This study investigates the impacts of regional characteristics on the early-stage performance of New Technology-Based Firms (NTBFs) in catch-up regions where a mature industrial cluster has yet to be formed. It hypothesized that the average NTBF performance in a region is a function of its scientist job market conditions, cultural diversity, venture capital, academic research, industrial structure, and local entrepreneurial climate. Using the events of Initial Public Offerings (IPO) and Merger & Acquisitions (M&A) as an indicator of early-stage success of NTBFs, this study constructs a set of Zero-Inflated-Negative-Binomial (ZINB) models to predict the spatial distribution of such events in the U.S. biopharmaceutical and Information Technology (IT) service industries during the period from 1996 to 2005. Several empirical findings emerge from this study. First, the local entrepreneurial climate plays a significant and positive role on NTBF performance in both industries. Second, the positive impact of cultural diversity is more significant in the IT service industry than in the biopharmaceutical industry. Third, the scientist job market size and absolute salary level have positive impacts on NTBF performance, but the effect of relative salary level is negative. Fourth, proximity to venture capital firms has positive but non-linear effects, but the adverse effect of excess venture capital is stronger in the IT service industry. Fifth, there is little evidence of the direct effects of academic research in determining the NTBF performance in both industries. Finally, industrial specialization is significant and positive only in the IT service industry. The results suggest that promoting local entrepreneurial climate and cultural diversity are two effective policy instruments for catch-up regions to foster their NTBF growth.

This study will discuss with the transition of China¡¦s technology innovation system before and after ¡§Open door policy¡¨. Because I want to know how many characters between those two phases? Why China chose transition before ¡§Open door policy¡¨? When China upgrades their innovative capabilities, do any factors affect outcomes? This study will use more macroscopic to face transition of China¡¦s technology innovation system since established PRC. To survey the institution and interaction between governments, research institutes, universities, native companies and foreign-invested companies. Finally, this study consider that China¡¦s achievement is not clearly because the shortage of talent, basic research capability between research institute is weak, government have ¡§strong control¡¨ in this system, the market mechanism is not maturity so that Chinese native companies do not have skilful in innovation. Consequently, China¡¦s technology innovation system seems to have long way to go.

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<!--[if gte mso 10]> <mce:style><! /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} --> <!--[endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" /> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapelayout v:ext="edit"> <o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" /> </o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></p><p>The 1990s is commonly referred as the Golden Age for High Technology and during this time the industry grew with a rapid speed. As a result, the consumers were presented with a various number of innovative products such as the Internet, computers and mobile phones. Within the High Tech frame, one of the fastest growing industries is the mobile phone handset industry. In 2006, 800,2 million mobile phones were sold worldwide and the market value was $104,3 billion. Forecasts about the mobile phone market predicts that the market will grow to 1,8 billion units in 2011 and have a value of $211,9 billion.</p><p> </p><p>However, during this time, the researcher, Geoffrey Moore, identified a problem for the High Tech companies, i.e. the chasm. The chasm is a gap between the early market and the mainstream market that has arisen due to the characteristics of the high tech industry and the differences between these two groups. Due to the fact, that the early market only represents 10-15% of the total market it is vital for companies to cross the chasm and reach the mainstream market, in order to cover the high initial R&D costs.</p><p> </p><p>Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to conduct a qualitative study within the Swedish mobile phone industry to understand how the manufacturers’ products are crossing the chasm.</p><p> </p><p>The research has been carried out as a case study, and two of the largest mobile phone manufacturers were used as cases, Sony Ericsson and LG Electronics. The data collection was of qualitative nature and four respondents were chosen to be interviewed.</p><p> </p><p>In the Swedish mobile phone industry, the researchers have identified two types of products; class products and innovation product, which have been identified, defined and named by the researchers themselves. Class products are defined as “mobile phones with no significant innovation value for the consumers”, whereas innovation products are defined as “mobile phones with high innovation value”. The main difference is that class products will never attract the interest of the early market and therefore they are usually launched directly to the mainstream market, ignoring the chasm. Factors such as incremental changes, development of IT, changes in how to market new technologies and overlapping groups in the life cycle has narrowed down the chasm in the industry for innovation products. The most important strategy in order to reach the mainstream market is partnerships and alliances and it is impossible for a manufacturer to survive on their own.</p><p> </p>

