Construction informatics in Turkey: strategic role of ICT and future research directions

Construction Informatics deals with subjects ranging from strategic management of ICTs to interoperability and information integration in the construction industry. Studies on defining research directions for Construction Informatics have a history over 20 years. The recent studies in the area highlight the priority themes for Construction Informatics research as interoperability, collaboration support, intelligent sites and knowledge sharing. In parallel, today it is widely accepted in the Architecture/Engineering/Construction (AEC) industry that ICT is becoming a strategic asset for any organisation to deliver business improvement and achieve sustainable competitive advantage. However, traditionally the AEC industry has approached investing in ICT with a lack of strategic focus and low level of priority to the business. This paper presents a recent study from Turkey that is focused on two themes. The first theme investigates the strategic role of ICT implementations from an industrial perspective, and explores if organisations within the AEC industry view ICT as a strategic resource for their business practice. The second theme investigates the ‘perspective of academia’ in terms of future research directions of Construction Informatics. The results of the industrial study indicates that ICT is seen as a value-adding resource, but a shift towards the recognition of the importance of ICT in terms of value adding in winning work and achieving strategic competitive advantage is observed. On the other hand, ICT Training is found to be the theme of highest priority from the academia point of view

Construction informatics in Turkey: strategic role of ICT and future research directions

Construction Informatics deals with subjects ranging from strategic management of ICTs to interoperability and information integration in the construction industry. Studies on defining research directions for Construction Informatics have a history over 20 years. The recent studies in the area highlight the priority themes for Construction Informatics research as interoperability, collaboration support, intelligent sites and knowledge sharing. In parallel, today it is widely accepted in the Architecture/Engineering/Construction (AEC) industry that ICT is becoming a strategic asset for any organisation to deliver business improvement and achieve sustainable competitive advantage. However, traditionally the AEC industry has approached investing in ICT with a lack of strategic focus and low level of priority to the business. This paper presents a recent study from Turkey that is focused on two themes. The first theme investigates the strategic role of ICT implementations from an industrial perspective, and explores if organisations within the AEC industry view ICT as a strategic resource for their business practice. The second theme investigates the ‘perspective of academia’ in terms of future research directions of Construction Informatics. The results of the industrial study indicates that ICT is seen as a value-adding resource, but a shift towards the recognition of the importance of ICT in terms of value adding in winning work and achieving strategic competitive advantage is observed. On the other hand, ICT Training is found to be the theme of highest priority from the academia point of view

Multilateral Development Banks and Private Sector Financing: The Case of IFC

IFC, private sector financing, multinational development banks, causality tests

Barriers to industrial energy efficiency: a literature review

No description supplie

Health Biotechnology Innovation for Social Sustainability -A Perspective from China

China is not only becoming a significant player in the production of high-tech products, but also an increasingly important contributor of ideas and influence in the global knowledge economy. This paper identifies the promises and the pathologies of the biotech innovation system from the perspective of social sustainability in China, looking at the governance of the system and beyond. Based on The STEPS Centre’s ‘Innovation, Sustainability, Development: A New Manifesto’, a ‘3D’ approach has been adopted, bringing together social, technological and policy dynamics, and focusing on the directions of biotechnological innovation, the distribution of its benefits, costs and risks and the diversity of innovations evolving within it and alongside it

Gaining and sustaining competitive operations in turbulent business environments : what and how?

