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The purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue on innovation and education towards innovation in China.

The Guest Editors discuss the impetus behind the special issue and describe the papers published in it.

It is evident in the papers presented in this special issue that China is on its way towards becoming world‐class in a number of technological areas.

The paper introduces the special issue on innovation and education towards innovation in China, as well as an agenda for future research in the area.

The purpose of this paper is to describe, as a case study, the recent developments in high‐speed rail (HSR) technological development and economic and business development in China.

The authors use a descriptive case study design examining the factors behind the importation of foreign HSR technology and its development within the Chinese context. Various secondary sourced data are used to build the case that educational development in transportation technologies and strategic focus at the national level have created the ability to pursue the development and creation of a national strategic competency in HSR technology for the Chinese.

The authors find that a major factor behind HSR development in China appears to be the result of a need for the Chinese Government to build the competencies of strategic technologies at the national level. Given present usage levels of HSR, the internal development of HSR systems is not justified by the economic rationales of cheaper and more efficient transportation for the Chinese. However, the case does point out the importance of technological leapfrogging (or “hopping” over the competition, to use the analogy in the title). It is apparent in the case that Chinese engineering has advanced in such a way that it is not inconceivable that China may lead advanced technological state‐of‐the‐art designs in the near future. This building of national core competencies appears to be related to the increase in world‐class educational efforts. As such, the authors argue that the Chinese efforts in HSR are now described by fact‐based education and derivational innovation practices as illustrated in the staged model of innovation by Johnson and Weiss.

The case study is one of the first published in the academic management literature. It demonstrates the process of development of HSR in China and provides preliminary evidence of the importance of the educational and innovation practices in China on the development of an indigenous technological industry in the country.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate important impediments to knowledge creation within newly‐established foreign invested R&D centers in China and India.

The paper presents a framework based on knowledge creation theory in order to understand the barriers for transfer and the creation of innovation‐related knowledge within newly‐established foreign invested R&D units in China and India. The paper utilizes extensive empirical data collected from a case study in three Scandinavian multinational companies (MNCs).

Examples of innovations in China and India within Scandinavian MNCs are presented. Impediments to these innovations are identified with regard to socialization and knowledge creation. Particular skills of R&D employees in China and India are relevant for process innovations, e.g. competencies in codification of knowledge.

A synthesis of existing knowledge creation theory is applied to compare R&D knowledge creation skills of Chinese, Indian, and Scandinavian engineers, within MNCs. The new framework explains knowledge creation in China and India, and can be used in other foreign invested R&D units in these countries. Implications for managers working with newly established foreign invested R&D units in emerging markets are offered.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the business potential of mobile video services in China via the case study of M‐Vzone.com. It answers two research questions: what are the important factors that affect the adoption of mobile video services for individuals and enterprises? How much the value was added along the mobile video service chain and how were the benefits are realized?

Grounded in traditional technology adoption and information diffusion theories, the paper uses an exploratory research approach, including interviews and further analysis from published sources.

The authors' analysis suggests that three key factors contributed to the success of m‐commerce in the Chinese context: stronger customer relationship management; enhanced video/operation performance; and easier access to resources. From post‐investigation of the results, the authors also found that small‐ to mid‐sized Chinese owners showed a shift from an imitative to an incremental innovative mode of business thinking and practice.

This is the first study that examines mobile video commerce from a business and innovation perspective in China, to the best of the authors' knowledge. The paper investigates opinions from stakeholders directly involved in a mobile video web site and conducts a detailed analysis on the related value chain network. The findings will be of interest to decision makers in the mobile industry, especially those from small‐ to medium‐sized companies searching for an effective way toward service innovation. The paper can serve as a good foundation for future research into mobile service adoption and service innovation topics.

The equipment manufacturing industry, as a strategic industry of China, is experiencing a transition from imitative innovation to independent innovation. The achievements of independent innovation have not been as good as could have been expected. Based on evolutionary economics, the purpose of this paper is to explore the evolutionary path of the two innovation modes, respectively, and analyze the internal and external factors that hinder the mutation from imitative innovation routine to independent innovation routine. According to the results of the evolutionary game model, several policy suggestions are proposed to promote the transition from imitative innovation to independent innovation.

