Category Archives: Research Examples

Text mining to gain technical intelligence for acquired target selection: A case study for China’s computer numerical control machine tools industry

Research Examples, Research Type, Strategic planning, Tech mining

Technology strategy plays an increasingly important role in today’s Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) activities. Informing that strategy with empirical intelligence offers great potential value to R&D managers and technology policy makers. This paper proposes a methodology, based on patent analysis, to extract technical intelligence to identify M&A target technologies and evaluate relevant target companies to facilitate M&A target selection. We apply the term clumping process and a trend analysis together with policy and market information to profile present R&D status and capture future development signals and trends in order to grasp a range of significant domain-based technologies. Furthermore, a comparison between a selected acquirer and leading players is used to identify significant technologies and sub-technologies for specific strategy-oriented technology M&A activities. Finally, aiming to recommend appropriate M&A target companies, we set up an index-based system to evaluate the acquired target candidates from both firms-side perspective and target firm-side perspective and differentially weigh for specific M&A situations. We provide an empirical study in the field of computer numerical control machine tools (CNCMT) in China to identify technology M&A targets for an emerging Chinese CNCMT company — Estun Automation under different M&A strategies.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2016.10.061

Author(s): Tingting Ma, Yi Zhang, Lu Huang, Lining Shang, Kangrui Wang, Huizhu Yu, Donghua Zhu
Organization(s): Beijing Wuzi University, Beijing Institute of Technology, University of Technology Sydney
Source: Technological Forecasting and Social Change
Year: 2017

Evolutionary trend analysis of nanogenerator research based on a novel perspective of phased bibliographic coupling

Research Examples, Research profiling, ,

To evaluate the rapid growth of research on nanogenerators and the emergence of promising applications related to nanogenerators, evolutionary trends in the relevant research are analyzed based on phased bibliographic coupling (PBC). Through the novel method of PBC, the evolutionary trend of the relevant research on nanogenerators is roughly categorized into three phases, and the characteristic research topics, issues, articles and terms are discriminated and visualized. Beyond the traditional literature review of domain experts on nanotechnology, this article provides a novel means of visualizing more information about the evolution of the nanogenerator research over the past ten years, based on a more quantitative approach.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2017.02.020

Author(s): Munan Li, Alan L. Porter, Zhong Lin Wang
Organization(s): South China University of Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology
Source: Nano Energy
Year: 2017

Mapping of the Use of Waste as Raw Materials for Biogas Production (full-text)

Future-oriented technology analysis, Research Examples, Research profiling, Research Type

Anthropic methane emissions can largely be prevented or minimized using
technologies that are already available. One such technology is anaerobic digestion
(AD), which is used commercially around the world, especially in Europe
and the United States, where some challenging targets have been set to
diversify the energy mix with more renewable energy. This foresight study was
designed to identify which technological solutions out of the many options
available for biogas production are attracting most interest, for which purpose
patent documents and scientific publications were analyzed. The aim is to
identify which raw materials are most attractive for AD and biogas production.
It was found that the raw materials that have attracted most research and
patenting activity are sludge, sewage, and wastewater, livestock waste, and
agriculture waste, which together account for 62% of all the patents filed and
74% of all the scientific publications. The countries most engaged in producing
biogas from AD plants are China, Germany, and the United States. We
also identified a rising trend in the use of biogas around the world, and a
steady increase in the number of patents filed on the subject, especially in Japan
and South Korea. This growth is driven, amongst other things, by strategic
governmental actions, global environmental pacts, and the realization on
the part of industry that anaerobic digestion can be used as an efficient method
for treating waste and effluents.

For FULL-TEXT go to http://file.scirp.org/pdf/JEP_2017021016142340.pdf

Author(s): Rafaela Lora Grando, Fabiana Valeria da Fonseca, Adelaide Maria de Souza Antunes
Oganization(s): Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Instituto Nacional de Propriedade Industrial (INPI)
Source: Journal of Environmental Protection
Year: 2017

A hybrid method to trace technology evolution pathways: a case study of 3D printing

