Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [153]-164).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Supervisors: Larry D. Browning and Reuben R. McDaniel, Jr. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available from UMI.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 53).

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1992. / Workshop report. Includes bibliographical references (leaf [108-109]).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 295-302). Also issued online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Claremont Graduate School, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 386-401).

Thesis (M.A.)--City University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Sept. 7, 2007) "Master of Arts in arbitration and dispute resolution research dissertation" Includes bibliographical references.

The birth of the first low earth orbit satellite network for packet switched data, was received with much enthusiasm. This enthusiasm was quickly dampened as solution developers went into Chapter 11 (protected liquidation in the USA) and faded away because the introduction of new technology to the market has not been so obvious - the aspects of commercialisation was not taken care off with the necessary caution. The basis of this study is to establish and assess reasons why commercialisation has been so difficult for solution developers using low earth orbit satellite communication in the high technology market, while it has been such a long awaited technology in the remote monitoring and telemetry fields In today's economy, the marketing of innovative technologies is of critical importance. Innovations succeed or fail in the marketplace based not just on the soundness of the technology, but also on a company's skills at bringing that technology to market and getting it adopted by customers. Unfortunately, traditional approaches to consumer or industrial marketing often prove inadequate when it comes to the introduction of new products in domains such as telecommunications. This study concentrates on and defines the additional aspects surrounding the commercialisation of discontinuous high technology products in new industrial markets. Keywords: Commercialisation, product life cycle, crossing the chasm, product development, market development, sales cycle, discontinuous innovation. / Prof. L. Pretorius

Innovative high-technology SMEs have become a major influencing factor in the success of any modern economy and they increasingly compete in the globalised world with limited resources. Previous research on SMEs at firm level has always taken into consideration the constraints of the resources that an SME faces and the implications of this on their performance and business growth. SMEs have to develop their own unique skills and capabilities, allocating their limited resources appropriately to be able to respond to the changes in the external business environment that pose risks to the success of their innovation and its commercialisation. Having an innovation strategy is very important: to have a clear goal and a path to achieve the set goal. This helps high-technology SMEs to decide which factors can influence the success of their innovations, leading to business growth by developing dynamic capabilities to respond to the external changes by allocating their resources at their disposal. This thesis is an empirical analysis of innovation strategy and its role in the business growth of high-technology SMEs. This research study is carried out at firm level. It draws on Resource-Based View and Dynamic Capability theory to explore innovation strategy factors contributing to the better performance of the firm. Four hypotheses were proposed based on the theoretical framework developed through the literature review. They were tested using empirical data. The primary data were collected using quantitative methods through survey questionnaire. Data was collected from 106 high-technology SMEs in the UK. Technological factor, marketing factor, entrepreneurial factor and risk from the business environment were identified as four important factors which are part of an innovation strategy. The results of the study suggest three revised factors: technology, entrepreneurial and government-related risk factors. The initial risk related to business environment was amended to government-related risk factors based on the measurement variables which were loaded to the factor. However, one hypothesis based on the marketing factor failed to support the proposed positive influence on business growth and hence rejected. This calls for further research on the marketing factor in high-technology SMEs. This study recognises the reason behind this paradoxical result, which could be the nature of the high-technology firms participating in this study, which are more dependent on technology-push rather than marketing pull and they do not confirm with the established norms of marketing for the business growth of their firm. This study contributes to the development of knowledge and practice at multiple levels. The research developed a theoretical framework to establish the innovation strategy factors and its influence on business growth and this is validated through empirical data. At the practice level, the results of the study could be used by high-technology SMEs in the UK, and any other high-technology SMEs which are based in a similar economy and business environment, to have better information about innovation strategy. The study could also help policy makers, propose better policy to support innovation of high-technology SMEs in UK.

The United States' ability to compete in many international markets has been based on competitive advantage in high-technology products. Until recently, these industries had a favorable trade balance but in 1987, it slipped to deficit of $0.6 billion. Management of research and development programs is one of the most important elements in remaining competitive. Therefore, this research study of 291 high-technology firms was undertaken to determine if: (1) a positive relationship exists between the amount of investment in research and development (R&D) and a firms success in sales, net income, or market share, (2) excessive investment in R&D would decrease profitability, (3) there exists a "critical mass" of R&D spending for a firm to remain competitive. The results of this study indicates that while R&D is an important factor in high-technology industries, it is not the driving force in the success of a firm. Successful management requires a more systemic approach which considers many factors including research and development. There was no evidence found that excessive investment decreases profits and no indication that a "critical mass" of R&D was required for a high-technology firm. This study found lag times from R&D investment to the time of impact on sales, net income and market share. The lag times did not have significant correlations in most cases but appeared to be in agreement with the opinions of industry experts surveyed in field interviews. It was also found that the leading high-technology firms budget R&D by a percent of sales or prior years budget method. This approach may be very detrimental to effective management of research programs since it may reduce funding for at a time when it should be increased in order to develop new products and technologies. The results indicate that start-up firms can compete effectively with mature firms. Leading start-up companies generally spend more as a percent of sales on R&D than mature firms but appear to be as effective in managing their research effort. The results of this study has implications for stakeholders of high-technology industries in understanding some important elements in the management of successful R&D programs.