This paper is based on the concepts of evolutionary economics. Routine, mutation, path dependence and selection are included in the analysis of the evolutionary path of the two innovation modes. Especially, the evolutionary game model of innovation modes selection is established to explain how internal and external conditions work in the transition.

The paper explores the evolutionary path of the transition from imitative innovation to independent innovation in the equipment manufacturing industry of China, and analyses the obstacles and factors (internal path dependence, and the lack of benefit incentive and external mutation conditions such as fiscal support and intellectual property protection) that hinder the mutation from imitative innovation routine to independent innovation routine. The results of the evolutionary game model show that the pursuit of the benefit (innovation return or the profit), as an internal mutation condition, is the most fundamental motivation for independent innovation, while policy incentives, as the external mutation conditions, have a significant impact on the evolutionary transition. According to the results, several policy suggestions are proposed to promote the transition from imitative innovation to independent innovation.

Taking the equipment manufacturing industry as a particular object, this paper tries to explain the evolutionary path and the obstacle factors of the transition from imitative innovation to independent innovation from the perspective of evolutionary economics, involving routine, mutation, path dependence, selection, and so on. The evolutionary game model of innovation modes selection is established to investigate the influence of these factors.

The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual stage model of education and innovation type. The model depicts the influence of education on innovation and the paper aims to discuss the implications of it for the national competitiveness of China.

The paper presents a newly created conceptual stage model of education and innovation supported by observations and a literature review based on past and present innovation efforts in China.

The paper demonstrates the importance of linking creative education with radical innovation that is associated with higher value‐added economic activities. The findings of the empirical studies to date in China suggest that such a change will not be easy. There is a need to increase the propensity towards creative thought processes even if this is considered “undesirable behavior” both in the Chinese classroom and for the Chinese Communist party. Evidence suggests that without such creativity, self‐initiated radical innovation is not possible across a broader spectrum of the educational system, and that break‐through inventions in value‐added technology and design industries will be limited in China.

The model in the paper is designed to stimulate further research, initiate discussion and encourage action on driving creativity in Chinese educational policy and practices. The paper's analysis and findings will be of interest to managers and government policy makers in China that are charged with developing new programs to spur value‐added innovation. Researchers will find the ideas for further empirical research potentially valuable in helping them to design studies surrounding the phenomena of creativity, education and innovation practices.

What is my purpose in life? Why am I in this job, this organization, this industry? How did I get here in the first place? Am I working to live or living to work? How do I measure my success? Does my work serve any greater purpose? Many individuals ask these kinds of questions at some point in their lives. When faced with life and death situations, as many were during and after the September 11th attack, these questions move out of the shadows. For some of us, questioning our purpose in life and career are frequently forced to the forefront by the pressures and challenges – and sometimes boredom and emptiness – of our workplace. Still, these questions are a powerful way in which our human spirit manifests itself. Therefore, finding meaningful answers to them is one of the essential tasks we face when we attempt to integrate spirituality more fully in our lives.

The purpose of this paper is to describe research on the relationship between the shared resources of entrepreneurial clusters and the innovative performance, from the perspective of resource acquisition of new firms.

For the purpose of this empirical research, the author chose a high‐tech and development district in China as the cluster sample. First, 240 firms were identified from a district list of firms. The next week, prior to interview, each of the firms listed was called. After this contact there were 156 firms willing to be interviewed. Finally, 93 responses indicated availability. For analyzing the data, structure equation model was employed, and Amos software used for solving the equations.

The findings show that, as shared resources, the common reputation and participation of local institutions play a positive role on new venture resource acquisition. Meanwhile, this mechanism appears to promote innovation within the cluster firms.

The research explored the mechanism of share resources and innovation in China's new firm cluster. Suggested advice to the policy makers would be that merely supporting a good policy environment is not enough; governing the network, making institutions play a positive role in strengthening the connection between firms, and building up a knowledge resources exchange base, are all necessary for the creation and growth of new ventures in new firm clusters.