•This study examines the impact of non-competes on innovation by using a natural experiment.•This study distinguishes between exploitative innovations and exploratory innovations.•Higher ...enforceability of non-competes is associated with a higher rate of exploitative innovations.•Higher enforceability of non-competes is associated with a lower rate of exploratory innovations.
Despite two decades of research on non-competes, whether non-competes promote or inhibit innovation remains an open question. The lack of consensus rests on not only the theoretical ambiguity but also the empirical limitations. Marshalling data on introductions of new medical devices as the direct measure of innovations in the medical devices industry and decomposing innovations according to their exploitative or exploratory natures, this work shows that an increase in the enforceability of noncompetes is associated with a higher rate of exploitative innovations and a lower rate of exploratory innovations. Further analysis shows that through such a shift of attention in the innovation process, an increase in the enforceability of non-competes results in a higher rate of total innovations. The implications and caveats of the enforcement of non-competes for stimulating innovation are discussed.
In this paper, we construct the first stochastic Generalized Nash Equilibrium model for the study of competition among countries for limited supplies of medical items (PPEs, ventilators, etc.) in the ...disaster preparedness and response phases in the Covid-19 pandemic. The government of each country is faced with a two-stage stochastic optimization problem in which the first stage is prior to the pandemic declaration and the second stage is post the pandemic declaration. We provide the theoretical constructs, a qualitative analysis, and an algorithm, accompanied by convergence results. Both illustrative examples are presented as well as algorithmically solved numerical examples, inspired by the need for N95 masks and ventilators. The results reveal that, in addition to the preparedness of countries before the pandemic declaration, their ability to adapt to the conditions in different scenarios has a significant impact on their overall success in the management of the pandemic crisis. The framework can capture competition for other medical supplies, including Covid-19 vaccines and possible treatments, with modifications to handle perishability.
In today's highly competitive global business landscape, customers demand personalised products and responsive distribution systems, hence fuelling the concept of Distributed Manufacturing (DM) as a ...paradigm that suggests the geographical distribution of manufacturing systems adjacent to the markets enable ‘production on demand’. To this end, the objective of this research is to explore the DM concept to inform firms about the dynamically changing manufacturing environment, along with the emerging opportunities, and support business stakeholders in implementing DM-oriented strategies to achieve digitalisation, personalisation, and localisation. More specifically, the present research builds upon the Dynamic Capability Theory (DCT) and conducts semi-structured interviews with a panel of 16 experts from the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods, Automotive, and Engineering industries to develop 12 exploratory industry cases. Our analysis highlights three strategies that companies can adopt to implement DM and realise shorter lead times and personalised product offerings, namely: (i) small-scale DM; (ii) in-house decoupled manufacturing; and (iii) outsourced decoupled manufacturing. However, the economic viability of the DM concept is identified as a significant barrier to relinquish the traditional centralised economies-of-scale. This research contributes by applying the DCT to the DM concept to advocate the viability and sustainability of manufacturing systems in the era of Industry 4.0. Pertaining to the originality of this research, limited work is available on the applicability of DM in industries, from the DCT perspective, to accomplish competitive advantages in the dynamic environment of manufacturing.
•A framework for implementing Distributed Manufacturing (DM) strategies is proposed.•Small-scale and decoupled (in-house or outsourced) are recognized as DM strategies.•DM-oriented strategies aim at digitalisation, personalisation, and localisation.•The resource-based view of the Dynamic Capability Theory underpins the DM concept.•The DM concept advocates viability of industrial systems in the Industry 4.0 era.
Several attempts are needed to choose the most compatible production system for achieving the desired manufacturing outputs. The significant role of manufacturing strategy deployment is selecting the ...production system best suited for a manufacturing firm. The appropriately chosen production system (strategic process choice) facilitates a firm to produce “order winning” outputs and provides a production competence to achieve business success. This research presents a novel framework to determine the compatible production system for a manufacturing firm. An integrated three-stage Delphi-MCDM-Bayesian Network (BN) framework has been proposed. The process choice criteria (PCC) considered for deciding production systems are identified through an in-depth literature review and then validated by experts through a Delphi method in the first stage. It resulted in the determination of twenty-six PCC. In the second stage, the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) based voting analytical hierarchy process (VAHP) method is adopted to determine each criterion's relative importance for a firm. The relative weights obtained are then used as input for the machine learning (ML) technique- Bayesian network (BN) in the third stage. The BN model quantifies the selection probability of production systems. The proposed Delphi-MCDM-BN framework is demonstrated using a real-life case of a “hydraulic and pneumatic valve” manufacturing firm to select a suitable production system. The three-stage framework is a novel contribution to the literature, which can be used by researchers, practitioners, and manufacturing strategists to choose an appropriate production system for any manufacturing firm.
The relevance of scientific research on the production of modern armaments and military equipment systems obeys to the prevalence of high geopolitical tensions in several zones of the globe, often ...leading to armed conflicts and thereby increasing the use of armaments and military equipment. The purpose of this article is to examine key aspects of the production, use, and operational reliability of armaments and military equipment used in real-world combat situations. The methodological approach is a combination of a systemic analysis of the current state of the military and industrial complex in a range of countries around the world with ananalytical study of the specifics of using weapons and military equipment in actual combat and the related trends in the development of the military and industrial complex. The results highlight various aspects of the practical use of armaments and military equipment in the defense strategy of individual states and the role of armaments and military equipment in today’s global social and economic system. These results are of significant practical importance to the employees of the military and industrial complex, whose direct responsibilities include the design and development of the latest weapons and military equipment, to the members of the various branches of the military who operate such equipment, and to the representatives of the military and industrial complex of individual states, whose direct tasks include bidding in international markets for armaments and military equipment.
