Federal R and D Reductions, Market Share, and Aerospace Information Usage

5 Pages·2000·0.4 MB·English

by  Rocker, JoAnne

.¢
AIAA 2001-0134
FEDERAL R&D REDUCTIONS, MARKET SHARE, AND AEROSPACE INFORMATION USAGE
JoAnne Rocker and George Roncaglia
NASA Langley Research Center
Hampton, VA
ABSTRACT period of reduced federal spending for aerospace R&D,
the U.S. global market share has fallen. The U.S.
Reductions in federally funded research have a aerospace products and services industry remains a
rippling effect over the entire aerospace industry. The strong economic performer, however, foreign
decline in federal R&D spending in aerospace in recent competitors continue to make gains in the marketplace.
years coincides with declines in U.S. aerospace market
share. One of the lesser-understood factors in the FEDERAL R&D REDUCTIONS AND MARKET
declining U.S. market share may be the differing ways SHARE
and intensity with which the U.S. and its competitors
approach another trend, the increasing availability of Federal funding for aerospace research fluctuated
large amounts of aerospace research information on the dramatically during the last three administrations.
World Wide Web. The U.S. has been a pioneer in During the Carter administration federal funding for
making research information available in electronic aerospace R&D was 15%. This rose to over 20% during
form, and the international community has long been a the Reagan administration, but reached a low of 8% in
heavy consumer of that information. In essence, the the Clinton administration. (AIA, 2000) The downward
U.S. contributes to the research efforts of its trend of federal funding corresponds to the steady
competitors, thus contributing to foreign aerospace decline of U.S. market share during the same period.
consortiums efforts to gain market share in the
aerospace industry, This may be a cautionary note to the The National Research Council's Recent Trends in
U.S. aerospace industry to consider the use of R&D U.S. Aeronautics Research and Technology reports that
output in its own development and strategy because the the U.S. global market share fell from over 70% in the
foreign competition is using the U.S. scientific and mid-1980s to 55% in 1997. The numbers of unit orders
technical literature. of large commercial transport aircraft to Europe show a
descent from 73% in 1990 to 54% in 1998. (p. 7)
INTRODUCTION Further evidence of the loss of U.S. aerospace market
shares comes from the National Science Foundation
The aerospace industry faces both internal and (NSF) report, Science and Engineering Indicators 1998.
external challenges. Over the past two decades, the In it the report states that the aerospace industry was the
federal support for aerospace research and development only high-tech industry that lost market share from
has had some fluctuations but overall has declined. =The 1990-1995. Computers, pharmaceuticals, and
end of the Cold War lessened the federal funding for communications equipment all gained market share
military research and consequently, the aerospace during the same period. (p. 6-2)
portion of the support fell as a result. During the same
The once dominant U.S. aerospace industry is
facing the daunting task of staying on par with its
foreign competitors. Reductions in federal funding for
aerospace research certainly do not work in the favor of
U.S. competitiveness since companies take on the peril
Copyright © 2000 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and
of doing high-risk, high-cost research projects once
Astronautics,inc.Nocopyright isassertedintheUnited Statesunder
Title 17,U.S.Code.TheU.S.Governmenthasaroyalty-freelicense performed by the government. The far-reaching
to exercise all fights under the copyright claimed herein for consequences of reduced federal funding remain to be
Governmental Purposes. All other fights are reserved by the seen.
copyrightowner.
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American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
What makes technology unique as a strategic
TheU.S.aerospaicnedustryp'sresenptredicament variable is its considerable power to change the
oflosinggroundinthemarketplaccaennobteentirely competitive rules of the game. Technological
blameodnfewerfederarel searcdhollarsh,oweveIrt.is
change can be a great equalizer that nullifies the
a factorbut not thesolecauseof erodingU.S. advantages of incumbents and creates opportunities
prominenceO. ther factors like innovativeness, for newcomers and followers. Technological
governmenintterventionin the marketplacea,nd change is perhaps the single most important source
technicaclompetenccoemeintoplaywhenconsidering of major market share changes among competitors
whyforeigncompetitolriksetheEuropeaanrsegaining for this reason, and is probably the most frequent
markesthare. cause of the demise of entrenched dominant firms.
