IDEAS Search

1. Critical factors for new product developments in SMEs virtual team [48.294%]

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Taha, Zahari (2010) Downloadable! Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are considered as an engine for economic growth all over the world and especially for developing countries. During the past decade, new product development (NPD) has increasingly been recognized as a critical factor in ensuring the continued survival of SMEs. On the other hand, the rapid rate of market and technological changes has accelerated in the past decade, so this turbulent environment requires new methods and techniques to bring successful new products to the marketplace. Virtual team can be a solution to answer the requested demand. However, literature have shown no significant differences between traditional NPD and virtual NPD in general, whereas NPD in SME’s virtual team has not been systematically investigated in developing countries. This paper aims to bridge this gap by first reviewing the NPD and its relationship with virtuality and then identifies the critical factors of NPD in virtual teams. The statistical method was utilized to perform th

2. Virtual R&D teams and SMEs growth: A comparative study between Iranian and Malaysian SMEs [48.294%]

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Taha, Zahari (2010) Downloadable! This paper explores potential advantages of using virtual teams for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with a comprehensive review on various aspects of virtual teams. Based on the standing of the pertinent literature, attempt has been made to study the aspects by online survey method in Iran and Malaysia. In both countries, SMEs play an important role in their economies, employments, and capacity building. Virtual R&D team can be one of the means to increase SMEs efficiency and competitiveness in their local as well as global markets. In this context, surveys have been conducted to evaluate the effects of virtuality to the growth of SMEs. The study addresses some differences between two countries in engaging virtual research and development (R&D) teams in their SMEs. It is observed that there is a significant difference between the SMEs turnover that employed virtual team and that did not employ the virtual team. The way for further studies and recommend improvements are proposed

3. Envisages of New Product Developments in Small and Medium Enterprises through Virtual Team [48.294%]

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Taha, Zahari (2009) Downloadable! New product development (NPD) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) virtual team has not been systematically investigated in developing countries. Literatures have shown no significant differences between traditional NPD and virtual NPD in general. New product development especially for SMEs virtual team are somewhat lacking in the literature and constitute a research gap. This paper aims to bridge this gap. This study first reviews the NPD and its relationship with virtuality and then identifies the critical factors in definition of NPD in SMEs virtual team. The statistical method was utilized to perform the required analysis of the data from survey. The results are achieved through factor analysis at the perspective of NPD in some of Malaysian and Iranian manufacturing firms. The 20 new product development factors were grouped into five higher level constructs. It gives valuable insight and guidelines which hopefully will help managers of firms in developing countries to consider the ma

4. SMEs; Virtual research and development (R&D) teams and new product development: A literature review [48.294%]

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Taha, Zahari (2010) Downloadable! Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are indeed the engines of global economic growth. Their continued growth is a major subject for the economy and employment of any country. Towards that end, virtual research and development (R&D) could be a viable option to sustain and ease the operations of SMEs. However, literature shows there has not been a great deal of research into the diverse characteristic of virtual R&D teams in SMEs. This article provides a comprehensive literature review on different aspects of virtual R&D teams collected from the reputed publications. The purpose of the literature review is to provide an outline on the structure and dynamics of R&D collaboration in SMEs. Specifying the rationale and relevance of virtual teams, the relationship between virtual R&D team for SMEs and new product development (NPD) has been examined. It concludes with identifying the gaps and feebleness in the existing literature and calls for future research in this area. It i

5. Virtual teams: A literature review [Virtual Teams: A Literature Review] [48.294%]

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Taha, Zahari (2008) Downloadable! In the competitive market, virtual teams represent a growing response to the need for fasting time-to-market, low-cost and rapid solutions to complex organizational problems. Virtual teams enable organizations to pool the talents and expertise of employees and non-employees by eliminating time and space barriers. Nowadays, companies are heavily investing in virtual team to enhance their performance and competitiveness. Despite virtual teams growing prevalence, relatively little is known about this new form of team. Hence the study offers an extensive literature review with definitions of virtual teams and a structured analysis of the present body of knowledge of virtual teams. First, we distinguish virtual teams from conventional teams, different types of virtual teams to identify where current knowledge applies. Second, we distinguish what is needed for effective virtual team considering the people, process and technology point of view and underlying characteristics of virtual teams and challen

