传承百年商贸传奇,展现创意无限空间 大同坊创新玩具饰品交易中心盛大开幕

2010年12月18日,承托越秀区政府特色商贸区政策——大同坊创新玩具饰品交易中心隆重开幕!交易中心开幕当日,盛大礼庆活动接连不断,商城负一层至三层各大商铺正式对外开放。     

The impact of the European Novel Food Regulation on trade and food innovation based on traditional plant foods from developing countries

The stringent food safety assessment for novel foods required by the European Union’s Novel Food Regulation (NFR) places a high burden of proof on those bringing traditional food products to the EU market not consumed in the EU prior 1997. The regulation has emerged as a non-tariff trade barrier for heritage foods from developing countries that are viewed as “exotic” from the EU perspective. We show how the regulation has discouraged investment in supply chains and market development, and how this negatively affects income generation and rural poverty alleviation in developing countries. Focusing on plant-derived foods, this paper proposes to recognize traditional exotic foods in current EU law as a food category sui generis with food safety evidence requirements being proportionate to the risks they may pose. We argue that development activities promoting export food chains must increasingly accommodate legitimate food safety concerns about neglected food species in project design and seek to generate data to enhance regulatory acceptance in target markets.     

Relationships between innovation stimulus, innovation capacity, and innovation performance

This paper examines the integration of the human and technological aspects of innovation management by modelling the innovation stimulus – innovation capacity relationship in determining innovation performance. The research framework developed in this study was tested amongst 194 managers of Australian firms. The survey responses indicate that both the relationships between innovation stimulus and innovation capacity and between innovation capacity and innovation performance are significant and strong. However, innovation stimulus does not show any direct effect on innovation performance, suggesting that its effect is mediated through innovation capacity. The overall practical implication that can be drawn from the findings is that to achieve high innovation performance, organizations first need to develop the behavioural and cultural context and practices for innovation (i.e. stimulus), and only within such conducive environments is it possible for organizations to develop innovative capacity in research and development and technology so as to more effectively deliver innovation outcomes and performance.     

Practical application of a parallel research–business innovation process to accelerate the deployment of research results

Both society and customers pose many new challenges for public research and technology organisations. Making the right long‐term technological choices, generating and maintaining an appropriate research portfolio, speeding‐up innovation processes and integrating customer and market needs into science‐based research are among the major expectations. We describe how a multidisciplinary research organisation has implemented new processes and practises to rise to these challenges. The paper points out the benefits of using a parallel research approach to the business innovation process, where the different phases – the development of new technology, applications and business models – are carried out interactively and concurrently. Furthermore, we show how foresighting acitivities, research portfolio management and use of business plans for long‐term research programmes contribute to the parallel research process.     

Pharmaceutical followers

We estimate a model of drug demand and supply that incorporates insurance, advertising, and competition between branded and generic drugs within and across therapeutic classes. We use data on antiulcer drugs from 1991 to 2010. Our simulations show that generics and “me-too” drugs each increased consumer welfare more than $100 million in 2010, holding insurance premiums constant. However, insurance payments in 2010 fell by nearly $1 billion due to generics and rose by over $7 billion due to me-too antiulcer drugs.     

Telecommunications, trade and TDF

Trade in telecommuncations and computing services, particularly trade in data-related services, offers potential for economic growth in all sectors. This article raises a number of issues which need to be settled in international fora before the greatest benefits can be reaped. Differing national regulations, international competition, treatment of data as a commodity, the role of trade in the services economy and legal questions are explored. The author suggests that international agreement on trade in telecommunications and computing services could provide the basis for a ‘core’ agreement on trade in services.     

杜钰洲指出:轻纺城促进了产业和流通业的双重的升广州国际轻纺城强势出击"中博会"

9月12～15日,广州国际轻纺城以近300平米的大规模展位,"航空母舰式"特装展台形象高调亮相在广州琶洲会展中心举行的"第二届中国中小企业博览会暨中法中小企业博览会"(简称"中博会").     

