Mobile Value Added Services: A Business Growth Opportunity for Women Entrepreneurs

Examines the potential for mobile value-added services adoption by women entrepreneurs in Egypt, Nigeria, and Indonesia in expanding their micro businesses; challenges, such as access to digital channels; and the need for services tailored to women

Factors Affecting U.S. Trade and Shipments of Information Technology Products: Computer Equipment, Telecommunications Equipment, and Semiconductors

Despite a recent downturn, the information technology (IT) products sector experienced a tremendous expansion in trade and shipments during the last decade and became an increasingly important component of the U.S. economy. This expansion was driven by a variety of factors such as the globalization of IT production, constant technological innovation, rapid growth in worldwide consumption, and global trade liberalization. This working paper will examine these factors, providing particular attention to the computer equipment, telecommunications equipment, and semiconductor industries.International Development,

Working Paper 53 - Linkages between SMEs and Large Industries for Increased Markets and Trade: An African Perspective

This paper considers modalities and mechanisms through which SMEs could forgehorizontal links between themselves and vertical linkages with larger manufacturingand service industries for increased market access, enhanced investment flows,skills development and technological advancements. Such linkages would helpovercome the constraints that currently plague industry in African countries. Asthe global economy becomes more integrated and economic reforms and liberalizationtake root in Africa, indigenous SMEs will have to network and build alliances to beable to survive and compete effectively. There is strong evidence that formingalliances, clustering and networking help small firms to compete, grow and cooperatewith large firms. By working together, firms can gain the benefits of collectiveefficiency, enabling them to link with larger producers and break into national andglobal markets. The key to success seems to be a customer-oriented focus, amutually supportive approach, and a cumulative effort to ensure continuous, ratherthan discrete improvements. While SMEs in Africa remain largely underdevelopedand isolated, SMEs in Mauritius illustrate the various forms of linkages that can beforged specially clustering in the Export Processing Zone (EPZ). Vertical integrationin the textile industry in Mauritius also stands out as an interesting and successfulexample.

East Midlands food & drink sector strategy

The food & drink sector is one of four priority sectors identified in the regional economic strategy, A Flourishing Region. This document sets out a strategy for maximising the contribution of the food & drink sector to the economic development of the East Midlands

Competitive response, innovation and creating an innovative milieu: the case of manufacturing industry in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

competition;competitiveness;Zimbabwe;industrial development;industry;industrial innovations

Networks, Market Structures and Economic Shocks: The structural changes of Innovation Systems in Latin America

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Commercialisation of research results – cooperation between science and business

When analysing the term commercialisation one should answer the crucial question: what mechanisms govern commercialisation of knowledge and technology as well as which resources and sources determine it. The article presents a theoretical deliberation concerning the development of issues related to the commercialisation of research results in the last century. A review of literature precedes the section on sources for the commercialisation of knowledge and technologies when considering research results and technology providers. The author claims that analysis of technological resources also determines the possibilities for the cooperation between science and business. It is important for the selection of the commercialisation strategy to describe technological resources and their complementarity. Strong technological resources and their market availability ensures independent technological development. However, a lack of technological resources or the chance to acquire them encourages an innovative organisation to pass know-how or technologies to another, capable organisation which is willing to commercialise this knowledge on the market. Frequently however when commercialising research results, organisations establish cooperation on the market in order to build resources to implement research results. This article, ‘Commercialisation of research results – cooperation between science and business’, is concluded with an example depicting the cooperation between scientists and business people in a new spin-off company set up in order to build technological resources and the market implementation of a device for measuring the structure of soft material surfaces.Article has been prepared based on Polish National Scientific Agency project - DEC-2011/01/B/HS4/05200. (Powstanie artykuł zostało sfinansowane ze środków Narodowego Centrum Nauki przyznanych na podstawie decyzji numer DEC-2011/01/B/HS4/05200”) Preparation and printing funded by the National Agency for Research and Development under project “Kreator Innowacyjności – wparcie dla Przedsiębiorczości akademickiej