Innovation strategy has been playing an important role on innovation development in industrial firms. Extant studies have investigated in particular open innovation strategy.  By using a qualitative case study, I have conducted a research in an Indonesian R&D firm that has implemented an open innovation strategy. The purpose of this research is to add more information and confirm existing knowledge by exploring challenges and opportunities during the implementation of an open innovation strategy. I identify many challenges which are found in several aspects of innovation development such as collaboration management, assets protection and accessing external knowledge. Furthermore, the opportunities that I found are related with enhancement of license strategy, nurture of employee’s loyalty and establishment of various collaboration forms. These challenges and opportunities occurred due to the influence of the openness paradigm. The results of this study also confirm previous research result on the adoption of the partly open innovation scheme and the layered collaboration scheme. RQ: what are the firm-level challenges and opportunities with using an open innovation strategy?

ITC/USA 2015 Conference Proceedings / The Fifty-First Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 26-29, 2015 / Bally's Hotel & Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV / Due to the quick change of business processes in organizations, software needs to adapt quickly to meet new requirements by implementing new business rules. In Research and Development (R&D) scenario, the research is highly non-linear and changes are inevitable. In this context, it is known that traditional methodologies (e.g. waterfall) may lead to the detection of failures late, increase the time and cost of development and maintenance of software. On the other hand, agile methodologies are based on Test- Driven Development (TDD), maintain the technical debt under control, maximize the Return on Investment and reduce the risks for customers and companies. In this paper, we show the use of Scrum and TDD in the development of an experimental tool that aims to make the calibration in real time of the rudder of a fighter aircraft. The preliminary results allowed to increase the coverage testing of the software and hence the quality of the tool.

Many top market capitalization companies are information technology (IT) firms, including Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook, each of which is valued at more than $300 billion. Facebook is less than 10 years old and is one of the top 10 companies in the world in terms of market capitalization. However, technologies change rapidly; website revenue—which once grew at a brisk rate—has slowed down, while mobile technology growth is increasing and technology trends are shifting toward cloud hosting and big data analytics. IT companies that have increased their R&D spending remain leaders throughout periods of technology change. Companies such as Facebook and Google have doubled and tripled their profits, respectively over` the past decade. In this dynamic environment, analysts play a critical role in evaluating IT company financial statements and estimating company sales and earnings per share (EPS). This study examines how changes in R&D spending are related to analysts’ sales and earnings estimate revisions. An analysis of data over a 20-year period shows that analysts typically revise their sales estimates based on changes in a company’s R&D expenditures. The correlation between analyst earnings estimates and R&D expenditures, however, varies based on company size and industry within the IT sector. Analysts play a particularly important role in small companies, where the correlation between R&D and sales changes is not as high as in large companies. Analysts are thus critical to the functioning of capital markets in the IT sector.

Background: Management control systems (MCS) are used to control organizations and make employees behave and act in the desirable way. Performance measurement (PM) systems one type of MCS and are used to communicate company strategies throughout the organization, motivate the employees to work towards company goals, and measure the outcome. PM systems can be a powerful tool, but if used in the wrong way they can have adverse effects. Aim: This thesis focused on the use of PM systems for management control purposes in research and development (R&D) organisations with the question: How can performance measurement systems be utilized in R&D organizations? Method: The thesis is based on a literature study, complemented by a case study (metric analysis, survey and deep interviews) at a R&D department. The department was investigated at two time points, in between which the PM system was re-designed. In the metric analysis, the performance targets of the PM system were categorized into quantitative-objective, quantitative-subjective and qualitative-subjective targets. Results: The results from the case study were in line with findings from the literature. At study point 2, when the PM system had been re-designed, the employees felt more involved in shaping and influencing the goals. Also the follow-up of the goals was experienced as more implemented at study point two. The types of measured targets had shifted from quantitative to qualitative, including soft values such as team spirit, at study point 2. However, the members did not feel that the goals motivated them at any time point. . Conclusion: In the literature review it was evident from the number of publications that there is a great interest in measuring R&D performance, and that PM systems are an important tool to R&D managers. Just as the company in this case study, each organization needs to analyze its own needs and adopt the PM system thereafter. Moreover, no system should be seen as static, instead it should be continuously evaluated and adjusted to make sure it measures what it is intended to measure and that it does not cause adverse effects on the organization.

