NANOECONOMICS

The  Process  Industries  span  several  industrial  sectors  including  minerals  &  metals,  pulp  & paper,  food  &  beverages,  chemicals  &  petrochemicals  and  pharmaceuticals,  and  constitute  a substantial  part  of  all  manufacturing  industry.  Firms  in  the Process  Industries  may  focus  on being efficient commodity producers or on developing and marketing products and services with
more advanced functionality and performance specifications. In both cases, the management of R&D,  technology,  and  innovation  is  critical  to  sustainable  corporate  performance.  Technology choice, process performance and efficiency, environmental issues and service delivery are all vital factors determining commercial success, economic viability and future prospects.  

There are some key differences between the management of R&D, technology and innovation in the Process Industries and in other manufacturing industries. Development work is typically done in a laboratory/pilot plant environment and not at a design office, prototypes are replaced by  test  runs,  customers  are  usually  B2B,  and  the  final  quality  of  products  is  often  strongly influenced by raw material properties and available process technology. Nevertheless, there are also fundamental similarities in the management of product and process innovation among firms
in different sectors of the Process Industries.

The overall objectives of the workshop are to improve the theoretical platform and to promote a research  agenda  to  develop  better  R&D  methodologies  and  innovation  practices.  Established and  new  researchers  are  invited  to  submit  papers.  Day  1  will  present  and  discuss  selected papers. Day 2 will examine in more detail the scope for improvements in management methods and capabilities and develop the research agenda. The workshop planning and its design will involve  managers  and  other  professionals  at  various  stages  and  will  also  be  used  to  identify topics and potential papers for a special issue of the R&D Management journal.  

Because  of  the  character  of  the  workshop,  only  a  limited  number  of  participants  can  be accommodated.  Participants  will  be  selected  on  the  basis  of  abstracts  and  bios  to  assure  a
range  of  different  perspectives  on  relevant  topics  and  different  sectors.  Theoretical  and empirical research papers (case studies) are encouraged.

Please  send  abstracts  (max.  800  words)  and  a  short  bio  before  15  October  2010.  Informal enquiries are welcomed to identify suitable topics.

Please contact:
Prof Dr Dr Thomas LAGER : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it '; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy_text26832 ); document.write( '<\/a>' ); //--> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Prof Dr Sylvie BLANCO : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it