Investigating Determinants of Project Portfolio Management Adoption

Recently, there has been an emphasis on managing projects strategically within the organization using project portfolio management (PPM). However, the extent of adoption of this innovation and the enabling factors are not well understood in academics and practice. This research-inprogress investigates a model of PPM adoption using data being collected from project managers. The model identifies a total of nine variables capturing various environmental, PPM, and organizational factors that could potentially impact the adoption decision of PPM. The survey is hosted on the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) website in order to collect data from PMI members worldwide. The data will be analyzed using logistic regression to identify the factors that have a significant impact on PPM adoption. This research is part of a larger multi-method research of PPM adoption and infusion and the results of this research will help practitioners and researchers better understand factors that impact PPM adoption decisions

The innovation impact of EU emission trading: findings of company case studies in the German power sector

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of how the European Emission Trading System (EU ETS) as the core climate policy instrument of the European Union has impacted innovation. Towards this end, we investigate the impact of the EU ETS on research, development, and demonstration (RD&D), adoption, and organizational change. In doing so, we pay particular attention to the rela-tive influences of context factors (policy mix, market factors, public acceptance) as well as firm characteristics (value chain position, technology portfolio, size, vision). Empirically, our analysis is based on multiple case studies with 19 power generators, technology providers, and project developers in the German power sector which we conducted from June 2008 until June 2009. We find that the innovation impact of the EU ETS has remained limited so far because of the scheme’s initial lack in stringency and predictability and the relatively greater importance of context factors. Additionally, the impact varies tremendously across technologies, firms, and innovation dimensions, and is most pronounced for RD&D on carbon capture technologies and corporate procedural change. Our analysis suggests that the EU ETS by itself may not provide sufficient incentives for fundamental changes in corporate climate innovation activities at a level adequate for reaching political long-term targets. Based on the study’s findings, we derive a set of policy and research recommendations. --EU ETS,emission trading,innovation,technological change,adoption,diffusion,organizational change,power sector

A case-control study of medical, psychological and socio-economic factors influencing the severity of chronic rhinosinusitis

BACKGROUND: Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a common and debilitating disorder. Little is known about the epidemiology of this disease. The aims of the study were to identify differences in socio-economic variables and quality of life between patients with chronic rhinosinusitis and healthy controls, to identify any significant associations between CRS and other medical co-morbidities, psychiatric disease or environmental exposure and to explore the experience of CRS from the perspective of CRS sufferers. METHODS: Participants were recruited from ENT clinics from 30 centres across the UK. They completed a study-specific questionnaire considering environmental, medical and socio-economic factors, and SF-36 and SNOT-22 scores. All participants with CRS were diagnosed by a clinician and categorised as having CRS (with polyposis, without polyposis or allergic fungal rhinosinusitis (AFRS)). Controls included family and friends of those attending ENT outpatient clinics and hospital staff who had no diagnosis of nose or sinus problems and had not been admitted to hospital in the previous 12 months. RESULTS: A total of 1470 study participants (1249 patients and 221 controls) were included in the final analysis. Highly significant differences were seen in generic and disease-specific quality of life scores between CRS sufferers and controls; mean SNOT-22 score 45.0 for CRS compared with 12.1 amongst controls. There were no clear differences in socioeconomic variables including social class, index of multiple deprivation and educational attainment between cases and controls. Common comorbidities with a clear association included respiratory and psychiatric disorders, with a higher frequency of reported upper respiratory tract infections. CONCLUSIONS: CRS is associated with significant impairment in quality of life and with certain medical co-morbidities. In contrast to other common ENT disorders, no socioeconomic differences were found between patients and controls in this study

Towards a Theory of Climate Innovation - A Model Framework for Analyzing Drivers and Determinants

Climate change, including its possible causes and consequences, is one of the most controversial and intensely discussed topics of our time. However, European businesses nowadays are less affected by the direct effects of climate change than by its indirect consequences. One central issue that arises in this context is the change in demands imposed by the enterprises’ operational environment. This article contributes to environmental innovation literature by providing a comprehensive framework which allows an analysis of the drivers, determinants and outcomes of climate innovations implemented by companies. In this context, the prime issue is how the perception of climate change affects corporate innovation processes. Firstly, the new demands imposed on the company by its stakeholders are considered. Secondly, the innovative reactions to these impulses are captured. Finally, the functions and relevance of certain internal and external determinants in the innovative process are highlighted.climate change, evolutionary economics, innovation, research framework

Livelihood Diversification In Coastal and Inland Fishing Communities: Misconceptions, Evidence and Implications for Fisheries Management

