International Journal of Technology Management & Sustainable Development - Volume 13, Issue 1, 2014

There have been several arguments from scholars on the question of how we can attain sustainable development (SD). The aim of the article is to explore realistic policies and programmes for achieving sustainable auto manufacturing with a question of ‘how do we manufacture vehicles in a way that is sustainable?’ To discuss how we can achieve sustainable auto manufacturing, I draw on a framework consisting of four innovations–technological, organizational, institutional and social change–and three sustainability pillars–economic development, the environment and employment. All four kinds of innovation need to receive attention in a coordinated manner and careful government policies are needed, thereby reaching a certain sustainability goal.

Unlike previous snapshot studies, this research traces ‘historical learning events’ to enable us to examine the evolution of roles and underpinning capabilities of intermediaries in an innovation system. By following this approach, the rationale, obstacles and lessons learned of intermediaries in performing their roles and building up required capabilities can be vividly illustrated. The National Food Institute (NFI) of Thailand was selected as the case study. As an intermediary organization, NFI has enhanced its capabilities step by step in analysing and disseminating information, training, testing policy development and consultancies through major ‘learning events’ that provide NFI with learning opportunities. As a result, over time it can perform its intermediary roles better by reducing ‘systemic failures’ in the Thai food industry’s sectoral innovation system. Recently, however, due to the lack of an official mandate, continuous government budgetary support and organizational lock-in problems, NFI’s role has not evolved with the changes in strategies and capability needs of Thai food exporters as these firms change from OEM to OBM manufacturers.

Using case studies on development and implementation of biotechnology governance frameworks in four African countries, we introduce and build the case for a policy kinetics (PK) approach to analysing and unpacking complex policy processes. The PK approach proposes a comprehensive approach to understanding how various ‘pieces of the policy puzzle’ interact in arenas to facilitate or constrain attainment of desired outputs. Borrowing from reaction kinetics in chemistry, which is the study of rates of chemical processes, our argument is that complex policy processes can indeed be broken down into reactants, processes, catalysts and outputs, all interacting at various levels in space and time. We also bring attention to the presence of various intermediate outputs of processes with the potential to facilitate or constrain the process, including bringing a shift to the direction, duration and pace of the overall process. The presence or potential emergence of components that mimic process catalysts is another area that this approach brings to the attention of policy actors. By engaging with what happens at the level where the various components of a policy process interface with each other, we argue that this model is a useful tool for unpacking, understanding and influencing not only the development and implementation of biotechnology governance mechanisms in Africa, but other policy arenas elsewhere.

Previous studies have shown that the global diffusion of renewable energy technologies has been rather slow. The challenges facing the diffusion of renewables in developing countries, in particular, have been complex, even though such nations are generally known to be richly endowed with renewable resources. For instance, Ethiopia, one of the highest solar radiation-endowed countries in sub-Saharan Africa, has a huge renewable potential that has yet to be exploited through the application of appropriate renewable energy technologies. This study is an attempt to explore the systemic problems and barriers affecting the diffusion of solar (energy) innovations in Ethiopia. The Innovation Systems (IS) framework is used for the analysis of this embryonic solar market and the overall diffusion of solar innovations. Data for the study were collected from the relevant stakeholders through semi-structured interviews, observations and archival document reviews. The study identified that there are known diffusion barriers and systemic problems that have constrained the diffusion of solar innovations in the country. The lack of integration among solar actors and the financial problem facing both sides of the supply chain have been identified as critical factors behind the slow rate of diffusion. This article makes recommendations for solar actors to identify faster diffusion mechanisms and for further research on how to build a well-functioning IS in the country.

Theoretical considerations imply a positive association between innovation and customer loyalty. However, two major gaps remain in the literature. First, there is little empirical support for the relationship between innovation and customer loyalty. The few existing studies have so far found mixed results. Second, apart from a recent study, differential studies on innovation are non-existent. This article aims to fill these gaps by discussing the relationship between innovation and customer loyalty in the mobile industry using survey data collected from Algerian mobile customers. The results show that discriminating innovation is consequential. Only effective innovations are positively associated with customer loyalty. Ineffective innovations are neutral for behavioral loyalty, but harmful for attitudinal loyalty. Implications for managers and researchers are provided.