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1 – 10 of 306In recent years, the People's Republic of China has made remarkable progress in science and technology. The Chinese industry is competing for leadership in cutting-edge…
Abstract
Purpose
In recent years, the People's Republic of China has made remarkable progress in science and technology. The Chinese industry is competing for leadership in cutting-edge technologies such as 5G, robotics, artificial intelligence, aerospace and green energy. This article aims to analyze: What role do industrial parks, especially Suzhou Industrial Park, play in upgrading technology to encourage independent innovation and economic development? How SIP is related to the Belt and Road Initiative?
Design/methodology/approach
This research summarizes China's most important scientific and technological reforms and policies and in particular the Torch Program. In addition, it develops a case study of the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) by analyzing documents, bibliography and presenting data. It ends with a case study of the role of SIP in the Belt and Road Initiative analyzing the Great Stone Park in Belarus.
Findings
This article highlights that: China's experience clearly shows that the "visible hand" of the State plays a very important role in economic development and technological catch-up. All of them are implemented from a strategy linking the national objectives with the local ones, this is done from a top-down perspective. As an important aspect of economic and social development, China's experience in promoting indigenous innovation in science and technology provides a relevant example for developing countries.
Research limitations/implications
There are few academic literature on Great Stone Industrial Park.
Practical implications
The international cooperation of the SIP with the technology parks throughout the BRI-countries provides relevant information to deepen collaboration in this field and could contribute to closing the technological gap in developing countries.
Originality/value
The role of the SIP in the Belt and Road initiative is an under research topic. There is few bibliography discussing the impacts of the cooperation in science and technology in the framework of the BRI.
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Lucas Bonacina Roldan, Peter Bent Hansen and Domingo Garcia-Perez-de-Lema
Innovation is today considered a competitive differential for improving the performance of companies, and technology parks are seen as environments with favorable conditions for…
Abstract
Purpose
Innovation is today considered a competitive differential for improving the performance of companies, and technology parks are seen as environments with favorable conditions for such innovation. The purpose of this study is to develop a framework for analyzing favorable conditions for innovation in technology parks, the innovations produced and organizational performance.
Design/methodology/approach
To this end, the authors conducted bibliographic research and in-depth interviews with managers of companies based at the Tecnopuc Science and Technology Park, and managers of the park itself, to establish practical support for previous theoretical findings.
Findings
As a result, a framework was developed to link the favorable conditions for innovation, and organizational performance.
Research limitations/implications
The analysis model proposed here synthesizes the contributions made by several scholars on the theme, allowing for a more detailed and integrated interpretation of the phenomenon, namely, the ways through which the effective development of innovation takes place in companies residing in technology parks and the contribution of innovation to the specific performance of companies.
Practical implications
The use of the proposed framework can help direct park managers’ action towards those relationships or activities that prove to be ineffective in achieving desired goals.
Originality/value
The use of the proposed model in empirical surveys will allow for better understanding of the phenomenon involving the features of technology parks and their effects on innovation and the performance of companies installed there, considering that such parks allow them to access resources with lower transaction costs.
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Beatriz Forés and José María Fernández-Yáñez
The purpose of this study is to identify how firms' sustainability performance is affected by external knowledge sources and absorptive capacity, accounting for the influence of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to identify how firms' sustainability performance is affected by external knowledge sources and absorptive capacity, accounting for the influence of being located in a science and technology park (STP).
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on data from the Spanish Technological Innovation Panel, the authors estimate the determinants of sustainability performance using fixed effects multiple linear regression models with robust standard errors. The analysis covers the period 2009–2016, with a total panel of 8,874 companies and a total sample of 47,870 observations.
Findings
This study highlights the heterogeneity in on-park firms’ sustainability performance, which can be explained by the different capacities of these firms when it comes to embedding themselves in STP networks and processes and effectively absorbing the knowledge from the many knowledge sources that may be on offer in the park.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature by examining the influence of external sources of knowledge and absorptive capacity, and the relationship between them, on sustainability performance. This study approaches sustainability performance as an aggregate measure of firms’ competitiveness and potential for long-term survival from the triple bottom line perspective. In addition, this study examines the effect that location in an STP can have on business sustainability performance and, more specifically, the mediating effect that knowledge sources and absorptive capacity can exert on this relationship.
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Vania Lopes Simoes Fioravanti, Fabricio Stocker and Flavio Macau
The aim of this research is to analyze the knowledge transfer process in technological innovation clusters. The problem of the study addresses how organizations can act in a…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this research is to analyze the knowledge transfer process in technological innovation clusters. The problem of the study addresses how organizations can act in a network to enhance experiences and gains, particularly in the aspect of knowledge management.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is qualitative, applied through a case study, cross-sectional and multiple sources of evidence – semistructured interviews, nonparticipant observation and analysis of documents and secondary institutional data. The case analyzed was the Technology Park of São José dos Campos, in Brazil, involving private companies, governmental organizations, universities and research institutions.
Findings
The results reinforce the arguments that the transfer of knowledge is influenced by factors, facilitators or inhibitors such as: cooperation, relationship with institutions, workforce mobility and geographical proximity, influencing the competitiveness and performance of the organizations in the cluster.