Operatiivisen ja strategisen johtamisen kirjallisuudessa on korostettu monia tekijöitä kuten resurssivalintoja ja operatiivista päätöksentekoa, strategista suunnittelua ja toimintaa sekä kilpailuetujen valintaa. Näitä tekijöitä on korostettu yrityksen kilpailukykyisten toimintojen lisäksi myös organisaation suorituskyvyn lähteinä. Johtamiskäytännöt ovat kuitenkin osoittaneet kilpailukykyisten toimintojen saavuttamisen ja säilyttämisen monesti epäonnistuneen etenkin kun liiketoimintaympäristössä on ollut turbulenssia. Tämän tutkimuksen perusteella voidaan väittää epäonnistumisten johtuvan pääsääntöisesti yrityksen resurssivalintojen ja operatiivisten päätösten, strategisen suunnittelun ja toiminnan sekä kilpailuetujen valitsemisen välisestä epäsuhdasta. Väitöskirja on yhdistelmä neljästä julkaisusta, joissa on käytetty sekä kvalitatiivisia että kvantitatiivisia metodeja. Tutkimuksen tuloksena on yleispätevä viitekehys, joka voi toimia tukena johtajille ja päätöksentekijöille heidän vastatessaan yrityksen resurssivalinnoista ja operatiivisista päätöksistä, strategisesta suunnittelusta ja toiminnasta sekä kilpailuetujen valinnasta. Viitekehys kehitettiin neljän eri vaiheen kautta. Ensimmäiseksi painotettiin kilpailuetuihin liittyvien vaihtoehtoiskustannusten tai moneen rinnakkaiseen painopisteeseen liittyvien haasteiden ymmärtämistä. Seuraavaksi tutkimuksessa kehitettiin viitekehys tehokasta strategista suunnittelua, toimeenpanoa ja valvontaa varten. Kolmanneksi strategisten tavoitteiden ja päämäärien saavuttamiseksi resurssivalintojen ja operatiivisten päätösten on oltava linjassa. Siksi päätettiin kehittää viitekehys, joka auttaa linjaamaan resurssivalinnat ja operatiiviset päätökset arvoketjussa, jonka jälkeen malli verifioitiin empiirisesti. Lopuksi nämä neljä julkaisua on yhdistetty oikeuttamaan väite, jonka mukaan organisaation kilpailukyvyn maksimoimiseksi yrityksen on yhdistettävä resurssivalinnat ja operatiivinen päätöksenteko, strateginen suunnittelu ja toiminta sekä kilpailuetujen valinta. Väitöstutkimus antaa monin tavoin panoksensa yrityksen, turbulenttisen liiketoimintaympäristön, yrityksen kilpailukyvyn ja organisaation suorituskyvyn teorioista kertovaan kirjallisuuteen. Lisäksi tässä tutkimuksessa kehitetyt konseptit ja argumentit auttavat parantamaan operatiivisen ja strategisen johdon johtamiskäytäntöjä. Näin ollen ehdotettujen konseptien ja viitekehyksen käyttöönoton avulla yritys voi saavuttaa ja säilyttää kilpailukykyisen toimintansa turbulenttisessa liiketoimintaympäristössä.A number of factors have been emphasized in operations and strategic management literature, such as resource choice and operations decisions, strategic planning and actions, and the choice of competitive priorities. These factors have been highly emphasized not only as the source of a firm’s competitive operations, but also as the source of its organizational performance. However, managerial practice shows that the act of gaining and sustaining competitive operations has often failed, especially when the business environment is turbulent. Through this research, we argue that this failure is mainly due to the lack of fit between a firm’s resource choice and operations decisions, strategic planning and actions, and the choice of competitive priorities. This dissertation is a combination of four publications approached through both qualitative and quantitative methods. A generalized framework has been proposed as a final outcome, which might act as a point of reference for managers and decision makers when correlating a firm’s resource choice and operations decisions, strategic planning and actions, and the choice of competitive priorities. The generalized framework was developed following four different steps. First, emphasis was given to gaining an understanding of the dilemma of trade-off or multi focus among competitive priorities. Second, the research developed a framework for effective and/or efficient strategic planning, implementation, and monitoring. Third, to meet strategic objectives and goals, there must be a proper alignment between resource choice and operations decisions; therefore, emphasis was placed on developing a framework that helps to align resource choice and operations decisions in the value chain, which was then verified empirically. Finally, these four publications have been combined to justify the argument that, to maximize organizational competitiveness and performance, there must be concurrence between a firm’s resource choice and operations decisions, strategic planning and actions, and the choice of competitive priorities. This dissertation provides several contributions to the literature in the fields of theory of the firm, turbulent business environments, firm competitiveness, and organizational performance. Moreover, the concepts and the arguments developed in this research help to enhance the managerial practice of operations and strategic management. Hence, through the implementation of the suggested concepts and the framework, a firm can gain and sustain competitive operations in turbulent business environments.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

University-based Technology Start-up Incubators – Evaluating their contribution to the co-production of knowledge, innovation and growth. Experience from the Edge

