Global Innovation Networks Research Articles

Global Production Networks and Global Innovation Networks: Stability Versus Growth

This paper works with global production network (GPN) as compared to global innovation network (GIN) theory and focuses on the global information and communication technologies (ICT), specifically the hard disk drive (HDD) aspects of that system. In this respect it has a double distinction to examine: it concerns complex socio-economic and political governance processes focused upon innovation, argued by many to be the guiding principle of the construction of economic advantage in the contemporary era and it utilizes theory to capture important contrasts in the condition of key and changing building blocks in the global ICT industry. Methodologically, it is qualitative and necessarily so, based in this instance on much secondary information interpretation and some interviews. The larger project of which these findings are a small part had a balance of the two methods of inquiry. Empirically, the paper finds that GPN set-ups are not particularly innovation-inducing, tend to stabilizing over the long term and firm growth is largely by acquisition. The contemporary global ICT system is, by contrast, endogenously innovative, far from stable and has greater developmental potential because of its key GIN characteristic, which is its capacity for novelty.

The relationship between international innovation collaboration, intramural R&D and SMEs’ innovation performance: a quantile regression approach

In the current global economic landscape, it is virtually impossible for any single firm to stay abreast of all relevant technological advances. Thus integration in global innovation networks is becoming more and more important for competitiveness and growth. However, the fact that international collaboration is organizationally demanding raises important questions concerning the relative importance of international collaboration and intramural R&D for innovation performance, and how they interact in determining it. These questions are particularly relevant in the context of SMEs due to the narrower internal knowledge bases of smaller organizations. In the following they are investigated using Norwegian innovation survey data and quantile regression. Firms in the upper quantile of the innovation performance distribution face a trade-off between engaging in global innovation collaboration and engaging in systematic R&D, where both individually have a positive effect. This is consistent with baseline OLS findings. By contrast, firms in the lower quantiles of the distribution are found to strengthen their performance by means of R&D only. Consequently, the baseline OLS regression results fail to capture the determinants of innovation performance for the population of SMEs that are not already strong innovation performers. This leads to a risk of excessive SME innovation policy emphasis on inducing international collaboration.

Global interactions between firms and universities

This paper investigates interactions between firms and universities in a global context. The point of departure is a review of the ever-evolving literature on innovation. Three major strands of the literature can be identified: interactions between firms and universities, transnational corporations and their global reach, and more recently, global innovation networks (GINs). These strands have intersections that provide a starting point for a theoretical framework presented in order to assist the analysis of the role of universities in innovation networks, and the ways in which emerging countries are inserted into global hierarchies. Underlying the framework is the notion that the nature of national innovation systems shapes the national role in existing innovation networks. Therefore, immature national innovation systems will be associated with immature or incomplete GINs.

Open Global Innovation Networks as Enablers of Frugal Innovation: Propositions Based on Evidence from India

Recent years have seen the emergence of low-cost innovations targeted at economically weaker sections of the society, seeking to align business with social welfare. In many instances, results on the ground have been, however, rather sobering as firms have generally (probably justifiably) worried that 'good quality, low price' products may cannibalize into their regular business. At the same time those very customers that were intended to benefit from the new approach have tended to shy away fearing low quality and social stigma of using cheap products. Using multiple case studies of successful affordability-driven innovations ('frugal innovations') from India we investigate how firms can effectively reduce market and technology uncertainty of product innovations targeted at price-sensitive customers. The key criteria to success seem to lie in reducing the overall cost of ownership and enhancing customer perception of quality and image. The case studies reveal that affordability-driven innovations are especially successful when firms seek recourse to open global innovation networks (OGINs) for collaborative development in all phases of the innovation value chain.

