7.3.2 Optimization of Research and Development Investment Strategies

This study seeks to find the appropriate strategies necessary to make sustainable and effective hydrogen energy investments. Within this scope, nine different criteria are defined regarding social, managerial, and financial factors. A hesitant, interval-valued, intuitionistic fuzzy (IVIF) decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) methodology is considered to calculate the degree of importance of the criteria. Additionally, impact relation maps are also generated to visualize the causality relationship between the factors. The findings indicate that the technical dimension has the greatest importance in comparison to managerial and financial factors. Furthermore, it is also concluded that storage and logistics, research and development, and technological infrastructure are the most significant factors to be considered when defining hydrogen energy investment strategies. Hence, before investing in hydrogen energy, necessary actions should be taken to minimize the storage and logistic costs. Among them, building the production site close to the usage area will contribute significantly to this purpose. In this way, possible losses during the transportation of hydrogen can be minimized. Moreover, it is essential to identify the lowest-cost hydrogen storage method by carrying out the necessary research and development activities, thereby increasing the sustainability and effectiveness of hydrogen energy investment projects.

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Competitive Revenue Strategies in the Medical Consumables Industry: Evidence from Human Resources, Research and Development Expenses and Industry Life Cycle

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18063180 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (6) ◽

pp. 3180

Author(s):

Jianxiong Chen ◽

Chung-Cheng Yang

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Human Resources ◽

Research And Development ◽

Competitive Advantage ◽

Growth Stages ◽

Maturity Stage ◽

Investment Strategies ◽

Market Uncertainty ◽

Total Revenue ◽

Industry Life Cycle

This study attempted to explore the competitive advantage strategies of the medical consumables industry (MCI) from the perspectives of human resources, research and development (R&D) and the industry life cycle. As one of the essential branches of modern medical device industry, the MCI has developed rapidly in recent years as global demand for medical consumables has shown continual growth, but it also faces market uncertainty. This study took Taiwan’s small/medium medical consumables enterprises (SMMCEs) as a sample, and used the translog revenue function to study the competitive advantage of the MCI through human resource and R&D investment strategies and the stage characteristics of the industry life cycle curve. The results showed that the various human resources and R&D expenses of the small/medium medical consumables industry (SMMCI) can interact with each other to influence total revenue and that the SMMCI needs more varied types of human resources to enhance its competitive advantage. The total revenue of the SMMCI decreased as education inputs rose, but it increased along with increases in the number of employee and R&D inputs. Observed from the life cycle curve of the SMMCI, total revenue increased rapidly during the startup and growth stages, increased slowly during the maturity stage, and decreased during the decline stage. Finally, we put forward competitive advantage strategies and management suggestions for medical consumables enterprises (MCEs). We are the first to document the life cycle curve and competitive advantage strategies of the MCI, thereby contributing to the related literature.

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