Efficient paired choice designs with fewer choice pairs

For paired choice experiments, two new construction methods of designs are proposed for the estimation of the main effects. In many cases, these designs require about 30–50% fewer choice pairs than the existing designs and at the same time have reasonably high D-efficiencies for the estimation of the main effects. Furthermore, as against the existing efficient designs, our designs have higher D-efficiencies for the same number of choice pairs.     

Integrating Hydro-Meteorological and Physiographic Factors for Assessment of Vulnerability to Drought

This study has been carried out for Sonar basin of Ken River system in the Madhya Pradesh. The study was aimed at devising a suitable method for assessment of vulnerability to drought. Analysis of annual and seasonal rainfall records for the period from 1901–2007 revealed that the study basin had faced drought condition with an average frequency of once in every 5 years. The maximum rainfall deficiency recorded in the basin was of the order of −68% in 1979. Recently, drought conditions prevailed in the study basin in the years 2006 and 2007 with annual rainfall deficiency of −35% and −43%, and Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) values as −1.14 and −1.24 respectively. The paper presents a method for spatially representative depiction of vulnerability to drought using multiple indicators in Sonar basin. These indicators include topography characteristics, land-use types, soil types, relative availability of surface water and groundwater, water demand and utilization and the rainfall departures from corresponding mean values. Spatial information of above indicators was categorized in to various sub classes and maps were prepared in spatial domain using Geographic Information system (GIS). Different layers of above independent indicators and rainfall deficiency have been integrated using a weighing scheme. Thus, the integrated values of weights of various indicators have been computed on 100 × 100 m grid scale in spatial domain and maps have been prepared to represent integrated vulnerability to drought. For rationalization of the approach drought vulnerability Index (DVI) for each grid has been calculated. The DVI has been defined as the ratio of sum of the weights of factors to the sum of their maximum weight values. The results have been validated with intensive field surveys. The proposed method represented drought vulnerability scenarios in the Sonar basin appropriately. It is hoped that this method may set a better direction for the studies on drought monitoring and mitigation.     

Consumer's perceptions of and experiences with automated health related information services: an exploratory study

Almost all health care related organizations, including hospitals and pharmacies, have installed some sort of automated telephone system. Most of these organizations have installed this system to eliminate personnel, while at the same time promoting the fact that they will be helpful to the consumer. This study (comprising of 255 respondents) was designed to assess the consumer's perceptions and experiences with such automated systems. Our study clearly indicates that most individuals strongly agree that healthcare product and service information should be available via the telephone.     

The Performance Impact of Content and Process in Product Innovation Charters

The significance of product innovation charters (PICs) cannot be overemphasized, as they provide understanding and a tool for setting organizational goals, charting strategic direction, and allocating resources for new product portfolios. In a unique way, a PIC represents a sort of mission statement mutation for new products. With the backdrop of strategy formulation and product innovation literatures, this article investigates the impact of both content specificity within PICs and satisfaction with the PIC formulation process on new product performance in North American corporations. A survey was undertaken among executives knowledgeable about their organization's new product development process. The respondents included chief executive officers, vice presidents, directors, and managers. The findings demonstrate that significant differences exist both in PIC content specificity and process satisfaction between highly innovative and low innovative firms. The study also shows that PIC specificity in terms of the factors mission content and strategic directives positively influences new product performance. Further, the study demonstrates that satisfaction with the process of formulating PICs plays a positive and powerful mediating role in the PIC specificity–performance relationship. The results suggest that product innovation charters, like their mission statement cousins, may be of more value than most managers realize. The study shows that achieving a state of organizational satisfaction with a PIC's formulation process is critical for obtaining better new product performance. Directions for future research also are suggested.     

On a property of orthogonal arrays and optimal blocking of fractional factorial plans

It is shown that fractional factorial plans represented by orthogonal arrays of strength three are universally optimal under a model that includes the mean, all main effects and all two-factor interactions between a specified factor and each of the other factors. Thus, such plans exhibit a kind of model robustness in being universally optimal under two different models. Procedures for obtaining universally optimal block designs for fractional factorial plans represented by orthogonal arrays are also discussed. Acknowledgements. The authors wish to thank the referees for making several useful comments on a previous version.     

Contracting for tacit knowledge: the provision of technical services in technology licensing contracts

Recent research on the economic payoff from new technology has emphasized the importance of tacit knowledge or know-how. This paper shows that arm's length contract can overcome the problems in contracting for know-how by bundling complementary inputs with know-how in a technology package, and leveraging the superior enforceability of contracts over the latter. In the empirical part of this paper, the relationship between bundling and transfer of know-how is analyzed, using Indian data. The results imply that tied sales of inputs may increase the efficiency of contracts involving the transfer of know-how. A striking result, in the context of the current North-South debates on intellectual property rights, is the packaging of patents with know-how.     

The decline of science in corporate R&D

Research summary: In this article, we document a shift away from science by large corporations between 1980 and 2006. We find that publications by company scientists have declined over time in a range of industries. We also find that the value attributable to scientific research has dropped, whereas the value attributable to technical knowledge (as measured by patents) has remained stable. These trends are unlikely to be driven principally by changes in publication practices. Furthermore, science continues to be useful as an input into innovation. Our evidence points to a reduction of the private benefits of internal research. Large firms still value the golden eggs of science (as reflected in patents), but seem to be increasingly unwilling to invest in the golden goose itself (the internal scientific capabilities). Managerial summary: There is a widespread belief among commentators that large American corporations are withdrawing from research. Large corporations may still collaborate with universities and acquire promising science‐based start‐ups, but their labs increasingly focus on developing existing knowledge and commercializing it, rather than creating new knowledge. In this article, we combine firm‐level financial information with a large and comprehensive data set on firm publications, patents and acquisitions to quantify the withdrawal from science by large American corporations between 1980 and 2006. This withdrawal is associated with a decline in the private value of research activities, even though scientific knowledge itself remains important for corporate invention. We discuss the managerial and policy implications of our findings.     

Evaluation of a Renewable Energy Scenario in India For Economic and Co2 Mitigation Effects

Renewable energy technologies (RETs) are attractive for sustainable energy supply and CO₂ mitigation. In this paper, a CGE model is used to analyze the effects of rapid reduction of costs of solar power generation, an important RET, in India. Alternate scenarios of cost reduction of solar power, hybrid scenarios with a carbon tax and a scenario of only carbon tax are compared with a reference scenario. Simulation results show that under such a scenario, high penetration of solar technology, economic gains, and modest emission reduction are achieved. The analysis shows that compared to accelerated solar technology scenario, a carbon tax achieves superior mitigation. Broad policy implications for developing countries are drawn in the context of global climate change debate.     

Make,buy, organize: The interplay between research,external knowledge,and firm structure

We bridge current streams of innovation research to explore the interplay between R&D, external knowledge, and organizational structure—three elements of a firm's innovation strategy, which we argue should logically be studied together. Using within‐firm patent assignment patterns, we develop a novel measure of structure for a large sample of American firms. We find that centralized firms invest more in research, and patent more per R&D dollar, than decentralized firms. Both types access technology via mergers and acquisitions, but their acquisitions differ in terms of frequency, size, and integration. Consistent with our framework, their sources of value creation differ: while centralized firms derive more value from internal R&D, decentralized firms rely more on external knowledge. We discuss how these findings should stimulate more integrative work on theories of innovation. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.