Future-oriented technology analysis, Research Examples, Strategic planning

Whether it be for countries to improve the ability to undertake independent innovation or for enterprises to enhance their international competitiveness, tracing historical progression and forecasting future trends of technology evolution is essential for formulating technology strategies and policies. In this paper, we apply co-classification analysis to reveal the technical evolution process of a certain technical field, use co-word analysis to extract implicit or unknown patterns and topics, and employ main path analysis to discover significant clues about technology hotspots and development prospects. We illustrate this hybrid approach with 3D printing, referring to various technologies and processes used to synthesize a three-dimensional object. Results show how our method offers technical insights and traces technology evolution pathways, and then helps decision-makers guide technology development.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11192-017-2271-8

Author(s): Ying Huang, Donghua Zhu, Yue Qian, Yi Zhang, Alan L. Porter, Yuqin Liu, Ying Guo
Organization(s): Beijing Institute of Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology
Source: Scientometrics
Year: 2017

TeknoRoadmap, an approach for depicting emerging technologies

Research Examples, Strategic planning

One of the biggest challenges for current enterprises is the adoption of emerging technologies as soon as these provide competitive improvements. In this sense, several types of technology forecasting and surveillance activities are present in their daily activity. From the academic point of view, technology forecasting activities involve the combination of methods of a diverse nature, with which the technology is depicted and its potential future paths are discussed. Within this conceptual framework, the present work aims at describing a novel approach, known as TeknoRoadmap, which combines bibliometrics and technology forecasting methods to depict emerging technologies. Thus, this contribution aims to widen the scope compared to those provided by previous works within the field, and to that end, the depiction of emerging technologies is provided based on two main elements, namely: the profile of the research activity; and a complete technology roadmap. The approach combines consolidated methods such as text mining and roadmapping, and novel ones such as web content mining, with special attention given to forecasting activities. The work provides a detailed description of the steps on which the approach is structured, as well as the results of one specific application to a cutting edge emerging technology: cloud computing.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162516304310

Author(s): Iñaki Bildosola,Rosa María Río-Bélver, Gaizka Garechana, Ernesto Cilleruelo
Organization(s): University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU))
Source: Technology Forecasting & Social Change
Year: 2017

Uncovering the structures and maturity of the new service development (NSD) research field through a bibliometric study (1984–2014)

Research Examples, Research profiling, Research Type

This study aims to develop a deeper understanding of the new service development (NSD) research field. It addresses its scientific production, social and intellectual structures, and maturity.

Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a bibliometric-based literature review. Quantitative and qualitative analyses are performed on a sample of 277 NSD articles (published from 1984 to 2014). These articles are organized into four periods to improve the analyses from an evolutionary perspective: Early Writings (1984–1995), Advancing of Literature (1996–2001), Progressive Literature (2002–2008), and Recent Works (2009–2014).

Findings
The scientific production in the NSD field has grown significantly over these four periods, and the entry of new authors has extended the social structure. However, collaboration networks seem disconnected from one another. Nonetheless, the intellectual structure has shown great progress, making NSD an independent area of research and discovery from the new product development domain, with its own foundations and expansions into new topics. Although the NSD research field has not yet reached maturity, it is consistently moving toward it.

Originality/value
This study delivers a multiperspective view of research on NSD using a mixed quantitative and qualitative approach. It provides new insights into the discussion of the field’s maturity and can be used as a roadmap for academics and practitioners who would like to understand the state of existing knowledge and are looking for research opportunities.

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/JOSM-07-2015-0230

Author(s): Glauco H.S. Mendes, Maicon Gouvea Oliveira, Eduardo H. Gomide, José Flávio Diniz Nantes
Organization(s): Federal University of Sao Carlos, Federal University of Alfenas
Source: Journal of Service Management
Year: 2017

Identifying R&D partners through Subject-Action-Object semantic analysis in a problem & solution pattern (full-text)

Research Examples, Research Type, Strategic planning

Today’s companies still rely heavily on expert knowledge rather than quantitative data with a systematic approach to effectively identify and choose Research and Development (R&D) partners. It is advantageous to identify and select potential R&D partners using a Problem & Solution (P&S) pattern. This paper presents a novel process for identifying R&D partners on the basis of solution similarities that assist technology managers in understanding the relationships between research targets. First, we choose a thematic dataset that contains problems and quantitative data with relative topic terms. Then, we extract Subject-Action-Object semantic structures in a P&S pattern from the dataset, and identify various solutions to a technical problem, with each as a subject. In addition, we provide correlation mapping to visualise the text characters and identify R&D partners. Finally, we validate the proposed method through a case study of the dye-sensitized solar cells sector.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09537325.2016.1277202?journalCode=ctas20

