Evaluating industrial modernization: Methods, results, and insights from the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Alliance

This paper examines the experience of the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Alliance (GMEA) in implementing an evaluation of its industrial extension services. As part of the U.S. Manufacturing Extension partnership, GMEA provides assistance to manufacturers to resolve industrial and business problems and upgrade technology, training, and business performance, focusing primarily on firms within the state of Georgia. The program has established an evaluation component along with other assessment and review mechanisms. Several evaluation methods are employed, including customer surveys, economic analyses of benefits and costs, controlled studies, and logic-based case studies. The article examines the strengths and weaknesses of these different approaches, reviews the insights each method offers, and discusses how the resulting evaluative information is used.     

Evaluation of industrial modernization programs: The field agent's perspective

This article provides a field agent's perspective on the factors that influence the success of industrial modernization services. We begin with an overview of the field agent's role in the industrial extension system and discuss the technical assistance services typically provided by a field agent. The field agent's role is differentiated from that of other stakeholders such as legislators, agency staff, and program managers. We then consider pre- and post-project perspectives of positive outcomes from industrial extension services. The article argues that the field agent's perspective is closely connected to that of the manufacturing customer. Implications for shared communication among stakeholders and improving program outcomes are discussed. The article draws on the experiences of the authors in the manufacturing extension program in Georgia-the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Alliance (GMEA).     

Tracking customer progress: A follow-up study of customers of the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Alliance

Time lags often exist before the economic impacts of technology promotion programs fully materialize. For one manufacturing technology deployment program, the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Alliance, this study gathered expected impact data soon after the point of service. Customers were then surveyed one year later and asked about impacts actually realized. A comparison showed that for the average project, actual benefits reported at the one-year survey mark were generally lower than benefits expected immediately after project completion, while actual costs were generally higher than expected costs. For high performing projects, however, the study found that actual benefits after one year were substantially higher than the benefits initially expected soon after assistance was completed. This study explores the implications of these findings for technology program evaluation and methods of performance measurement.     

Coordinating industrial modernization services: Impacts and insights from the U.S. Manufacturing Extension Partnership

This study examines how programs sponsored through the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) have influenced the organization and delivery of industrial modernization services to small and medium-sized manufacturers in regions in the United States. The study found that increased service coordination has occurred and that this, in turn, has mostly improved the quality and comprehensiveness of assistance delivered to firms. But there are also some costs and drawbacks associated with multi-partner service delivery approaches. The study identifies and examines best practices that can help MEP centers increase the effectiveness of service coordination. This paper draws upon research supported by the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology under award 50SBNBC8305. The views expressed are the authors' and do not necessarily reflect those of the research sponsor.     

Innovative economic development: The Georgia Environmental Technology Consortium

Case studies demonstrate how the Georgia Environmental Technology Consortium (GETC), a partnership between the research universities, the business community, and the state government, fosters economic development in Georgia. The technology managers, scientists, and engineers in the GETC provide environmentally sound, innovative solutions to complex industry problems improving economic development in the state. Gifts that people took for granted for centuries are clean air, water, and soil. These are now threatened. There are also dangers in the workplace. Employees are faced with workplaces which can be hazardous. In this paper we see the GETC dedicating substantial resources to natural and workplace environmental health issues. The cases cited demonstrate the technology transfer of university research into industry applications. The resulting environmentally responsible products and processes improve the general public health and the competitive position of Georgia firms, insuring more jobs and a better quality of life.     

Fertility and migration in the heart of the industrial revolution

Using research into the formation of industrial populations in the nineteenth century, this article examines the relationships between immigration and natality in Tilleur, an exemplary locality for studying the industrial revolution in Belgium. The main purpose is to test the general hypothesis positing a distinction between a foundation phase and a maturation phase in the process through which an industrial population is formed. The results are a contribution to the debate about the beginning of the fertility transition in industrial cities, and its relations to differential nuptiality and fertility in light of spatial origins.     

Parallel business models and the innovativeness of research-based spin-off ventures

Research-Based Spin-Offs (RBSOs) are seen as a potential mechanism for technology transfer by commercializing academic research and thereby stimulate industrial innovation. RBSOs are heterogeneous, however, and in this paper we investigate how the use of different business models by RBSOs is related to their innovativeness. We use a sample of 82 young RBSOs from Norway to explore typologies of RBSOs developed in earlier studies. Our findings show that some types of business models are associated with higher innovativeness than others. The typology approach has portrayed RBSOs as if they pursue only one business model. In this paper we challenge this assumption by drawing on evolutionary theory and the idea that firms may follow several business models in parallel. Our empirical findings suggest that most RBSOs pursue several business models in parallel and that such firms are more innovative. This study extends the typology approach within the academic entrepreneurship literature by showing that some business models are associated with higher innovativeness than others and that firms pursuing several business models at the same time may be particularly important for the commercialization of academic research. These findings have important implications for research and practise.     

