1st Edition

Capability Building and Global Innovation Networks

Edited By Michael Gastrow, Glenda Kruss Copyright 2016
    140 Pages
    by Routledge

    138 Pages
    by Routledge

    This book explores the dynamics of global innovation networks and their implications for development. Knowledge is often seen as the main determinant of economic growth, competitiveness and employment. There is a strong causal interaction between capability building and the growth in demand for, and supply of, technical and organizational innovation. This complex of skills, knowledge and innovation holds great potential benefit for development, particularly in the context of developing countries. However, despite evidence of the increasing importance of knowledge and innovation, there has been relatively little research to understand the distribution and coordination of innovation and knowledge-intensive economic activities on a global scale – and what this might mean for economic development.

    Each chapter – though sharing an underlying conception of innovation systems, innovation networks and their relation to capability-building and development – takes a different theoretical stance. The authors explore the emerging relationship between competence building and the structure of global innovation networks, thus providing a valuable new perspective from which to critically assess their development potential.

    This book was originally published as a special issue of Innovation and Development.

    1. Introduction: global innovation networks, human capital, and development Michael Gastrow and Glenda Kruss

    2. Competences as drivers and enablers of globalization of innovation: the Swedish ICT industry and emerging economies Cristina Chaminade and Claudia De Fuentes

    3. The globalization of innovation in the Danish food industry: exploitation and exploration of emerging markets Stine Jessen Haakonsson

    4. Building capabilities through global innovation networks: case studies from the Brazilian automotive industry Ana Valéria Carneiro Dias, Maria Cecília Pereira and Gustavo Britto

    5. Multinational strategies, local human capital, and global innovation networks in the automotive industry: case studies from Germany and South Africa Jo Lorentzen and Michael Gastrow

    6. New trends in an old sector: exploring global knowledge and HR management in MNCs and the North–South divide in human capital formation Eike W. Schamp and Andreas Stamm

    7. Skills and the formation of global innovation networks: a balancing act Michael Gastrow and Glenda Kruss

    Biography

    Michael Gastrow is a Senior Research Specialist in the Education and Skills Development programme at the Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa. His research focuses on innovation systems, skills development, and the public understanding of science.

    Glenda Kruss is a Director in the Education and Skills Development programme at the Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa. Her research focuses on higher education, innovation and development, exploring responsiveness to economic and social needs, and skills development.