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The electronic payments system is among recent service innovations that have transformed access to finance in developing and emerging economies. This paper analyses and forecasts the diffusions of four major electronic payment technologies in Nigeria, namely, ATM, PoS, Mobile and Web payments. Diffusion was measured by the volume of financial payments transacted on these technologies. First, we applied two growth models to evaluate the diffusion and to forecast the future trajectories of these payment technologies. Second, we applied the logistics substitution model to evaluate how these technologies compete in the Nigerian payments market. The findings show that like many technological innovations the diffusions of electronic payment technologies are characterised by growth, maturity, saturation, and decline. In addition, the mobile payment system was forecast to emerge as the most diffused payment technology given the volume of financial exchange that will occur on this platform. These findings have implications for innovators, regulators and service providers within the Nigerian payment ecosystems. The findings also have practical implication for achieving the cashless economy and the financial inclusion projects of the Nigerian state which rely on the successful diffusions of these technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although many studies have recognised the importance of defining specific public policies to encourage technology diffusion, many authors fail to provide a clear view about either the policies that affect the diffusion of technologies or the effect of the different political instruments. Adopting a content analysis of papers that directly or indirectly refer to the diffusion of a new technology, this study applies the integrative propositional analysis (IPA) methodology to: (a) identify the repertoire of the different diffusion policies identified by previous studies; (b) classify these policies according to the type of instruments that they use; (c) analyse the impact of each policy on the different adoption factors that may inhibit or foster the diffusion of a new technology; and (d) evaluate the scope of each type of policy in terms of the number of affected adoption factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A vast amount of studies have shown how firms embracing the open innovation paradigm tend to improve their industrial and economic performance. Somewhat surprisingly, in such established background, few studies attempted to understand whether the open innovation benefits compensate its costs. To fill this gap, this article presents a novel theoretical framework composed of twelve propositions describing the main benefits and costs of inbound and outbound open innovation modes. Such theoretical framework was tested on a sample of 96 small and medium manufacturing enterprises. While most of the identified cost and benefit classes are acknowledged by the majority of the interviewed firms, most interviewees affirmed that their firms did not suffer from costs associated with the not-invented-here syndrome and with the potential loss of competitive advantage. The results of the study have implications for both firms and scholars, which are expected to lead to future researches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial clusters evolve dynamically as the external environment changes. To better understand the nature of cluster evolution, which has nurtured economic growth in early 2000s, strategy and organisation scholars have attempted to unpack contributors to cluster evolution from the perspective of the ‘environmental uncertainty’ and ‘resource abundance’ effects. The paper adopts and extend an earlier extant model through empirical testing of the thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) industrial cluster in Taiwan, a developing country. This study modifies the extant network model by adding a diffusion of technological innovation index to cluster evolving. Using the extended case study, the study examines the dynamic evolutionary process in the TFT-LCD industrial cluster. It was found that the evolution of the TFT-LCD industrial cluster resembles the theoretical argument in some respects. The characteristics of network change are modified according to these results. Implication for policymakers and decision-makers of developing countries are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There has been an increased interest in technology transfer activities. This increased interest is inspired by the observation that not all generated knowledge gets translated into commercial products or processes, which is generally referred to as the knowledge paradox. Many researchers have studied academic spin-offs. Within the resource based view of the firm the technological, human and financial starting resources of academic spin-offs have been studied. Little research has however studied the extent to which these resources are affecting spin-off establishment. This paper sheds light on the extent to which different resources were impeding ICT spin-off establishment. The results show that financial resources were hardly affecting ICT spin-off creation, whereas some human and technological resources had a high impact on the spin-off process. These findings call for an increased attention by policy makers and research institutes to provide support in bridging the gap between science and market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of users is an often-overlooked aspect of studies of innovation and diffusion. Using an actor-network theory (ANT) approach, four case studies examine the processes of implementing a piece of CAD (computer aided design) software, BSLink, in different organisations and describe the tailoring done by users to embed the software into working practices. This not only results in different practices of use at different locations, but also transforms BSLink itself into a proliferation of BSLinks-in-use. A focus group for BSLink users further reveals the gaps between different users' expectations and ways of using the software, and between different