6. Innovation and R&D Activities in Virtual Team [48.294%]

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Taha, Zahari (2009) Downloadable! Innovation plays a central role in economic development, at the regional and national level. In the competitive environment companies are obliged to produce more rapidly, more effectively and more efficiently in new product development, which is a result of research and development (R&D) activities. It is necessary for them to put together different capabilities and services with the goal, through cooperation between suppliers and customers, service providers and scientific institutions to achieve innovations of high quality. Depending on the type of industry, the type of business, the type of innovation and the strategic objectives that have been set, firms will regularly have to modify the way in which their R&D and innovation are organized. Nowadays, shift from serial to simultaneous and parallel working in innovation has become more commonplace. Literature's have shown that collaboration is as a meta-capability for innovation. By a comprehensive reviewing of literature this article a

7. Virtual Teams for New Product Development – An Innovative Experience for R&D Engineers [48.294%]

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Taha, Zahari (2009) Downloadable! New interaction tools such as internet allow companies to gain valuable input from research and development (R&D) engineers via virtual teams. Consequently, engineers also get more expertise in diminutive time frames. Virtual R&D teams present the key impetus to the technology acquisition process. The present knowledge-economy era is characterized by short product life-cycles. Virtual R&D teams may reduce time-to-market, make available a large pool of new product know-how and provide greater flexibilities, which are the key success factors in a competitive market. This comprehensive review contains almost 100 references and covers the recent literature with emphasis on the topic. The review has focused on authentic and reputed publications and extracts the results. This article presents the type of virtual teams and their main features and explains how virtual R&D team can play a prominent role in developing new products. The article is evolved future study guideline and also ill

8. Modified stage-gate: A conceptual model of virtual product development process [48.294%]

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Taha, Zahari (2009) Downloadable! In today’s dynamic marketplace, manufacturing companies are under strong pressure to introduce new products for long-term survival with their competitors. Nevertheless, every company cannot cope up progressively or immediately with the market requirements due to knowledge dynamics being experienced in the competitive milieu. Increased competition and reduced product life cycles put force upon companies to develop new products faster. In response to these pressing needs, there should be some new approach compatible in flexible circumstances. This paper presents a solution based on the popular Stage-Gate system, which is closely linked with virtual team approach. Virtual teams can provide a platform to advance the knowledge-base in a company and thus to reduce time-to-market. This article introduces conceptual product development architecture under a virtual team umbrella. The paper describes all the major aspects of new product development (NPD), NPD process and its relationship with virtual te

9. Virtual R & D teams in small and medium enterprises: A literature review [48.294%]

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Taha, Zahari (2009) Downloadable! Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the driving engine behind economic growth. While SMEs play a critical role in generating employment and supporting trade, they face numerous challenges, the prominent among them are the need to respond to fasting time-to-market, low-cost and rapid solutions to complex organizational problems. Towards that end, research and development (R & D) aspect deserves particular attention to promote and facilitate the operations of SMEs. Virtual R & D team could be a viable option. However, literature shows that virtual R & D teaming in SMEs is still at its infancy. This article provides a comprehensive literature review on different aspects of virtual R & D teams collected from the reputed publications. The purpose of the state-of-the-art literature review is to provide an overview on the structure and dynamics of R & D collaboration in SMEs. Specifying the foundation and importance of virtual teams, the relationship between virtual R & D te

10. Concurrent Collaboration in Research and Development [48.294%]

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Taha, Zahari (2008) Downloadable! Integration is the essence of current research and development (R&D) activity in many organizations. Integration can be established in various ways depending on the type, size and intricacy in organizational functions and products. Nevertheless, research and development (R&D) has become an inevitable function in most manufacturing companies in order to develop their own product niches for their survival in the prevailing highly completive market environment. Research and development functions are fundamental drivers of value creation in technologybased enterprises. Of creating and maintaining a vibrant R&D environment, organizations individually or collectively need to incorporate virtual R&D team. A virtual R&D team can introduce new product in less lead time than by conventional R&D working. Therefore, how to increase the possibility of having more successful R&D is a critical issue for enterprises. This paper examines the current approach of collaboration in R

