Metanational Learning in TFT-LCD Industry: An Organizing Framework

Japan's dominance in TFT-LCD production share has weakened over time, while Korea and Taiwan have taken over the leading positions. After reviewing conventional wisdom regarding the factors influencing the decline in Japan's production volume, we reframe the entire issue from the perspective of "metanational" learning. Success behind Korean and Taiwanese firms lies in the fact that they have adopted the metanational approach: learning knowledge from Japan and adopting the global best-supplier policy for equipment and materials, regardless of nationality (e.g. Samsung). We argue that the relevance of the metanational approach (as opposed to the domestic "black box" approach) is determined by the competitive advantage of home country/industry and company. While this approach is generally considered appropriate for firms that are trying to overcome their home country disadvantages, we argue that the metanational approach remains appropriate for firms which need to cope with eroding country and industry competitiveness, such as Japanese firms in the TFT-LCD industry.

Aligning organizational ecosystems to be fit for purpose

In the first of a two-part series, we explore how firms are reaping the benefits of leveraging a network of external resources for enhanced performance and innovation, but only when their organisational ecosystems are strategically aligned and fit for purpose

Part B: Designing organizational ecosystems and overcoming barriers to implementation

In the second of a two-part series on aligning organisational ecosystems to be fit for purpose and high-performing, this article delves deeper into how firms must be mindful of the unique implementation challenges associated with this more complex form of organising work

Overcoming Inferior External Environments in the Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology Industries via R&D Management (Japanese)

For firms to build up competitive advantage in business, the prevailing belief generally holds that in addition to positioning themselves in attractive industries expected to generate high profits, it is also important that they locate their bases in nations and regions which provide favorable external environments. Nevertheless, in reality there are many firms where these conditions are not met. This paper focuses on such companies, and considers ways to build up competitive advantage. In particular, this study suggests that it is important to establish an effective management in order to acquire and utilize management resources.

Agenda for R&D Globalization of Japanese Firms: From an organizational and strategic perspective (Japanese)

We analyze a recent pattern of R&D globalization of Japanese firms based on the latest data collected in 2008. We show the current status of R&D globalization, with a particular focus on differences between the operations in the West and those in the emerging countries such as in Asia, at the levels of organizations and strategy. We also show the way overseas R&D operations have evolved over time, in terms of the overseas R&D laboratories' external and internal connectedness. Furthermore, we present our analysis concerning local autonomy, determinants of R&D performance, and determinants of overseas R&D charters. Based on such analysis, theoretical and practical implications are drawn.

Enhancement of "CP-odd" Higgs Boson Production in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model with Explicit CP Violation

We calculate the production cross section of the ``CP-odd'' Higgs boson via gluon fusion in the minimal supersymmetric standard model with explicit CP violation in the stop sector. We show that there is a parameter region in which the cross section is enhanced by a factor of about 1000, as compared to the case without CP violation in the stop sector. In the parameter region where the ``CP-odd'' Higgs boson can decay into a stop pair, the stop pair events will be the important signature of the enhanced ``CP-odd'' Higgs boson. In the case where the ``CP-odd'' Higgs boson cannot decay into any superparticles, the gamma gamma and tau tau decay channels could become important for discovering the ``CP-odd'' Higgs boson. We also discuss the constraints from electric dipole moments of electron, neutron and mercury on the viable parameter space mentioned above.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figure

A generalized analysis of partitioning interwell tracer tests

A partitioning interwell tracer test (PITT) is a method for estimating oil volume and/or oil saturation in the swept zone between a set of injectors and producers in a reservoir. One of the methods for analyzing PITTs is the method of moments, which is based upon calculating the first temporal moment of the tracer concentrations in the produced fluids. PITTs have many advantages over other methods for estimating oil saturation by measuring over a much larger volume than a single well tracer test and a well log. It is especially important to know the remaining oil saturation as accurately as possible before applying enhanced oil recovery methods. PITTs also provide valuable information on swept volumes between wells, flow paths, and breakthrough times. A very general derivation of the method of moments applied to PITT data is presented in this dissertation. This derivation shows that the method of moments can be used for three-dimensional, heterogeneous reservoirs under very general conditions. The general derivation and its verification with numerical simulations shows that the method is not limited to residual oil saturation as generally assumed, but can be extended to mobile oil saturation (or any multiphase flow problem). PITTs in naturally fractured reservoirs are an extreme example of heterogeneous reservoirs that can be analyzed by the method of moments, although the time to conduct such tests can be generally very long. For this reason, the concept of natural tracers was investigated and analyzed. The technique of using natural tracers is based on the idea of measuring a naturally residing petroleum organic component such as organic alcohols and acids. Since natural tracers originate in the oil itself, its use can be less expensive and more environmentally friendly than the use of injected chemical or radioactive tracers, and can take less time to produce a useful signal. The synthetic tracer data in naturally fractured reservoirs as well as to singleporosity heterogeneous reservoirs are generated using numerical simulators. These data were analyzed under a wide range of reservoir conditions using both the method of moments and inverse modeling using a program developed at TAMU.Petroleum and Geosystems Engineerin

Disaggregating the headquarters: Implications for overseas R&D subsidiaries' reporting and the subsidiaries' knowledge-sharing patterns

This study explores the relations between the different parts of headquarters (HQ) to which subsidiaries report and the knowledge-sharing patterns of subsidiaries in multinational corporations (MNCs). Despite the growing interest in the disaggregation of HQ, little is known about how subsidiaries' reporting relationships with different parts of HQ are associated with the knowledge-sharing patterns of subsidiaries. Based on this motivation, we disaggregated HQ into different parts, i.e., corporate R&D HQ, top management, divisional HQ, and regional HQ, and explored how knowledge-sharing patterns of overseas R&D subsidiaries vary according to the different parts of the HQ to which they report. We found that subsidiaries reporting to corporate R&D HQ show the highest level of external knowledge sharing (EKS), while those reporting to divisional HQ show the lowest level; in addition, subsidiaries reporting to top management show the highest level of internal knowledge sharing (IKS), while those reporting to regional HQ show the lowest level. The study implies that the knowledge-sharing patterns of overseas R&D subsidiaries in MNCs cannot be fully understood without examining the subsidiaries' reporting relationships with differing parts of the HQ