Innovation in the European chemical industry

Firms in the European chemical industry have been among the most successful firms world wide. However, they have had to undertake severe restucturing in order to maintain their market position. These efforts focused in particular on strengthening their innovative capability as product and process innovation have become the most decisive factors in global competition. In order to improve the innovative conditions, the European Commission has supported the Community Innovation Survey (CIS). 1992/1993 was the first time that large-scale harmonised innovation surveys were carried out in all Member States of the European Union. This study uses the CIS micro data from nearly 2000 European chemical firms. This study focuses on the identification of innovative trends within the chemical industry between 1984 and 1993. Using data from annual reports of nine selected European stock companies, the study identifies those areas of the chemical industry currently having the highest innovative potential. Three speciality categories are identified as having the highest number of innovations during this ten year period: chemicals, paints/varnishes, and plastics. -- Obwohl viele europäische Unternehmen der chemischen Industrie in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten zu den erfolgreichsten in der Welt zählten, mußten sie sich Anfang der neunziger Jahre einem gravierenden Strukturwandel unterziehen, um ihre Position behaupten zu können. Die Fähigkeit der Unternehmen, Innovationen hervorzubringen, stand und steht dabei im Mittelpunkt. Mit dem Ziel, die Rahmenbedingungen für Innovationen zu verbessern, führte die EU-Kommission 1993 eine europaweite Innovationserhebung, den Community Innovation Survey (CIS) durch. In dieser Studie wurden die anonymisierten Antworten von nahezu 2000 Unternehmen der chemischen Industrie analysiert. Um Innovationstrends aufzuzeigen zu können, wurden darüber hinaus Geschäftsberichte von neun großen europäischen Chemieunternehmen ausgewertet. So wurden die Sparten Spezialitäten, Farben/Lacke und Kunststoffe als diejenigen Sparten identifiziert, die im Untersuchungszeitraum (1984-1993) die meisten Innovationen aufwiesen.

Competitiveness of Indian Manufacturing: Finding of the 2001 National Manufacturing Survey

In this paper we present findings of the second national survey on the competitiveness of Indian manufacturing. The paper develops hypotheses on the competitiveness of firms in the manufacturing sector and addresses some key questions on the characteristics of world class firms in India. We analyze the processes and practices that such firms have adopted to become world class. More important, we highlight firm level practices that are preventing Indian firms from becoming globally competitive. The findings point towards three distinct aspects of manufacturing management that define the capabilities of the firm, i.e., strategies related to dynamic control of shop floors, network linkages and innovation. It is found that firms that build distinctive technological and managerial capabilities in these domains are able to compete globally. The paper provides a comparison with manufacturing capabilities of competitors in China and draws lessons for organizing large scale manufacturing. It also provides an assessment of the changes that have happened in manufacturing priorities and strategies in India since our last survey that was conducted in 1997 and highlights the implications of these changes.

Private equity challenge - Kompuestos as an investment opportunity in the plastic concentrate industry

This Private Equity project studies the benefits for a private equity firm on acquiring Kompuestos, a producer of masterbatches and other plastic compounds, focused on adapting its business to meet the current environmental concerns. Such premise, aligned with the underlying opportunities inherent to an overall shift from society towards sustainable practices comprises an interesting investment opportunity yielding a 3.3x money multiple. The importance of plastics is undeniable, and its industry is expected to grow 4.2% annually until 2027, reaching a market value of approximately $ 754bn by 2027.Kompuestos is a well-established firm within the European plastic compounds market, generating € 46.2m in revenue and an EBITDA of € 3.3m in 2019

From one dominant growth mode to another:Switching between strategic expansion modes

In this PhD thesis, chapter 1 narrates the extant literature showing that firms expand through the organic growth strategy, others through the acquisition strategy, and some by a combination of these two modes. It also reveals that firms sometimes switch from one dominant growth mode to the other, but we have limited insight on why top managers switch modes and how these strategic switch processes unfold. After showing that extant literature is silent about these gaps, chapter 2 reveals that behavioral theory of the firm (BTOF) stand a chance to offer plausible explanations but rather through a newly emergent stream instead of the dominant performance feedback. Chapter 3 adopts qualitative, interpretative grounded theory permitting us to tap into the lived experiences of top managers and annual reports to form the basis of emerging theory. While the context of the study is discussed in chapter 4, case-by-case and cross-case data analyses are explored in 5 and 6, respectively. Lastly, chapter 7 offers three theoretical contributions a) performance anxiety as a major driver leading top managers to switch strategies, from one growth mode to another b) explaining this through forward-looking logic (performance prospects) of BTOF, instead of backwardlooking logic (performance feedback), and c) exposing the three phases that bring to bear the situational, action-formation and transformational mechanisms at work, and in doing so reveal the unfolding processes taking place during the formation of a specific switch mode

The impact of ERP implementation on the financial performance of the firm:An empirical study

This thesis consists of eight chapters on investment in ERP and its impact on financial performance of adopters and non-adopters. In first two chapters, we discuss ERP implementation in general and why it is interesting to focus on the context of Pakistan and literature review respectively. The conceptual innovation of research is the cost of not investing in IT is discussed in chapter three. In this chapter, an ITIVJ Model has been developed based on Game-theoretic ground and review of past studies. It has also been shown how the cost of not investing can be used to extend a traditional decision model based on NPV. Chapter four and five focus on variables and hypotheses and data and methodology respectively. It has also been probed in these chapters that how ERP implementation affect variables representing the operational and strategic performance of adopters and non-adopters. Chapter six explore the results of statistical techniques used in this study. The main result of the research is that companies implementing ERP are not necessarily doing better after implementation, but they perform better than the non-adopters whose financial performance generally degraded in the same period of time. These results also validate the model developed in chapter three. The discussion and limitation are given in chapter seven whereas chapter eight conclude the dissertation and provide the gaps for future research

STRUCTURAL CHANGE IN U.S. CHICKEN AND TURKEY SLAUGHTER

Cost function analyses using data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census reveal substantial scale economies in chicken and turkey slaughter. These economies show no evidence of diminishing as plant size increases, are much greater than those realized in cattle and hog slaughter, and have resulted in a huge increase in plant size over the 1972-92 period. The findings also suggest that consolidation in the chicken and turkey slaughter industry is likely to continue, particularly if the growth in the demand for poultry diminishes.chicken slaughter, turkey slaughter, production costs, structural change, Livestock Production/Industries,

The emergence of the theory of the firm: from Adam Smith to Alfred Marshall

The theory of the firm's production and selling decisions is traced from the eighteenth century until the death of Marshall. Some tentative judgments are proposed as to the goodness and badness of the principal strands in this development. Apart from the first chapter (devoted to method) and the final chapter (devoted to post-Marshallian developments and empirical evidence), the thesis consists of three studies based on Adam Smith, J.S.MiU, and Alfred Marshall respectively. Each of these writers is considered in relation to preceding and contemporaneous work. Adam Smith outlines a model in which the long-run equilibrium of resource allocation between industries requires that the rate of return on capital be equal among industries (making allowance for differences in agreeableness and risk). Monopoly is defined as an impediment to the resource flow which would otherwise bring the equilibrium about. Following The Wealth of Nations, writers increase the empirical content of this model by elaborations with respect to observed phenomena (J .S.Mill) end with respect to the time path by which equilibrium is approached (Marshall). An alternative approach to the theory of price is to classify markets according to certain structural characteristics and to derive equilibrium and stability conditions for each market structure. The multiplication of these models since the time of Cournot has robbed them, of empirical content. Further, the structural assumptions of the models seem to limit the outcomes of modelled behaviour to actions which do not: alter that structure