Cyclical Dynamics in Three Industries

In this paper we offer a procedure to identify the industry cycles, and apply the procedure to the industrial data of three industries, namely semiconductors, PCs and FPDs. The identified cycles enable us to conduct two comparison analyses: (1) comparing the cycles with those suggested by industry experts in the corresponding industries; (2) comparing the industry cycles across the three industries. Moreover, we examine the factors possibly contributing to the cyclical dynamics of the industries built on three lines of explanations in the literature. Our vector auto regression (VAR) models establish that the dynamics of aggregate economy and capacity are among the most significant drivers in our semiconductor industry cycle.Industry cycle, business cycle, technology cycle, business dynamics, VAR model

Energizing industrial development

The role of energy sources in the c choice of industrial development pathways has not been widely acknowledged outside the energy literature. Indeed, as oil prices rise, traditional fossil fuel-intensive industrial development pathways now imperil development prospects around the world. As energy security becomes a major issue, developing countries have everything to lose by simply following fossil-fuel based industrialization, and everything to gain by recasting their development strategies around the prospects for renewable energies and biofuels. This paper argues that the time is therefore ripe for developing countries to re-evaluate their stance on renewable energy sources generally, and on biofuels in particular.The role of energy sources in the c choice of industrial development pathways has not been widely acknowledged outside the energy literature. Indeed, as oil prices rise, traditional fossil fuel-intensive industrial development pathways now imperil development prospects around the world. As energy security becomes a major issue, developing countries have everything to lose by simply following fossil-fuel based industrialization, and everything to gain by recasting their development strategies around the prospects for renewable energies and biofuels. This paper argues that the time is therefore ripe for developing countries to re-evaluate their stance on renewable energy sources generally, and on biofuels in particular.Articles published in or submitted to a Journal without IF refereed / of international relevanc

Lachmannian Insights into Strategic Entrepreneurship: Resources, Activities and Routines in a Disequilibrium World

Recent contributions to the organizational literature see the radical subjectivist and disequilibrium framework of Ludwig Lachmann as providing a suitable foundation for strategic entrepreneurial studies, in that his approach seeks independence from conventional equilibrium-based reasoning. In a Lachmannian spirit, this article suggests that strategizing can fruitfully be viewed as choices made by the entrepreneur in terms of the organization’s constituent resources, activities and routines together with their recombinations and complexifications. Cast in a general, disequilibrium setting, the strategic goals that guide the organizational entrepreneur’s strategizing can be formulated in terms of the construction and capture of resource complementarities, the pursuit of increasing returns through activities reconfiguration; and the generation of learning and dynamic capabilities through reconfiguration of routines. Once formulated in this way, the strategizing issues may be seen to make sense not just in the comparative static and imperfect equilibrium frameworks within which they have hitherto been posed, but in a more general dynamic and disequilibrium setting that corresponds to the real conditions in which firms are required to make entrepreneurial decisions. The simplified framework offers some hope for overcoming the balkanization of management scholarship that is so widely deplored.Recent contributions to the organizational literature see the radical subjectivist and disequilibrium framework of Ludwig Lachmann as providing a suitable foundation for strategic entrepreneurial studies, in that his approach seeks independence from conventional equilibrium-based reasoning. In a Lachmannian spirit, this article suggests that strategizing can fruitfully be viewed as choices made by the entrepreneur in terms of the organization’s constituent resources, activities and routines together with their recombinations and complexifications. Cast in a general, disequilibrium setting, the strategic goals that guide the organizational entrepreneur’s strategizing can be formulated in terms of the construction and capture of resource complementarities, the pursuit of increasing returns through activities reconfiguration; and the generation of learning and dynamic capabilities through reconfiguration of routines. Once formulated in this way, the strategizing issues may be seen to make sense not just in the comparative static and imperfect equilibrium frameworks within which they have hitherto been posed, but in a more general dynamic and disequilibrium setting that corresponds to the real conditions in which firms are required to make entrepreneurial decisions. The simplified framework offers some hope for overcoming the balkanization of management scholarship that is so widely deplored.Non-Refereed Working Papers / of national relevance onl

Competitive Interfirm Dynamics within an Industrial Market System

This paper develops a conceptual framework within which the fundamental resource dynamics of an economy may be investigated. The framework has heterogeneous firms at its center, and the dynamics governing their competitive, evolutionary and entrepreneurial interactions are made the object of analysis. This approach is motivated by the desire to penetrate to the resource dynamics of a capitalist economy, and to bring out the significance that interfirm resource networks play in the way that economies adapt and respond to novel situations. The management of these relational assets - resources, routines and interfirm relations - is seen as a critical issue in the success of individual firms and of whole economies. The paper embarks on this project through the synthesis of four current business perspectives, in the belief that rapid changes in the global economy call for renewed efforts towards theoretical integration. The four perspectives are the dynamic capabilities perspective on the firm (incorporating the resource-based view) as developed in the strategic management literature; the markets-as-networks view, as developed in the industrial marketing and purchasing literature; the evolutionary economic view, as developed by Nelson and Winter; and the entrepreneurial discovery view, as developed by Schumpeter and the Austrian school. It is contended that a synthesis of these perspectives will reinforce each, and lead to novel insights.networks, firms, economic development

