The deviant's advantage

Sample

Fumio Kodama

Kodama uses the concept of a techno-paradigm shift to express the radical changes in the way technology has been and continues to be developed, applied, and commercialized over time. In analyzing data gathered over ten years of intensive research and study of Japanese firms, he distinguishes six dimensions along which the shift is occurring: manufacturing, business diversification, R&D competition, product development, innovation pattern, and societal diffusion of technology. He illuminates his discussion of each dimension with a profile of specific technologies and the companies that have advanced them, including consumer electronics (Sony and Toshiba), fiber optic cables (Sumitomo Electric), computers and communications equipment (NEC), machine tools (Fanuc), and automobile parts (Honda, Toyota, and Nissan). The concepts presented in Emerging Patterns of Innovation not only have implications for the competitive strategies of non-Japanese firms and the economic policies of their corresponding nations, but could also help promote important international alliances in technological development at both the business and the national levels. In particular, Kodama describes his vision of option sharing, through which it is possible to resolve the tensions between international cooperation and national autonomy as well as to promote a nonprotectionist, "plus-sum game" in technological innovation that would benefit the world as a whole.

Sample

Michael Margolis

"Believe Me introduces you to 15 storytelling axioms that will change how you think about your work. Axioms like: people don't really buy your product, solution, or idea, they buy the stories that are attached to it. If you're a change-maker or innovator, this book sheds new light on how to shift perceptions and get others to believe in what you're doing. Each axiom is supported by examples and inspired quotes from recognized luminaries."--

Sample

Elias G. Carayannis and Jeffrey M. Alexander

"Global/local networks coupling together different national innovation systems, and transnationally linking networks of knowledge producers, carriers and users, are becoming crucial components of the global, real and virtual, knowledge architectures and infrastructures. Global and Local Knowledge is a journey of insight and discovery in the emerging global "knowledge village". Perspectives from different parts of the world are presented to produce a new world view on how specialized knowledge can serve as the unit of reference for stocks and flows of a hybrid public/private, tacit/codified, tangible/virtual good that represents the building block of the knowledge economy."--Jacket.

Sample

Pier Paolo Saviotti

Technological Evolution, Variety and the Economy discusses the fundamental role played by qualitative change in economic development, the contribution made by technological change and innovation, and the theoretical analysis of these phenomena in terms of evolutionary theories. Pier Paolo Saviotti's major new book goes beyond studying the effects of technological change on known economic variables. In addressing the actors and mechanisms of technological change, Dr Saviotti focuses first on changes in product technology and then examines the evolution of organizations with special reference to their use of information and knowledge. Using an evolutionary framework, he develops a model of technological evolution based on replicator dynamics which explicitly introduces these key actors and mechanisms. An in-depth discussion of the present state of evolutionary theories focuses on their methodological foundations and applicability to learning in organizations.