Network innovation versus innovation through networks

In today's dynamic, complex and interconnected environments, interfirm networks in its various forms (e.g. franchising, retail and service chains, cooperatives, financial networks, joint ventures, strategic alliances, clusters, public-private partnerships, digital platforms) are becoming increasingly important in helping firms improve their competitive position through an enhanced access to innovation, complementary resources and capabilities otherwise not available to them. Driven by increased performance pressures in unpredictable environments, firms embedded in networks are increasingly moving from cooperators to collaborators as value co-creators. The aim of this introductory article is to discuss the role of innovation in business networks by focusing on two major topics: Network innovation versus innovation through networks. In addition, we provide an overview of the articles included in the special issue on Networks and Innovation focusing on the questions: (1) what is the impact of network characteristics on a firm's innovation?; and (2) what are the determinants of innovation in interfirm networks?     

阴魂不散的贸易保护主义

今年以来，中美关系的“热点”更多地出现在贸易领域。纺织贸易摩擦是“典型热点”之一。11月12日，中国政府采购团同美国公司签订了总值约67亿美元的采购合同，以向美国显示进一步缩小对美贸易顺差之诚意。就在欧盟对美国得到如此大单羡慕不已之时，11月18日，美国商务部宣布，决定对来自中国的文胸、袍服、针织布三大类纺织品重新设立配额限制，理由是中国这几种纺织品对美出口激增。     

Climate change and trade in agriculture

Agricultural productivity in both developing and developed countries will have to improve to achieve substantial increases in food production by 2050 while land and water resources become less abundant and the effects of climate change introduce much uncertainty. Already less resilient production areas will suffer the most, as temperatures will rise further in tropical and semi-tropical latitudes and water-scarce regions will face even drier conditions. International trade plays an important role in compensating, albeit partially, for regional changes in productivity that are induced by climate change. While a well-functioning international trade system can support the adaptation to climate change-related challenges, trade policies as such are imperfect instruments to induce less emissions globally. A well-functioning international trading system can support the adaptation to climate change-related challenges. Hence welfare gains from reforms to trade policies may be greater than normally measured if they also reduce GHG emissions globally.     

Outside CEOs and innovation

Research Summary: Innovation is the principle driver of firm and economic growth. Thus, one disturbing trend that may explain stagnant growth is a 65% decline in firms’ R&D productivity. We propose that the rise of outside Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) may be partially responsible for the decline because those CEOs are more likely to lack technological domain expertise necessary to manage R&D effectively. While this proposition was motivated by interviews with Chief Technology Officers (CTOs), we test it at large scale. We find that firm R&D productivity decays during the tenure of outside CEOs relative to that of inside CEOs. We further find this effect is more pronounced for firms with high R&D intensity and for firms employing outside CEOs with more remote experience, lending circumstantial support for the underlying assumption regarding lack of expertise. Note that this is not a call for boards to avoid outside CEOs, rather it is recommendation to consider the implications for innovation. Managerial Summary: While outside CEOs offer advantages over internal candidates, we argue one unintended consequence is weaker innovation. This argument was prompted by two coincident trends: a 65% decline in companies’ R&D productivity and a doubling of outside Chief Executive Officers (CEOs). The argument was reinforced by interviews with Chief Technology Officers (CTOs), who recounted shifts in orientation from R&D as an investment to R&D as an expense that occurred shortly in response to a new CEO. We felt this shift was more likely with outside CEOs because they may lack technological domain expertise necessary to effectively manage R&D. Our results are consistent with the argument—company R&D productivity decreases under outside CEOs. Note, however, that we don’t advocate avoiding outside CEOs, rather we recommend R&D firms consider technological domain expertise during CEO hiring.     

Vertical integration and innovation

Innovation is a driving force for most industries, where it moreover affects many stages of the vertical chain. We study the impact of vertical integration on innovation in an industry where firms need to undertake risky R&D investments at both production and distribution stages. Vertical integration brings better coordination within the integrated firm, which boosts its investment incentive at both upstream and downstream levels. However, it is only mutually beneficial for firms to integrate when both upstream and downstream innovations are important. When innovation is irrelevant at one level, firms favor instead vertical separation. The analysis provides insights for the wave of mergers and R&D outsourcing observed in the pharmaceutical industry and other vertically related industries.     

