1,720,985 research outputs found
Low-technology innovation in a sectoral system:a critical realist perspective
No full textThis research aims to generate an in-depth understanding of the existence or nonexistence of low-technology innovation from a sectoral system of innovation (SSI) perspective. Embedded in the critical realist paradigm, this study espouses the notion of a stratified ontology. Moreover, it considers innovation to be systemic and nonsequential influenced by multiple objects and their relations. Deriving from a systematic literature review, this research addresses knowledge gaps including lack of an exclusive and all-encompassing understanding of LT innovation from the critical realist and SSI perspectives. It also addresses the lack of research on the influence of individual within firm, various sectoral elements and sectoral structure on LT innovation through use of a conceptual framework derived from systems thinking, SSI and micro-meso-macro (individual-firm-contextual) framework. Empirically rooted in the marble industry of north-west Pakistan, this research applies retroduction to explain causal mechanisms by understanding events, objects/entities, necessary and contingent relations and causal powers. Following case study approach a multiple (two) case design (embedded type 4) having two cases/sectors, Peshawar Marble Sectoral System (PeMaS) and Buner Marble Sectoral System (BuMaS) has been chosen. A case study protocol has been applied to increase reliability along with a three-phased data collection, the use of mixed methods and a two-step analysis procedure. Research outcomes reveal limited occurrences of incremental LT innovation amongst firms (events). The lack of innovation is a result of the systemic interplay of many sectoral elements identified and presented as the causal mechanisms of stasis. Moreover, the causal mechanisms that can result in LT innovation have been provided, a significant contribution that critical realism makes to the work. Seventy factors (causal powers) that explain the lack of LT innovation categorized across elements/objects and micro-meso-macro origins are discovered. These help identify the extant but latent causal powers that underlie the occurrence of LT innovation. The research makes a number of key contributions. It draws influence from critical realism to understand LT innovation and integrates its tenets with empirical work through use of mixed methods, as opposed to the predominant use of positivism and phenomenology found in previous research. It offers a unique and previously non-existent perspective of the SSI that is all-encompassing and exhaustive. Particularly, it addresses the lack of research on the sectoral elements including individual, learning processes and demand as well as the sectoral structure. Moreover, it complements the SSI approach with a first-time use of a micro-meso-macro (individual-firm-contextual) framework to offer a powerful explanation of the complex interplay within a low-tech SSI. Finally, this research addresses the lack of empirical work on LT innovation from a developing country context
Opportunities and challenges for the marble mining industry in North-West Pakistan: a systemic analysis of low-tech innovation
No full textThis paper examines the marble industry of North-West Pakistan. Although this low-tech (LT) sector is characterized by a lack of innovation and resource wastage, it has been earmarked for upgrade as one of Pakistan’s three SME-based industries where policy or institutional actions can have the greatest positive impact for regional development. The aim of this study is to generate an in-depth understanding of the sector by exploring the perspectives of key stakeholders. In doing so, it is hoped that entrepreneurship and SME development will be stimulated with positive benefits for the region. A systemic perspective is employed to try and gain insight into interactions and connections between actors in the value creation system, to better identify where improvement might be made. The paper uses a multilevel analytical framework within a case study approach overall. The study adds to our knowledge of LT innovation, which tends to be forgotten in innovation policy, particularly in developing countries. The study also adds to our understanding of the potential for entrepreneurial behaviour at the micro-level where ongoing conflict is a significant element to consider in achieving change. The results of the study enable a sharper focus on where improvement attempts should be made
An analysis of the marble mining industry in North-West Pakistan: towards a strategy for innovation
No full textLow-technology innovations within sectoral system: reflections and manifestations
No full textR&D is considered the key determinant of innovation in any industrial sector. Evolution in innovation thought since Schumpeter’s pioneering work during the 1930s and 40s has led us to shed this myopic view and recognize the influence of other factors. We contend that innovation, essentially non-linear in nature, can be observed in developing countries like Pakistan characterized by low-technology sectors that have zero or very low R&D intensity. However, this form of innovation has its own peculiar set of determinants that are context-driven. An emerging research focus on LT innovation is highlighted based on review of empirical work carried out since 1999. However, a dearth of in-depth studies that apply a theoretical approach such as systems of innovation concept and cover industrial sectors in developing countries is revealed. A sectoral-system-oriented explanation of LT innovations in marble sector of north-west Pakistan is presented by applying the micro-meso-macro analytical framework. Answers to some of the questions in terms of nature and types of LT innovations within sectoral systems’ dimensions including elements, structure and activities/determinants are provided
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
A beam-forming network for 5G systems based on precise optical clock and phase shifting
No full textA novel, power-efficient optical beam-forming network is proposed exploiting wavelength-division-multiplexing and phase-shifting. A mode-locked laser acts as both laser comb and local oscillator. Integrated frequency-selective phase shifters perform precise beam steering of a modulated signal
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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