The Japanese model in retrospective : industrial strategies, corporate Japan and the 'hollowing out' of Japanese industry

This article provides a retrospective look at the Japanese model of industrial development. This model combined an institutional approach to production based around the Japanese Firm (Aoki's, J-mode) and strategic state intervention in industry by the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI). For a long period, the alignment of state and corporate interests appeared to match the wider public interest as the Japanese economy prospered. However, since the early 1990s, the global ambitions of the corporate sector have contributed to a significant 'hollowing out' of Japan's industrial base. As the world today looks for a new direction in economic management, we suggest the Japanese model provides policy-makers with a salutary lesson in tying the wider public interest with those of the corporate sector

An integrated model of organisational innovation and firm performance: generation, persistence and complementarity

Our paper encompasses an integral view of organizational innovation (OI), covering from the generation of OI to the effect of OI on firm performance, tackling the gap identified by Damanpour et al. (2009) about the lack of studies that comprehensively study OI. We empirically test this question using data from the Spanish Technological Innovation Panel (PITEC, 2016) carried out in the years 2008-2013, focusing on a sample of 3,795 manufacturing firms. The results provide empirical evidence that confirms OI as an innovation capability. We conclude that innovation capabilities operate through a reciprocity and complementarity relation, where technological, product and process, innovations and OI are all determining factors of one another. Last, our paper explores the effect of OI on firm performance, expanding the current analysis of the effect of process and product innovation on firm performanc

Politics ahead of patients: The battle between medical and chiropractic professional associations over the inclusion of chiropractic in the American Medicare System

Health care professions struggling for legitimacy, recognition, and market share can become disoriented to their priorities. Health care practitioners are expected to put the interests of patients first. Professional associations represent the interests of their members. So when a professional association is composed of health care practitioners, its interests may differ from those of patients, creating a conflict for members. In addition, sometimes practitioners’ perspectives may be altered by indoctrination in a belief system, or misinformation, so that a practitioner could be confused about the reality of patient needs. Politicians, in attempting to find an expedient compromise, can value a “win” in the legislative arena over the effects of that legislation. These forces all figure into the events that led to the acceptance of chiropractic into the American Medicare system. Two health care systems in a political fight lost sight of their main purpose: to provide care to patients without doing harm. Dans leur recherche de légitimité, de reconnaissance et d’une juste part sur le marché de la santé, les professionnels de la santé peuvent perdre de vue leurs priorités. Ces praticiens doivent donner préséance aux intérêts des patients tandis que les associations professionnelles représentent ceux de leurs membres. Lorsqu’une association professionnelle regroupe des praticiens de la santé cependant, ses intérêts s’opposent parfois à ceux des patients, créant ainsi un conflit pour les membres. De plus, les praticiens peuvent être endoctrinés par un système de valeurs ou mal informés, au point de se tromper dans l’évaluation des besoins réels des patients. De leur côté, les politiciens peuvent préférer une « victoire » dans l’arène législative à une juste appréciation des impacts d’une loi. Ces forces ont toutes participé aux évènements qui ont mené à l’acceptation de la chiropraxie par le système américain Medicare. Dans cette bataille politique, deux systèmes de santé ont négligé leur principal objectif : soigner des patients sans leur nuire

COS 36-8 Tradeoffs between growth and function for riparian trees undergoing climatic drying

International audienc

Analysis of mode distribution for PMMA Whispering gallery mode resonators

Polimetilmetakrilāta (PMMA) čukstošo galeriju modu (ČGM) mikro sfēru rezonatori ir komerciāli pieejami ar tipiskajiem labuma (Q) faktoriem 10^3-10^4. Izmantojot attēlu apstrādes tehniku ar augstu izšķirtspēju (1.9µm/px), ir iespējams monitorēt absorbcijas spektru. Šajā darbā tika izstrādāta jauna veida attēlu apstrādes metode priekš ČGM mikro rezonatoriem, lai analizētu intensitātes sadalījumu atsevišķos (40-70µm) PMMA ČGM mikro rezonatoru reģionos mainot ārējos fizikālos apstākļus. Intensitātes izmaiņas var tikt izmantotas lai raksturotu augstāku kārtu modu mijiedarbību un integrētu sensoru sistēmā.Poly methyl methacrylate acrylic (PMMA) whispering gallery mode (WGM) micro sphere resonators are commercially available with typical optical quality factor of 10^3-10^4. Using image processing techniques, with (1.9µm/px) high resolution, the absorption spectrum could be monitored. In the present work a new type of image processing for WGM micro-resonators was developed, to analyze intensity distribution in separate regions for PMMA WGM micro-resonators (40-70 µm) by changing the external physical properties such as temperature and wavelength. The intensity changes can be used as a representation of higher order spacial mode groups and integrated into optical sensors

Determinants of the level of knwoledge application: a knowledge-based and information-processing perspective

Knowledge application is of key importance in the development of successful new products. Knowledge application refers to an organization's timely response to technological change by utilizing the knowledge and technology generated into new products and processes. This study uses the knowledge-based theory of the firm and considers its roots in the information-processing approach to organization theory to identify and structure potential antecedents of knowledge application. This study develops four hypotheses concerning antecedents of knowledge application. The hypotheses are tested using data collected from 277 high-technology firms. Empirical results indicate that a long-term orientation supported by a research and development (R&D) budget, formal rewards, and information technology directly increases the level of knowledge application, while R&D co-location indirectly increases the level of knowledge application. It is surprising to find that an increase in the level of organizational redundancy reduces the level of knowledge application. The findings also suggest that information technologies, lead-user, and supplier networks do not appear to significantly influence organizational redundancy