BSLinks-in-use. It also demonstrates the contradictory demands this places on its further development. The ANT-informed approach used treats both innovation and diffusion as processes of translation within networks. It also emphasises the political nature of innovation and implementation, and the efforts of various actors to delegate manoeuvres for increased influence onto technological artefacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides insight into the reality of university-industry technology transfer through the assessment of some of the most influential factors for success or failure in research contracts. This widespread mechanism of technology transfer is examined in the light of exhaustive information and experience gathered from 30 interviews with qualified university researchers. The interviewees, who have been directly involved in collaborative projects with industry partners, have deeply described both sound and unsatisfactory cooperation cases, in order to explore which relevant circumstances have led to success or failure. The analysis drives to conclude that there are some features (beyond technological ones) related to the corporate partner's strategic and functional characteristics, which come to be decisive for success. For example, company's real interest and involvement during the technology transfer process, its capacity to assimilate new knowledge and a confident attitude towards the university research group are identified to be key elements for attaining an effective technology transfer. In this contribution, the importance of these aspects is contextualised and summarised in a model for successful technology transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firms increasingly consider external technology commercialisation (ETC) - the commercialisation of technology assets - as an important part of their strategies. ETC goes beyond the marginal activity of commercialising residual technologies, yet prior research has not systematically analysed its monetary and strategic benefits, nor has much been published about the process of managing ETC. Accordingly this paper offers a classification of ETC objectives based on case studies of 25 technology-oriented companies. A detailed segmentation of the process of managing these projects is established by focussing on large industrial companies whose main business is internal technology exploitation (i.e. the application of technologies in their own products and/or services). Based on these classifications, four types of external technology exploitation projects are identified and the different managerial challenges are described along the process segmentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology managers are faced with identifying emerging technologies with the greatest economic potential. Text mining of technical information sources has great potential for structuring and analyzing the vast amounts of information that is available today. There are tools available capable of analyzing patents and publication databases for trends, identifying emerging activity, and monitoring competitors. However, a disconnect between managers' information needs and the analysts' information provides a significant challenge. Additionally, technology managers are not accustomed to processing derived knowledge obtained through text mining. Thus, analysts must present information to managers so that they can easily and accurately interpret it. This paper investigates an approach that presents derived information in the context of stated information needs by technology managers. Those information needs are assessed via survey, applied to a sample technology record set, and evaluated according to stated criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates a fellowship scheme aiming to overcome attitudinal and operational barriers towards university technology transfer. We propose barriers exist because of the focus of many academics exclusively within a peer review research network. We explore the case of the Medici Fellowship programme that was implemented in biomedical departments across five universities located in the midlands of England. Our evidence suggests that such fellowship programmes, through the retraining of academics, may have a positive impact on the commercialisation of research. In particular, the fellows, through the enhancement of their social and human capital, are able to act as agents of attitudinal change in their host departments and are seen to build bridges into external business networks that can provide early stage funding, market and legal information and help identify potential customers for nascent academic entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the post-independence industrialization experience of Algeria, this paper explores the need for and the challenges and prospects of shifts of policies and strategies from central planning to decentralization and liberalization; from a heavy industry-dominated scenario to one dominated by SMEs; and from reliance on technology transfer to the development of a culture of innovation and technological learning. The paper highlights the business incubation system as an aspect of the triple helix model of innovation in which universities, industry, government and non-government organizations feature as principal actors in the national innovation system. The paper notes the need for both technology transfer and the development of the triple helix culture in developing countries. It also underlines the need for policy in developing countries to ensure that the former played only a residual role, while the latter took the lead in providing for the development of a culture of innovation. The culture of bureaucracy and institutional fragmentation has been a major factor militating against initiatives for technological capability development; and the conventional technology transfer practice has reinforced this culture. A major policy initiative is needed in developing countries to put the national system of innovation in place and remove the constraints on the development of the triple helix culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]