Sharif Digital Repository

This article introduces the concept of latecomer systems integration capability (LSIC) as a construct for theory development in the area of emergence and competitiveness of producers of complex capital goods from developing economies. The study draws on three bodies of the literature to conceptualize LSIC and then presents an in-depth case study of the development of LSIC in a major Iranian firm engaged in producing electricity generation systems. Although an exploratory study, the findings suggest that, in this case, LSIC evolved in a fairly short period of time from simple low-cost project management skills to innovative capabilities, supported by some sophisticated engineering and design... 

Complex product systems (CoPS) industries largely contribute to industrial development, economic growth and creation of national wealth in both developed and developing economies. CoPS also show a number of specific characteristics as a distinctive category of industrial products in comparison with mass-produced consumer goods. These aspects have attracted the attention of scholars to study CoPS over the last two decades, resulting in a fairly extensive body of literature on the subject. However, there is a further need to connect research findings in this area, to illustrate a macro view of the development in the field, explore common themes, and identify possible paths into the future.... 

Increasing concerns about unbridled fossil fuel consumption and a growing generation of municipal solid waste (MSW) in Iran and related environmental challenges require adoption of more sustainable approaches in energy and waste management. Energy recovery from waste can play an important role to achieve environmentally sustainable development that has been defined for the country as a main policy. Iran’s growing urban population generates massive amounts of MSW that mostly end up in landfills. A population of 75 million is generating 50,000 tonnes of MSW every day that mostly are buried in landfills. Detrimental emissions from landfills and many other long-lasting environmental issues have... 

This study aims to find the differences between national and international relationships in Iran and Switzerland’s Nanoscience research between 2008–2015. The results show significant differences some of which are attributed to the general dichotomy of developed-developing countries like stronger University-Industry-Government relations in Switzerland; but others are not, especially those pertaining to bilateral relations. In summary, the Government-Industry relations in Switzerland are generally closer in this field because the emerging characteristics of Nanoscience call for more state intervention, even in the context of developed countries. Greater Government-University relations in Iran... 

The debate over innovativeness of large firms and SMEs, which was bolded by Schumpeter, still continues under mixed empirical evidences. There are several implications for this debate including policy orientation in support of large firms or SMEs. But there is a scarce of studies in developing countries and no such study in Iran yet. The present study has explored the proportionality of increase of innovation activity versus firm size within 522 Iranian knowledge-based firms categorized in 9 industries. Innovation activity was measured by R&D expenditure while firm size stood for number of employees. Using log–log regression in the first phase, it was found that R&D expenditure confirms a... 

This paper describes an attempt to develop congestion indices for a developing country with a limited sampling. Speed and flow rate information was collected from urban highway traffic flow videotaping in Iran. Video display provided information for traffic modeling when, similar to most of the developing nations, Iran does not have locally developed highway capacity manuals. Processing of the extracted data and traffic modeling provided free and capacity flow information for the selected freeway and principal arterial sections for the capital city of Tehran. The congestion indices were associated, in simple and logical models, with five traffic descriptive variables of travel speed, travel... 

This study seeks a method for formulating directional strategy of wind turbine industry in Iran. To this end, by initially evaluating various economic viewpoints concerning the development of industries, the necessity of government intervention is recognized. By defining the concepts of national industry policy, firm technology strategy, and national technology strategy, the role of directional industry strategy is then made clear. Furthermore, the six assumptions of emphasis on formulating strategy (rather than on formulating policy), emphasis on formulating directional strategy, model's prescriptivism, emphasis on formulating the strategy at the level of industry, Iran's being a developing... 

This article deals with technology strategy and its linkage with overall strategy at multi-business, diversified groups. In the last two decades, the alignment of technology and business strategy has been one of the important research fields in strategy and technology management literature. These researches has been concentrated on single companies through which different frameworks, models, and decision support tools have been developed and widely utilized by industries. Although multi-business and diversified groups play an important role in national economy of developing countries and need a comprehensive and overall plan for the management of their diversified technological capabilities,... 

The present study evaluates the application of top-down steel demand estimation in developing countries. The anticipated steel demand for the case of Iran is calculated by three methods, including the growth model (GM), the intensity of use hypothesis (IUH), and the fixed stock paradigm (FCP). GM shows a broad range of apparent steel demand based on the assumed growth factor. When the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita reaches 13,000 dollars per person (constant 2010 US$), the IUH method estimates the consumption peak consumption at around 500 kg steel per capita per year, which is being expected between 2040 and 2060 depending on the economic growth assumptions. Since fluctuations in... 

Urban commuters and road authorities are interested in knowing how well their city can manage traffic conditions. It is challenging to make a fair comparison among global cities due to the absence of a consistent, publicly accessible and inexpensive framework. This study proposes a methodology to compare travel time and average speed in different cities. Large cities have a central core, in which many of the major activities take place. This core is called downtown or the central business district (CBD). In this study, a comparison is made by simulating the morning commute trips from origins outside to destinations inside the CBD. The proposed framework outlines how the city and the CBD... 

The purpose of this study is to apply managerial economics and methods of decision analysis to study the optimal pattern of innovation activities for development of new energy technologies in developing countries. For this purpose, a model of energy research and development (R&D) planning is developed and it is then linked to a bottom-up energy-systems model. The set of interlinked models provide a comprehensive analytical tool for assessment of energy technologies and innovation planning taking into account the specific conditions of developing countries. An energy-system model is used as a tool for the assessment and prioritization of new energy technologies. Based on the results of the... 

The paper presents further experiments with an extended version of a comprehensive model for assessment of energy technologies and research and development (R&D) planning to evaluate the impact of innovation programs on development of Iranian electricity-supply system. This analytical instrument is a model of energy R&D resource allocation with an explicit perspective of developing countries which has been linked to a bottom-up energy-systems model. Three emerging electricity generation technologies of solar PV, wind turbine and gas fuel cell are considered in the model and the impact of innovation programs on cost-reducing innovation for them is examined. The main results provided by the...