Browsing by Author "Hawkins, Richard"

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
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    Exploring the Context Dependence of Firms’ Innovation Activities
    (2017) MahdaviMazdeh, Hossein; Dewald, Jim; Falkenberg, Loren; Hawkins, Richard; Saunders, Chad
    How do firms adjust their innovation activities to their situational and contextual setting? The extant literature does not provide a clear answer to this question as the context moves away from high-tech industries and R&D based innovations. This theoretical gap is reflected in the managerial practice in form of hardship in managing innovation in “low-tech” industries and underestimating the non-R&D opportunities of innovation across industries. This dissertation intends to contribute to filling this gap through addressing the following research questions: 1) What is the role of industry characteristics in determining the firm's decision regarding innovation both in an active decision making environment and in reaction to performance shortfall problems? And 2) what are the firm-specific factors that contribute to a firm's innovativeness and approach to innovation specially as measured by non-R&D proxies? I use three different datasets and methods each building part of the puzzle to provide a clear picture. In the first essay, I investigate the industry and firm characteristics that lead to choice of R&D and non-R&D forms of innovation in response to problems and propose theoretical insights that I verify using data on financial activities of public firms. In the second essay, I conduct a meta-analysis of innovation publications that uncovers the importance of non-cash input (absorbed slack) to firms’ innovativeness and identify the setting that such input makes the most impact. Finally, in the third essay, I use unique data about innovation activities of Canadian public and private firms to distinctly study the innovation approaches of resource industries – as one of the neglected industries in the innovation literature – and investigate how innovation in these industries is induced, measured, and utilized.
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    Identity and European integration: the role of cultural policy
    (2007) Rothenstadt, Kassandra Dietrich; Hawkins, Richard
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    Innovation Agencies in a Resource Based Economy The Case of Alberta: Leadership, Energy, and Innovation
    (2017) Ross, Terry; Hawkins, Richard; Holbrook, Adam; DeWald, Jim; Mansell, Robert; Langford, Cooper; Fritzler, Marvin
    There are government created organizations with a mandate to affect the sub- national system of innovation. These ‘innovation agency’ organizations provide functionality that enables additional innovation activity; this functionality may be delivered by organizations external to the innovation agency. The Alberta Oil Sands Science and Research Authority (AOSTRA), Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR), and the Alberta Informatics Circle of Research Excellence (iCORE) are three innovation agencies that exemplify significant innovation policy investments by the Alberta government. This thesis uses historical analysis and case studies to examine these three innovation agencies. The historical analysis examines Alberta’s complex coevolution of institutions, policy leadership and technically challenging natural resources that set the stage for these innovation agencies to emerge. Case study techniques are used to explore the emergence, operations, and impact of the innovation agencies. The findings are then positioned in the system of innovation literature. It was found that the Alberta system of innovation was highly influenced by institutional control over natural resources and that the oil sands were particularly important, given their value and the scientific challenges that they presented. Peter Lougheed’s role in entrepreneurially shaping institutions was a contingency for the emergence of the cases. It was found that the innovation agencies generally acted to subsidize research activity in other organizations, although there were significant exceptions (e.g. AOSTRA’s IP policy and Underground Test Facilities). Finally, the instrumentality of the organizations was significant, leading to development and adoption of technological systems by industry and enhanced research capabilities at Alberta universities.
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    Inside the Israeli Innovation System: its origins, development and evolution
    (2018-01-17) Fischer, Alice; Hawkins, Richard; Vredenburg, Harrie; Sharlin, Ehud; Chastko, Paul; Gregson, Geoff
    This dissertation examines the origins and evolution of the Israeli Innovation System, which propelled the development of the country’s economy, focusing on how it is responding to the new challenges of green energy. The research is interdisciplinary, involving documentary historical and policy research, in-depth interviewing, and analysis within the Systems of Innovation theoretical framework. The findings indicate that the main reasons for the successes of the system have been the commitment of government through policies and programs; the technological developments by elite military units; a military and business culture that embraces risk and entrepreneurship; the role of its universities in applied R&D; and the Russian Jewish immigration that brought a wealth of human capital. The findings also show that although the Israeli Innovation System has been very successful for the last 20 years, ‘innovation’ in the system itself is now required if its success is to continue. The main weaknesses of the Israeli innovation system include its narrow focus on research and development (R&D), and the practice of exporting new technologies instead of developing them into domestic industries. The conclusion is that culture and public policy are equally important in technology transfer and innovation, possibly making it difficult for other countries to copy the Israeli Innovation System.
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    Pursuing Credibility Through Standardization: The Potential for Canadian Product Category Rules to Enhance the Comparability of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Claims of Alberta’s Oil Sands
    (2013-05-01) Rainville, Anne; Hawkins, Richard; Bergerson, Joule
    The accuracy, transparency, and comparability of life cycle estimates are central to the controversy over the use of life cycle assessment to support policy. This thesis examines the potential for a Canadian formal voluntary standard to create product category rules for crude oil products. Such a standard would be developed at the Canadian Standards Association, and may enhance the credibility and improve the comparability of greenhouse gas emissions claims of Alberta’s oil sands products. A case study is developed as a narrative of key stakeholders in the proposed standard’s development, and interview findings are compared with hypotheses derived from standards literature. Challenges facing consensus in life cycle assessment were found to parallel those facing standards development organizations. Novel findings indicate widespread disagreement with the use of life cycle assessment to support regulation, substantial differences in the desired prescriptiveness of the standard, and a heavy focus placed on its revision post-implementation.
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    The tale of the tape: standards, path dependency and the trendy consumer
    (2011) Meeking, Daniel James; Hawkins, Richard
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    Toward Acceptable Domestic Robots: Lessons Learned from Social Psychology
    (2008-07-16T14:59:46Z) Young, James; Hawkins, Richard; Sharlin, Ehud; Igarashi, Takeo
    Social psychology offers a perspective on the acceptance and adoption of technology that is not often considered in technical circles. In this paper, we discuss several adoption-of-technology models in respect to the acceptance of domestic robots. We raise several key points that we feel will be pivotal to how domestic users respond to robots, and provide a set of heuristics that roboticists and designers of robotic interfaces can use to consider and analyze their designs. Ultimately, understanding both how users respond to robots and the reasons behind their responses will enable designers to creating domestic robots that are accepted into homes.