The corporation and innovation

On 1st October 1980 the untimely death of Patrick Haggerty, former chairman and chief executive officer of Texas Instruments, occurred. Patrick Haggerty was a founding member of the editorial board of this journal and in the formative years of the Texas Instruments Company made a major contribution to the practice of strategic management, in addition to shaping the destiny of a great and progressive corporation. As a mark of our respect and in memoriam the editors are proud to publish one of Mr Haggerty's last lectures given to NASA at Houston, Texas on 13th February 1980 in which he outlines briefly the history and philosophy which led to the development of many of the systems of strategic management at Texas Instruments, which have shaped policy within this highly innovative organization.     

Railway innovation and uncertainty

This paper outlines two innovative projects carried out within the same organisation, but with markedly differing results. One has been satisfactorily completed while the other, although having run for much longer, is still experiencing technical problems. The two projects, British Rail's Advanced Passenger Train, and High Speed Train, are examined in relation to the concept of uncertainty. It is suggested that many of the points upon which the projects are differentiated can be attributed to the degree of uncertainty to which they were subject. It is concluded that one means of handling the uncertainty associated with development programmes is to adopt a flexible approach. It is noted, however, that flexibility may not be simply a question of personnel or organisational disposition, but can be influenced by the characteristics of particular projects.     

The microfoundations of open innovation: CEO overconfidence and innovation choices

How to successfully drive open innovation (OI) has been an important issue. However, the existing literature on the determinants of OI mainly focuses on organizational and contingent factors, and the “human side” of it is still not well understood, which also motivates us to explore it more deeply. This paper attempts to link upper echelon theory with OI research using data from a large sample of Chinese listed companies to investigate how the overconfident tendency of the CEO affects his or her preference for different OI modes. At the same time, what role do other top management team (TMT) members play in this process. The results show that overconfident CEOs favor market and organization-oriented OI over technology-oriented OI, and TMT governance can moderate such relationship, that is, as the level of TMT governance increases, the preference of overconfident CEOs for market and organization-oriented OI will be weakened, avoiding the negative effect of excessive adoption of such activities on firm performance. By focusing on the human side of OI, this paper adds to the literature on the impact of strategic leadership, namely the influence of key individual CEO and other executives within the organization on OI management, which is also a response to the emphasis that more attention should be paid to the microfoundations of OI in the future.     

Acts of hidden franchisee innovation and innovation adoption within franchise systems

Franchising, as an imitative business model, provides a challenging context to create and manage innovation, as franchisors may wish to limit their franchisees' innovative activities to ensure network consistency. Drawing on data from two related empirical studies of franchisees operating in the UK, we seek to understand how franchisees contribute to innovation within their systems. Our first quantitative study reveals that although many franchisees develop innovations, these innovations are not always adopted by the franchise system, suggesting acts of hidden innovation. These findings motivated our second, qualitative study. Through a case analysis of 29 franchisees from 7 different franchise systems, we identify a number of organizational and relational factors that influence both franchisee engagement in innovation, and the extent to which their innovations are disclosed to the network. From these, we develop a theoretical framework of franchisee-led innovation processes, which contributes to the role of social exchange theory in innovation practices within business-to-business contexts. Our findings extend emerging research on innovation in franchise systems, and also provide practical insights on how franchisees can be best supported in creating and disclosing innovations to benefit the franchise system.     

Automated trade information processing

COSTPRO is the Canadian Organization for the Simplification of Trade Procedures, a not-for-profit corporation supported by the membership of federal and provincial governments, industry associations and private companies, and by a research and development grant from the federal Ministry of Transport. It is the official representative of Canadian interests in those international fora which deal with the facilitation of trade. COSTPRO is currently developing a data exchange network for business and government.