11. Dealing with Virtual R&D Teams in New Product Development [48.294%]

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Taha, Zahari (2008) Downloadable! National and global collaboration in research and development (R&D) is becoming increasingly important in creating the knowledge that makes research and business more competitive. Multinational enterprises have increased their research and development (R&D) investment in different countries. These multiple sites encourage the development of more ideas, due to the varied international backgrounds in global networks and the knowledge spillovers. In order to secure the viability of business processes, services and products R&D teams need to access and retrieve information from as many sources as possible. From the other perspective virtual teams are important mechanisms for organizations seeking to control scarce resources across geographic and other boundaries. Moreover, virtual collaboration has become vital for most organizations. This is particularly true in the context of designing new product and innovative services. In this paper all the major aspects of Virtual R&D team are

12. Literature, Principle and the basics of Network Value Creation in R&D: The relationship with economy [48.294%]

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Taha, Zahari (2008) Downloadable! The internationalization of R&D network is a recent phenomenon. In this knowledge based environment, the driving forces for this phenomenon are digitization, the internet, and high-speed data networks that are keys to address many of the operational issues from design to logistics and distribution. From the other direction to surviving in the highly competitive industry, requires strategies to collaborate with or compete with suitable firms within a network in the New Product Development process. The growing internationalization of R&D activities challenges multinational corporations (MNCs) to formulate technology strategies and manage increasingly diffuse and diverse networks of R&D laboratories and alliances in the context of disparate national institutions. Research and development functions are fundamental drivers of value creation in technology-based enterprises. Successful R&D is a function of invention and R&D network. This paper studies R&D network issues from the

13. R&D Network and value Creation in SMEs [48.294%]

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Taha, Zahari (2008) Downloadable! Research and development functions are fundamental drivers of value creation in technology-based Small and Medium enterprises (SMEs) seemingly successful R&D is a function of innovation processes and R&D networks. There is a perceived lack of understanding regarding the importance of SMEs and their need to continuously enhance their technological capabilities for the purpose of establishing themselves a dominant market position. In this paper R&D network issues from the perspective of their impact on value creation in SMEs have been studied. One very important trend to enable new knowledge creation and transfer in and to SME's is the development of collaborative environments and networks to increase their innovation capabilities as a single unit but also the capabilities of the network as a whole through collective learning. SMEs seem to be appropriate units to behave like network nodes because of their lean structure, adaptability to market evolution, active involvement of versatile

14. New Product Development in Virtual Environment [48.294%]

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Taha, Zahari (2008) Downloadable! Purpose - The literature on the topic has evolved exponentially since eight years ago. Relaying on a review of studies published in recent years, this article proposes and discusses a framework which incorporates a set of virtual teams involved in a new product development initiative. Design/methodology/approach – A range of academic and practitioner literature related to virtual teams and virtual new product development is reviewed. What is Virtual New Product Development and what determines its development in manufacturing firms? These two questions are answered. Findings - The decision to use a virtual team is often a necessity and not a choice; being ‘virtual’ is in most cases not an alternative but a requirement. Enterprise may benefit from building and maintain the virtual teams in a number of ways such as achieving higher quality, accessing and capturing dispersed knowledge and skills regarding the multifunctional and multi-use components and modules, electronically unite experts in

15. Virtuality, Innovation and R&D Activities [48.294%]

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Taha, Zahari (2008) Downloadable! Innovation plays a central role in economic development, at regional and national level. In the competitive environment companies are obliged to produce more rapidly, more effectively and more efficiently in new product development which is a result of research and development (R&D) activities. It is necessary for them to put together different capabilities and services with the goal, through cooperation between suppliers and customers, service providers and scientific institutions to achieve innovations of high quality. Depending on the type of industry, the type of business, the type of innovation and the strategic objectives that have been set, firms will regularly have to modify the way in which their R&D and innovation is organized. Nowadays shift from serial to simultaneous and parallel working in innovation has become more commonplace. Literature's have shown that collaboration is as a meta-capability for innovation. By a comprehensive reviewing of literature this article after de

16. A conceptual model of virtual product development process [A Conceptual Model of Virtual Product Development Process] [48.294%]