Policy makers in developed economies see merit in supporting the innovative abilities of technology entrepreneurs. It is hoped that from these highly–educated entrepreneur(s), new technology and service–based firms (NTBFs) can emerge. Indeed empirical evidence suggests that it is fast-growing young innovative firms which provide the bulk of new employment growth (Henrekson & Johansson, 2010; Storey & Greene, 2010). Start-up incubators are one of a number of micro-policy interventions with which states attempt – primarily through publically funded higher education Institutions - to support technology entrepreneurs to develop and commercialise their innovations. Incubator numbers have grown globally from their first appearance in the US in the 1950’s (for urban renewal purposes) to over 2,300 in the US and Europe currently. Since 2000, the number of incubators in US has almost trebled whilst the number in Europe has more than doubled (Bruneel et al, 2012). This latter growth has been driven primarily by technology start-up incubators, with these university – based incubators seen as important growth engines for developing knowledge economies and local and regional economic development (Etzkowitz et al. 2000, Link & Siegel, 2007). Technology start –up incubators are typically located in or near universities as they generally fall under the universities knowledge transfer remit. They typically focus on the research strengths of the university and offer a range of services to academic entrepreneurs and other incubatees such as shared office accommodation, shared support services, business support (hard), business advice (soft) and network provision (Bergek & Norman, 2008). Incubation programmes attempt to contribute to enterprise sustainability and the professional and entrepreneurial development of participants through buffering, which protects participants from the external environment (for a defined period), enabling them to develop their own internal resources; and bridging, which facilitates firms in building sustainable competitive advantage through the acquisition of external resources and networks (Amezcua et al. 2013). ). This paper outlines the methodological and data-related challenges associated with attempting to evaluate the contribution of start-up incubator services and supports to value-adding outputs, outcomes and impact. It advocates theory-based evaluation (TBE) methodology as a possible solution for effective evaluation (and policy learning) in complex research settings such as this, where a study is unable for a variety of reasons, to meet the stringent requirements of an experimental design e.g. random assignment, establishment of counterfactuals, control groups etc. TBE will deliver findings on the contribution of the multiple factors influencing a result showing whether the incubation process in a study made a contribution to an observed result and in what way? Mixed methods research designs and data analysis approaches are particularly suitable for TBE studies. An exploratory case study is used to illustrate the proposed TBE approach

QUALITY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF SELECTED FOOD AND BEVERAGE MANUFACTURING FIRMS IN LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA

The performance of Food and Beverages manufacturing firms is important to the development of the economy and this has been considered by researchers. In Nigeria, the decline in the performance of this sector in terms of competitive advantage has been noticed which could be as a result of a lack of quality management practices such as leadership behaviour, strategic quality planning, supplier quality management, process management and customer focus. The study investigated the effect of quality management practices on the competitive advantage of selected Food and Beverages manufacturing firms in Lagos State, Nigeria. The survey research design was adopted. The population of the study was 14, 591 top, middle and low-level management employees of the selected Food and Beverages manufacturing firms in Lagos State, Nigeria. A sample size of 491 was determined using the research advisor table. A simple random sampling technique was used. A validated questionnaire was used to collect data. Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients for the constructs ranged from 0.866 to 0.954. The response rate was 100%. Data were statistically analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics (multiple and hierarchical regression). Findings revealed that quality management practices had a significant effect on the competitive advantage of Food and Beverages manufacturing firms in Lagos State, (Adj.R2 = 0.117; F (5, 485) = 14.025, p < 0.05). The study concluded that quality management practices affected competitive advantage in Food and Beverages manufacturing firms in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study recommends that Food and Beverages manufacturing firms should encourage the adoption of quality management practices to enhance competitive advantage.  Article visualizations

Strategic Management Tools and Techniques: A Comparative Analysis of Empirical Studies

There is no doubt that strategic management tools and techniques are important parts of the strategic management process. Their use in organizations should be observed in a practice-based context. This paper analyzes the empirical studies on the usage of strategic management tools and techniques. Hence, the main aim of this study is to investigate and analyze which enterprises, according to their country development level, use more strategic management tools and techniques and which of these are used the most. Also, this paper investigates which strategic management tools and techniques are used globally according to the results of empirical studies. The study presents a summary of empirical studies for the period 1990–2015. The research results indicate that more strategic tools and techniques are used in developed countries, followed by developing countries and fewest in countries in transition. This study is likely to contribute to the field of strategic management because it summarizes the most used strategic tools and techniques at the global level according to varying stages of countries’ economic development. Also, the findings from this study may be utilized to maximize the full potential of enterprises and reduce the cases of entrepreneurship failures, through creating awareness of the importance of using strategic management tools and techniques

The impact of government financial support on the performance of new firms : the role of competitive advantage as an intermediate outcome

This research examines the influence of government financial support on new firms' performance. Extant empirical research on the topic has found mixed results, which warrants an exploration of the theoretical basis for the impact of support policies on new firms' performance. Grounding the theoretical model in the resource-based view and institutional theories, this study contends that performance outcomes - e.g., revenues or profits - should not be the first outcomes of public policies to be examined. Instead, competitive advantage formation is suggested as a link between support policies and new firms' performance. Using new firms from the U.S., we examine the impact of government financial support measures - government loans, guarantees and government equity - on firms' overall competitive advantage and more specific types of competitive advantage based on innovation, licensing-in, marketing, and human capital. Controlling for family funding, bank financing, equity of business angels and venture capitalists, industry, size, as well as entrepreneur's characteristics, the results reveal that government guarantees and government equity have a direct effect on new firms' competitive advantage and only an indirect impact on performance. Our results suggest to policy makers to focus on helping new firms build the necessary capabilities to compete successfully in the marketplace