Governance typology of universities’ technology transfer processes

Despite the growing interest in university-to-industry technology transfer, there are very few studies on the governance of universities’ technology transfer offices (TTOs). The few existing ones tend to focus on US universities and generally tackle one dimension of the governance. The present paper aims at contributing to this literature in two ways. First, it takes into account the diversity of organizational models with a theoretical perspective: the paper presents a discussion on which combinations of four structural dimensions should yield viable configurations. Four main types of TTOs are identified: (1) classical TTO; (2) autonomous TTO; (3) discipline-integrated Technology Transfer Alliance; and (4) discipline-specialized Technology Transfer Alliance. Second, the paper relies on 16 case studies of universities located in six European countries in order to address the pros and cons of the four types of TTOs. The results provide both a conceptual understanding and an empirical overview of how universities organize their technology transfer and intellectual property management.     

Planting families: Intent and outcome in the development of colonial Georgia

This article examines the evolution of a plantation society in the British American colony of Georgia. It explores the original intentions of founders and settlers, and how those intentions were discarded or adapted in the face of a volatile demographic environment. It uses information from land grant applications to describe the make-up of late colonial families, and locates the experiences of the Georgia population within the broader context of Atlantic population history. In particular, it argues that familial instability initially catalysed the emergence of a plantation system. The “family” was later accorded real significance in plantation Georgia only when it became serviceable to provincial elites, though it remained important as an organising unit beyond the plantation world, and as a source of shared aspirations.     

Hackers Are After More than Just Data: Will Your Company's Property Policies Respond When Cyber Attacks Cause Physical Damage and Shut Down Operations?

Recent attention on high profile data breaches has overshadowed a potentially greater risk: cyber attacks on large industrial companies causing physical damage, potentially releasing contaminants, and shutting down operations. A handful of publicly reported cyber-attacks, including explosions at an oil pipeline and a steel mill, have highlighted the potential vulnerability of these companies' internet-facing industrial control systems to hackers. The insurance industry has reacted to the growing risk of privacy-related data breaches by marketing and selling so-called “cyber policies.” But these policies typically exclude coverage for property damage and are ill-suited to cover the magnitude of business interruption losses that could result from an extended shutdown of a large industrial operation. That leaves policyholders to look to their traditional property policies. This article examines the cyber-attack risk that large industrial companies face and how those companies' traditional property insurance policies may help mitigate that risk.     

Compatibility of wireless services with enhanced 911--FCC. Proposed rule

The Commission seeks additional comment in wireless Enhanced 911 (E911) rulemaking proceeding with respect to an ex parte presentation filed by Ad Hoc Alliance for Public Access to 911 (Alliance) on September 17, 1998. In its ex parte filing and its accompanying engineering report, Alliance has presented an approach under which the Commission would require that, if the signal from the user's provider is "inadequate" at the time a 911 call is placed through the use of an analog cellular handset, then the handset must have the capability to select automatically the strongest available compatible channel of communications for purpose of completing the 911 call. Additional comment is sought to assist the Commission in determining whether to adopt the approach presented by the Alliance in its September 17 ex parte filing. The effect of adopting the Alliance approach would be to improve reliability of 911 services to wireless customers.     

对比分析美国应急反应指挥系统研究芯片厂应急反应组织架构与流程

芯片厂的应急反应组织属于一个非常设性组织,故在应急反应组织架构与应急反应计划的设计上容易与芯片厂实际的日常运作组织产生矛盾,不易产生有机结合,导致在意外事故处理过程中,无法达成应急反应的最佳预期效果。本文在研究分析美国的事故应急反应指挥系统组织与架构、应急反应逻辑与操作法则的基础上,参考芯片制造厂的日常工作组织与职能,为芯片制造厂规划设计符合芯片制造厂的应急反应组织与流程,分析其间的异同点,并为芯片制造厂建制应急反应体系过程提供参考资料,以有效降低意外事故对芯片制造厂的营运冲击。     

试论小企业的存在原因与产业分布规律

规模报酬递增与竞争性市场结构之间的矛盾激发着经济学家们对企业规模决定因素的持续探索。在长期的研究过程中，经济学家们相继揭示了诸如生产要素的不可分性、沉没成本、外部经济、企业内部交易成本、运输成本、关税与行政壁垒、产品差别等决定因素，这些因素最终可以归入规模经济和市场容量两个范畴。因此，规模经济程度低和市场容量小共同决定看小企业的存在与发展，而不同产业的特性则通过规模经济和市场容量两个方面决定看小企业的产业分布规律。     

The Privatization of Public Safety in Urban Neighborhoods: Do Business Improvement Districts Reduce Violent Crime Among Adolescents?

