School of Public Policy and Economic Development Institute Georgia Institute of Technology

Workshop on Manufacturing Modernization: Learning from Evaluation Practices and Results
September 11-12, 1996, Aberdeen Woods, Atlanta, Georgia

Introduction and Context - Philip Shapira, Georgia Institute of Technology

Session 1: What do we expect from the evaluation of industrial modernization? Context for evaluation and its uses - national, state, and program perspectives.

• Jack Russell, The Modernization Forum, MI - The Value of Manufacturing Extension Programs in America
• Susan Rhoades, Delaware Development Office, DE - State Views of the Importance of Manufacturing Extension Programs
• Chris Thompson, Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership, WI - Exploring "Taxpayer-Payback Evaluation" of Manufacturing Extension with the Wisconsin Model

Session 2: Parameters of Manufacturing Performance. What are the technological and modernization needs of U.S. manufacturers, particularly small and mid-size enterprises? Where are the gaps? This panel will highlight new work on trends in technology use and manufacturing practice in U.S. firms, consider needs and gaps, and discuss implications for the justification and implementation of modernization policies.

• Paul Swamidass, Auburn University, AL - Practices and Performance of Small and Larger U.S. Manufacturers: Issues and Implications
• Brad Jensen, U.S. Bureau of the Census, D.C. - Firm Performance and Evolution: Empirical Regularities in the U.S. Microdata
• Dan Luria, Industrial Technology Institute, MI - Toward Lean or Rich: What Performance Benchmarking Tells Us About SME Performance and Some Implications for Extension Center Services and Mission

Session 3: Evening Session - Keynote Presentation. The influence of evaluation on technology policy-making and program justification.

• Rick Carlisle, Office of the Governor of North Carolina, NC
• Respondent: Barry Bozeman, Georgia Institute of Technology

Session 4: Rival Hypotheses. Discussion of rival explanations for changes in SME technological and business performance, drawing on quantitative and qualitative studies that analyze the impacts of extension services with controls for competing factors.

• Ron Jarmin, U.S. Bureau of the Census, D.C. - Measuring the Impact of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership
• Eric Oldsman, Nexus Associates, MA - Impact of the New York Manufacturing Extension Program: A Quasi-Experiment
• Jan Youtie, Georgia Tech Economic Development Institute - Towards a Cross-Case Analysis of Exemplary Engagements by MEP Centers

Session 5: Technology Deployment and Market Failure. Are modernization and technology deployment programs addressing clearly-defined market failures in the industrial economy, including information deficits, incomplete time horizons, and capital gaps? And, what are the spillover effects from program intervention on the wider economy?

• David Roessner, Georgia Institute of Technology, GA - Evaluation of the Iowa State University's Center for Advanced Technology Development
• Irwin Feller, Penn State University, PA - Methods for Estimating Spillover Effects of Industrial Extension Programs
• Commentator: David Sears, National Institute of Standards and Technology, MD.

Session 6: Differing Values in Program Justification How can evaluation studies and systems deal with differing stakeholder perspectives, expectations, and time horizons?

• David Burress, University of Kansas, KS - Social Welfare Functions in Benefit-Cost Analysis: The ROPI Approach
• Denis Gray, North Carolina State University, NC - Issues in Establishing System-wide Evaluations: Program Centered Evaluation and the National Science Foundation's Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers
• Commentator: Ned Ellington, Georgia Manufacturing Extension Alliance, GA.

Session 7: Implications for the MEP System.

Roundtable Comments with NIST staff and others - Ruth Haines, National Institute of Standards and Technology, MD