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Taha, Zahari (2009) Downloadable! In today’s dynamic marketplace, companies are under strong pressure to introduce new products for long-term survival with their competitors. Besides, every company cannot cope up progressively or immediately with the market requirements due to knowledge dynamics being experienced in competitive milieu. Increased competition and reduced product life cycles put force upon companies to develop new products faster. In response to this pressing need there should be some new approach compatible in flexible circumstances. This paper presents a solution based on the Stage-Gate system, which is closely linked with virtual team approach. Virtual teams can provide a platform to advance the knowledge-base in a company and thus to reduce time-to-market. This article introduces conceptual product development architecture under a virtual-team umbrella. The paper describes all the major aspects of new product development (NPD), NPD process and its relationship with virtual team, Stage-Gate system and finally

17. Research, Development, Production and Performance of heavy duty CNG fleets in Iran [48.294%]

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Rostamnezhad, Maziar & Momeni, Ali (2005) Downloadable! In recent years, along with the trend toward clean air and less dependency to imported oil products, there has been increasing willing to use substitute fuels in transport industry. Automobile industry is an exhaustive industry bringing development for any country. The industrial capabilities needed for development rest in this branch of industry. The Iranian automobile making companies move in line with this aim. But in recent decades, in addition to development of automobile industry, the pollution too has occupied the minds of the authorities of these companies. Some measures, investments, researches, and exhaustive studies related to the pollution problem have been made to produce an automobile of higher technology and lower pollution.

18. Virtual Teams: a Literature Review [48.293%]

Nader Ale Ebrahim & Shamsuddin Ahmed & Zahari Taha (2009) Downloadable! In the competitive market , virtual teams represent a growing response to the need for fasting time-to- market, low-cost and rapid solutions to complex organizational problems. Virtual teams enable organizations to pool the talents and expertise of employees and non-employees by eliminating time and space barriers . Nowadays, companies are heavily investing in virtual team to enhance their performance and competitiveness. Despite virtual teams growing prevalence, relatively little is known about this new form of team. Hence the study offers an extensive literature review with definitions o f virtual teams and a structured analysis of the present body of knowledge of virtual teams. First, we distinguish virtual teams from conventional teams , different types of virtual teams to identify where current knowledge applies. Second, we distinguish what is needed for effective virtual team considering the people, process and technology point of view and underlying characteristics of virtual teams and ch

19. Virtual R & D teams in small and medium enterprises: A literature review [48.293%]

Nader Ale Ebrahim & Shamsuddin Ahmed & Zahari Taha (2009) Downloadable! Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the driving engine behind economic growth. While SMEs play a critical role in generating employment and supporting trade, they face numerous challenges, the prominent among them are the need to respond to fasting time-to-market, low-cost and rapid solutions to complex organizational problems. Towards that end, research and development (R & D) aspect deserves particular attention to promote and facilitate the operations of SMEs. Virtual R & D team could be a viable option. However, literature shows that virtual R & D teaming in SMEs is still at its infancy. This article provides a comprehensive literature review on different aspects of virtual R & D teams collected from the reputed publications. The purpose of the state-of-the-art literature review is to provide an overview on the structure and dynamics of R & D collaboration in SMEs. Specifying the foundation and importance of virtual teams, the relationship between virtual R & D te

20. Modified Stage-Gate: A Conceptual Model of Virtual Product Development Process [48.293%]

Nader Ale Ebrahim & Shamsuddin Ahmed & Zahari Taha (2009) Downloadable! In today's dynamic marketplace, manufacturing companies are under strong pressure to introduce new products for long-term survival with their competitors. Nevertheless, every company cannot cope up progressively or immediately with the market requirements due to knowledge dynamics being experienced in the competitive milieu. Increased competition and reduced product life cycles put force upon companies to develop new products faster. In response to these pressing needs, there should be some new approach compatible in flexible circumstances. This paper presents a solution based on the popular Stage-Gate system, which is closely linked with virtual team approach. Virtual teams can provide a platform to advance the knowledge-base in a company and thus to reduce time-to-market. This article introduces conceptual product development architecture under a virtual team umbrella. The paper describes all the major aspects of new product development (NPD), NPD process and its relationship with virtual team

