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The identification, acquisition, and utilisation of scientific and technical information is of paramount importance to the efficiency of the research and development (R&D) process. With the advances in information technology and information management, increased international participation in the aerospace field, and the realities of scarce resources for every nation, the strategies and benefits for international cooperation and resource sharing are readily apparent. With this in mind, a Working Group was established in 1994 to examine the issues, strategies, and actions required to develop a mechanism for improving the access to, and use of aerospace and aerospace‐related information by developing a self‐sustaining, worldwide network of partner organisations committed to sharing their data and information resources. The Working Group decided that the Internet would be the most suitable vehicle to provide such a mechanism and developed a prototype International Aerospace Information Network (IAIN) Web site, providing a catalogue of aerospace information sources from which information searches can be launched.

This paper aims to introduce and explore the creation, transfer, diffusion and application of knowledge in the Chinese context and the Chinese aerospace management modes, methodologies and mechanism, etc., based on the successful managerial experience of China’s aerospace. The paper then illustrates the current research domains and the future research opportunities in knowledge and aerospace management in China.

Review and reflection.

The Chinese knowledge management theory has achieved great development, the focus of which covers the whole chain from knowledge creation, knowledge transfer, knowledge sharing to knowledge application. However, Chinese aerospace management studies seem not so systematic, although some successful managerial practices and theories are being introduced. There is an opportunity to construct the Chinese aerospace management theory due to its features with general implications to high technology industries in China. Especially, integrating knowledge and aerospace, or studying aerospace from the perspective of knowledge, is a promising way of formulating a logic for deciphering China’s aerospace. It is also anticipated that qualitative methodology and Chinese traditional philosophy will be more popular in Chinese management studies.

This paper, by introducing some new research in knowledge management and aerospace management in China, outlines the current situations of Chinese knowledge and aerospace management research and sheds lights on the future research in aspects of research topics, research methodologies and Chinese traditional philosophy. For the first time, this paper provides the basic logic of Chinese knowledge management research and integrates Chinese aerospace management studies to reveal to the world the uniqueness and facts of China’s aerospace industry.

Downsizing in the aerospace industry is due to the cyclical nature of its business segments – defense and commercial. Erratic defense spending and fluctuations in commercial demand for aerospace products are the primary causes of this cyclical behavior. All employee groups are affected by aerospace downsizing initiatives, but the extent that each group is affected depends on product lifecycles. Economic impacts of aerospace downsizing efforts are substantial, both to the individual and communities, but are somewhat less today than in past years. As with all downsizing industries, the challenges of the aerospace industry include maintaining technological competitiveness in the areas of product development and human resources.

The purpose of this paper is to study the operational efficiency of aerospace industry in China and compare the difference in efficiency between the private aerospace enterprises and the state-owned aerospace enterprises. This paper enriches the study on evaluating the operational efficiency of aerospace industry and develops the theory on aerospace industry management.

The sample comprises all the aerospace enterprises listed in the A share market for which financial data are collected from the RESSET for subsequent analysis. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) and Malmquist productivity index (MPI) are used to derive findings.

The paper finds both the scale and the technical level of the industry increased during the period, and this was mainly due to the growth of the state-owned enterprises. However, with the increase of scale, the total factor productivity of the sample decreased. This was mainly because the performance of the leading enterprises regressed. Overall, the operational efficiency of the industry was still relatively low. By comparing the private enterprises and the state-owned enterprises, this paper finds, in terms of scale, the private enterprises were far lower than the state-owned enterprises. However, as for operational efficiency, the private was more efficient, which indicates an imbalance in the development of the industry.

This paper explores the operational efficiency across the Chinese aerospace industry, a focus currently lacking in research, presenting an overview of the industry and examining the difference in efficiency between the private aerospace enterprises and the state-owned aerospace enterprises to provide policymakers and managers with some practical suggestions to promote the development of the industry.

Federal attempts to stimulate technological innovation have been unsuccessful because of the application of an inappropriate policy framework that lacks conceptual and empirical knowledge of the process of technological innovation and fails to acknowledge the relationship between knowledge production, transfer, and use as equally important components of the process of knowledge diffusion. This article argues that the potential contributions of high‐speed computing and networking systems will be diminished unless empirically derived knowledge about the information‐seeking behavior of the members of the social system is incorporated into a new policy framework. Findings from the NASA/DoD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project are presented in support of this assertion.

The purpose of this paper is to present a definition of modern configuration for a medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (MALE UAV) and its on-board systems to obtain a suitable basis for future definitions such as a possible logistic support configuration first hypothesis.

Starting from high-level requirements, both the UAV conceptual design and on-board systems preliminary design have been carried out through proprietary tools. Then, some peculiarities from previous studies, such as systems advanced UAV alternative energy, have been maintained and confirmed (diesel propulsion and energy storage system).

