Levels of Multiplexity in Entrepreneur's Networks: Implications for Dynamism and Value Creation

© 2016 by De Gruyter. Relationships and networks are important to how entrepreneurs create value. However, many aspects about relationships and networks remain poorly understood because their characteristics are often reduced to one-dimensional variables or dichotomous measures. This paper unpacks the concept of multiplexity and proposes a hierarchy of four different levels (social, relational, strategic, and closed). Each level is associated with a different level of dynamism which governs how rapidly entrepreneurs can alter their network. The hierarchy of multiplexity and associated levels of dynamism, have implications regarding different value creation processes that are associated with these network conditions

Innovation and adoption of new materials

Many risks stand in the way of introducing a new material into the market place- some technical, some production related, some market oriented and some financial. Over the past 50 years, because of these risks, new material innovations have been commercialised almost exclusively by large corporations, and their development has had a long gestation period. If the risks can be estimated, quantified and managed at an early stage, and the risk-return is sufficiently financially attractive, then the gestation time of a new materials innovation is likely to be shortened. Tools exist for investigating aspects of these risks, but they were not originally developed with materials innovations in mind, nor have they been integrated into a coherent and accessible methodology which combines powerful predictive software tools with business strategy. For these reasons, the investment methodology for materials (IMM) has been introduced and developed in this thesis. IMM is intended to help identify promising materials innovations at an early stage by adapting existing and emerging predictive tools to materials innovations and linking them to give a practical, comprehensive procedure. The viability of this methodology has been demonstrated both by testing some of its parts through exploration of innovation with light emitting polymers (LEPs), oriented polymers (OPs), and cast octet-truss (OT) structures, anddemonstrating the whole procedure- through a major case study of the introduction of metal foams into automobiles. IMM consists of three interwoven segments: viability, market forecasting and value capture. IMM is aimed in particular at Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) which are attempting to commercialise a new materials innovation. Preliminary empirical evidence supports the hypothesis that the structure of the materials industry is changing such that SMEs can now drive a major materials innovation. The most important elements of this change- greater inter-firm connectivity and trends towards collaborative work- have reduced existing barriers to SMEs by improving access to capital and by making it easier to scan the marketplace for suitable applications. It is envisioned that IMM will assist SMEs in obtaining financing to commercialise new materials innovations and/or to refocus their efforts

Advanced production routes for metal matrix composites

The use of metal matrix composites (MMCs) in a variety of products is significantly increasing with time due to the fact that their properties can be tailored and designed to suit specific applications. However, the future usage of MMC products is very much dependent on their beneficial aspects and hence it is critical to ensure in a robust repeatable manner the superior physical property advantages compared to conventional unreinforced monolithic metal counterparts. Although numerous routes are available for production of MMC products, each of them has their own advantages and disadvantages. This article provides an overview of advanced production routes for MMCs. The discussion also highlights challenges and presents a future prospectus for MMCs. Powder metallurgy and casting routes are still extensively used for production of MMCs. Aluminum alloys are today the most commonly used matrix materials in MMC products. Carbides (eg, SiC, TiC, and B4C), carbon allotropes (eg, CNTs and graphene), and alumina (Al2O3) are currently the most used reinforcement materials. Nevertheless, the use of nano and of hybrid reinforcements are seeing increased usage in niche applications. Additive manufacturing (AM) is discussed as a novel production route for MMC products. This process represents a promising method for the production of MMC products