nep-ppm New Economics Papers
on Project, Program and Portfolio Management
Issue of 2018‒01‒08
five papers chosen by
Arvi Kuura
Tartu Ülikool

  1. Cluster Dynamics: Learning from Competitiveness Cluster Policy. The Case of 'Secure Communicating Solutions' in the French Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region By Christian Longhi
  2. Assessment of Planning and Programming for Capital Projects at the National and Agency Levels By Patalinghug, Epictetus E.
  3. Assessment of Agribusiness Venture Arrangements and Sugarcane Block Farming for the Modernization of Agriculture By Pantoja, Blanquita R.; Alvarez, Joanne V.; Sanchez, Flordeliza A.
  4. Cohesion Policy Incentives for Collaborative Industrial Research. The Evaluation of a Smart Specialisation Forerunner Programme By Riccardo Crescenzi; Guido de Blasio; Mara Giua
  5. Design for customization : A new paradigm for product-service system development By Elgammal, Amal; Papazoglou, Mike; Krämer, Bernd; Constantinescu, Carmen

  1. By: Christian Longhi (Université Côte d'Azur; CNRS, GREDEG)
    Abstract: The paper aims to identify the forms and dynamics of the organizational structures of high-tech clusters overtime. Since Markusen (1996), it is well acknowledged that diversity is an emergent property of clusters, but the interactions between local and non-local actors of the clusters are difficult to trace because of lack of relevant data. The cluster policies developed to fix the network failures between the heterogeneous actors – large and small firms, universities, research institutes – of the current processes of innovation provide new information opportunities. In France, Competitiveness Clusters work as a "factories of project"; the information they produce on collective R&D projects applying for subsidies provides a proxy of local and non-local relations of the clusters. Social network analysis is used to infer the organizational structure of the collective learning networks and trace their dynamics. The case studies considered are Sophia-Antipolis and Rousset, two high tech clusters which belong to the same Competitiveness Cluster, 'Secure Communicating Solutions' in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region. The paper highlights the decoupling of the two clusters overtime as a consequence of distinctive organizational structures. The diversity of the dynamics of the collective learning networks which emerges through the analysis of the collective R&D projects in the two high tech clusters shows that knowledge creation and innovation can follow different paths and questions the public policies implemented.
    Keywords: Cluster Policy, Competitiveness Cluster, Collective Learning Networks, Innovation, Social Network Analysis, Sophia Antipolis, Rousset
    JEL: R11 R58 L2 L52
    Date: 2017–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gre:wpaper:2017-42&r=ppm
  2. By: Patalinghug, Epictetus E.
    Abstract: This study assesses the existing planning and programming systems for capital projects at the national and agency levels, examines the experiences of other countries in planning and programming capital projects, and presents recommendations to improve planning and programming systems in the country. The study employs a combination of document review of public investment planning and programming process, a comparative analysis of international experiences, and key informant interviews. The study shows that the country's current planning and programming systems have strengths and weaknesses. The strengths are the recent reform orientation of the oversight agencies and their policy coordination, while weaknesses are the inconsistency in the oversight program and output indicators, and the institutional weakness of the project approval process. The study suggests that international best practices be adopted, and recommends institutional reforms such as establishment of online public investment project database as well as a multiyear planning and budgeting system fully costed and coordinated with the budget process and consistent with the long-term fiscal projections which are regularly updated and reviewed, among others.
    Keywords: Philippines, infrastructure, infrastructure development, capital projects, public investment planning, planning and programming systems, infrastructure projects
    Date: 2017
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:phd:dpaper:dp_2017-37&r=ppm
  3. By: Pantoja, Blanquita R.; Alvarez, Joanne V.; Sanchez, Flordeliza A.
    Abstract: After completion of their land reform program, countries such as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan implemented land consolidation to effect economies of scale specifically in the adoption of modern technologies. Land consolidation plans included the physical reallocation of parcels, joint farming through land exchanges and sale, temporary quasi-land acquisition, and land renovation. In the Philippines, land consolidation to improve farm productivity and income was pursued through Agribusiness Venture Arrangements (AVAs) and the Sugarcane Block Farming (SBF). The objective of this study is to assess the performance of AVAs and SBF in increasing farm productivity and income in the agrarian sector. The case study approach was used focusing on three export crops, namely, banana, pineapple, and sugarcane which were selected based on their significant contribution to the Philippines' export earnings as well as to gross value added of agriculture. The study notes several issues on production and capital investments, marketing and pricing, institutional support, and contract terms that affect the implementation of AVAs and SBF. It recommends that AVAs, SBF arrangements should be encouraged, but government has to provide a policy environment for Philippine exports crops to be competitive. Agrarian reform beneficiaries and their associations should also be supported through capacity-building activities and access to legal advice.
    Keywords: Philippines, agrarian reform, banana, sugarcane, pineapple, Agribusiness Venture Arrangements, AVAs, Sugarcane Block Farming, SBF, commercial crops
    Date: 2017
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:phd:dpaper:dp_2017-35&r=ppm
  4. By: Riccardo Crescenzi; Guido de Blasio; Mara Giua
    Abstract: This paper evaluates a program of subsidies for Collaborative Industrial Research (co-)funded by the EU Cohesion Policy in Italy mobilizing over 1 billion euros. This program anticipated in the 2007-2013 funding cycle some of the key features of Smart Specialization Strategy (S3) programmes, offering evidence-based insights on potential challenges to the practical application of the S3 approach. The programme was not successful in boosting investments, value added or employment of beneficiary firms. The collaborative dimension of the projects added limited value and a more generous level funding would have not improved effectiveness. However, positive impacts emerged in low tech sectors.
    Keywords: Cohesion Policy, Smart Specialisation, Policy Evaluation, Innovation, European Union
    JEL: O18 R11 R58
    Date: 2017–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usi:wpaper:769&r=ppm
  5. By: Elgammal, Amal (Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management); Papazoglou, Mike (Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management); Krämer, Bernd; Constantinescu, Carmen
    Abstract: In the traditional software development cycle, requirements gathering is considered the most critical phase. Getting the requirements right first time has become a dogma in software engineering because the correction of erroneous or incomplete requirements in later software development phases becomes overly expensive. For product-service systems (PSS), this dogma and standard requirements engineering (RE) approaches are not appropriate because classical RE is considered concluded, once a product service is delivered. For PSS it is impossible to foresee all future context conditions and customization needs customers may come up with after product deployment. In addition, the services supporting a complex hardware-software product depend on the individual product configuration a customer requires. For example, when a standard laser machine is equipped with one or more special sensors, new services may be needed that depend on sensor data from these new sources combined with other data generated by the standard machine configuration. Thus, we claim that RE needs to be extended to the deployment phase of a product and an agile approach is required to cope with emerging hardware and software requirements as a PSS is marketed. In this paper, a novel view-based model-driven engineering approach is proposed that enables collaborative product-service design and customization and copes with evolving, incomplete and unforeseen requirements. A prototype has been implemented as a Proof-of-Concept (PoC) and is currently validated on four industrial pilot cases as part of the H2020 project ICP4Life.
    Date: 2017
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tiu:tiutis:fe91d90b-7fd9-4bcc-b619-cbe58456f32e&r=ppm

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