The improvement of a component of an aircraft can play a relevant role in the whole system. In the paper, it is considered how a concept of MALE UAV can evolve (this topic is considered by the authors since many years) by incorporating advanced on-board systems concepts.

The numerical results promote and support the use of advanced on-board system solutions and architectures to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and performance of MALE UAVs.

Usually, conceptual and preliminary design phases analyze in-depth the aerodynamic and structural solutions and aircraft performance. In this study, the authors aim to focus on the advanced on-board systems for MALE UAVs. This kind of aircraft is not yet a mature concept, with very few operating machines and many projects in the development phase.

This paper aims to unravel the technological innovation pattern in China’s aerospace industry. The technological innovation pattern of China’s aerospace industry is identified and its theoretical foundation, structure, philosophy, formation and effects on the development of China’s aerospace industry are explored.

First, the theoretical foundation of synergy innovation of China’s aerospace industry is reviewed to further identify the technological innovation pattern. Second, Chinese ancient philosophy (dialectical thinking) is used to explain the structure and process of synergy innovation in China’s aerospace industry. Third, the formation process of synergy innovation is introduced, and, finally, the effects of synergy innovation are discussed.

The technological innovation pattern of China’s aerospace industry has undergone an evolutionary process. During this process, China’s aerospace firms have formed a unique technological innovation pattern, synergy innovation, under China’s special political and economic background. The synergy innovation has three characteristics, including original, integrated and application-based. The synergy innovation pattern application is one of the most important reasons behind the great achievements of China’s aerospace industry.

A unique technological innovation pattern, synergy innovation, is proposed for the first time. A new perspective for understanding innovation is provided by applying the Chinese dialectical thinking to decipher the philosophy of the technological innovation pattern. Based on this, this paper suggests that China’s aerospace industry should follow the situation and apply the synergy innovation pattern to achieve development and growth. This paper also illustrates a multi-method approach and emphasizes the different levels of organizing for innovation.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the core literature of aerospace studies and the databases necessary to ensure its coverage in a collection for aerospace scientists. The paper also aims to examine whether China has different needs from other countries.

A sequence of bibliometric analyses was used. Institutions and countries with high aerospace research productivity were identified from 4,290 papers published in “aerospace engineering” journals in Science Citation Index. Journal papers cited in these papers (14,618 extracted from 17,015 citations in all) were analyzed to discover the core source journals for aerospace research. The availability of the core journals in online databases determined necessary library provision for aerospace research.

The most productive aerospace research institutions are in China and the USA. Journals are the most important information resources. While 20 per cent of cited journals were discipline‐specific, 80 per cent were in related fields. Chinese researchers had similar resource needs to researchers from other countries. To provide for aerospace research, a library collection needs to include the databases of the field, and commercial and open access journals that cover aerospace engineering, related disciplines and the sciences in general.

The paper reveals the characteristics of the literature of the aerospace discipline for the first time. It identifies the core journals used by aerospace researchers and the bundle of online resources necessary to adequately provide for research in the field. The technique used can be applied to other disciplines.

Aerospace library collections are a well‐defined pan‐European subject, for which standardized access and interconnection can add enormously to their value over any one collection and allow libraries with less‐developed library services to improve these facilities and at the same time enable those which are more advanced to upgrade their systems. EURILIA, which was part of the EC Libraries Programme, aimed to enhance the Libraries′ R&D and education process which underpins the aerospace sector by establishing a new service based on researched user information needs and development of a standardized pan‐European system for information access, retrieval, image browsing and document delivery.

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that synergy between firms and local institutions may lead to success even in an economic environment which cannot offer competitive advantages to high tech industrial clustering. However, the condition for such a complex result is convergence between cluster‐based regional development policy, the related industry national strategy and the central government preferential policy for less developed areas.

The experiences selected as case studies are the Xi'an National Civil Aerospace Base in Shaanxi Province (China) and CampaniAerospace in Campania region (Italy). As information was gathered both through policy documents (China and Italy) and direct interviews to cluster's stakeholders (Italy), the outcome is, according to the criteria suggested by Eisenhardt and Yin, a qualitative research. Comparing economic data provided by the respective countries' Statistical Offices, the authors assessed that Shaanxi Province and the Campania region share a “peripheral” position within their respective national context. Starting from this, the authors analyzed the formal documents which reported the experience of the two clusters.

The finding is that the outcome (the status of cluster which is assumed as “a value in itself”) of the convergence between firms' will to gain agglomeration advantages and the policymakers' plan to redress interregional economic disparities is definitely not an efficiency‐driven process. In the high tech sectors which are very sensitive to the increasing competition for technology on the international market, the pursuit of efficiency may, on the contrary, be dissipated.

As attested by the comparative literature, aims and performance of industrial clusters differ in accordance with the stage of economic development as well as the institutional and regulatory framework. The paper demonstrates, however, that in the take‐off stage, it is the position occupied by the host region within the national context which determines the behaviour of the actors concerned as well as the outcome of their commitment.