NanoŠmano Lab in Ljubljana: disruptive prototypes and experimental governance of nanotechnologies in the hackerspaces

New forms of co-working spaces and community labs, such as Hackerspaces and Fablabs, but also open science and citizen science initiatives, by involving new actors often described as makers, tinkerers, and hackers enable innovation and research outside the walls of academia and industry. These alternative and global innovation networks are test beds for studying new forms of public engagement and participation in emergent scientific fields, such as nanotechnology. The article shows how these grassroots and Do-It-Yourself (DIY) or Do-It-With- Others (DIWO) research subcultures connect politics with design, community building with prototype testing, and how they establish an experimental approach for policy deliberation. We will consider a case study of a temporary, ad hoc and mobile NanoŠmano Lab in Ljubljana, Slovenia, which specializes in nanoscale materials and designs, to demonstrate the potential of prototypes and collective tinkering to become models for public involvement in emergent science and technology fields. This Hackerspace model of governance offers an alternative to the usual route of disruptive innovation, which starts in the R&D laboratory where it waits to be scrutinized by some government or regulatory body and be utilized by a start-up or mega corporation, and only then be safely taken up by the public. Hackerspaces operate through “disruptive prototypes” that create decentralized and nonlinear value chains and interactions between research, design and policy. Adoption of technology goes hand in hand with collective tinkering, and deliberation and assessment are happening simultaneously while prototyping. In this sense, disruptive prototypes can be said to support experimental governance. This policy closely follows some recent calls for “greater reflexiveness in the R&D process” via anticipatory policy and real-time assessment approaches, rather than more common, timeworn precautionary principles.

Global technological collaboration network: network analysis of international co-inventions

Global innovation networks are emerging as a result of the international division of innovation processes through, among others, international technological collaborations. At the aggregate level, the creation of technological collaboration between countries can be considered as mutually beneficial (or detrimental) and their random distribution is unlikely. Consequently, the dynamics and evolution of the technological collaborations can be expected to fulfil the criteria of a complex network. To study the structure and evolution of the global technological collaboration network, we use patent-based data of international co-inventions and apply the network analysis. In addition, extending the gravity model of international technological collaboration by network measures, we show that a country’s position in the network has very strong impact on the intensity of collaboration with other countries.

Building capabilities through global innovation networks: case studies from the Brazilian automotive industry

Internationalization of R&D towards developing countries has created innovation network configurations that are truly global. These global innovation networks (GINs) are set up in developing countries for technological or market reasons. Sometimes firms in a country are integrated for market reasons, and are responsible only for the adaptation of products for local conditions, but over time, the very fact of being part of a GIN increases their technological capabilities and they start conducting more significant innovation. In order to examine how this local innovation capability may evolve and what new capabilities are built in the process, we investigated the Brazilian automotive industry. We conducted case studies in subsidiaries of one large European automotive original equipment manufacturer and four automotive systems suppliers. Results confirmed that due to specificities of the local technological learning process, becoming part of a GIN has significantly contributed to enhance local innovation capabilities.

Competences as drivers and enablers of globalization of innovation: the Swedish ICT industry and emerging economies

This paper explores the relationship between competences and global innovation networks in the Swedish ICT industry. More specifically this paper combines econometric techniques and case study analysis to capture the interplay between firm level competences (competences as enablers), the availability of competences in the host country (competences as drivers), and the specific strategy of the firm for engaging in global innovation networks. Our results show that for Swedish ICT firms, firm-level competences are an important enabler for globalization of innovation, particularly for offshoring. Home regional competences also play an important role for the mode of globalization of innovation that firms engage in. Host regional competences are important drivers for globalization of innovation, particularly for offshoring and collaboration. The results suggest that the breadth and depth of competences available in host countries actually determine the type of innovation activities that the subsidiary performs, as well as the role that it plays in the global innovation strategy of the company.