This thesis analyzes the struggle of the last decade to improve the quality of Swedish science and how the methods towards this goal can be understood from different scientific traditions. By studying the latest research proposals by the Swedish government it shows a development towards viewing all the sciences as natural sciences in certain aspects. It argues that the notion of scientific peers being the same for the natural sciences and the human sciences is a problematic assumption, when it comes to evaluating the human sciences through certain quantitative methods. It further argues that whether or not this assumption is true for a certain discipline is essential for the adequacy of these evaluation methods. It also tries to make a first assessment of whether or not the discipline of Swedish economic history is indeed suitable for this kind of evaluation.

While the visual arts and technology development map oppositionally in our culture, there are similarities in work. Visual artists and technology developers imagine, conceptualize, design, and build artifacts and then release them into the world. As part of this work, many artists and technologists develop high levels of conceptualization, technical, and fabrication skill. While artists have always worked with industrial technologies such as paint and pigment chemistry, metalworking equipment, heavy machinery, and kilns, for example, many postindustrial artists are using high technology both as medium and highly-charged cultural material. These artists work with similar materials as technology developers: electronics, computation, robotics, bioengineering materials, and smart materials, for example. Their work often bleeds into technological development as they create new technologies and new interactions with technologies in the course of their projects. This dissertation traces the evolution of the ideas of art and technology from foundations in ancient Greece through the present. There are tensions between technological art, or art that uses high technologies as a medium, and the contemporary art world, as well as between technological art and engineering practice. This dissertation locates technological art along a spectrum between traditional fine art and engineering practice, in a third space of both artistic production and technological R&D. Through examples from my work and the work of others, I surface the dynamics of practice in this third space and how these practices can lead to emergent art and technology.

by Wong Tak-Kwong. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-81). / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 2 --- Literature Review --- p.7 / Chapter 3 --- R&D Activities and Competing for a Researcher --- p.12 / Chapter 3.1 --- Licensing Decision of a Successful Innovator --- p.16 / Benefits of Firm i with Licensing / Benefits of Firm j with Licensing / Chapter 3.2 --- Competing for the Researcher --- p.23 / Characterization of Equilibrium / Chapter 3.3 --- Concluding Remark --- p.29 / Chapter 4 --- Innovation from An Independent Researcher --- p.30 / Chapter 4.1 --- Licensing with Bargaining --- p.34 / Licensing Decision of the Researcher / Licensing Decision of Firm i / Licensing Decision of Firm j / Chapter 4.2 --- Ownership Re-allocation --- p.44 / Chapter 4.3 --- Concluding Remark --- p.48 / Chapter 5 --- An Analysis of Sequential Innovation --- p.50 / Chapter 5.1 --- Choices of Licensing and Conducting R&D --- p.55 / Decision of the Follower / Licensing by the Successful Innovator / Chapter 5.2 --- Equilibrium of Sequential R&D --- p.65 / Chapter 5.3 --- Simultaneous R&D or Sequential R&D --- p.68 / Chapter 5.4 --- Concluding Remark --- p.74 / Chapter 6 --- Conclusion --- p.75 / Chapter 7 --- Bibliography --- p.76

This thesis is concerned with an investigation into current on-farm grain storage practice and with ascertaining what educational interventions, if any, are appropriate for future and more detailed consideration. The Australian grain growing, handling, and marketing industry has changed in recent times. A few years ago (1989), the grain growers only essential contact with grain marketing was through the bulk handling authorities and the Australian Wheat Board. Advice was freely available from state departments of agriculture, and the only requirement to store grain on-farm was that necessary for the grower's own needs. Now (1994), there is a possible advantage that grain stored on-farm may be used for a wide range of selling options, amongst other reasons, and market requirements are much more complex and stringent. There is a substantial body of research on grain storage techniques. At the same time there is a significant gap between researched knowledge and the use of this knowledge for on-farm storage. A major purpose of this study is to identify an improved approach to extension and farmer education that may help to reduce this gap. This thesis contains a review of the general literature on extension followed by an overview of extension in the developed world to establish the international context for Australia. Then the historical context of extension is examined briefly to understand the current situation in each state. Some educational models are reviewed to identify relationships between stakeholders and the opportunities available for and constraints to development of educational strategies. Information channels are reviewed to comprehend extension interaction and grain storage technologies are reviewed to ensure comprehension of techniques. On the basis of the literature review a field study was designed to investigate current on-farm storage practice, current extension sources for storage information and preferences for future educational interventions. This was done by a survey using a stratified random sample of grain growers and cluster selection of individuals for personal interviews. This information was complemented by informal discussion with farmers at field days. The results of the study confirmed the gap between research knowledge and on-farm implementation of this knowledge. They also demonstrated that grain growers wanted more information and gave some indicators of how this might be achieved. Major findings of the research included the need for extension coalitions and the desirability for active involvement of the grain grower. Major conclusions, for on-farm storage and extension, are drawn to form a basis for development of future extension interventions. These are aimed at ensuring grain growers have available the information needed for good storage practice. This includes an essential understanding the grain growers' needs and perceptions, early, in any planning process. It also includes the necessity for coordination of extension/education activities at local, regional and national levels. The research has some major implications for an improved approach to extension and on-farm storage. These include the establishment of a farmers-as-researcher program to implement grain storage innovations and the recognition that implemented change will need long term maintenance; often more resource intensive than the original intervention.

