researched area of company and industry case studies with respect to the international context of operations management.     

Correlation dynamics and international diversification benefits

Forecasting the evolution of security co-movements is critical for asset pricing and portfolio allocation. Hence, we investigate patterns and trends in correlations over time using weekly returns for developed markets (DMs) and emerging markets (EMs) over the period 1973–2012. We show that it is possible to model co-movements for many countries simultaneously using BEKK, DCC, and DECO models. Empirically, we find that correlations have trended upward significantly for both DMs and EMs. Based on a time-varying measure of diversification benefits, we find that it is not possible to circumvent the increasing correlations in a long-only portfolio by adjusting the portfolio weights over time. However, we do find some evidence that adding EMs to a DM-only portfolio increases diversification benefits.     

How internal and external factors influence the dynamics of SME technology collaboration networks over time

This paper presents a framework to assess the effects of technology collaboration networks (TCNs) on the innovation performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). It includes three factors that affect firm dynamics and could influence the success of the TCN: the macroeconomic cycle (macro-level), the industry life cycle (industry-level) and the age of the firm (firm-level). Previous papers have focused on factors at one specific level, mainly the firm level, but have not looked at these all together and have also failed to take into account how they evolve gradually over time. This study closes this gap using a panel of 44,885 observations for SMEs for the period 2003–2013. The findings confirm the importance of the inclusion of these factors at the macroeconomic, industry and firm level since they influence the TCN and the innovation performance relationship. The implications for managers and policy makers are discussed.     

Production networks and international trade: China,Brazil and Mexico

In this paper, we examine and contrast the production networks in China, Brazil and Mexico. We highlight three results. First, over the last two decades, China's intensity of trade in parts and components has shifted from other members of Greater China to South Korea and ASEAN countries. Second, even though China's production network is mainly Asian, its parts and components trading partners are increasingly global. Brazil also increasingly trades its parts with China and East Asia, while Mexico is still focused on its trade with the United States. Third, Greater China has become a major source of parts and components to Mexican and Brazilian imports. We highlight the importance of such a pan-Pacific link and anticipate that the joint China–Brazil–Mexico production network will continue to grow.     

Industrial networks in Japan: technology transfer to SMEs

This paper presents the results of research on the role of interorganizational network relations concerning the transfer of technology and information to small and medium enterprises in Japan. It is die result of empirical research conducted in Japan between April 1988 and April 1989. The electronics industry has hereby served as a case-study.

It will be argued that the quasi-vertically integrated subcontracting system with its hierarchical relationships is expanding into an industrial production system which shows characteristics of more quasi-horizontal integration with loosely-knit relationships. A distinction between these industrial networks is based on the different way they support the technologicaJ development of small and medium sized business.     

Global imbalances and dynamics of international financial markets

We provide an overview of the special issue “Global Imbalances and dynamics of international financial markets”. This special issue, which is associated with the 7th International Finance Conference, features research papers dealing with the impact of global imbalances, market complexity, and the impact of the recent global financial crisis on the conduct of monetary policies, financial market dynamics, financial stability, and risk management models.     

勇攀世界乙烯技术高峰——记北京燕山石化公司化工一厂副厂长陈德烨

"生产一线才是我的战场" 陈德烨从清华大学毕业后没有选择出国,而是来到了大型国有企业燕山石化公司.他认为,国企是国家的脊梁,要报效祖国,就应该到大型国企去奉献自己的才智.     

High technology localization and extra-regional networks

Firms in spatial concentrations of advanced-technology activities do not constrain their knowledge inputs to opportunities found within their industrial cluster. Rather, firms seeking extra-regional markets augment their in-house resources by means of material (embodied technology) and knowledge inputs obtained from sources at the extra-regional scale in addition to within the region. Literature is reviewed on the clustering of firms and their network geography, models of open and closed industrial systems, and absorptive capacity. The latter is used to interpret the search for knowledge undertaken by firms, which are discussed in terms of their organizational differences and strategic choices. A sample of manufacturing establishments from the electronics cluster in the Toronto metropolitan region (Canada) shows firms that are export-intensive have significantly stronger international input connections, especially with consultants and alliance partners. Export orientation is associated with higher levels of expenditure on the in-house generation of knowledge, more innovation inputs from external sources, and distinctive network geographies. Differences in network relations occur within and between three organizational groups of firms – foreign affiliates, multi-location and single-location domestic firms. Geographically wide-ranging networks are interpreted in terms of opportunities in extra-regional locations compared with local supplies. Regional innovation policy implications are considered.     