Skills and the formation of global innovation networks: a balancing act

In seeking to understand the linkages between skill development and the formation of global innovation networks (GINs), we develop an analytical framework that incorporates concepts of dynamic upgrading with the distinction between centripetal and centrifugal forces that act to expand or contract these networks. Using a multiple case-study analysis methodology, we find that on the whole innovation follows skills, which act as a centrifugal force distributing innovation around the globe. Our cases also reveal that this general pattern overlays many other influential factors at the macro, meso, and micro levels, including factors related to skill availability, market characteristics, sectoral characteristics, policy contexts, and micro-level determinants. While these factors are influential, in principle, in shaping GINs, within each individual network, there is a unique and complex interaction between particular sets of forces.

Multinational strategies, local human capital, and global innovation networks in the automotive industry: case studies from Germany and South Africa

This paper focuses on the relationship between strategies of Northern and Southern firms, mostly multinational enterprises (MNEs), and human capital in Southern host countries in the automotive supply industry and the implications of this relationship both for the management of technological change and for the constitution of global innovation networks (GINs). Using a case-study approach drawing on firm-level interviews in both the home country (Germany) and the host country (South Africa), we find that the offshoring of knowledge-intensive activities is beginning to appear in an industry that is known more than others for centralizing most such activity close to headquarter locations and always in developed economies. It is also evident that the extension of GINs is not just based on Northern MNEs taking advantage of advanced capabilities in developing countries. Firms from the South, too, inshore the relevant knowledge through the acquisition of strategic assets in the North.

The globalization of innovation in the Danish food industry: exploitation and exploration of emerging markets

The internationalization of innovation in the food industry is becoming increasingly oriented towards emerging markets. Innovative lead firms express a need for ‘tapping into knowledge’ by collaborating with research facilities, customers and suppliers in these new locations. European firms experience a push towards market expansion and knowledge generation directed at emerging markets. This results in new network constructs: global innovation networks. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it identifies and outlines the determining factors behind the internationalization of innovation due to the need to access new markets and knowledge. This unfolds through strategies of exploitation and exploration. Second, it investigates the extent to which these strategies connect to position in the value chain and factors in the host economy. In this, the potential impact at the receiving end of the offshore equation is also addressed. Through an analysis of the Danish food industry, the paper concludes that the internationalization of innovation is an emergent phenomenon predominantly associated with exploration strategies. As much as exploitation may neither rely on nor develop local technological capabilities, exploration seeks and engages with local capabilities in the host economy.

Global innovation networks, human capital, and development

In this Special Issue, we explore the dynamics of global innovation networks (GINs), and their implications for development. In the neo-Shumpeterian and ‘new trade theory’ context, knowledge is see...

China's Regional Inequality in Innovation Capability, 1995–2006

AbstractThis paper assesses both interregional and intraregional innovation inequality in China from 1995 to 2006. It is revealed that the east–central–west inequality has increased over time, whereas the inter‐provincial inequality showed a V‐pattern until 2003; Both inequality measures oscillated from 2004 to 2006. Using a decomposition framework recently developed by one of the authors, we determined that the major factors driving innovation inequality are population, economic development level, R&D, location and openness. The aggravated innovation inequality reflects the growth of China's innovation centers in the eastern region and their admission into the global innovation networks. The fact that R&D is a major factor driving the inequality suggests that, considered in the present study, the efficiency of R&D investment improved in certian regions during the period (1995–2006). Finally, geographic location and openness affect innovation inequality primarily through the coupled evolution of innovation capability and economic development, resulting in first‐mover advantages to provinces of the eastern region.

Frugal Innovation: A Global Networks’ Perspective

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Intellectual Property Rights and South-North Formation of Global Innovation Networks

This paper explores the role of IPR protection in the emergence of R&D linkages from newly emerging economies. Using data from a new survey on Chinese and Indian firms in the ICT sector, we find IPR protection to be key in the engagement of Southern firms in global innovation networks. A complementary exercise uses global bilateral patent data to investigate the location-specificity of IPR enforcement for this phenomenon. We find that a stringent IPR regime in the North (South) discourages (encourage) foreign patenting activities of firms in the South, suggesting that a global convergence of IPRs can stimulate Southern innovation.