Emerging country markets are becoming increasingly important in the operations of multinational corporations. On May 1, 2004, the EU welcomed 10 new member states, including the three Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. As a result, many western multinational corporations have entered these new emerging markets. These countries have witnessed very fast growth and were lucrative to enter. The term “Baltic Tiger” is used to describe the economic boom of the Baltic States from 2000 to 2007. This term is adequate because during this time period the Baltic States had the highest growth rates in Europe. Swedish companies in particular started coming into the Baltic States in 1989 approximately. These companies were looking for and found low cost production. However, today with rising wages, low cost production is more difficult to find. The purpose of our research is to investigate the current conditions and future predictions related to the external environment and high technology industries in the Baltic States. The investigation of the current state and future potential of the markets were analyzed from an institutional standpoint. We compared this to the institutional environment in Sweden and made predictions on the potential changes in these institutions. Given our analysis and evaluation of the most attractive market, we have devised an establishment and matching strategy for the case company. The case analysis is set against the background of a theoretical framework covering current literature over societal and organizational fields in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Our primary and secondary research was examined in the context of well known theoretical models and our own models and upon analysis; we come to a conclusion and make recommendations for companies interested in doing business in the Baltic States. Our research will be useful for companies curious about the potential and necessary considerations they must take in the Baltic markets in general and within the high technology sector specifically.

U.B.C. as well as many secondary schools in Vancouver have invested in the potential of technology. Research reveals, however, that even when there is sufficient access, far too many English teachers are not effectively using technology as a learning &/ or teaching resource. Perhaps this is because they are not equipped with the necessary skills to effectively use technology in the classroom. This three month study explores how three English teachers at an urban secondary school in Vancouver are presently experiencing the use of technology in their classrooms. Qualitative methods were used to generate, analyze and report data. Data collection included formal and informal discussions, interviews, extensive field notes and the observation of classes. This study discloses the factors which have most significantly facilitated and inhibited the implementation of technology in these teachers' teaching contexts. This research also provides an account of these teachers' perspectives of how the B.Ed, program at U.B.C. can equip pre-service teachers for the challenges and potential of integrating technology into secondary English classrooms.

<p>Emerging country markets are becoming increasingly important in the operations of multinational corporations. On May 1, 2004, the EU welcomed 10 new member states, including the three Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. As a result, many western multinational corporations have entered these new emerging markets. These countries have witnessed very fast growth and were lucrative to enter. The term “Baltic Tiger” is used to describe the economic boom of the Baltic States from 2000 to 2007. This term is adequate because during this time period the Baltic States had the highest growth rates in Europe. Swedish companies in particular started coming into the Baltic States in 1989 approximately. These companies were looking for and found low cost production. However, today with rising wages, low cost production is more difficult to find.</p><p>The purpose of our research is to investigate the current conditions and future predictions related to the external environment and high technology industries in the Baltic States. The investigation of the current state and future potential of the markets were analyzed from an institutional standpoint. We compared this to the institutional environment in Sweden and made predictions on the potential changes in these institutions. Given our analysis and evaluation of the most attractive market, we have devised an establishment and matching strategy for the case company. The case analysis is set against the background of a theoretical framework covering current literature over societal and organizational fields in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Our primary and secondary research was examined in the context of well known theoretical models and our own models and upon analysis; we come to a conclusion and make recommendations for companies interested in doing business in the Baltic States. Our research will be useful for companies curious about the potential and necessary considerations they must take in the Baltic markets in general and within the high technology sector specifically.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Full text release at OhioLINK's ETD Center delayed at author's request