For full-text see https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312341963_Identifying_RD_partners_through_Subject-Action-Object_semantic_analysis_in_a_problem_solution_pattern

Author(s): Xuefeng Wang, Zhinan Wang, Ying Huang, Yuqin Liu, Jiao Zhang, Xiaofan Heng, Donghua Zhu
Organization(s): Beijing Institute of Technology
Source: Technology Analysis & Strategic Management
Year: 2017

INTELLECTUAL STRUCTURE OF STEM EDUCATION IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH (full-text)

Research Examples, Research profiling, Research Type

The aim of this research is to put forward the intellectual structure of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education concept in educational research. STEM education has emerged as a highly accepted paradigm in education especially in the USA and European countries in recent years. The theoretical substructure of STEM education that is seen as an important factor in attaining the expected qualities in human profile for the changing conditions of the 21st century has started to be formed. STEM education prioritizes team study and interdisciplinary approach. It is of great importance to put forward the intellectual structure of STEM education, that will play an important role in training people for the conditions of the present day, for better comprehension by the researchers, curriculum developers and practitioners. Moreover, when the literature on this concept is investigated, lack of comprehension of the concept and vision is seen. For this reason, the investigation of the development and current status of STEM education will contribute to literature in terms of understanding the intellectual structure of the concept. The dataset of the study is composed of all types of studies in at least one of the categories of Education & Educational Research and “Education, Scientific Disciplines” published in Web of Science (WoS). Basing on WoS categories the relationship of the concept with other disciplines have been examined and visualized with web graphics on the accessed publications. It has been possible to refer to which focus the scientific data has been developed nourishing via the journals by mapping the journals in the dataset as citation giving and citation attaining. In addition to these, contribution of disciplines and countries to STEM education has been compared.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311588664_INTELLECTUAL_STRUCTURE_OF_STEM_EDUCATION_IN_EDUCATIONAL_RESEARCH

Author(s): Mutlu Tahsin Üstündağ, Haydar Yalcin, Erhan Gün
Organization(s): Izmir Katip Celebi Universitesi, Ahi Evran Üniversitesi
Source: Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology
Year: 2016

Profiling the Research Landscape in Emerging Areas Using Bibliometrics and Text Mining: A Case Study of Biomedical Engineering (BME) in Thailand

Research Examples, Research profiling, Research Type

This study focuses on applying bibliometric analysis and text mining technique to generate technology intelligence from publication databases. The intelligence represents the research profile and landscape by highlighting active research areas and revealing professional communities along with their social networks. Professional communities can be not just existing networks, but also hidden ones. In this paper, the analysis of biomedical engineering (BME) field in Thailand is presented as the case study. The findings can be used as key inputs for the development of effective policies and incentives to promote the research activities as well as the collaboration among different groups of experts.
Read more at http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S0219877017400119

Author(s): Nathasit Gerdsri, Alisa Kongthon, Sudatip Puengrusme
Organization(s): Mahidol University, National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC)
Source: International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management
Year: 2017

Scientific collaboration in indigenous knowledge in context: Insights from publication and co-publication network analysis

Network analysis, Research Examples

Scientific collaboration has been cited as a major stimulant in innovation and a major component for the development of indigenous technologies particularly in countries invested in rapid technological catch-up in East Asia and Southeast Asia. In this study, we assess the comparative advantage of the selected economies and employ a network perspective to drill down to the case study of indigenous knowledge, using the traditional medicine sector – a focus indigenous industry of several Asian economies – to understand how the State, Industry and Universities link to drive innovation in this growing field. From our selected economies in East Asia, we identified three network models that describe the outcomes of the innovation strategies in place, a network-based extension of previous studies. We examine publication output and co-publication network structures to investigate the comparative advantage and composition of the research networks in the various economies. Our results suggest that the university-centric model remains the most popular, with Hong Kong appearing to attain the most functional innovation system with a competitive selection environment and high comparative advantage in this field. We propose this methodology as a means to explore the scientific infrastructure of a specific sector, thereby acting as a precursor to forecasting potential technological spill-over and growth in specific sectors.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162517300367

Author(s): Hon-Ngen Fung, Chan-Yuan Wong
Organization(s): University of Malaya
Source: Technological Forecasting & Social Change
Year: 2017