Global Clusters of Innovation: The Case of Israel and Silicon Valley

Clusters of Innovation (COI) do not exist in isolation. The most successful are often those that most effectively exploit global linkages to other innovation clusters. In fact, COI demonstrate a special affinity for connections with resources and partners in like clusters. This article illustrates how the innovation patterns in a COI can be enhanced through international connections by specifically focusing on the dynamics of the relationship between clusters of innovation. It also presents a framework to analyze regional and global innovation clusters and networks and analyzes the Israel/Silicon Valley Super-COI as a case study of situating the cluster a global context.

Intellectual Property Rights and South-North Formation of Global Innovation Networks

With the rise of the knowledge economy; delivering sound innovation policies requires a thorough understanding of how knowledge is produced and diffused. This paper takes a step to analyze a new form of globalization; the so-called system of Global Innovation Networks (GINs); to shed light on how the protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs) influences their creation and development. We focus on the role of IPR protection in fostering international innovative activities in emerging economies (South); such as China and India; and more generally; how IPRs affect the development of GINs between newly industrialized countries and OECD countries. Using both survey-based firm-level and country-level global data; we find IPRs to be an important determinant of participation in GINS from a Southern perspective. We find IPR protection at home and its harmonization across county pairs foster South-North formation of GINs. We also find that a stringent regime in the destination country discourages foreign international innovative activities that originate in NICs. Both levels of our analysis confirm the ICT industry; particularly the hardware segment; to rely on IPRs when engaging in the international outsourcing and offshoring of innovation or in patenting activities abroad.

Connecting local entrepreneurial ecosystems to global innovation networks: open innovation, double networks and knowledge integration

Corporate research and development (R&D) and knowledge networks of large and small firms are responding to widespread availability of talent and diverse knowledge. Much of this dispersed knowledge arises from entrepreneurial activity, originating in universities, research institutes and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Three important approaches have been introduced recently to understand R&D strategy in the context of global or metanational networks: open innovation, knowledge integration and a double network structure. The contribution of this paper is to analyse these approaches as affecting and affected by the presence of regional innovative ecosystems and their attraction as locations of R&D. This suggests a simultaneous need for local and global, as well as internal and external, knowledge integration.

Upgrading through innovation in a small network economy: insights from Taiwan's IT industry

This paper analyzes the recent experience of Taiwan's information technology (IT) industry to explore the challenges and opportunities faced by a small economy that is deeply integrated into global networks of production and innovation. I introduce a conceptual framework to examine how specialization, learning (‘absorptive capacity’) and innovation enhance the potential for industrial upgrading. Finding the right balance between firm-level and industry-level upgrading and between domestic and international elements is a moving target and requires permanent adjustments to changes in markets and technology. Three findings distinguish this paper from prior work. First, absorptive capacity is critical for Taiwan's attempts to upgrade its IT industry through innovation. Second, Taiwanese firms now must increase R&D to avoid diminishing returns of network integration. Third, integration into diverse networks of production and innovation may well provide new lower-cost opportunities for ‘industrial upgrading through innovation’. ‘Technology diversification’, which combines incremental and architectural innovations, can serve as a complementary and arguably less costly option to ‘technology leadership’ strategies.

Introduction To Open Technology Innovation Strategies

An open technology innovation strategy can be characterised as a proactive combination of intra-institutional strengths and external opportunities of a market in order to create more complex technology solutions by exploiting capacities, capabilities and know-how of another institution (another company, university, research institution, etc.). This strategy may also postulate new market, industry, region, or culture penetration and concurrently has to require new business models. The main research questions of this article are stated as follows: What are the main drivers, key barriers, successful factors, main questions and basic typology of OI strategies in general? The issue of global innovation networks is outlined at the end of the article. The research was based on an extensive literature review, discussion with experts and several case studies (Apple, Nintendo, Nokia, etc.).