(Porter, p. 3)
If amounstspenotnresearcwheretheonlycriteria
forsuccestsh,eEuropeawnsouldnotbethethreatthat INFORMATION USAGE
theycurrentlyare.It is importantto notethatthe
Europeansspendlesson R&D thantheir U.S. Europeans are closing the gap on the U.S. by being
counterpartAs.ccordingto the NationalScience technically competitive; part of their success is
Foundatiotnh,eU.S."... accountfsorroughly44%of attributable to their use of external information sources
the industriawl orld'sR&D investmentottal and
like research journals and conference proceedings. They
continuetosoutdistancbey,morethan2to1,thetotal stay abreast of the latest developments in science and
researcinhvestmenmtsadebyJapanth,eseconldargest technology. In a knowledge intensive industry like
performer(.N" SF,p.4-3)TheU.S.spendmsorethan aerospace, scientific and technical information (STI)
anycountryintheworldonR&Dsowhyisn'ttheU.S. plays an important role in gaining advantage over
maintaininigtsplacein theaerospacmearketplace?competitors. The U.S. Office of Technology
SomethineglsemusatccounfotrtheEuropeaanbilityto Assessment (OTA) states in its report, _n_g America
gainmarketsharedespitelowerfundinglevelsfor Cornep_9._,that, "Scientific and technical advancements
research. are information-intensive, and those who know how to
obtain and use STI will have a competitive edge-
Europeanwsouldseemtobeadisadvantawgieth whether the competition is over market share or over
theU.S.whenitcometsocompetiningaglobaml arket intellectual leadership on global issues." (OTA, p. 8) In
becausoef thedifferenntationalitielsa,nguageasn,d the past, economic success was due to superior
culturesof the Airbus consortiummembers.
manufacturing processes and physical resources. Now
Heterogenepitryovetsoworktotheadvantagoefthe the world's economies are based on knowledge-based
Europeanhso,weveIrn.thepositiopnaperA,eronautical systems and services. The speed in which knowledge is
Research and Technology - A Strategic Imperative for "...created, diffused ... and absorbed or utilized
influences the rate of technical innovation and
Europ_¢_, the Confederation of European Aerospace
Societies (CEAS) defines its strengths: (1) Diversity of progress." (Pinelli et al., 1997, p. 87)
members of European R&T community. Multiple
nationalities in project groups creates positive Europeans are very aware of that innovation and
competition which produces high quality products; information go hand-in-hand as evident by their use of
(2) Strong collaborative ties among scientists and U.S. STI. The innovation process is contingent on
technologists. They know each other well and infusing new kinds of information into an organization.
communicate often; (3) Researchers and technologists In Kranzberg et al.'s (1977) analysis of information in
awareness and use of "pre-competitive" information the innovation process, they refer to incremental vs.
available in scientific and conference literature; and discontinuous R&D efforts. The terms refer to the level
(4) Highly skilled workers and cutting-edge research of technological change in an organization's products or
facilities. (CEAS, pp. 7-8) processes. Incremental improvements do not
significantly alter a product or process. An organization
Europeans maximize their strengths, their can usually rely on in-house expertise to make changes.
differences spurring innovation rather than killing it. In a discontinuous effort, the results are new products or
Innovation is key to economic success. In Michael E. scientific or technical breakthroughs. They go beyond
Porter's article on, "The Technological Dimension of an organization level of experience and competence.
Competitive Strategy", he describes how technology Discontinuous efforts come about from an
can shift the balance of power between competitors:
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American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
infusion of external information. In the case of the to rely first on internal knowledge rather than external
Europeans and Airbus, they borrow from the U.S. STI knowledge than they need to be encouraged and
efforts, incorporating that knowledge in their innovation educated in using STI.
process.
