Technical expertise, lack

Within firms, the hybrid or matrix concept has become increasingly fashionable in pharmaceutical companies. Project teams are created that comprise membership from departments with specific technical, organizational, and management expertise. Such teams form and dissolve as the need arises. In principle, advantages of the matrix structure include cross-disciplinary enrichment of the team s activities and crossfertilization of expertise. Disadvantages of the matrix system include a relative lack of professional development for specific technical expertise for each team member, the potential for cross-departmental rivalry, and competition for each team member s time based on the needs of the interdisciplinary project versus those of his/her technical "home" department (Verona and Ravasi 2003). These multi-functional teams have the potential to increase bureaucracy and delay innovation. At least on a small scale, it may be better to solve a problem with two people rather than with ten. 

The first response from Germany came from the Institut fur Zeit-geschichte (IfZ, Institute for Contemporary History)47 It was based on Pressac s work and was hardly useful due to the lack of technical expertise in the same.48... 

Actors may otherwise not have been included due to (1) their lack of scientific or technical expertise or (11) the decentralised parts of its regulatory structure. 

Barriers to entry into the pseudocommodity business include all the barriers for commodities plus the all-important customer know-how. Lack of technical expertise and patent protection can be formidable barriers to potential producers of a pseudocommodity. Du Pont was the sole producer of nylon from 1939 to 1951. Barriers to entry were removed under threat of government antitrust action in 1951, with the licensing of Chemstrand, which later became part of Monsanto. Since then a number of companies have entered the nylon business. Technical know-how and patent protection played a major role in both high- and low-pressure polyethylene manufacture in the years shortly after World War II. ICI developed polyethylene, but Union Carbide had a superior high-pressure process. Ziegler, Du Pont, and Phillips Petroleum all developed low-pressure processes, which they subsequently licensed to other manufacturers. Many pseudocommodities eventually become commodities by the diffusion of technology, standardization of the product, and the entry of many firms into the business. 

Many of the poorer countries in East and Southeast Asia lack the technical expertise and instrumentation to set up adequate acid rain and air quality monitoring networks. Clearly, there is a need for international assistance in terms of providing training and financial resources to these countries. 

The Columbia Accident Investigation Board fingered the issue of a lack of deference to expertise as a key contributor to the Columbia accident. NASA s culture of bureaucratic accountability emphasized chain of command, procedure, following the rules, and going by the book. While rules and procedures were essential for coordination, they had an unintended negative effect. Allegiance to hierarchy and procedure had replaced deference to NASA engineer s technical expertise (CAIB, 2003 200). 

Having lost the battle to inspect German plants, the representatives of the industry turned their attention to the provisions of the peace treaty, which also had them concerned about the lack of technical expertise in the American peace mission. Initially, the American manufacturers rejected all attempts to bring German dyes into the United States under the reparations provisions of the treaty. They resented the competition not just of German dyes but of apparently free German dyes. They acquiesced to reparations dyes for two reasons. First, they worried about extra reparations dyes in the hands of their competitors in Allied countries. On the issue of dyes, the textile industries held sway over the delegations... 

The CAA lacks the technical expertise, resources, and organization to license or oversee air carrier operations ... 

Operational Constraints and Problems. Synthetic ammonia manufacture is a mature technology and all fundamental technical problems have been solved. However, extensive know-how in the constmction and operation of the faciUties is required. Although apparendy simple in concept, these facihties are complex in practice. Some of the myriad operational parameters, such as feedstock source or quaUty, change frequendy and the plant operator has to adjust accordingly. Most modem facihties rely on computers to monitor and optimize performance on a continual basis. This situation can produce problems where industrial expertise is lacking. 

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