The paper presents an analysis of the functional operational
properties of multilayer coatings for use in military technology in the
field of masking. The developed coating systems are characterized ...by
operational innovation due to their small thickness when compared to
those currently used by global defence contractors while maintaining
the re-emission coefficient required for camouflage to be effective in
the optical range. Their service life and durability were assessed in
terms of functional properties based on measurements of attenuation
coefficients, surface geometric structure, adhesion, specular gloss and
colour parameters. The tests were carried out for coating systems
fabricated in five variants: a two-layer paint system (SP1), a threelayer paint system (SP2), a laser-modified three-layer paint system
(SP3) and a four-layer paint system in two variants (SP4 and SP5),
with the former being modified with carbon nanotubes and the later −
with spherical iron. Coating systems are characterized by low
roughness and good adhesion and have appropriate attenuation
coefficients for radar waves. Due to their operational properties, the
developed coating systems can be used on armaments and military
equipment.
Since the 1980s, most reforms in major arms-producing countries focus on keeping costs under control by either promoting competition between suppliers or by reducing information asymmetry through ...audits and controls. Indeed, cost escalation represents a challenge but, in fact, these reforms try to adjust the functioning of defence market rather than questioning the institutional features of this latter. The success of defence acquisition structures also explains their limits. The current organisation of defence market was perfectly adapted to the geostrategic context of Cold War and a technological momentum that favours symmetrical arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union. Even if these structures still help deliver advanced capabilities, they can be considered as not sufficient to cover all the operational needs of armed forces. The conception of capabilities needs to go beyond a long-term planning while industrial approaches open the way to more agile development and manufacturing. An alternative defence industrial policy is necessary to complement the existing one. More modular architectures for complex systems provide the opportunity to increase the reactiveness of capability deliveries and to foster both innovation and competition.
High summer temperatures in special vehicle cabins affect drivers and occupants, reducing efficiency and combat potential. Improving occupant work efficiency is key to enhancing overall combat ...effectiveness. There's a lack of research on the work efficiency of special vehicle occupants engaged in complex, specialized tasks within cabin thermal environments. This study focused on a special vehicle, discussing the effects of the summer thermal environment in the cabin on personnel efficiency. It linked subjective thermal sensations to work efficiency through questionnaires and task performance evaluations. The best work efficiency environment may not be the environment with the highest thermal comfort. This paper presented a subjective thermal sensation range criterion for maintaining the work efficiency of the occupants in the cabin during the summer. This serves as a basis for optimizing the summer thermal environment and improving the reliability of human-vehicle systems in special vehicle cabins.
•Myanmar has experienced extremely rapid agricultural mechanization since 2011.•Agricultural machinery is close to scale-neutral at point of use.•Small farm sizes do not hinder uptake due to ...availability of outsourcing services.•Demand for machines is driven by labor scarcity, timeliness, risk, drudgery aversion.•Supply of machine outsourcing services facilitated by reforms to trade, banking, land tenure.
The past decade has seen a resurgence of interest in the role of mechanization in agricultural development. This literature has given rise to debates over the design of institutions and policies to facilitate accelerated mechanization, the role of outsourcing services in overcoming problems of access to machinery, and questions regarding the future of smallholder agriculture. We contribute to these debates using two pairs of complementary demand side (farm household) and supply side (agricultural machinery retailer) surveys, implemented in Myanmar in 2016 and 2017 across two major agro-ecological zones. Our analysis provides evidence that extremely rapid agricultural mechanization took place during the period of political and economic reforms from 2011 to 2020. In both zones surveyed, use of machinery for land preparation, harvesting, and threshing was close to scale-neutral due to a dynamic outsourcing services market. Rather than representing a single transformational change, mechanization’s broad appeal to farm households results from an accumulation of incremental, overlapping, complementary advantages. These include labor savings, reduced drudgery, convenience, increased speed and timeliness of operations, improved ability to manage weather-related risks, and reduced loss of grain during harvesting. We provide examples of policies on trade, finance, and land tenure that contributed to this transformation with practical implications for ongoing policy debates on mechanization in other countries, and suggest some generalizable lessons.
This paper provides a viable systems perspective of an outcome-based service initiative involving major manufacturers in the defence industry. The viable systems perspective allowed a coherent ...structuration of the complex servitization context involving provider and customer organizations. It also unveiled critical relationship mechanisms that enable synergy and facilitate the achievement of co-capability by the organizations involved. Through a case study approach, the research finds that interventions in the customer system reduce variability in the provider system as well as in the service system as a whole. The systemic interventions are implemented via key provider/customer relationships the study identifies. The relationships deal with the high level of internal variety in outcome-based service systems. A typology for the identified relationships is developed, offering a helpful basis for the purposeful planning and design of interactions aimed at developing co-capability. The paper also offers theoretical propositions defining fundamental features of outcome-based service systems. The unique characteristics of these systems addressed in this paper provide particularly useful insights concerning the implementation of this type of servitization initiative not only in the defence industry, but also in other industrial sectors where servitization initiatives involve complex configurations of provider and customer organizations.
•The unique characteristics of outcome-based service systems are discussed.•A Viable Systems Model (VSM) approach is used to structure an outcome-based system.•The VSM analysis revels process ownership problems in outcome-based service systems.•A typology of critical relationships to counteract contextual variety is presented.
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