Cyclical Dynamics in Three Industries

In this paper we offer a procedure to identify the industry cycles, and apply the procedure to the industrial data of three industries, namely semiconductors, PCs and FPDs. The identified cycles enable us to conduct two comparison analyses: (1) comparing the cycles with those suggested by industry experts in the corresponding industries; (2) comparing the industry cycles across the three industries. Moreover, we examine the factors possibly contributing to the cyclical dynamics of the industries built on three lines of explanations in the literature. Our vector auto regression (VAR) models establish that the dynamics of aggregate economy and capacity are among the most significant drivers in our semiconductor industry cycle.In this paper we offer a procedure to identify the industry cycles, and apply the procedure to the industrial data of three industries, namely semiconductors, PCs and FPDs. The identified cycles enable us to conduct two comparison analyses: (1) comparing the cycles with those suggested by industry experts in the corresponding industries; (2) comparing the industry cycles across the three industries. Moreover, we examine the factors possibly contributing to the cyclical dynamics of the industries built on three lines of explanations in the literature. Our vector auto regression (VAR) models establish that the dynamics of aggregate economy and capacity are among the most significant drivers in our semiconductor industry cycle.Non-Refereed Working Papers / of national relevance onl

Adaptive unsharp masking for contrast enhancement

Journal ArticleABSTRACT A new scheme o,f unsharp masking for image contrast enhancement is presented in this paper. An adaptive algorithm is introduced so that a sharpening action is performed only in locations where the image exhibits significant dynamics. Hence, the amplification of noise in smooth areas is reduced. An adaptive directional filtering is also performed so as to provide suitable emphasis to the different directional characteristics of the detail. Because it is capable of treating high-detail and medium-detail areas differently, this algorithm also avoids unpleasant overshoot artifacts in regions of sharp transitions. Experimental results demonstrating the usefulness of the adaptive operator in an application involving preprocessing of images for enhancement prior to zooming are also included in the paper

Lattice algorithms for recursive least squares adaptive second-order volterra filtering

Journal ArticleThis paper presents two computationally efficient recursive least-square (RLS) lattice algorithms for adaptive nonlinear filtering based on a truncated second-order Volterra system model. The lattice formulation transforms the nonlinear filtering problem into an equivalent multichannel, linear filtering problem and then generalizes the lattice solution to the nonlinear filtering problem. One of the algorithms is a direct extension of the conventional RLS lattice adaptive linear filtering algorithm to the nonlinear case. The other algorithms is based on the QR decomposition of the prediction error covariance matrices using orthogonal transformations. Several experiments demonstrating and comparing the properties of the two algorithms in finite and "infinite" precision environments are included in the paper. The results indicate that both the algorithms retain the fast convergence behavior of the RLS Volterra filters and are numerically stable

Lattice and QR decomposition-based algorithms for recursive least squares adaptive nonlinear filters

Journal ArticleThis paper presents a lattice structure for adaptive Volterra systems. The stucture is applicable to arbitrary planes of support of the Volterra kernels. A fast least squares lattice and a fast QR-lattice adaptive nonlinear filtering algorithms based on the lattice structure are also presented. These algorithms share the fast convergence property of fast least squares transversal Volterra filters; however, unlike the transversal filters they do not suffer from numerical instability

Accelerated Internationalisation by Emerging Multinationals: The Case of the White Goods Sector

The emergence of a "second wave" of developing-country multinational enterprises (MNEs) in a variety of industries is one of the characterizing features of globalization. This paper documents how emerging markets' MNEs (EM-MNEs) may follow quite different patterns to reach, or at least approach, global competitiveness. In particular, it investigates how three EM-MNEs pursued global growth through accelerated internationalization combined with strategic and organizational innovation. Haier (China), Mabe (Mexico) and Arçelik (Turkey) emerged as multinationals in the large home appliances (so-called "white goods") industry. The recipe for the success of these firms seems to lie in their ability to treat global competition as an opportunity to build capabilities, move into more profitable industry segments, and adopt strategies that turn latecomer status into a source of competitive advantage. At the same time, their experiences show that there are many strategies and trajectories for going global, consistent with a pluralistic conceptualization of globalization.The emergence of a "second wave" of developing-country multinational enterprises (MNEs) in a variety of industries is one of the characterizing features of globalization. This paper documents how emerging markets' MNEs (EM-MNEs) may follow quite different patterns to reach, or at least approach, global competitiveness. In particular, it investigates how three EM-MNEs pursued global growth through accelerated internationalization combined with strategic and organizational innovation. Haier (China), Mabe (Mexico) and Arçelik (Turkey) emerged as multinationals in the large home appliances (so-called "white goods") industry. The recipe for the success of these firms seems to lie in their ability to treat global competition as an opportunity to build capabilities, move into more profitable industry segments, and adopt strategies that turn latecomer status into a source of competitive advantage. At the same time, their experiences show that there are many strategies and trajectories for going global, consistent with a pluralistic conceptualization of globalization.Refereed Working Papers / of international relevanc

Greening of Development Strategies

While the evidence accumulates that many countries are fashioning aspects of green development to complement their black, fossil-fuelled industries, the case for a wholesale adoption of green development strategies is seldom made. Instead it is frequently assumed that green development can only follow black development, and that it is only for countries that have reached a certain income level. In this paper the argument is reversed, and the case for a greening of development strategies even in the case of the poorest countries, is mounted. The advantages that can flow from a greening of development are identified and strategies for capturing these advantages, based on notions of leapfrogging and capturing latecomer advantages, are developed. The case for greening is independent of issues of global warming, but the fact that green development strategies combat climate change, and ameliorate conditions for the least advantaged, are in their favour