Research limitations/implications
This study advances the knowledge management literature in network environments, especially in technological innovation clusters, systematizing and highlighting the facilitating and inhibiting dimensions of knowledge transfer.
Practical implications
The present work has a direct dialogue with the managers and actors involved in the governance of these organizational arrangements with regard to increasing the capacity for creation and the dissemination of knowledge among organizations, educational institutions, government and companies.
Originality/value
There is a presence of aspects indicating that knowledge goes beyond borders through dynamic and collaborative structures, reinforcing the premise that clusters must be perceived as an evolutionary system, whose result of interactions leads to a superior joint capacity.
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Cassiane Chais, Paula Patrícia Ganzer and Pelayo Munhoz Olea
This paper aims to research how technology transfer occurs, based on the Schumpeterian approach to innovation trilogy focusing on the interaction between the university and the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to research how technology transfer occurs, based on the Schumpeterian approach to innovation trilogy focusing on the interaction between the university and the company.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology used for this study was the analysis of two cases with an exploratory and qualitative approach. The case study subjects were two Brazilian universities: University of Campinas (UNICAMP) and University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS). Semi-structured interviews were used as the data collection technique, whereas content analysis was used as the analysis technique.
Findings
The main results showed the need of companies and universities to understand that working in collaborative technology research contributes to the transformation of applied research into technological innovations that can transform society.
Research limitations/implications
The research’s limitations were the unfeasibility of studying the government helix, the lack of clear and established processes within universities so that a comparison between the cases would be possible and the lack of access to technology contracts, as they are considered confidential. In addition, the use of two cases is considered a limitation, as it is not possible to generalize the conclusions pointed out by the study.
Originality/value
With this research, the authors were able to conclude that the university–industry interaction process has been improving, but it still needs to advance in organizational aspects. Some of the aspects to be considered are the adjustments for the institutions’ internal policies, the existing negotiations, the researchers’ behavior regarding the dissemination of the innovation culture and the performance of the technological innovation centers, which gradually are being trained to work in the market as well as in the university. It is necessary that primarily companies and universities understand that they must join efforts in collaborative technological research, so that the financial resources invested are not only accepted as published articles in qualified journals but also turn into technological innovations accepted by the market. All this investment must return as new products, services and technologies that generate local, regional, national and even international impact, implementing new types of businesses and new markets and yielding an economic impact in the country, thus generating innovation and social well-being.
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Vinícius Rosa Cota, Cleiton Lopes Aguiar, Bezamat de Souza Neto and Miguel Benegas
The purpose of this paper is to argue in favor of the open hardware philosophy (open-source hardware – OSH) as a technological innovation and academic entrepreneurshipmodel in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to argue in favor of the open hardware philosophy (open-source hardware – OSH) as a technological innovation and academic entrepreneurshipmodel in Brazil.
Design/methodology/approach
This argument is based on three pillars. The first one refers to a bibliographic review of theoretical frameworks related to academic entrepreneurship and technological innovation to emphasize the disruptive innovation capacity of academia. Second, a few elements related to the Brazilian political, economic and structural scenario, which entail a (more) favorable environment to technological innovation and academic entrepreneurship, is presented. Finally, concepts related to OSH and its business model are approached to demonstrate the facilitating effect toward the whole process.
Findings
As a result of the argument made herein, it is possible to perceive the viability of the OSH model in terms of entrepreneurship and technological innovation in the academic sphere, and to perceive its benefits before social and economic needs in areas such as health and education.
Research limitations/implications
There are no empirical or quantifiable data in the literature that enable comparison between OSH and traditional technological innovation models.
Originality/value
The considerations on the philosophical value of OSH and its business models are scarcely explored in international literature. As far as we know, relating OSH to technological innovation entrepreneurship in the academic sphere, as well as its singularities in Brazil regarding the innovation national system and social and economic demands, is a unique approach in literature.
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Andrea Ap da Costa Mineiro, Thais Assis de Souza and Cleber Carvalho de Castro
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the literature on the representation of the quadruple and quintuple helix (QQH) in innovation environments such as incubators and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the literature on the representation of the quadruple and quintuple helix (QQH) in innovation environments such as incubators and science and technology parks (STPs).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used the integrative review as a methodological approach and systematized studies regarding the main research objectives; theoretical approaches; methodology and study object; QQH representation, by identifying actor, performance and main results; and additional contributions to the QQH model.
Findings
As a result, the authors noticed a lack of standardization on the representation of the quadruple helix, but the example of associations and community centers as representatives of the civil society. The quintuple helix does not have an actor that represents the environment, but STPs foster sustainable actions, encourage the generation of green companies and stimulate sustainable practices among established companies.
Originality/value
Based on changes in the economic and social scenarios, new theoretical approaches emerge to explain the innovation process, such as the QQH. Incubators and STPs are favorable settings for interactions, according to the new models; however, there is a lack of studies addressing this topic in such environments. Hence, this study contributes to understanding the existence and performance of QQH, by showing how these new helices were identified, in addition to advancing the subject in innovation environments such as incubators and STPs.
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