Another reason for the under use of STI is its
U.S. AIDS COMPETITORS availability. Engineers choose information sources
based upon accessibility. Kaufman's study (1983)
Ironically, U.S. foreign competitors are using U.S. of the Factors to the Use of Technical Information in
produced STI to compete against the U.S. In this age of Engineering Problem Solving, found that engineers rank
high-tech industries and competitive market place, the technical quality or reliability before relevance;
U.S. is a major contributor to the success of its however, accessibility is the main selection criteria even
competitors. The U.S. R&D infrastructure with its if source is not useful. (Pinelli, 1991, p. 96)
federal laboratories, university systems, and industrial
research organizations outputs more STI than any other Finally, the federal government makes its own case
country in the world. In examining citation analysis of that the U.S. needs to make better use of its STI to
STI literature, countries cite more U.S. information compete in a global economy. In this instance, the
sources than their own. (NSF, 5-46) It's evident that the government is responsible for the lack of STI usage.
U.S. sponsored research enables other countries in their The Office of Technology Assessment's report,
own research efforts since they heavily cite U.S. America Compete, addresses the absence of an effective
sources. In a humanitarian sense, the U.S. research science and technology policy for the dissemination of
helps other countries that do not have the scientific STI. Information usage is impaired when government
infrastructure of the U.S. and this is a positive result. In STI is difficult to find and use. There is no central
an economic and competitive sense, the U.S. is fueling oversight for government produced STI; rather, each
the success of its competitors by the accessibility of its agency has its own mandates for disseminating
STI. Obviously, there are other factors in addition to information. The lack of centralized authority gives rise
STI diffusion that account for the success of other to varying degrees of effective STI distribution. Four
countries; however, knowing that STI makes a key areas need improvement in federal STI
difference should give U.S. aerospace industry members dissemination: implementing technical standards for
cause for concern. If the foreign competition is using databases and documents; indexing databases and
U.S. generated STI than the U.S. should maximize its documents for better retrieval of information; funding
own use of domestic and international STI. for STI activities in agency budgets to ensure
appropriate storage and dissemination of STI; and
LIMITED USE OF STI including end-user involvement in the development of
products and services. (OTA, p. 2) The report
There are reasons that suggest that the U.S. is not recommends the Office of Science and Technology
fully utilizing it's STI. Studies of information usage by Policy (OSTP) take a leadership role for governmental
scientists and engineers found that engineers prefer STI. OTA's report recommends ways to improve
informal modes of information gathering such as government STI dissemination thus improving the
colleagues versus more formalized modes like accessibility and usage of STI.
consulting librarians for help in finding information. In
Pinelli's study (1991) of the use of government BARRIERS TO FINDING INFORMATION
technical reports by U.S. aerospace engineers and
scientists in AIAA, respondents answered questions STI is difficult and time-consuming to locate
about using information sources. The engineers considering the multitude of sources available in print
preferred using their own personal experiences or and on the web. For example, to find academic
asking colleagues before going to the technical information, researchers must go to print or e-journals.
literature. This study confirmed earlier studies by In order to find government information, they have to
Rosenbloom and Wolek (1970) that found that go to all of the following for a comprehensive search:
engineers relied more on internal information sources the Government Printing Office (GPO), National
than external ones. (Pinelli, p. 99) Scientists, on the Technical Information Service (NTIS), and the
other hand, tend to use the professional literature more individual agencies. Industry information usually is not
for their work. If the natural tendency for engineers is publicly available because of trade secrets and
intellectual property concerns.
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American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
TheInternett,hougha marveloutsechnologicaltechnological and economic role as a global leader.
tool,compoundthseproblemoflocatinginformation. Why the competition is making gains should be of
Searchenginesoperatedifferentlyandresultsvary concern to aerospace policy makers and industry
dependinugponwhichsearchengineis usedW. eb leaders. Is it because the Europeans are spending more
searchenginestendto rankhits by relevancy. money than the U.S. on aerospace R&D? No, the U.S.
