Management

Nowadays multinational car manufacturers’ main concern is to develop fuel-efficient cars with fewer emissions. Recently some automotive manufacturers have already developed hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs). Some governments are providing incentives to R&D projects for electric cars and EV charging points/filling stations. For all these efforts, there have been very little to show for the outcomes as far as electric vehicles are concerned over the past century during which they have been under development. Why is the case? The fault is usually attributed to failings on the supply side, namely weaknesses of technological ‘stretch-out’ especially in regard to the batteries. We look in turn at supply capabilities, production capabilities and consumer capabilities, to reassess the dynamic capabilities associated with their interaction; to find that it is a combination of all three that best explains the long delay associated with the introduction of this technology and complex product system.

Keywords: Electric Car, Hybrid, Capabilities, Government, R&D, Automotive.

This research explores applications of Turkish regional policy makers towards the current crisis and the greening of the global auto industry. The methodology of the research is case study and data collection is face to face interview with AMA (Automotive Manufacturers Association) director and manufacturing auto companies’ R&D managers as well as surveys on data published by governmental institutes. Since 1960’s, there has been a great improvement in the quantity of the products and their conformity to international standards in Turkish auto industry. Production in Turkey is generally handled by Multinational Enterprises and their local partner firms e.g. Ford-Otosan, Renault-Oyak, Fiat-Tofaş, Isuzu-Anadolu, Peugeot-Karsan, Iveco-Otoyol, Mitsubishi-Temsa and Land Rover-Otokar. OEMs like Toyota, Mercedes, MAN and Honda also stand alone without local partner firms’ collaboration. Turkey as being one of important production clusters in Eastern Europe was affected by the current crisis and introduced tax reductions in order to overcome the crisis. In terms of greening, Turkey has a long running incentive program. Turkish government is providing incentives up to 60 % of the expenses of R&D projects for clean energy technologies, including Electric (EV) and Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV). Fuel-efficient vehicles with reduced emissions are some of popular R&D projects. Ford’s partner Otosan and Fiat’s Tofaş have completed R&D works on hybrid cars; however hybrids are not yet launched in Turkey by the local firms. Recently, there have been some collaborative research activities and joint manufacturing plans between Multinationals and their local partners on EV’s. It seems that, this would yield some new brands manufactured in Turkey. In summary, this study briefly presents the recent developments of R&D activities on green automotive-technologies in Turkey and, evaluates the (impact) role of the Turkish government’s policy on this issue.

This thesis focuses on disclosing the factors that affect the Research and Development (R&D) collaboration between Multinational Enterprises (MNEs), and their Turkish partner firms, in the automotive industry. Following the literature review and pre-test interviews with the experts from the industry a number of different factors were identified. The methodology of the research was “Case Study” in order to provide an in-depth exploration of the factors. There are three case studies namely: Tofaş-Fiat, Ford Otosan-Ford and Hyundai Assan-Hyundai. The primary data was collected from 40 respondents (R&D/production managers and employees) by in-depth face-to-face interviewing.

Findings yield that the most important factors affecting R&D collaboration for the local companies were production, innovation & R&D capabilities and then absorptive capacity of the local companies. The most important factor affecting MNE’s R&D location decisions was the main R&D policy of the MNE (criteria for possible R&D collaboration, openness to R&D collaboration and strategic goals). Another factor, competition between other R&D departments in different countries, and other R&D department’s competency were found as moderate level of importance.

R&D Managers of Fiat, Ford and Hyundai found the Turkish government’s R&D incentives very attractive, and found that Turkey’s infrastructure, socio-economic conditions and cheap but skilled labor force were appropriate for undertaking R&D collaborations. Social factors (mutual trust, level of commitment and cultural conflicts) were found to be an important influence in MNE’s R&D location decisions. The findings are expected to contribute to the R&D efforts and innovativeness of the Turkish Automotive Industry.

In the last decades, R&D strategies and international location decisions of MNEs have changed substantially as they increasingly set up R&D facilities outside their home country in some developing countries where the R&D activities go beyond adaptation for local markets. This research explores the factors affecting R&D collaboration of MNEs and their local partner firms through a case study carried out in Turkey. The data collection method is face-to-face in-depth interviews with automotive companies’ R&D managers and engineers. Findings showed that Ford Motor Co. and Otosan's R&D collaboration is based upon a long partnership in manufacturing during which R&D capability and absorptive capacity of Otosan gradually increased. On the other hand, low labour costs, high government incentives for R&D, appropriate infrastructure to carry out R&D activities in Turkey as well as skilled and well educated R&D staff are important factors for Ford. Ford and Otosan's R&D collaboration is a success story of how two production partner firms could collaborate in R&D activities.

The paper aims to explore the dimensions of quality management practices as a tool for innovativeness and determine the which dimensions of the quality management practices best differentiates the firms with low innovative culture from the firms with high innovative culture. A mail survey with a sample of processed fruit and vegetable product exporters in Turkey was conducted using a structured questionnaire. Factor analysis is used to reduce the 22 total quality management practices into a smaller set of dimensions. The resulting dimensions (factors) were used as independent variables for discriminant analysis. Discriminant analysis follows from the findings of previous research in which two independent firm clusters were identified through cluster analysis using quality management variables.