This is a study of teacher professional development at the school level using teacher research as a strategy for both teacher professional learning and school change. A qualitative study was conducted to determine the conditions that would develop and sustain teachers researching their own practice in a culture of inquiry. Participant observation in one school over a two year period was used to investigate the issue of how to embed teacher research as a central feature of teachers� work. As a result of working with teachers as they researched their practice I have developed a model to explain and understand the complexities of schools and their cultures. Teachers researching their practice provided the driving force in the interplay of the elements of the model and had the potential to change school culture. Relationships, structures and processes are central to this model. Social and professional relationships between the teachers and the university partner developed and were supported by structures and processes. As the research continued these relationships changed and evolved. These relationships help develop a culture of inquiry in schools. The school/university partnership in this study evolved from an initial symbiotic�cooperative partnership (in which I shared my expertise and supported the work of teachers) into a later organic�collaborative partnership (one based on mutual and shared goals and benefits). The existing team of four teachers and the allocation of time for them to meet provided the essential structures for the teachers to research their practice. The collective leadership style instigated by the school Principal provided important human and financial support for the development of inquiry cultures. Collaboration and collegiality as forms of association enabled teachers to conduct research which challenged their individual and collective beliefs and assumptions about students� learning and their classroom practice. The content and form of teacher culture mediated the effects of teachers researching their practice. There are critical and transformational effects when teachers research their practice as part of their core work. Introducing these teachers to research was not without its difficulties. There were events and factors in the school relating to relationships, structures and processes which hindered the development of teacher research in a culture of inquiry. Because of the time frame of this study there is no evidence that school culture change is permanent. This could be the subject of future research.

<p>Background: Tougher demands from regulators on drugs efficiency and safety,governmental cost cutting and more complex areas of research, has led to that the importance of the pharmaceutical industry’s research pipelines are increasing. Even though the capital markets views on the pharmaceutical industry and its valuation is changing, the authors is not aware of any prior research that has been conducted on the topic of how the market reacts to clinical trial results or how security analysts valuates product pipelines.</p><p>Aim: This thesis aims to explain how security analysts valuate research pipelines and analyze whether the publication of clinical trial results significantly affects the pricing of multinational pharmaceutical companies.</p><p>Methodology: Three econometric models using an aggregate daily data sample of 27 years for five of the world’s largest pharmaceutical firms distinguish the price effects related to the publication of clinical trial results. Three interviews with security analysts map how security analysts value pharmaceutical research.</p><p>Results: Security analysts’ uses a combination of DCF and relative valuation when analyzing pharmaceutical firms. All interviewed analysts uses a risk adjusted net present value approach which is closely linked to the DCF approach, however, financial theory suggests that pipelines should be valuated with contingent claim models Analysts recognize that all compounds in Phase III and some Phase II projects has a impact on firm value. Clinical trials have a significant short-term impact on firm value. Phase III projects shows significant share price influence whilst early stage clinical trials do not, which shows that analysts are correct in focusing their valuation to later stage clinical trials. However, not all areas of therapy have a significant impact on firm value. Oncology is the only area of therapy where successes raises firm value, whilst failures in oncology and cardiovascular/gastrointestinal significantly lower firm value. Negative news about the research portfolio also tends to have a larger impact than positive news.</p>