This is the working paper regarding the Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme (SFLP). Diversification is a process by which households engage in multiple income generating activities. It is widely seen in the academic literature and international development arena as a strategy for spreading risk and reducing vulnerability. The formulation of policies promoting diversification is thus encouraged at national levels to alleviate poverty. However, such policies involve delicate choices and trade-offs between government objectives of development, e.g. intensification of agriculture and increase in agricultural outputs to satisfy export markets, versus increased household well-being and resilience to adversity through the promotion of small-scale, household-based, activities. In the context of fisheries, diversification is promoted as a means for reducing dependence on the resource, making restrictive management easier and less controversial for those affected by such measures. This often interprets diversification as job-substitution (stop fishing, do something else) rather than adding other activities to an income-portfolio. With the tendency for increasing pressure on fishery resources, it becomes ever more necessary to address in a coherent way diversification and its links with both poverty reduction and responsible fisheries. Implications of the development of alternative or complementary activities alongside a main, resource-dependent activity such as fishing, may echo those experienced by sectors such as agriculture and pastoralism. However, many characteristics of the fishing activity and of those who engage in it are particular to the sector. General poverty alleviation policies and fisheries management schemes have been found to lack the necessary differentiation and to fail to cater for the specific needs of fishing communities (Smith et al. 2005). The lack of attention -- or misplaced attention through maladapted policies -- that the sector and the communities it supports have received so far can be traced to a number of misconceptions stemming from "the old paradigm on poverty in small-scale fisheries" (Béné, 2003, p950). These assumptions include that (after Béné 2003, Allison and Ellis 2001): -- Fishing is an ingrained activity in fishing communities and fishermen will not leave fishing for cultural reasons. -- Fishermen are specialised and carry out fishing on a professional basis only. -- Fishing is a last resort activity and fishermen are unable to diversify into other income-generating activities. -- Fisheries development and development of fishing communities is not possible without increasing fishing effort. -- Livelihood diversification in fishing communities cannot go hand in hand with a sustainable natural resources management that encompasses both sustainable fisheries management and poverty alleviation. It is the aim of this paper to challenge these assumptions. Because of its linkages with resource management, looking at diversification in fishing communities involves re-exploring the issue from a different perspective than its current interpretation and most widely-encountered application to agricultural (land-based)-livelihoods. Despite the potential broad remit of this task, the objective here is to remain focused on the necessity to dispel misconceptions and show the need to formulate policies that support the engagement of fisherfolk and their families in multiple activities. By doing so, the paper shall also provide a compilation and review of available information related to diversification in fishing communities and point out the complexity of the issue of diversification in these communities. The geographical scope of the paper is global, guided by the availability of case study material, though reference to the West African experiences of the Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme (SFLP) is made wherever possible. Unless expressed otherwise, the terms 'fisheries' or 'fishers' make implicit reference to artisanal fisheries and the small-scale operations and modus operandi of those relying on them

ADOPTION OF RFID AND ITS LONG TERM IMPACT ON FIRM VALUE

With the growing scale of RFID investment, the relationship between RFID and firm value has attracted the attention of a lot of researchers. Prior research had employed the event study method to examine the short term market reaction to RFID adoption and found significant negative abnormal return. In this paper, we extend previous research by investigating the long term impact of RFID investment on firm market value using the CPA (Calendar Portfolio Analysis), 108 announcements related to 74 publicly traded companies were analysed. Our results indicate an overall significant negative impact on long term abnormal return of market value after adoption of RFID. It is also discovered that non-US based firms, late adopters, manufacturers, highly diversified firms, high financially unhealthy firms and low growth potential firms suffered more negative impact in the long term. The results signify that the market is impacted by the risks associated with the use of a new and disruptive technology like RFID and may not yet be ready to accept it as a standard technology that is adopted by firms. Put together, our results provide new insights into how RFID and other contextual factors interact to affect the financial performance of firms in the long run

Capital Structure and Political Risk in Asia-Pacific Real Estate Markets

This study investigates the determinants of capital structure decisions by real estate firms, with a specific focus on the impact of political risk on leverage. Using a sample of Asia-Pacific REITs and listed property trusts, we find those firms with properties located in countries characterized by relatively high degrees of political risk, such as political instability, and/or greater uncertainty in the ability to repatriate and monetize profits from international investment activities, employ less debt than their counterparts operating in more politically stable environments. This core finding remains robust to alternative sample selection criteria including the division of the sample into high versus low market-to-book value firms, and also holds within the subset of organizations that are active in raising additional capital in the secondary markets

Strategic human resource management: insights from the international hotel industry

In the strategic human resource management (SHRM) field three approaches have dominated, namely, the universal or best-practice, best-fit or contingency and resource-based view (RBV). This study investigates evidence for the simultaneous or mixed adoption of these approaches by eight case study firms in the international hotel industry. Findings suggest there is considerable evidence of the combined use of the first two approaches but that the SHRM RBV approach was difficult to achieve by all companies. Overall, gaining differentiation through SHRM practices was found to be challenging due to specific industry forces. The study identifies that where companies derive some competitive advantage from their human resources and HRM practices they have closely aligned their managers’ expertise with their corporate market entry mode expertise and developed some distinctive, complex and integrated HRM interventions, which have a mutually reinforcing effect

Re-considering Agri-Environmental Schemes premiums: the impact of fixed costs in sign-up decisions

Current EU legislation states that premiums for agri-environmental schemes must be calculated based on forgone profit and additional costs. This approach has been implemented for the last decades without much success in farmer uptake, a situation that might even worsen as the 20% additional payment as incentive for participation has been excluded in the new EU Rural Development Framework 2007-2013. This paper tries to explain why supply side estimated premiums might not suffice to assure farm profitability investigating the role that fixed costs have on adoption. A farm profit maximizing model is proposed where fixed and transaction costs are split from variations in marginal profit. This model is then developed to identify the potential barriers to adoption associated with the presence of fixed compliance costs. A sample of farmers eligible for an agri-environmental scheme entailing a land-use change is used to test whether the theoretical models are valid for explaining adoption decisions. Two different econometric specifications are used to identify the role of fixed costs, one assuming that uptake and surface decisions are governed by the same variables and another distinguishing both decisions. Estimation results show that there is an adoption barrier derived from the initial farm technical assets and know-how affecting the fixed compliance costs of introducing the new crop. Therefore not compensating for fixed costs can curtail agri-environmental policy success. In addition, there is an adoption barrier derived from transaction costs which are reduced in the presence of social networks.Agri-environmental schemes, fixed costs, adoption, Environmental Economics and Policy,