21. Innovation and R&D Activities in Virtual Team [48.293%]

Nader Ale Ebrahim & Shamsuddin Ahmed & Zahari Taha (2009) Downloadable! Innovation plays a central role in economic development, at the regional and national level. In the competitive environment companies are obliged to produce more rapidly, more effectively and more efficiently in new product development, which is a result of research and development (R&D) activities. It is necessary for them to put together different capabilities and services with the goal, through cooperation between suppliers and customers, service providers and scientific institutions to achieve innovations of high quality. Depending on the type of industry, the type of business, the type of innovation and the strategic objectives that have been set, firms will regularly have to modify the way in which their R&D and innovation are organized. Nowadays, shift from serial to simultaneous and parallel working in innovation has become more commonplace. Literature's have shown that collaboration is as a meta-capability for innovation. By a comprehensive reviewing of literature this article a

22. Virtual Teams for New Product Development: An Innovative Experience for R&D Engineers [48.293%]

Nader Ale Ebrahim & Shamsuddin Ahmed & Zahari Taha (2009) Downloadable! New interaction tools such as internet allow companies to gain valuable input from research and development (R&D) engineers via virtual teams. Consequently, engineers also get more expertise in diminutive timeframes. Virtual R&D teams present the key impetus to the technology acquisition process. The present knowledge-economy era is characterized by short product life-cycles. Virtual R&D teams may reduce time-to-market, make available a large pool of new product know-how and provide greater flexibilities, which are the key success factors in a competitive market. This comprehensive review contains almost 100 references and covers the recent literature with emphasis on the topic. The review has focused on authentic and reputed publications and extracts the results. This article presents the type of virtual teams and their main features and explains how virtual R&D team can play a prominent role in developing new products. The article is evolved future study guideline and also illu

23. SMEs; Virtual Research and Development (R&D) Teams and New Product Development: A Literature Review [48.293%]

Nader Ale Ebrahim & Shamsuddin Ahmed & Zahari Taha (2010) Downloadable! Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are indeed the engines of global economic growth. Their continued growth is a major subject for the economy and employment of any country. Towards that end, virtual research and development (R&D) could be a viable option to sustain and ease the operations of SMEs. However, literature shows there has not been a great deal of research into the diverse characteristic of virtual R&D teams in SMEs. This article provides a comprehensive literature review on different aspects of virtual R&D teams collected from the reputed publications. The purpose of the literature review is to provide an outline on the structure and dynamics of R&D collaboration in SMEs. Specifying the rationale and relevance of virtual teams, the relationship between virtual R&D team for SMEs and new product development (NPD) has been examined. It concludes with identifying the gaps and feebleness in the existing literatures and calls for future research in this area. It

24. Critical Factors for New Product Developments in SMEs Virtual Team [48.293%]

Nader Ale Ebrahim & Shamsuddin Ahmed & Zahari Taha (2010) Downloadable! Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are considered as an engine for economic growth all over the world and especially for developing countries. During the past decade, new product development (NPD) has increasingly been recognized as a critical factor in ensuring the continued survival of SMEs. On the other hand, the rapid rate of market and technological changes has accelerated in the past decade, so this turbulent environment requires new methods and techniques to bring successful new products to the marketplace. Virtual team can be a solution to answer the requested demand. However, literature have shown no significant differences between traditional NPD and virtual NPD in general, whereas NPD in SME's virtual team has not been systematically investigated in developing countries. This paper aims to bridge this gap by first reviewing the NPD and its relationship with virtuality and then identifies the critical factors of NPD in virtual teams. The statistical method was utilized to perform the

25. Virtual R&D Teams and SMEs Growth: A Comparative Study Between Iranian and Malaysian SMEs [48.293%]

Nader Ale Ebrahim & Shamsuddin Ahmed & Zahari Taha (2010) Downloadable! This paper explores potential advantages of using virtual teams for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with a comprehensive review on various aspects of virtual teams. Based on the standing of the pertinent literatures, attempt has been made to study the aspects by online survey method in Iran and Malaysia. In both countries, SMEs play an important role in their economies, employments, and capacity building. Virtual R&D team can be one of the means to increase SMEs efficiency and competitiveness in their local as well as global markets. In this context, surveys have been conducted to evaluate the effects of virtuality to the growth of SMEs. The study addresses some differences between two countries in engaging virtual research and development (R&D) teams in their SMEs. It is observed that there is a significant difference between the SMEs turnover that employed virtual team and that did not employ the virtual team. The way for further studies and recommend improvements are propose