O projeto de filtros digitais do tipo IIR é um problema clássico da engenharia. Filtros digitais possuem diversas aplicações, e muitas variantes de comportamento. Existem vários métodos especialistas consagrados na literatura, cada um com suas peculiaridades e adequações a diferentes casos. Porém, a maior parte destes métodos não é flexível, impedindo a especificação de todos os parâmetros importantes de um filtro, pois alguns desses são um sub-produto do processo de cálculo. Por isso, este problema também é atacado na literatura através de técnicas de computação evolucionária. Diversos estudos foram encontrados com esta abordagem, mas em quase todos, o enfoque era dado no algoritmo evolucionário em vez de no filtro, utilizando este apenas como uma função de \emph{benchmark}. Além disso, a estabilidade do filtro - condição imprescindível para a utilização do mesmo - é desprezada em quase todos os trabalhos. Portanto, este trabalho propõe uma função de \emph{fitness} e uma nova codificação para este problema, de forma a possibilitar a obtenção de bons filtros, dentro das especificações, com algoritmos de Computação Evolucionária na forma canônica, isto é, sem modificações estruturais. A função de \emph{fitness} proposta busca corrigir distorções causadas pela função tradicional, que não leva em conta a obediência às especificações do filtro. A codificação mapeia o espaço de busca apenas para as soluções estáveis, sem excluir nenhuma solução válida nesta transformação. Além disso, um pós-processamento permite equalizar a resposta em fase do filtro, isto é, tornar o atraso de fase na banda de passagem linear, condição necessária para a utilização em diversos sistemas, especialmente os de telecomunicações. O desempenho das modificações é comparado com as abordagens clássicas utilizadas na literatura, e o conjunto escolhido como o mais eficiente é utilizado para comparar os dois algoritmos mais utilizados em Computação Evolucionária, o PSO e o AG. Após esse passo, experimentos extensivos de ajuste de parâmetros foram realizados, para que a versão final fosse comparada com o método especialista mais poderoso, que é o cálculo de filtros elípticos. Os resultados mostraram que o conjunto de modificações proposto fez com que excelentes filtros fossem obtidos, com uma taxa de obediência às especificações muito superior à obtida sem o mesmo. Comparando com o método especialista, o desempenho foi semelhante, com pontos a favor e contra cada um, mostrando que o projeto de filtros IIR através de Computação Evolucionária pode ser utilizado em sistemas reais. Em trabalhos futuros poderão ser estudadas novas modificações na funçao de \emph{fitness}, além do desempenho obtido com outros algoritmos evolucionários. A utilização em sistemas \emph{online} é uma aplicação promissora, e o comportamento deste método com especificações não-estacionárias, oriundas de informações de estimação de canal também deve ser investigado. / IIR digital filter design is classic problem in Electrical Engineering. Digital filter have many applications, and dozens of different behaviors. There are many specialist methods in literature, each with specific differences and characteristics. But most of these methods are not flexible, preventing one from fixing all parameters, because some of them are a sub-product of the calculation process. Therefore, this problem is also solved in literature with Evolutionary Computing techniques. Several works were found with this approach, but in almost all, the focus was in the evolutionary algorithm rather than on the filter problem, using this only as a benchmark function. Moreover, the filter stability - prerequisite for the filter application - is neglected in almost all of them. So, this work proposes a new fitness function, as well as a new codification, in order to obtain good filters, obedient to the specifications, with Evolutionary Computing algorithms in the canonic form, this is, without structural modifications. The proposed fitness function tries to correct distortions caused by the traditional one, which does not takes into account the filter gain specifications. The new coding maps the search space only to the stable solutions, not excluding any valid solution in the transformation. Moreover, a post-processing allows the filter phase equalization, this is, to make the pass band phase delay linear. This property is necessary in many types of applications, specially the telecommunication ones. The modifications performance is compared to the classic approaches found in the literature, and the most efficient set is use to compare the two most used Evolutionary Computing algorithms, GA and PSO. After this, extensive parameter tuning experiments were made, producing a final version of the method to compare with the specialist one. The chosen specialist method was the Elliptic filter, because the filter response has similarities with the one found by the proposed algorithm, and also because it is the most powerful one. Results showed excellent filters found with the proposed modifications, with a specification obedience rate well above the ones obtained with the classical approaches. Comparing with the specialist method, a similar performance was achieved, showing that IIR filter design with Evolutionary Computing can be used in real systems. Future work will address new modifications in the fitness function, and the performance of different EC algorithms in this problem. The application in online systems is promising, so the behavior of this approach with non-stationary specifications coming from channel estimation techniques should also be investigated.