Innovation in food firms: contribution of regional networks within the international business context

This paper explores the role of regional networks in processes of innovation within an international business context. It is hypothesized that firms participating in regional networks demonstrate a stronger innovation competence. Data are drawn from a survey among food firms in the region of Meetjesland, Belgium, and reflect the relation between the firm and a number of regional characteristics. After restructuring the data through factor analysis and cluster analysis, the important role of regional networking is revealed using discriminant analysis. The analysis marks out two factors having the strongest power to discriminate between the clusters: firms are classified as having a stronger innovation competence when networking within the region, and when orienting towards the international market. Results demonstrate that internationally operating firms benefit from regional networking. Further, it is argued that regional networking is not contradictory to an international market orientation, and that firms gain innovation competence by searching for external knowledge on different geographical scales. As these networks have the potential to enhance the innovation competence of firms, support to regional networking is promoted as a policy tool.     

Green technology innovation: Anatomy of exploration processes from a learning perspective

This paper examines how established firms use their core competences to diversify their business by exploring and ultimately developing green technologies. In contrast to start‐ups dedicated to a green mission, diversifying into green markets by developing new products based on existing core competences has proven to be challenging. This is because the exploration processes to find a match between green technology opportunities and internal competences is complex and new to most established firms. This paper gains insights into exploration processes for green technologies and the learning modes and outcomes linked to these processes. We examined exploration processes at the microlevel in an embedded case study of an engineering firm using a combination of the “fireworks” innovation process model and organizational learning theory. First, we found that developing green technologies involves a long‐term exploratory process without guarantee of (quick) success and likely involves many exploration failures. Second, as exploration unfolds along multiple technology trajectories, learning occurs in individual exploration paths (on‐path), when new paths are pursued (path‐initiation), and when knowledge from one path is spilled over to subsequent paths (across‐paths). Third, to increase their chances for success, firms can increase the efficiency of exploration by fostering a failure‐friendly organizational culture, deliberately experimenting, and purposefully learning from failures.     

Knowledge combination in networks: evidence from the international venturing of four small biotech firms

Although international forms of venturing are critical for the sustained economic growth of small firms, this phenomenon remains surprisingly unexplored in international small business research. This study aims to contribute to this field by shedding light on the underlying factors of the international venturing of these firms. In this endeavor, the study rests on the assumption that knowledge combination in networks is a critical requisite for seizing business opportunities in foreign markets. Hence, the specific purpose of this study is to investigate how knowledge combination in networks underlies the international venturing of four small biotech firms. The findings demonstrate that international venturings are strongly shaped by proactive strategies of identifying and implementing knowledge combinations that span across internationally dispersed network relationships. The findings also reveal that different strategies of knowledge combination in networks are pursued depending on the nature of the venture (namely, international product ventures and international market ventures).     

Cost-sharing in directed networks: Experimental study of equilibrium choice and system dynamics

This study reports the results of an experiment on directed networks with positive externalities induced by cost-sharing. Subjects participated in a network game in which they had to choose between private and public transportations. If a player chose public transportation, then she shared the travel cost equally with other players making the same choice, whereas if she chose private transportation, then her travel cost was fixed. Travel costs on the private route were manipulated across the two experimental conditions. In one condition, these costs were homogeneous among players; in the other condition, they were heterogeneous among players and only privately known. We found that half (none) of the player groups in the homogeneous (heterogeneous) condition converged toward the efficient equilibrium. Examination of the system dynamics shows that convergence toward efficiency was facilitated by: (1) the existence of an intermediate equilibrium choice; and (2) strategic teaching by which a farsighted player chooses strategies with poor short-term payoff in order to shift group decisions to the efficient equilibrium and thereby increase her own long-term benefit.     

Economic importance and structural robustness of the international pesticide trade networks

Pesticides are agricultural inputs that can significantly reduce yield losses, regulate plant growth, effectively liberate agricultural productivity, and improve food security. The availability of pesticides in economies worldwide is ensured by redistribution through international trade, with different economies playing different roles in this process. In this study, we measured and ranked the importance of economies using nine node metrics. We found that the clustering coefficient was negatively correlated with the other eight node metrics, whereas the other eight node metrics were positively correlated with each other and could be grouped into three communities (betweenness; in-degree, PageRank, authority, and in-closeness; out-degree, hub, and out-closeness). We further investigated the structural robustness of international pesticide trade networks proxied by large component size under three types of shocks to economies (node removal in descending, random, and ascending orders). The results showed that, except for the clustering coefficient, international pesticide trade networks are relatively robust under shocks to economies in ascending order but fragile under shocks to economies in descending order. By contrast, removing nodes with a clustering coefficient in ascending and descending order yielded similar robustness curves. Moreover, the structural robustness related to large component size evolved over time and exhibited an inverse U-shaped pattern.     

