Marcela Miozzo

Internationalization of services: A technological perspective

Despite the rapid pace of developments in the policy front, a major weakness of the theoretical and policy treatments of the service sector and the “trade in services” debate is their neglect of the impact of technological change on the changing nature of the service sector, the increasing internationalization of services, and the particular and dominant role played by transnational corporations in this process. This paper outlines a taxonomy of services based on their technological linkages with manufacturing and other service sectors. This taxonomy identifies a number of technology-intensive service sectors closely related to the use of information that are essential to growth. The effect of recent technological changes on the transformations in business organisation, industry structure, internationalization, and the role of transnational corporations in these technology-intensive service sectors is explored. The paper concludes with policy implications for less developed countries.

Building Competitive Advantage: innovation and corporate governance in European construction

This paper explores the relationship between corporate governance and innovation. This is examined through detailed interviews with the largest contractors in five European countries. The ability to undertake research and development in production technologies by contractors differs widely across different countries. This may be explained by the extent to which strategic control is in the hands of those who have the incentives and abilities to allocate resources to uncertain and irreversible investments in innovation. This is influenced by particular features of firm ownership, organisational and management structure, internal mechanisms to diffuse knowledge and links to external sources of knowledge.

Technological Change, Industry Structure and the Environment

Abstract This paper contributes towards the construction and application of a method to assess the long-term impact of the development of pervasive technologies on the environment. It seeks to integrate insights from studies of technology regarding long-term growth with questions of sustainability. Using a methodology based on long-wave theory and a sector classification based on technological characteristics, the likely effects of the three pervasive technologies (information technology, biotechnology and nanotechnology) on the input-output structure of selected sectors and on the levels of emissions of industrial greenhouse gases are considered.

Knowledge Intensive Business Services

This book focuses on the development of Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) and the associated market characteristics and organisational forms. It brings together reputed scholars from a mix of disciplines to explore the nature and evolution of a range of Knowledge Intensive Business Services. Through an examination of KIBS sectors such as computer services, management consultancy and R&D services, the contributions in this book argue that the evolution of KIBS is strongly associated with new inter-organizational forms and that different country institutions shape the characteristics of these organisational forms.

Sustainable technologies and the innovation–regulation paradox

Abstract This article examines the paradox between innovation and regulation and its implication for the adoption of sustainable technologies in the domestic sector of the construction industry. The case of UK is examined, where progress towards the inclusion of social and environmental considerations has been slow. Recent change in attitude in the private sector, combined with government initiatives, has prompted a more sustainable agenda in construction. With significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions required to meet climate change targets, the case for a particular energy-saving technology—natural thermal insulation materials for cavity wall insulation—suitable for widespread use in residential buildings, is assessed. In addition to the inherent conservatism in the construction industry, additional barriers inhibiting the uptake of new sustainable thermal insulation technologies include capital costs, the failure of the market to account for social and environmental costs and savings and their perceived cost-effectiveness and performance over a 50-year lifetime. Policy implications are drawn from the analysis.

Networks and innovation in European construction: benefits from inter-organisational cooperation in a fragmented industry

This paper explores the relationship between inter-organisational networks and innovation in the construction industry. This is analysed through detailed interviews with the largest contractors, and a number of professional institutions, representatives of government, quasi-government bodies, research institutes, architects and clients in five European countries. The performance of the construction industry differs widely across different countries. Our research findings suggest that the strength of inter-organisational cooperation may be responsible for enhanced performance of the construction industry in some of the countries. This includes, in particular, the relationship of contractors with subcontractors or suppliers of materials, the government, universities, architects or engineers, clients and international collaborations with other contractors.

Services Innovation and the Transformation of Work: The Case of UK Telecommunications

Current transformations in technologies and industrial structure of UK telecommunications have important implications for skills and work organisation. This is examined in different divisions of a large UK telecommunications firm: call centres, customer service centres, engineering sectors and the R&D department. The effect of these transformations on the development of firm competences is discussed.

Institutional Effects on the IT Outsourcing Market: Analysing Clients, Suppliers and Staff Transfer in Germany and the UK

Drawing on empirical evidence in Germany and the UK, this article examines the institutional effects on a fast-growing area of knowledge-intensive business services — IT outsourcing. This is an important area for research since the IT outsourcing market provides many organizations with an important specialized production input and is characterized by complex inter-organizational relations. By exploring institutional influences in the context of IT outsourcing, the research extends earlier studies on how client–supplier relations shape markets for business services. It also contributes to varieties of capitalism debates by highlighting heterogeneous institutional effects within countries and common systemic trends (involving powerful multinational IT firms) in the development of the market for IT outsourcing. Comparative analysis of 13 IT outsourcing contracts in Germany and the UK, focusing on the organizational practices of client organizations and IT firms, illuminated institutional effects within the organizational setting. Analysis of industrylevel data shows that the diverse institutional contexts of Germany and the UK provided an equally favourable basis for growth in the IT outsourcing market, despite its apparent deregulatory bias. But significant institutional effects were observed, specifically related to: the role of deliberative institutions (especially works councils); and institutions governing technical standards and contracting rules. Strong deliberative institutions in Germany facilitated market growth since transactions involved distributive dilemmas, particularly related to staff transfer. Also, while institutions shaped technical and contractual expertise of client managers, they were not deterministic. Instead, they interacted with characteristics of the IT outsourcing market, namely: heterogeneous client practices to improve absorptive capacity; public vs. private contracting experience; and power relations between client and IT firm in their use of market discipline.

Internationalization, Technology and Services

This book examines the way in which the increasing internationalization of services, including the operation of multinationals in this sector, interacts with the process of innovation in services. The book challenges the theoretical traditions that have developed around the analysis of service innovation and internationalization, and argues for a new research agenda. The distinguished contributors address many of the most pertinent issues and adopt a variety of theoretical and empirical approaches to enrich the debates.

Innovation in construction: A European analysis

Introduction Part I: Systems of Innovation and the European Construction Industry 1. Corporate Governance and Innovation in Construction in Five European Countries 2. Networks and Innovation in Construction in Five European Countries Part II: Adoption and Diffusion of Sustainable Technologies in Construction 3. Sustainable Technologies and the Innovation-Regulation Paradox: The Case of Natural Thermal Insulation 4. Factors Enabling and Inhibiting Sustainable Technologies in Construction: The Case of Active Solar Heating Systems 5. Networks and Sustainable Technologies: The Case of Scottish Social Housing Conclusion Appendix References Index