The Institutional Context and Manufacturing Performance: The Case of the U.S. Defense Industrial Network

U.S. manufacturing firms that make sophisticated weapons systems for the Pentagon are subject to an unusual regulatory regime that obligates them to volunteer' information on their business practices to the government and to prime contractors as a condition of their special relationship with the government. Within this organizational community information sharing with and assistance to other firms have come to be viewed as an ordinary obligation - i.e., a condition of citizenship. This cooperative learning environment is indicative of a collaborative manufacturing network that enables member organizations to learn quickly about relevant process technology innovations and to implement them effectively. We find that defense contractors learn about information technology applications more quickly than enterprises outside the network. Moreover, learning advantages are not confined to transactions specific to the Pentagon, but benefit the non-military operations of the networked enterprises as well.

An Examination of Psychological Flexibility as a Mediator Between Mental Health Concerns and Satisfaction With Life Among Autistic Adults

Background: Experiencing mental health concerns (e.g., depression, anxiety, stress) can have negative effects on satisfaction with life (SWL) for autistic adults. Current mental health supports that may promote SWL do not effectively meet the needs of autistic adults, often due to deficits-based approaches. Methods: To begin addressing the gap in research surrounding mental health supports among autistic adults, we designed a preregistered longitudinal study that used structural equation modeling to assess 289 autistic adults from the Simons Powering Autism Research (SPARK) program to determine if progress toward ones values, a strengths-based component of psychological flexibility, is a potential mechanism through which mental health concerns (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress) impact SWL. Results: Results suggested that depression (but not anxiety or stress) negatively affected participants’ SWL. However, when including components of psychological flexibility as a mediator, there was no longer a significant direct effect between depression and SWL, suggesting that influences on SWL was explained through participants levels of components of psychological flexibility. The influence of values progress on the association between depression and SWL was significantly stronger than that of value obstruction (a deficit-based construct). Associations did not differ across gender. Conclusion: These findings provide preliminary support for interventions targeting improvements in psychological flexibility as they may help address core issues of deficit-based mental health services while also being able to emphasize outcomes that matter most to the autism community

Productivity and Information Technology: The Elusive Connection

This study analyzes the effect of information technology on the efficiency of production operations in a specific manufacturing process. Survey data from 584 establishments engaged in the machining process in 21 different industries are used to construct and test an empirical model that takes into account product characteristics, the type of technology (computer-programmable automation or conventionally controlled) machines, the extent of technological change at the plant, process-specific characteristics such as the scale of operations and degree of customization, labor policies, and structural features of the organization of work. The results indicate that there is a significant efficiency advantage from using programmable automation technology and that technological advantages accumulate with experience and with the repeated opportunities for learning associated with large volume and frequent product changes. The most efficient use of this technology occurs in plants with work practices that involve a higher ratio of machines to workers (as in a cellular approach to manufacturing) and allow production workers to perform programming tasks to a greater degree. Unionized plants are also significantly more efficient than non-union plants.productivity, manufacturing performance, production efficiency, technological change, programmable automation, organization of work

From Mission to Commercial Orientation: Perils and Possibilities for Federal Industrial Technology Policy

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Manufacturing scale, lot sizes and product complexity in defense and commercial manufacturing

Almost no systematic empirical analyses exist directly comparing defense and commercial manufacturing processes. A unique survey of nearly 1000 US manufacturing establishments allows a comparison of similar manufacturing processes in the machining intensive durable goods industries, which account for more than half of all defense purchases of durable goods. Organizations with and without defense contracts do not differ statistically in several measures of scale. Neither are production volumes or lot sizes different on average in machining operations, though defense production does tend more to concentrate where flexible manufacturing technologies are well suited. However, defense related machining products in this sector are more complex to manufacture.Defense industry, Manufacturing scale, Product specifications, Survey data, United States,

Firm Size And Capabilities, Regional Agglomeration, And The Adoption Of New Technology

The literature on agglomeration economies suggests that, in addition to firm-specific attributes, the local geographic context conditions the expected profitability of technology adoption. All rheories of technology diffusion assumc that inter-firm learning is the outcome of contact with prior adopters. Yet, with few exceptions, thc attributes of location that maximize the opportunities for learning (and hence, reduce thc costs of technology adoption for all firms in the same locale) have been given only cursory treatment. In this paper, we develop and test a model in which both firm-specific capabilities and placc-specific cxtcrnal economies affect the firm's decision to adopt a new technology. Our data colile from two national surveys conducted in 1987 and 1991. Because we have information on two different time periods, we are able to specify firm and place-specific conditions that precede the technology adoption decision. We find that localization (as measured by regional clustering of enterprises in related industries) and urbanizalion (as mcasured by the diversity of industries, and by the concentration of degree granting engineering institutions) provide knowledge spillovers that facilitate the adoption of new tcchnology by local establishments. Moreover, the impact of urbanization econonlies is size-related: The impact of a diverse region on adoption is evcn greater for small enterprises than for large ones.Agglomeration economies, Technology adoption, Knowledge spillovers, Small business, Regional economies, Survey research JEL Classification: 030, R11,

How States Augment the Capabilities of Technology-Pioneering Firms

State governments offer a variety of programs to assist technology intensive entrepreneurial firms yet there is a limited understanding of how firms use these programs. This paper provides a framework for categorizing state technology programs and uses detailed case studies to examine how these programs augment firms' capabilities. It is concluded that firms made extensive use of state programs that provide access to university intellectual property and research facilities. In addition, firms participated in programs that provided incentives for faculty to conduct joint research with industry. Finally, state venture capital programs, though small relative to federal R&D grants or venture capital, appear to nurture firms' development. Copyright 2000 Gatton College of Business and Economics, University of Kentucky.