Measuring dynamics and structural change of time-dependent socio-economic networks

This paper addresses the issue of measuring temporal dynamics of complex socio-economic relational systems, represented as time-dependent networks. Network dynamics is first splitted into a structural component, accounting for changes in the network topology, and a non-structural component, accounting for permutation of vertex labels. A quantitative measure of the dynamics and its components is then proposed and it is shown how it can be used to investigate and interpret the time evolution of networks. A real example is discussed, pertaining to the dynamics of a subnetwork of the Italian corporate board network.     

Leveraging networks,capabilities and opportunities for international success: A study on returnee entrepreneurial ventures

By integrating social capital theory with a capability-based view on performance, this paper aims to examine the extent to which returnee entrepreneurial ventures (REVs) gain international performance advantages from the founding entrepreneurs’ experience with international networks. Using data on 200 Chinese REVs, the paper proposes and tests a structural model with a focus on the link between individual entrepreneurs and the subsequent development of firm capabilities. The results provide evidence that it is important that the returnee entrepreneurs have an international social network for the REV to develop an international network capability, which, in turn, mediates the effects on opportunity knowledge and the international performance of the REVs. The findings highlight the concurrent effect of the role of entrepreneurs and organizational learning in internationalization, and they provide an understanding as to the importance of the returnee-specific advantages for the international performance of these firms.     

Patent citations, technology diffusion, and international trade: evidence from Asian countries

In this paper, we examine international technology diffusion by using patent citations as a proxy for technology diffusion. We focus on some Asian economies, i.e., Korea, Taiwan, China and India, to investigate the relationship between technology diffusion and their trade experience with the U.S., Japan, and other G7 countries. Our empirical results reveal that trade specialization has a significant correlation with technology diffusion. Some policy implications are discussed.     

Regional integration,international liberalisation and the dynamics of industrial agglomeration

This paper presents a 3-region footloose-entrepreneur new economic geography model. Two symmetric regions are part of an economically integrated area (the Union), while the third region represents an outside trade partner. We explore how the spatial allocation of industrial production and employment within the Union is affected by changes in two aspects of trade liberalisation, regional integration and globalisation, conditional to the skill endowment and the market size of the outside region. Our main contribution pertains to the analysis of the local and global dynamics of the specified factor mobility process. We show that significant parameter ranges exist for which an asymmetric distribution of economic activities is one of the possible long-run outcomes which may allow a smooth transition to agglomeration (in contrast to the NEG typical catastrophic scenario). In addition, we show that multistability is pervasive and that some attractors are Milnor attractors. Both results reinforce the NEG narrative on the importance of initial conditions for the long-run location of industrial activity.     

基于BIM技术的绿色建筑能耗评价

结合建设项目实际,借助问卷调查、专家访谈等方法对绿色建筑的设计及能源消耗现状进行调查分析,通过分析比较传统技术下的建筑能耗评价方法和BIM技术下绿色建筑能耗评价方法,提出了基于BIM技术的绿色建筑能耗评价模型。在此基础上,对具有典型特点的某建筑工程进行建筑能耗评价,验证模型的科学性和可行性。     

Postponement strategy for international transfer of products in a global supply chain: A system dynamics examination

This paper contributes to research on “postponement” strategy in the context of a global production–distribution system of an automobile manufacturer. It proposes a model that integrates multiple considerations germane to global supply chains. Postponement is important in this context because it is necessary to consider international transfers and tariffs, and it is important to appropriately account for the impact of postponement on total costs. Consideration of several key variables such as shipping point, customs tariff, and cost differences between countries is essential to derive full benefits from postponement strategy in global supply chains. International transfer of goods among countries in global automobile industry is complex and dynamic because of the multitude of factors that must be considered. The paper develops insights regarding postponement strategy in global supply chains via a system dynamics simulation model. The model draws on the experiences of a Korean automobile manufacturer with operations in developing and developed countries.     

可持续发展视野下的绿色科技浅析

文章以可持续发展思想为出发点,分析了科技对环境负面影响的原因、绿色科技的内涵、绿色科技的社会功能及如何对相应的法律进行有效的调整,从而使科技发展符合环保时代的要求。