Technological adoption and use after mass market displacement: The case of the LP record

This paper investigates the reasons why some technologies, defying general expectations and the established models of technological change, may not disappear from the market after having been displaced from their once-dominant status. Our point of departure is that the established models of technological change are not suitable to explain this as they predominantly focus on technological dominance, giving attention to the technologies that display highest performance levels and gain greatest market share. And yet, technological landscapes are rife with technological designs that do not fulfil these conditions. Using the LP record as an empirical case, we propose that the central mechanism at play in the continuing market presence of once-dominant technologies is the recasting of their technological features from the functional-utilitarian to the aesthetic realm, with an additional element concerning communal interaction among users. The findings that emerge from our quantitative textual analysis of over 200,000 posts on a prominent online LP-related discussion forum (between 2002 and 2010) also suggest that the post-dominance technology adopters and users appear to share many key characteristics with the earliest adopters of new technologies, rather than with late-stage adopters which precede them.     

日本城市废弃物处理机制研究

日本曾经历了大量生产、大量消费、大量废弃的时代,面对一度陷入困境的城市废弃物处理问题,日本走出了由单纯处理废弃物的被动治理转向将废弃物作为资源积极推行废弃物减量化、再利用、资源化之路。本文首先明确日本废弃物的分类与处理责任的认定,继而说明日本通过废弃物处理中的税费政策、对城市废弃物处理的规制措施以及促进城市废弃物焚烧处理技术的规范化等手段促使政府、企事业者、市民三方在废弃物有效处理方面达到共识、协同合作。其处理机制值得我国城市在环境治理时借鉴。     

The effects of technological turbulence and breadth on supply chain technology acceptance and adoption

The current empirical study examines the intention to use and subsequent implementation of a supply chain technology. Specifically, the authors extend the technology acceptance model (TAM) to incorporate the state of the technology environment (technological turbulence) and the extent to which other supply chain technologies have already been adopted by the firm (technological breadth). A series of seemingly unrelated regressions (SUR) were used to analyze survey data from 195 respondents. The results show that in technologically turbulent environments, the relationships between the firm's perceived usefulness and ease of use and the firm's intention to use a supply chain technology are stronger. The study also finds that the relationship between the firm's intention to use a supply chain technology and the implementation of the technology is weaker in firms with greater technological breadth.     

信息技术服务及其标准化的实践与探索

文章介绍了上海宝信软件股份有限公司（以下简称宝信软件）在信息技术服务及标准化的过程中所开展的工作,以及在应用软件（解决方案）、运维业务、服务外包等方面的一些探索,期待通过实践走出一条提升IT服务质量的新路。     

The effectiveness of entrepreneurial firm’s knowledge acquisition from a business incubator

This cross-cultural research project, involving the United States and Finland, explored how the entrepreneurial firm’s acquisition of business processes’ knowledge from interaction with incubator management positively impacts on new product development, increased technical competence, enhanced reputation and lower costs of sales to customers. In a sample of 52 firms, the study’s methodology depended on single response, self-reported data. The findings suggest that the sole knowledge benefits gained by the firm, from the incubator relationship, is a perception of enhanced reputation. Also, incubator managers should focus more on assisting new technology based firms with growing the venture in the marketplace. Funding for this project was provided by The National Science Foundation, and The National Technology Agency of Finland.     

Structural changes,market growth and productivity gains of the US real estate investment trusts in the 1990s

The 1990s were tumultuous times for the US Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry. Significant structural changes occurred during the decade, especially after the 1993 Revenue Reconciliation Act, which tremendously boosted the flow of funds into the system by allowing the participation of institutional investors in REITs. As a result, the industry experienced remarkable asset growth during the decade, with a large number of initial public offerings and substantial increases in market capitalization. Employing the Data Envelopment Analysis-type Malmquist index approach, this paper explores the impact of such environmental changes on productivity growth, efficiency change, and technological progress of REITs. Our results indicate that while efficiency of the REITs significantly increased, their average productivity declined and technology regressed during this decade. It appears that the typical REIT has failed to improve technically, but exerted substantial effort to catch up with the best practice ones relying mainly on aggressive growth strategies. However, our empirical results indicate that they might have overextended themselves as most began to suffer from diseconomies of scale.

中国城市住宅市场的结构差异性分析

市场价商品房、经济适用住房和廉租房构成了目前中国城市住宅市场的供应体系.依据中国30个主要城市的房地产开发统计数据,选择吸纳率作为评价住宅市场供需均衡状态的指标,利用固定影响变截距模型,重点研究了商品房和经济适用住房供给结构的城市差异性.研究发现,在城市住宅市场中,经济适用住房市场和商品房市场具有很强的相关性.作为具有政府资助性质的经济适用住房建设,存在典型的地域性特征,其政策的设定和实施会对整个住宅市场产生影响,地方政府应在利用比较全面的住宅市场指标体系进行综合分析基础上,制定适合本地的经济适用住房政策.     

Technology Transfer to China: A Theoretical Approach

SUMMARY

Various economic theories can be used to shed some light on the complex phenomenon of technology transfer between two firms belonging to two distinct economies. Vernon's PLC model, Dunning's eclectic theory, and Coase's and Williamson's transaction cost theory highlight various aspects of the firm's transnational economic and business relations. Moreover, the new international trade theories and the more modern concept of National Innovation System emphasize technology as a crucial variable in the determination of commercial flows and of economic growth. Our theoretical approach goes beyond these various approaches in that it is designed to reflect the complexities of the economic, socio-cultural and political conditions prevailing in the recipient country. In particular, the ability of recipient countries to use their bargaining power is highlighted. The case of technology transfer in the Chinese telecommunications equipment industry will illustrate our general framework.     

欧洲高校创业教育对中国高校的启迪

本文结合欧洲高校创业教育体制,以查尔姆斯理工大学为例,分析其创业教育体系的利弊,与中国高校创业教育进行分析比较,从政府、学校以及学生三方面来进行阐述。     

基于因子分析法的农技员技术推广行为综合评价

农技员的技术推广行为是影响农业技术推广效果的重要因素之一。基于农户的角度,通过6项指标全面、客观地评价了农技员的技术推广行为,并运用因子分析法得出农技员技术推广行为的综合得分,以为继续探究基层农技推广机构管理制度对农技员技术推广行为的影响奠定理论研究基础。