Journal of Engineering and Technology Management最新文献

Higher education institutions are a driver of innovation within the knowledge-based economy. Knowledge transfer via academic engagement with society is a promising response to societal challenges. This study investigates academics’ motivation to engage with society by testing hypotheses derived from self-determination-theory. Effects of intrinsic regulation (joy), integrated regulation (internalized values) and the mediation by perceived autonomy (choicefullness) were tested using structural equation modelling, in which unique survey data collected from academics in Germany were analyzed. Two motivational pathways for academic engagement with society were found to be significant. These results provide relevant insights for higher education institution managers.

Reverse engineering is an activity of innovation based on knowledge and data acquired from the earlier design, which plays a significant role in complex product systems (CoPS) industries. However, no study has yet been conducted on the innovation process based on reverse engineering in these industries. This paper provides a model for this process and addresses hidden and unknown interactions between reverse and forward engineering. We argue how reverse engineering in CoPS projects can lead to the designing and manufacturing of an innovative product. First of all, an analytical framework was developed by reviewing extant literature on reverse engineering and innovation process models. Then, a ten-step process model was developed by a chronological multiple case study of three CoPS in the aviation industry and analyzing reverse and forward engineering in cross-case comparison. The stages of the model included; data evaluation and verification, technical data generation, design verification, design implementation, concept, development, production, utilization, support, and retirement. This model is a complex system of dynamic, iterative, concurrent, recursive, and time-interdependent processes. It is capable of providing a systematic, pragmatic, and detailed framework for better management of the innovation process in CoPS as designed and produced based on reverse engineering.

Notwithstanding the widespread publicity, Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption has remained relatively limited. One important reason is a lack of insight into critical factors in the adoption process. This study reviews the literature on AI and several similar technologies to identify success factors and employs Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA) to empirically assess the criticality of the identified factors across various stages of adoption. The findings evidence the necessity of performance expectancy, top management support, technical competencies and resources, perceived ease of use, organizational compatibility, and trading partner leverage with varying levels of criticality across various stages of AI adoption.

The full realization of the potential of a technology requires good understanding of its implementation. During implementations, lack of compatibility between technology and its adopters require dynamic sequences of alignment. This process is understood to be central to the success in technology assimilation. This paper proposes a configurational model to explain and predict the alignment process during technology implementations, derived from a multiple case research of the implementation of a retinopathy screening program in networks of healthcare providers. It builds on and expands previous research capturing in a holistic way the alignment process and its nature of adaptation over time.

The goal of an ecosystem is the creation of a value proposition firms could not offer alone. But how are new value propositions being defined in emerging ecosystems? Our study with eight cases yields several implications along these lines: First, how to come up with an initial idea for a value proposition and convince partners to commit to it? And, second, how to set-up the iterative process of value proposition adaption? And how to find a way to align both customer and partner interests along that way? Overall, this helps to understand how factors in the early stages of ecosystem development affect its value proposition.

Papers published in domestic journals are related to local issues, making it convenience for scholars to get the current research situation and future development of some topics. Despite researchers have concentrated on factors driving academic output in domestic journals from different perspectives, they did not consider interpersonal relationships. This study investigates how the intensity of international collaboration affects academic output in domestic journals. We explore this relationship during collaboration life cycle which has three stages, namely, emergency stage, growth stage, and maturity stage. The empirical analysis is based on a sample of research funding supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Results show that the intensity of international collaboration improves the number of Chinese papers positively over collaboration life cycle. While it has no effect, a U-shaped effect, and positive effect on the number of Chinese core papers, the quality of domestic papers in emergence stage, growth stage, and maturity stage, respectively. The findings offer important suggestions for scientific leaders to design collaboration strategies with foreign partners, and provide an important alternative for scholars to consider international partners.

The construction industry has been criticised for its lack of innovation compared to other industries. However, the unique characteristics of the construction industry, such as site-based operations, project-based business models, and temporary supply chains, make it difficult to measure construction innovation using criteria used for other industries. This study adopts a two-stage approach, including database building, filtering, coding, and statistical analysis, to provide a systematic bibliometric review of 257 construction innovation-related studies for the period of 1996–2020. The analysis reveals that the scope of construction innovation covers multiple dimensions and can be perceived from different levels. The main contributors to construction innovation-related studies are analysed in terms of institution, country, funding, and journal. The keyword analysis reveals the importance and relationships between different themes, based on which the research gaps and challenges are discovered, and research trends are suggested for future researchers.

With the deep convergence of the new-generation digital platform ecosystem and the manufacturing industry together with the pressure of economic, social, and ecological sustainability, companies need to grasp digitalization and sustainability for transformation. Under sustainable development pressures, the digital platform ecosystem has become an important way for manufacturing companies to shift to innovation. In business management, it is of profound significance to make full use of digital technology to build a platform ecosystem and promote sustainable business model innovation. Focusing on the sustainable transformation of manufacturing companies in the digital economy, this paper investigates the driving mechanism of the digital platform ecosystem for sustainable business models. It constructs the research framework of “digital platform ecosystem - sustainable business model innovation”, using the empirical research method to explore the relationship between the five characteristics of the digital platform ecosystem (generativity, convergence, share-ability, modularity, and complementarity) and sustainable business model innovation. The results show that the five characteristics of the digital platform ecosystem have a positive impact on a portion of the five elements of the sustainable business model. Complementarity positively affects value proposition; generativity, modularity, and complementarity have a significant positive effect on value creation; convergence and share-ability positively affect value network; convergence has a positive impact on the financial model; share-ability and complementarity have a significant positive effect on customer interface. These findings may have implications for research into the sustainable business model as they could help manufacturers to understand the functions of the digital platform ecosystem, maximize their resource potential, and use them to promote the development of a sustainable business model.

This study proposes a decision support model to explore the effect of supply chain collaboration on the existing barriers to implementing additive manufacturing in manufacturing supply chains. Based on data from Nigerian manufacturing companies, this study determined the severity of the barriers to implementing additive manufacturing in supply chains and then analyzed the impact of supply chain collaboration initiatives on the investigated barriers. The results indicate that barriers related to the technological category are the most severe as well as pinpoint the systemic relationships among the investigated barriers and determine the supply chain collaboration initiatives that are strongly impacting on the barriers. Furthermore, the study results illustrate that the structural barriers that exhibit the highest sense of priority are lack of infrastructural support, insufficient top management support, inadequate government support, low relative advantage and absence of competitive pressure. Hence, this article presents reliable guidelines to manufacturing firms to be aware of the barriers and ensure the development of proper strategies for successful additive manufacturing project outcomes.

This study sets out to disentangle the effects of open innovation on firm growth in the time of economic crisis. Adopting the strategic choice perspective, we argue that the adoption of OI can lead to better performance in terms of business growth in the time of financial crisis, particularly through the “quick-shot solutions” approach relative to the “long-term horizon” approach. We also argue that collaboration, as well as out-bound approach, is complementary to internal R&D in achieving firm growth, whilst in-bound approach is a substitute for internal R&D in achieving firm growth. We further argue that firms with greater openness breadth and depth will achieve higher growth and that there is diminishing marginal benefit from openness breadth and depth. Analyzing a sample of about 300,000 Chinese manufacturing firms matched with patent dataset, we find evidence to support our arguments. This study makes several contributions to the crisis and OI literature.