Relevanrcaynkingusesalgorithmtosweighwordusage still spends more than any other country on R&D.
tocomeupwithanordeorfimportancRee.levanmcyay Europeans are able to effectively compete with the U.S.
notfindthemostrelevanhtit howevebrecaustehe
despite fewer dollars spent on R&D.
overalclontenotfthesitemightmakeoneresulmt ore
relevantht ananotheRr.ankingbyrelevanciysnotas
The level of expertise and quality of products of
accuraatesonewouldbeleadtobelieve.
U.S. competitors accounts for the current situation. The
ThesizeofthewebisenormouEss.timatepslace foreign competition is catching up to the U.S. One
reason they are so successful at competing is that they
thesizeofthewebat800millionpagesT.herearealot
make effective use of aerospace STI. They seek out and
ofout-dateadnddefuncptagesC.urrenstearcehngines
utilize available STI literature most of which generate
donotindexeverypageof theweb.Theyindex
from the United States. The Europeans use technical
approximate1ly6%of thepublicpagessovaluable
intelligence to their advantage. Should not the U.S.
informatiomnaynotshowupinaresultsset.Subject
coveragbereakdowinnsdicat8e3%contaicnommercial
contenatnd6%arescientifiocreducation(aLl.awrence
According to information usage studies and the
andGiles1,999) federal government's own investigation of STI use, the
U.S. has to make better use of its STI. A preemptive
TheimpetufsorbetteurtilizatioonfSTIiscleabrut measure for the U.S. to take in lieu of reduced federal
barriersexist in findingthat informationM. ore funding levels would be to be more aggressive in
oversighatndmonewyillbenecessatorycreateabetter collecting and using aerospace technical intelligence.
disseminatiosntrategyby governmeangtencieTs.he Competitors like Europe and Japan are known for their
webisagreadt eliverytoolbutisnotnecessartihlye effective competitive intelligence programs. They
besrtetrievatol ol.Moreattentioinnhelpinrgesearchersactively seek STI like journal articles, technical reports,
findanduseSTIisnecessaorynpartofgovernment,data sets, and patents. They have proven that they do not
academiaan,dindustryresearcohrganizationIns.the need a research base the size and scope of the U.S. to
meantimaee, rospaicneformatiounsershaveaccestso effectively compete in bigh-tech industries.
relevanstourcefsor theirresearchF.irst,theycan
consulttheir institutionallibrariesor information
Foreign use of U.S. STI shows the value inherent in
centertshatorganizaendmakeaccessibinleformation
this information for they would not use it otherwise.
sourcefsortheiruseS. econdltyh,eyhaveanumbeorf
federawl eb-enableddatabasethseycansearchfor The U.S. aerospace industry needs to make the same
investment in STI especially in light of the steady
aerospaicneformationT.heycansearch(1: )NASA's
decline of federal research monies. Maximizing the use
ASAP-TRfSorcitationtsoNASAtechnicadlocuments
of technical information can only help companies stay
(http:llwww.sti.nasa.gov/AS(2A)PD/O);D'sSTINET
abreast of the market place and promote innovation. In
siteallowssearchinagndorderingof DODreports
the Competitiveness Policy Council's report,
(http:I/www.dtic.mil/stinaentdl)(;3)NTISisageneral
A Competitive America, it states, "America's
repositoryof documentfsromall the government
competitive problem reflects slow erosion rather than
agencie(shttp://ntis.govE/)v.entuallyte,chnologwyill
sudden crisis ... Pluralistic democratic societies such as
shortetnhetimeusershavetoexpenodninformation
ours - and perhaps especially ours - are not adept at
retrievalI.t is importantthatusersinvesttimein
responding to "termites in the woodwork." (p. 7)
technicainl telligencaectivitiesbecausteheirforeign
Aerospace products and services still provide the U.S. a
counterpaartrse.
positive balance of trade so perhaps that is why few feel
the impending crisis awaiting the aerospace industry.
CONCLUSIONS
The U.S. dominance in the aerospace industry is slowly
eroding and its highly successful competitors are the
The U.S. aerospace industry is in a struggle to
termites in the woodwork.
maintain its market share. At risk is the U.S.
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American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
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American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics