Franchising is a common choice for people who are considering an entrepreneurial leap, but end up deciding to wade into it first. It offers a structured way to start a business, and, as a new Harvard Business School study shows, franchising also makes sense for the franchiser too. The research examined how convenience stores move into new markets serving different demographic groups. It finds that retailers who employ a franchise model tend to have an easier transition into new markets. Franchisee store managers are more motivated and also more likely to have closer community connections. It also appears that these franchised stores have higher unit sales. The study concludes by noting that organizational designs similar to franchising might be an effective approach for other organizations that are moving into diverse new markets.

Download the 2008 Harvard Business School Working Paper (08-091), “Organizational Design and Control across Multiple Markets: The Case of Franchising in the Convenience Store Industry,” by Dennis Campbell, Srikant M. Datar, and Tatiana Sandino.

The big political challenge around economic globalization concerns how best to assist and support those whose livelihoods are adversely affected by economic competition. Observers from all sides of the political spectrum agree that the US government does a poor job on this front, and lots of interesting new ideas are bubbling up about how best to assist dislocated workers. The Financial Services Forum has recently presented a new approach crafted by alumni of both the Bush and Clinton Administrations. The authors propose a new Adjustment Assistance Program (AAP) that would commit $22 billion annually to provide a wider menu of benefit options for workers affected by globalization and technological change. The AAP would provide, among other things, wage loss insurance to workers struggling to find new jobs at wages comparable to their previous employment, continued health insurance while unemployed, and enhanced eligibility for various training programs. The proposed program will help ease the transition for affected workers by providing them with a stronger safety net as well as incentives to retrain and build a prosperous new career in alternative fields.

Download the July 2008 Financial Services Forum White Paper, "Succeeding in the Global Economy: An Adjustment Assistance Program for American Workers," by Grant D. Aldonas, Robert Z. Lawrence, and Matthew J. Slaughter.

The Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship (SBE) passed by a vote of 19 to 0, their 'SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2008'' aka S. 3362.  This is a completely new bill and not related to H.R. 5819, the House's SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act passed in the House, April 2008.  Here are some of the major points of the bill: 

1.  Award Amounts - Both SBIR and STTR raised to $150k phase I, and $1m phase II, with the ability to exceed the guidelines by a maximum of 50%.  The agencies must report and justify all awards exceeding the guidelines. 

2.  Increase in SBIR/STTR Cap (allocation) - SBIR will be increased from 2.5% to 3.5% at a rate of .1% over 10 years, EXCEPT for NIH, which will stay at 2.5%.  STTR will double from 0.3% to 0.6% over 6 years. 

Although it is unusual for DOT to have more than one SBIR phase I solicitation per year, they just opened a second phase I solicitation July 18, 2008.  This is a smaller (3 topic) solicitation that will close September 5, 2008.  DOT's previous FY-2008 solicitation was released on April 15, 2008 and closed on June 3, 2008.

The DOT solicitation is contracts based, so it is available on FedBizOpps, but the best place to get it is on DOT's SBIR site at www.volpe.dot.gov/sbir  It's available in Word, PDF or html. 

There are opportunities for SBIR funding of environmental technologies in the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) SBIR Phase I Solicitation closing on September 4, 2008. There are at least three possible areas of collaboration between USDA’s SBIR topics and EPA’s technology needs. EPA technology needs are described in the last Phase I Solicitation that is still posted on the EPA SBIR Website. The linkages between the EPA technology needs and USDA topics are summarized below:  

