«Economy of Scale» or «Economy of Scope»: What Universities Should Rely on in the Competitive Struggle?

This conceptual article presents microeconomic approaches to analyzing the shifts in universities’ expenses and the saving effects of the scale and scope of HEI’s activities. The authors provide an overview of econometric studies which assess the effects considered for universities in some countries. As a result, there comes to be questioned the economic feasibility of consolidating and expanding the universities’ activities, the reasonability of combining research with educational activities. The discussion concerns the transformation of the universities’ economy in the context of education digitalization, the prospects of the «economy of scale» and the «economy of scope» to be compared. The conclusions are drawn on the possible benefit for large universities, on its consequences for competition in higher education, and on the partnership benefits for all market players.

Data-Driven Function Network Analysis for Product Platform Planning: A Case Study of Spherical Rolling Robots

A properly designed product-system platform can reduce the cost and lead-time to design and develop a product family and thus achieve the tradeoff between economy of scope from product variety and economy of scale from platform sharing. Traditionally, product platform planning uses heuristic and manual approaches and relies on expertise and intuition. In this paper, we propose a data-driven method to draw the boundary of a platform, complementing other platform design approaches and assisting designers in the architecting process. The method generates a network of functions through relationships of their co-occurrences in prior designs of a product domain, and uses a network analysis algorithm to identify an optimal core-periphery structure. Functions identified in the network core co-occur cohesively and frequently with one another in prior designs, and thus are suggested for inclusion in the potential platform to be shared across a variety of product-systems with peripheral functions. We apply the method to identifying the platform functions for spherical rolling robots, based on patent data.

Theoretical Considerations about the Possible Impact of Globalisation on Europe’s Economic Development

Scientific works (starting from 1873) of famous economists and political philosophers based on theoretical/philosophical considerations about the preconditions of changes on world economy of scope stipulate the inclusive analysis of factors which possibly influence the challenges of society and economy in the 21st century. It is very modern to claim that manifestation of globalisation is the origin of all changes. The European Commission states that about one-fifth of the increase in the economies of EU countries over the past 50 years depends on integration of the world economy, that is, globalisation. Taking this into account, the article presents theoretical considerations about the possible impact of globalisation on Europe’s economic development. Three scientific problems are raised: Does globalisation affect economic growth and how could this process be managed? Which are the derivatives of globalisation that influence positive changes in a country’s economy? Is it possible to eliminate or diminish the effect of the more negative aspects of globalisation? Among the research methods used in the article are theoretical comparative analysis of the scientific works, and analysis of legal documents as well as strategies and practical papers in this field. The article also presents three tasks: to systematise arguments presented in existing scientific works (theories) as well as in EU initiatives considering the phenomenon of globalisation, to highlight the tendencies in Europe’s economic development that are associated with globalisation, and to present recommendations for managing the influence of globalisation to the development of EU’s economy. The article presents systematised arguments of published scientific works (theories) as well as EU initiatives considering the phenomenon of globalisation. The impact, positive as well as negative, of globalisation on the development of economy is highlighted and the criteria for the manifestation of globalisation is systematised. This instrument could be used to assess the impact of globalisation on economic development

CONTRACT MANUFACTURING IN LATE INDUSTRIALIZATION

Contract manufacturing is the catalyst shaping the world economy under globalization. Affirming the dominance of the open network in organizing worldwide value chains, it transformed Japan and US into trade partners rather than rivals. It allows firms like Apple, Nokia and Sony to outsource production tasks to People's Republic of China, which serves as the world's workplace, and provides a niche for Singapore and Taiwan in late industrialization. Tapping into the economy of scope from the pooling of capacity and information, contract manufacturers like Foxconn and Flextronics provide durable and significant benefit for their economies of domicile, hence a novel niche in late industrialization.

Taking a Leadership Position In The IT Business Environment

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Well-defined Industrial economics have been based upon internal, specialized, and proprietary business models.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Success in that economy has been dependent upon the ability to produce and distribute products and services faster, better, and cheaper than competitors (Economy of Scale).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The opportunity for such competition translates into executable capabilities primarily by building specialized plants, jobs, and workers that support that opportunity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Then, and only then, an Economy of Scope will develop when those capabilities have been established.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The business value is heavily dependent upon that ability to leverage an existing business infrastructure with a launch of a new opportunity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Job specialization, hierarchical supervision, and assembly line approaches have been techniques that have successfully leveraged a launch with an existing business structure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Those models have had little success in the Information Age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>For example, a need has risen to leverage supply and distribution with existing business models.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Therefore, a new infrastructure must be created to develop and execute external proprietary strategies and capabilities.</span></span></p>

A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING THE ORGANISATION OF THE R&D FUNCTION: AN EMPIRICAL ILLUSTRATION FROM THE CHEMICAL AND PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

The increasing importance of innovation for companies, mergers and acquisitions, and the strengthening of project structures are leading to numerous rationalisations in the organisation of the research function. Although few works have analysed company R&D organisation and its impact on innovation performance, we elaborate on the concepts of economy of scope and absorptive capacity, introduced to compare the efficiency of various firms' R&D, so as to analyse the organisation of R&D departments. We focus on inter-project learning and argue that it must be viewed as an organisational question. "Organising by problem" constitutes a new means of cross-project learning and of enhancing absorptive capacity.