26. Virtual Teams and Management Challenges [48.293%]

Nader Ale Ebrahim & Shamsuddin Ahmed & Zahari Taha (2011) Downloadable! Introduction: Collaboration is becoming increasingly important in creating the knowledge that makes business more competitive. Virtual teams are growing in popularity [1] and many organizations have responded to their dynamic environments by introducing virtual teams. Additionally, the rapid development of new communication technologies such as the Internet has accelerated this trend so that today, most of the larger organization employs virtual teams to some degree [2]. A growing number of flexible and adaptable organizations have explored the virtual environment as one means of achieving increased responsiveness [3]. Howells et al. [4] state that the shift from serial to simultaneous and parallel working has become more commonplace. Based on conventional information technologies and Internet-based platforms virtual environments may be used to sustain companies' progress through virtual interaction and communication.

27. Virtual R&D Teams: A potential growth of education-industry collaboration [48.293%]

Nader Ale Ebrahim & Shamsuddin Ahmed & Zahari Taha (2011) Downloadable! Introduction: With the advent of the global economy and high-speed Internet, online collaboration is fast becoming the norm in education and industry [1]. Information technology (IT) creates many new inter-relationships among businesses, expands the scope of industries in which a company must compete to achieve the competitive advantage. Information systems and technology allow companies to coordinate their activities in distant geographic locations [2]. IT is providing the infrastructure necessary to support the development of new collaboration forms among industry and education. Virtual research and development (R&D) teams represent one such relational form, one that could revolutionize the workplace and provide organizations with unprecedented levels of flexibility and responsiveness [3-4].

28. Virtual marketing in virtual enterprises [Virtual Marketing in Virtual Enterprises] [48.204%]

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Fattahi, Hamaid Ali & Golnam, Arash (2008) Downloadable! Virtualization caused tremendous evolution in the economics of marketing channels, patterns of physical distribution and the structure of distributors and developed a new concept that is known as virtual marketing (VM). VM combines the powerful technologies of interactive marketing and virtual reality. Virtual enterprise (VE) refers to an organization not having a clear physical locus. In other words, VE is an organization distributed geographically and whose work is coordinated through electronic communications." It should be mentioned that here VE encompasses all other similar phrases like Virtual company, virtual corporation, etc. One of the greatest challenges facing business owners and managers – both for traditional and virtual organizations- is finding a way to cost−effectively communicate frequently and consistently with their target markets; and the virtual marketing perform this function at the best possible. In this paper, we focus on the concept of “Virtual marketing in vir

29. R&D Management in Iran, Opportunities and Threats [48.073%]

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ghazizadeh, Ali & Golnam, Arash & Tahbaz Tavakoli, Hamid (2007) Downloadable! Research and Development (R&D) management in Iran has faced many barriers and obstacles, in which R&D units are considered as the basic core of the product development and innovation. Due to structural shortcomings, a great number of organizations and industries have not yet been able to position themselves in the market. There are about 1141 R&D units throughout Iran, due to the geographical decentralization of these units this paper considers and analyzes the R&D case study in one of the provinces located in the north part of Iran, and the findings can be generalized to the other industrialized areas and zones in Iran. In this province, there are about 2504 industrial units of which there are only 44 R&D units certified by the state government. However, there is limited number of these R&D units that are extensively active. This paper also addresses the current status in respect with the R&D activities to find out why little attention has been paid to these activiti

30. Innovation Process is Facilitated in Virtual Environment of R&D Teams [48.071%]

Shafia, Mohammad Ali & Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Taha, Zahari (2009) Downloadable! Innovation is becoming the most important key issue for company's success in the 21st century. In the competitive environment it is necessary for the enterprises to put together different capabilities and services with the goal. It is widely accepted that innovation can be better achieved by working in team particularly in the virtual environments. The employed web services technology, although very popular nowadays but it is still not mature enough, so dealing with it can bring new findings. Virtual teams base on information technology are formed to facilitate transnational innovation processes and it should be noted that innovation has a positive impact on corporate performance if it is well guided. This has the pronounced effect when it comes to the learning issues as the virtual preconditions persist. In this environment the possibility of getting closer to the interest of learner from the new environment raise as the barriers being imposed by the service provider is reduced and the freedom