     EPA TECHNOLOGY NEEDS (TOPICS)                    Corresponding USDA TOPICS

     Water and Water Monitoring                                     USDA Topic 8.4 

     Biofuels and Biobased Products                                USDA Topic 8.8

     Animal Waste Management                                      USDA Topic 8.11

Today’s innovation is not your father’s—or your grandfather’s---innovation. The way that new products, services, and technologies emerge has changed, and innovation policies need to change in response to this transformed innovation ecosystem. A new study sponsored by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation analyzes forty years of data from R&D Magazine, which has annually ranked its top 100 innovations since 1976. This historical perspective yields some interesting insights. One major finding is that the role of Federal investments in supporting innovations has grown rapidly. Also, collaboration is more important. In the 1970s, a large portion (80%) of innovations came from large corporations acting alone. Today, a similar portion of innovations—roughly 2/3--results from inter-organizational partnerships and collaborations. American firms and government agencies are quite effective in building partnerships, and this collaborative mindset is something of a competitive advantage for the US. The author contends Federal innovation policies need to respond to these trends with more funding and better collaboration across government agencies. Both of these moves will ensure that Federal support for R&D has greater impact as well as greater efficiency.

The Alliance for Science & Technology Research in America (ASTRA) has created state-specific R&D sheets to help illustrate the importance of scientific research to state and local economies, job growth, innovation, the U.S. standard of living, and national security. The downloadable documents represent comprehensive data from a variety of science and technology indicators. See Alaska indicators at: http://www.usinnovation.org/files/CVD08AlaskaRD.pdf

Access all the documents at: www.aboutastra.org/toolkit/state.asp

It seems like another new story emerges about Web 2.0 nearly every day, but how much of the buzz is real and how much is hype? A new special issue of Technology Review takes a closer look at “the business of social networks.” The issue contains a number of interesting stories, including a listing of “ten start-ups to watch.” The articles note that social networking is the web’s fastest growing application, yet few firms are making money in the process---at least not yet. Even popular sites like Facebook and MySpace continue to lose money. The issue’s lead article, “Social Networking is Not a Business,” asks some hard questions about the industry’s future. It suggests that social networking sites might capture some of online advertising market but remains somewhat skeptical. In the end, it suggests that leading social networking sites might have a future that looks less like the next Google, and more like struggling or defunct early Internet firms like CompuServe, Netscape or AOL.

Access the July/August 2008 issue of Technology Review at www.technologyreview.com.

A prototype robot that can help monitor climate change will be tested on the Juneau Icefield the week of June 7-13. The “snowmote” is a small two-foot long robot like a snowmobile. It is autonomous (not remote-controlled) and outfitted with sensors, gauges and cameras.

Georgia Tech associate professor Ayanna Howard, who developed the prototype, is scheduled to arrive in Juneau on June 7.  “In order to say with certainty how climate change affects the world’s ice, scientists need accurate data points to validate their climate models,” said Howard.  “Our goal was to create rovers that could gather more accurate data to help scientists create better climate models. It’s definitely science-driven robotics.”

The Juneau visit marks the first time the robot will be put to the test in Alaska.  Howard envisions SnoMotes roving Antarctica collecting important data. Simulations so far have proved effective.

Howard is being hosted by UAS Environmental Science professor Matt Heavner.  “The NASA funded SEAMONSTER project at UAS is serving as a sensor web test bed, and we have been able to collaborate with two different research groups through the NASA funding:  Dr. Ayanna Howard's Snowmote Robot project from Georgia Tech and Dr. Dipa Sura's sensor web control software project from Lockheed Marting/VanderbiltUniversity.  Several UAS faculty and students are interacting with both of these groups,” said Heavner. SEAMONSTER stands for Southeast Alaska Monitoring Network for Science Telecommunications Education and Research.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks announced the creation of the Susan Butcher Institute, dedicated to cultivating public service and leadership skills for Alaska's residents.  The institute will provide Alaskans with opportunities to learn and grow, both personally and professionally, through a wide variety of workshops and seminars.

Butcher’s husband, David Monson, will serve as the institute’s first executive director. Monson will develop a range of programs intended to inspire people, especially youths and emerging leaders, to improve their own communities through public service, volunteerism and taking on new challenges. The institute expects to offer the programs on a regular basis starting in fall 2010.  Butcher was a longtime Alaskan and accomplished outdoorswoman who once summited Mount McKinley by dog team with Iditarod co-founder Joe Redington Sr. She died of acute myelogenous leukemia in 2006.