::The Center for Paper Business and Industry Studies::

Research Themes

The Center's research program aims to develop and disseminate industry-relevant knowledge through direct, observation-based methods that focus on five core themes of major concern to pulp and paper firms:

the globalization of the Industry, a process that raises strategic questions for this highly traditional, region-based branch of the economy;
enterprise effectiveness, involving the US industry's struggle to develop management structures and practices that will enable it to remain competitive internationally;
workplace transformation, which involves organizational changes aimed at developing newer and more flexible work systems that can achieve the higher levels of quality and productivity the Industry will require;
innovation, centering on how firms might better harness their scientific and technical knowledge for product or process innovation; and finally,
the community, involving the complex interactions between firms and the social, organizational, and political environments in which they are embedded.

Each of these research initiatives have been designed to address a strategic aspect of one or more core themes. Each has been designed in close consultation with industry leaders, who have agreed to provide key supports for the research. Thus, firms will play important roles in arranging research access for the projects, evaluating the research output from each project, and providing funding both for the Center and individual projects.