First Published in 1997. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Since the early 1980s, universities in the United States have greatly expanded their patenting and licensing activities. The Congressional Joint Economic Committee, among other authorities, have argued that this surge contributed to the economic boom of the 1990s. And, many observers have attributed this trend to the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980. Using quantitative analysis and detailed case studies, this book tests that conventional wisdom and assesses the effects of the Act, examining the diverse channels through which commercialization has occurred over the 20th century and since the passage of the Act.

From the bestselling author of The Trillion Dollar Meltdown and The Tycoons comes the fascinating, panoramic story of the rise of American industry between the War of 1812 and the Civil War

This text brings together specially commissioned contributions by experts on a range of issues concerning innovation. It introduces the significance and processes of industrial innovation and assesses the key issues affecting innovation

A Firsthand Look at the Role of the Industrial Engineer The industrial engineer helps decide how best to utilize an organization’s resources to achieve company goals and objectives. Introduction to Industrial Engineering, Second Edition offers an in-depth analysis of the industrial engineering profession. While also providing a historical perspective chronicling the development of the profession, this book describes the standard duties performed, the tools and terminologies used, and the required methods and processes needed to complete the tasks at hand. It also defines the industrial engineer’s main areas of operation, introduces the topic of information systems, and discusses their importance in the work of the industrial engineer. The authors explain the information system concept, and the need for integrated processes, supported by modern information systems. They also discuss classical organizational structures (functional organization, project organization, and matrix organization), along with the advantages and disadvantages of their use. The book includes the technological aspects (data collection technologies, databases, and decision-support areas of information systems), the logical aspects (forecasting models and their use), and aspects of principles taken from psychology, sociology, and ergonomics that are commonly used in the industry. What’s New in this Edition: The second edition introduces fields that are now becoming a part of the industrial engineering profession, alongside conventional areas (operations management, project management, quality management, work measurement, and operations research). In addition, the book: Provides an understanding of current pathways for professional development Helps students decide which area to specialize in during the advanced stages of their studies Exposes students to ergonomics used in the context of workspace design Presents key factors in human resource management Describes frequently used methods of teaching in the field Covers basic issues relative to ergonomics and human–machine interface Introduces the five basic processes that exist in many organizations Introduction to Industrial Engineering, Second Edition establishes industrial engineering as the organization of people and resources, describes the development and nature of the profession, and is easily accessible to anyone needing to learn the basics of industrial engineering. The book is an indispensable resource for students and industry professionals.

This book offers an innovative examination of how ‘low–technology’ industries operate. Based on extensive fieldwork in India, the book fuses economic and sociological perspectives on information sharing by means of informal interaction in a low-technology cluster in a developing country. In doing so, the book sheds new light on settings where economic relations arise as emergent properties of social relations. This book examines industrial innovation and microeconomic network behaviour among producers and clusters, perceiving knowledge diffusion to be a socially-spatial, as much as a geographically spatial, phenomenon. This is achieved by employing two methods – simulation modelling, and (quantitative, qualitative, and historical) social network analysis. The simulation model, based on its findings, motivates two empirical studies – one descriptive case and one network study – of low-tech rural and semi-urban traditional technology clusters in Kerala state in southern India. These cases demonstrate two contrasting stories of how social cohesion either supports or thwarts informal information sharing and learning. This book pushes towards an economic-sociology approach to understanding knowledge diffusion and technological learning, which perceives innovation and learning as being more social processes than the mainstream view perceives them to be. In doing so, it makes a significant contribution to the literature on defensive innovation and the role of networks in technological innovation and knowledge diffusion, as well as to policy studies of Indian small firm and traditional technology clusters.

In this new book, Hara, Kambayashi and Matsushima gather together a collection of case studies of innovation in various industries in modern Japan, including automobile, electronics, semiconductor, component, chemical, pharmaceutical and service industries. Unlike other books in this area, this book focuses on a broader range of Japanese indus