Esta tese consiste em um estudo sobre o trabalho e a prática médica observados a partir do tipo ideal Werberiano da medicina tecnológica qual seja: a prática médica especializada, equipada e fragmentada, que começou a ser exercida no Brasil apartir nos anos sessenta. Elegemos para esse estudo médicos oncologistas clínicos inseridos em serviços públicos e privados de saúde. A eleição dos oncologistas clínicos se deu pelo reconhecimento da oncologia como uma prática muito especializada e amparada por equipamentos e procedimentos que se fortaleceu no Brasil na década de sessenta.Pretendeu-se compreender as singularidades dessa prática focalizando a formação, o tipo de cuidado ofertado aos pacientes, a inserção dos médicos no mercado público e privado e a relação entre eles. Inicia-se com uma abordagem geral da prática médica baseada no saber sobre as doenças, no processo histórico e cultural da apreensão desta prática e suas repercussões na sociedade e no mercado de trabalho. Em seguida apresentamos uma revisão sumária da trajetória da oncologia no Brasil, a representação social do câncer, as políticas de saúde da área e a relação entre os médicos, o estado e a sociedade nesse campo. Esse conjunto foi caracterizado como Projeto Médico Oncológico.Utilizou-se, no trabalho de campo, a pesquisa qualitativa e empregou-se como técnica entrevistas com seis profissionais médicos oncologistas que trabalham no Instituto Nacional do Câncer e no setor privado de saúde. Foi realizada uma entrevista piloto visando apresentar na íntegra os temas abordados nas demais entrevistas. A partir do olhar e das reflexões dos médicos são apresentadas quatro categorias para discussão e considerações. Finalizando o estudo apresenta através das categorias obtidas no trabalho de campo uma problematização do modelo idealizado na medicina tecnológica. / This thesis consists of a research on the medical work and practice, based on Webers ideal type of technological medicine, of the specialized medical practice, equipped and fragmented, that started in Brazil in the 1960s. We selected for this research clinical oncologists working in public and private health services. The choice for clinical oncologists was due to the recognition of oncology as a highly specialized, equipment and protocol-driven practice that grew stronger in Brazil during the 1960s.We attempted to comprehend the particularities of this practice, focusing on education the type of care that was given to patients, the placement of doctors in the public and privates sectors and their connection. It begins with an overview of the medical practice based on knowledge of diseases, on the historical and cultural process of learning the practice and its repercussions on society and on the job market.Following, we present a summary of the history of Oncology in Brazil, the social significance of cancer, the health policies for that area and the relationship between doctors, the State and society in that field. This section was named Medical Oncological Project.During fieldwork, we used quality assessment through interviews with six oncologists that worked both in the Instituto Nacional do Câncer (National Institute for Cancer) and in the private health sector. We conducted a pilot interview in order to fully present the topics that would be brought up in the interviews that followed.Based on the doctors points of view and thoughts, we present four categories for discussion and comments. In closing the research, we present a problematic consideration of the ideal model for technological medicine based on the categories obtained from the fieldwork.

Esta tese consiste em um estudo sobre o trabalho e a prática médica observados a partir do tipo ideal Werberiano da medicina tecnológica qual seja: a prática médica especializada, equipada e fragmentada, que começou a ser exercida no Brasil apartir nos anos sessenta. Elegemos para esse estudo médicos oncologistas clínicos inseridos em serviços públicos e privados de saúde. A eleição dos oncologistas clínicos se deu pelo reconhecimento da oncologia como uma prática muito especializada e amparada por equipamentos e procedimentos que se fortaleceu no Brasil na década de sessenta.Pretendeu-se compreender as singularidades dessa prática focalizando a formação, o tipo de cuidado ofertado aos pacientes, a inserção dos médicos no mercado público e privado e a relação entre eles. Inicia-se com uma abordagem geral da prática médica baseada no saber sobre as doenças, no processo histórico e cultural da apreensão desta prática e suas repercussões na sociedade e no mercado de trabalho. Em seguida apresentamos uma revisão sumária da trajetória da oncologia no Brasil, a representação social do câncer, as políticas de saúde da área e a relação entre os médicos, o estado e a sociedade nesse campo. Esse conjunto foi caracterizado como Projeto Médico Oncológico.Utilizou-se, no trabalho de campo, a pesquisa qualitativa e empregou-se como técnica entrevistas com seis profissionais médicos oncologistas que trabalham no Instituto Nacional do Câncer e no setor privado de saúde. Foi realizada uma entrevista piloto visando apresentar na íntegra os temas abordados nas demais entrevistas. A partir do olhar e das reflexões dos médicos são apresentadas quatro categorias para discussão e considerações. Finalizando o estudo apresenta através das categorias obtidas no trabalho de campo uma problematização do modelo idealizado na medicina tecnológica. / This thesis consists of a research on the medical work and practice, based on Webers ideal type of technological medicine, of the specialized medical practice, equipped and fragmented, that started in Brazil in the 1960s. We selected for this research clinical oncologists working in public and private health services. The choice for clinical oncologists was due to the recognition of oncology as a highly specialized, equipment and protocol-driven practice that grew stronger in Brazil during the 1960s.We attempted to comprehend the particularities of this practice, focusing on education the type of care that was given to patients, the placement of doctors in the public and privates sectors and their connection. It begins with an overview of the medical practice based on knowledge of diseases, on the historical and cultural process of learning the practice and its repercussions on society and on the job market.Following, we present a summary of the history of Oncology in Brazil, the social significance of cancer, the health policies for that area and the relationship between doctors, the State and society in that field. This section was named Medical Oncological Project.During fieldwork, we used quality assessment through interviews with six oncologists that worked both in the Instituto Nacional do Câncer (National Institute for Cancer) and in the private health sector. We conducted a pilot interview in order to fully present the topics that would be brought up in the interviews that followed.Based on the doctors points of view and thoughts, we present four categories for discussion and comments. In closing the research, we present a problematic consideration of the ideal model for technological medicine based on the categories obtained from the fieldwork.