Due to an increased need for learning modern project management methodologies, companies have been forced to improve their knowledge of Project Management Offices (PMO). Global business environment resulted with increased importance of project management methodologies, aligned with competitive strategies. Today, many organizations have recognized the importance of implementing PMO's for effective project control and better stakeholder (executives) support for projects. PMOs also undertake strategic roles such as incorporating higher management support to achieve strategic goals, integrating business strategies into project management efforts, and prioritization of projects. This paper examines PMOs in the process of strategic alignment. Moreover, the contribution of PMOs to achieve strategic goals is explored. Our initial findings are promising represented in a framework, and demonstrated by a case study application review using IT and telecommunication companies selected from Turkey. The research offers future directions and implications of a well-established successful PMO system.

This paper is an exploratory study proposing a conceptual model of national competitiveness and suggests that the competitiveness of a nation is primarily dependent on the rate of productivity growth. According to the conceptual model drawn, productivity growth in turn is dependent on the infrastructure, the human knowledge base and the government. The paper explains the way these factors interact in reinforcing the rate of productivity growth leading to greater national competitiveness. The concept of national competitiveness is based on an extensive literature review and formulation of a conceptual framework inspired by the theories and discussions.

"The idea that competence-creating subsidiaries from emerging nations can contribute to and possibly renew sources of competitive advantage is an appealing one for managerial practice and policy. Many mature MNEs can look to exploit the technological and market capabilities of their more capable subsidiaries in order to tap into new sources of growth. Based on a case study of Fiat and three of its emerging market R&D subsidiaries, we show that successfully developing competence-creating subsidiaries is a difficult task. Not only do parent and subsidiary managements have different ideas of what is involved, but subsidiary technological capability and local resources do not fully explain new technology creation mandates. The success of overall product market strategies and the mode of entry also exercise important effects. Furthermore, in our case study we find that internal embeddedness is more crucial than external embeddedness in distinguishing a successful new technology creation mandate.

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This paper aims to investigate the innovativeness of passenger car segment in automobile industry which is emphasized as one of the leading manufacturing sectors in Turkey. The corporations in the industry, foreign trade activities (import and export rates) and product & sales values of the five multinational passenger car manufacturing firms will be evaluated. The innovativeness of the industry, evidence of clustering and exchange of ideas will be clarified and whether there is an existence of regional innovation networks in automobile industry or not will be explored. It also includes the investigations of how the micro (clusters, learning regions) and macro (state) elements interact and support the industry to enhance regional development. Lastly, Porter's National Competitiveness Model is applied to automobile industry in Turkey. The methodology of the research is using secondary data (statistics from Automotive Industry Association, company reports and internet resources) and face to face interview with the company executives, key informants and academicians.

The wide use of interactive whiteboard in the classroom has been a significant source of motivation in teaching and learning process, and consequently led to better achievement. Likewise, interactive whiteboard has enormously contributed to geometry teaching in that it has created a relaxing learning environment for learners where learners can study geometry in a stress-free atmosphere. This paper aims to investigate the facilitating role of interactive whiteboard in geometry teaching. Furthermore, the study explores how interactive whiteboard motivates learners to achieve better in geometry.
Key words: interactive whiteboard, motivation, learning environment, achievement

The enhancement of motivation and enthusiasm by the use of interactive whiteboard has improved self-esteem, encouragement and success of many learners who have found mathematics difficult. This study aims to investigate whether the use of interactive whiteboard in mathematics classes promotes motivation of learners which facilitates learning process. 40 lecturers and 40 students were surveyed in the study and the results have been compared and it has been found that interactive whiteboard enhances interactivity, motivates learners and facilitates learning in mathematics classes.

Lucid dreaming is a part of our nights, people can be part of lucid dreaming consciously or unconsciously, it is in our hands. There are two sides of statements about lucid dreaming: it is safe or not. People who can do lucid dreaming, they want to know is it safe, does it have mental or physical damage on human body.

From past to today non-verbal communication is always exist. Even a newborn baby can communicate others with body language. We don’t have to learn it, we already know it when we born. Body language is a kind of communication without words. It consist of gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, body posture, head motion. Looking at the body language of a human, we can obtain information about the current situation. There are two sides of statements about body language: it is more effective than verbal language and second statement is no, it is not important as verbal language.

Drug production is a business that has been in our lives for the last hundred years. In the past, handcrafted medicines were produced by plant routes, but nowadays mass production is being produced by very large companies in factories. Every drug produced begins to be sold out after analyzes with the most international validity. There is a very strict control in the sector, and since this control is increasing every year, many pharmaceutical companies have faced very severe sanctions due to drugs that have caused human life in the past. For this reason, pharmaceutical companies are now producing and selling medicines in a timely manner and in the most efficient way possible. In recent years, a large number of pharmaceutical companies have made some new efforts to use drugs efficiently, increase profits, assets and performances, and reduce transaction costs. Experiences and research show that drug production has an important potential for more efficient and effective operation.
Increasing competition and spending in the automotive and automotive spare parts sectors, companies forming this sector are compelled to use their resources more efficiently. In this research, the performances should be considered in terms of being productive and effective for the busses selected from the sector. As a result of this trend, DuPont analysis technique has begun to be used in the measurement of efficiency and productivity between firms. More importantly, the answer is to ask how deposits and capital can be used more efficiently.