ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on specific empirical researches which provide support for the study's conceptualization and research approach to the investigation of energy management. Bower's study examines the forces which influence the capital investment process in a large private corporation. Bower's study is the most comprehensive treatment of the subject in the strategic planning process literature. Litschert attempted to measure the effect of the technological environment, company size, and organization structure on firms' long range planning within a single industry. Ackerman has conducted the most comprehensive study regarding processes by which large multidivisional firms integrate into their regular operating procedures responses to major social changes. The chapter examines the literature on the innovation adoption process. The innovation model employed by Marquis and Myers consists of three stages: idea generation and formulation; problem solving, and implementation. The work of Mansfield and his associates constitutes the most comprehensive economic analysis of the phenomena of technical change and the diffusion of technical innovations.