The business improvement district (BID) is a popular economic development and urban revitalization model in which local property and business owners must pay an assessment tax that funds supplementary services, including private security. BIDs constitute a controversial form of urban revitalization to some because they privatize economic development and public safety efforts in public space. This study examines whether BIDs provide tangible benefits beyond their immediate boundaries to local residents in the form of reduced violence among adolescents. The empirical analysis advances an existing literature dominated by evaluation studies by introducing a theoretically driven dataset with rich information on individual and neighborhood level variables. The analysis compares violent victimization among youths living in BID neighborhoods with those in similarly situated non‐BID neighborhoods. We find no effect of BIDs on violence. However, we do find that youth violence is strongly correlated with neighborhood collective efficacy and family‐related attributes of social control. In conclusion, we argue that BIDs may be an agent of crime reduction, but this benefit is likely concentrated only in their immediate boundaries and does not extend to youths living in surrounding neighborhoods.     

An empirical assessment of the effects of prison crowding upon recidivism utilizing aggregate level data

The problem of prison overcrowding has become one of the central issues in corrections during the last decade. Most studies addressing this topic have dealt with the consequences of the overcrowding upon physiological and behavioral problems associated with the inmate while incarcerated. The present study examines the effect of prison overcrowding upon post-release behavior, for example, recidivism. Drawing from official prison data from the state of Georgia for the years 1971 through 1978, it shows that prison density is a poor predictor of recidivism. The article further argues that any research utilizing aggregate data is susceptible to overestimating relationships. Moreover, it suggests that any research attempting to address the issue of overcrowding and recidivism should develop models that are sensitive to the problems associated with aggregation. Finally, the present study demonstrates that age is the critical variable that must be included in any study that addresses the issue of recidivism.     

Have you signed your electronic contract?

The ease with which business can be transacted over the Internet raises various issues, not least among which are writing and signature requirements. While it has been established that an electronic record is a functional equivalent of writing, the position appears to be less clear with regard to electronic signatures. This paper examines the signature requirement as it applies to electronic contracts, in particular the form of electronic signature that can serve the functional equivalent of a handwritten signature for the purpose of the English Statute of Frauds 1677 and its various re-enactments. Reference will be made to legislation, the relevant UNCITRAL Model Laws and UN Conventions as well as to the substantial body of case law on paper contracts for analytical and comparative purposes.     

Economic conditions and punishment in Postbellum Georgia

This paper examines the relationship between economic conditions and incarceration in Georgia between 1868 and 1936. Time-series analysis provides evidence that declining cotton prices increased the rate at which both black and white males were incarcerated. Changes in cotton production, declines in racial economic inequality, and demographic shifts also affected incarceration rates. Each had quite different implications for black and white punishment, however. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for research on punishment in general and Southern punishment in particular.     

论我国政府绩效评估指标体系的优化

我国当前的政府绩效评估指标体系具有一定缺陷,我们有必要建立科学的政府绩效评估指标体系。BSC与KPI不仅可以应用于企业,而且可以加以改造,应用于政府。在应用的过程中,必须结合政府的特点,使二者克服各自的缺点,只有这样,才能设计出适合我国政府的BSC与KPI相结合的政府绩效评估指标体系。本文提出了设计科学的政府绩效评估指标体系的依据和步骤,以期在实际操作过程中加以借鉴与运用。     

Overkill? An Examination of Comparatively Excessive Death Sentences in North Carolina, 1990–2010

This study examines death/life capital sentences in one southern state, North Carolina, during the period 1990 to 2010 to determine the extent to which they are comparatively excessive/lenient. The study employs data derived from a variety of official sources on the population of capital trials in the state during this timeframe and follows the analytic techniques developed by David Baldus and his colleagues and by Paternoster and Kazyaka in their studies of comparative excessiveness in capital sentencing in California, Georgia, and South Carolina, respectively. The results show a substantial number of death sentences that meet the standard for excessiveness, but the data also show a nearly equal number of life sentences that may be deemed too lenient. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Interfirm collaboration as a modernization strategy: A survey of case studies

Interfirm collaboration (IFC) has been explored by organizations seeking a vehicle for the industrial modernization of small and medium-sized manufacturers. This paper offers five models of the impacts of IFC networks based on a survey of 123 case studies. The models examine the association between impacts of IFC with variables describing the origins, activities, and structures of networks. Impacts are measured through aggregate assessments of business expansion, bottom line savings, increases in projects, increases in membership, and increases in other benefits. We find that business expansion is associated most strongly with factors related to the origins of projects. Increases in membership and other benefits are most strongly associated with structural factors. Finally, bottom line savings and increases in projects are most closely associated with both origin and structural factors.