31. Consideration of the virtual team work and disabled citizens, as promising opportunity providers for the e government infrastruc [48.071%]

Shafia, Mohammad Ali & Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Taha, Zahari (2009) Downloadable! The Information area has revolutionized the workplace. Douglas Kruse, a professor of human resources and the director of the program for disability research at Rutgers University, states that 7% of employed persons with disabilities work 20 hours or more a week from home. While some modern countries have established “virtual teams”, which are said to be comprised of people who are geographically scattered and who work across boundaries of space and time using computer driven communication technologies, it is also true that many developing countries remain structured around conventional face-to-face teams. A motive toward virtual team working may be cost effectiveness. Increasing transport and human resource costs makes face to face contact less attractive unless they are essential. In an environment of urging to move into the direction of governing the activities via electronic moves, consideration of the individuals who deliver their services to the society in the form of virtual teams are

32. Virtual Teams: A New Opportunity to Develop a Business [48.024%]

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Abdul Rashid, Salwa Hanim & Taha, Zahari (2010) Downloadable! Virtual teams give many advantages to organizations, including increased knowledge sharing and improve organizational performance. Virtual teams have altered the expectations and boundaries of knowledge worker’s interactions and make a new opportunity to develop the business. In this paper, we present summary results of an online survey. The online questionnaire was emailed by using a simple random sampling method to 356 Malaysian manufacturing small and medium –sized Enterprises (SMEs). The findings of this study show that SMEs in Malaysia are gaining to use virtual teams, and it can be concluded that virtual teams provide a new platform for developing the business in SMEs. Based on the study, we suggest avenues for future research that are important to advancing our understanding of virtual team effects on business growth.

33. The Effectiveness of Virtual R&D Teams in SMEs: Experiences of Malaysian SMEs [48.024%]

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Abdul Rashid, Salwa Hanim & Taha, Zahari (2010) Downloadable! The number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially those involved with research and development (R&D) programs and employed virtual teams to create the greatest competitive advantage from limited labor are increasing. Global and localized virtual R&D teams are believed to have a high potential for SMEs growth. Due to the fast growing complexity of the new product, coupled with new emerging opportunities of virtual teams, a collaborative approach is believed to be the future trend. This research explores the effectiveness of virtuality in SMEs virtual R&D teams. An online questionnaire emailed to Malaysian manufacturing SMEs and 74 usable questionnaires were received, representing a 20.8 percent return rate. To avoid the bias that may result from pre-suggested answer, a series of open-ended questions asked from expertise. This study based on analyzing an open-ended question; extract four main themes among expertise recommendations on the effectiveness of virtual teams for S

34. Virtual R&D Teams: A potential growth of education-industry collaboration [48.024%]

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Abdul Rashid, Salwa Hanim & Taha, Zahari (2010) Downloadable! In this paper, we present our more than two years research experiences on virtual R&D teams in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and draws conclusions, giving special attention to the structure of virtual teams required to support education-industry collaboration. We report the relevant results of an online survey study. The online questionnaire was emailed by using a simple random sampling method to 947 manufacturing SMEs. The findings of this study show that SMEs in Malaysia and Iran are willing to use virtual teams for collaboration and the platform for industry-education collaboration is ready and distance between team members or differences in time zones, are not barriers to industry-education collaborations.

35. Virtual Collaborative R&D Teams in Malaysia Manufacturing SMEs [48.024%]

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Abdul Rashid, Salwa Hanim & Taha, Zahari (2010) Downloadable! This paper presents the results of empirical research conducted during March to September 2009. The study focused on the influence of virtual research and development (R&D) teams within Malaysian manufacturing small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The specific objective of the study is better understanding of the application of collaborative technologies in business, to find the effective factors to assist SMEs to remain competitive in the future. The paper stresses to find an answer for a question “Is there any relationship between company size, Internet connection facility and virtuality?”. The survey data shows SMEs are now technologically capable of performing the virtual collaborative team, but the infrastructure usage is less. SMEs now have the necessary technology to begin the implementation process of collaboration tools to reduce research and development (R&D) time, costs and increase productivity. So, the manager of R&D should take the potentials of virtual teams i

36. The effectiveness of virtual R&D Teams in SMEs: experiences of Malaysian SMEs [48.024%]

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Abdul Rashid, Salwa Hanim & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Taha, Zahari (2011) Downloadable! The number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially those involved with research and development (R&D) programs and employed virtual teams to create the greatest competitive advantage from limited labor are increasing. Global and localized virtual R&D teams are believed to have high potential for the growth of SMEs. Due to the fast-growing complexity of new products coupled with new emerging opportunities of virtual teams, a collaborative approach is believed to be the future trend. This research explores the effectiveness of virtuality in SMEs’ virtual R&D teams. Online questionnaires were emailed to Malaysian manufacturing SMEs and 74 usable questionnaires were received, representing a 20.8 percent return rate. In order to avoid biases which may result from pre-suggested answers, a series of open-ended questions were retrieved from the experts. This study was focused on analyzing an open-ended question, whereby four main themes were extracted from the experts’ recomme

37. Technology Use in the Virtual R&D Teams [48.024%]

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Salwa Hanim, Salwa Hanim & Taha, Zahari (2011) Downloadable! Problem statement: Although, literature proves the importance of the technology role in the effectiveness of virtual Research and Development (R&D) teams for new product development. However, the factors that make technology construct in a virtual R&D team are still ambiguous. The manager of virtual R&D teams for new product development does not know which type of technology should be used. Approach: To address the gap and answer the question, the study presents a set of factors that make a technology construct. The proposed construct modified by finding of the field survey (N = 240). We empirically examine the relationship between construct and its factors by employing the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). A measurement model built base on the 19 preliminary factors that extracted from literature review. The result shows 10 factors out of 19 factors maintaining to make technology construct. Results: These 10 technology factors can be grouped into two constructs namely Web base com

38. Effective Virtual Teams for New Product Development [48.024%]

Nader Ale Ebrahim & Shamsuddin Ahmed & Salwa Hanim Abdul Rashid & Zahari Taha (2012) Downloadable! At present, the existing literature shows that the factors which influence the effectiveness of virtual teams for new product development are still ambiguous. To address this problem, a research design was developed, which includes detailed literature review, preliminary model and field survey. From literature review, the factors which influence the effectiveness of virtual teams are identified and these factors are modified using a field survey. The relationship between knowledge workers (people), process and technology in virtual teams is explored in this study. The results of the study suggest that technology and process are tightly correlated and need to be considered early in virtual teams. The use of software as a service, web solution, report generator and tracking system should be incorporated for effectiveness virtual teams.

39. Effective virtual teams for new product development [48.024%]

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Abdul Rashid, Salwa Hanim & Taha, Zahari (2010) Downloadable! At present, the existing literature shows that the factors which influence the effectiveness of virtual teams for new product development are still ambiguous. To address this problem, a research design was developed, which includes detailed literature review, preliminary model and field survey. From literature review, the factors which influence the effectiveness of virtual teams are identified and these factors are modified using a field survey. The relationship between knowledge workers (people), process and technology in virtual teams is explored in this study. The results of the study suggest that technology and process are tightly correlated and need to be considered early in virtual teams. The use of software as a service, web solution, report generator and tracking system should be incorporated for effectiveness virtual teams.

40. Analysis of Opportunities and Challenges for R&D Management and the Role of the R&D Society for its Improvement – A Ca [47.945%]

Tavakkoli-Moghaddam, Reza & Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Golnam, Arash & Vasei, M. & Ghaziza... (2006) Downloadable! Research and Development (R&D) management in Iran is faced to many barriers and obstacles, in which R&D units are considered as the basic core of the product development and innovation. Due to structural shortcomings, a great number of organizations and industries have not been able to find their actual status. There are about different 1141 R&D units with a dispersion pattern in Iran. This paper considers and analyzes the R&D case study in one of the provinces located in the north part of Iran in order to enhance the potential R&D activities in respect with the industrialized areas and zones. In this province, there are about 2504 industrial units of which there are only 44 R&D units certified by the state government. However, there are limit numbers of these R&D units that are extensively active. This paper also addresses the current status in respect with the R&D activities to find out why there is a lack and depression of these activities in the industrial uni

IDEAS Search: "N. Ale Ebrahim"