Dimitri Uzunidis

Innovation, Evolution and Economic Change

The book begins with a penetrating analysis of the main features of today’s capitalism and in particular the conflict between shareholders and managers. It moves on to focus on the consequences of globalization in the decision-making processes of large corporations and represents an important step in the development of a theory of fraud and corruption within corporations. In the final part, the authors address and explore the consequences of the domination of influential groups over major social and political decisions, on the blurred boundaries between the public and the private sectors and its consequences in the fields of technological regulation and the evolution of public services. In so doing, the authors question the meaning and power of democracy in today’s society.

The Genesis of Innovation

The genesis and diffusion of innovation depends upon the density of the cognitive and market relationships among individuals, organisations and institutions at both the micro- and macro-economic level. By addressing the nature of these relationships, which include cooperation, competition and power, this book presents an important and progressive enquiry into the economic and social origins of innovation.

Innovation Networks and Clusters

Confronted with more intense global competition, rising costs, the growing integration of different technologies, shorter life cycle, and increased pace of innovation, companies increasingly collaborate with external partners—whether suppliers, customers or universities—to stay abreast of developments, expand their market reach, tap into a larger base of ideas and technology, find complementary expertise, access specific skills and competences and get new products or services to market before their competitors. Collaboration also fosters knowledge spillovers among actors, contributes to overcoming co-ordination failures (i.e. situations where business success fails because of a lack of co-operation) by facilitating coordination between actors, and encourage a better pooling of financial and human capital resources for innovation that result in economies of scales and can help support higher productivity and an increase in economies’ competitiveness.

L’innovation verte

Alors que dans le monde entier l’utilisation des ressources naturelles ne cesse de croitre et l’environnement de se degrader, les economistes,les managers et les politiques s’inquietent avant tout de la perte de competitivite de leurs entreprises et de leurs economies. Ils focalisent aussi leur attention sur les performances financieres des systemes economiques au detriment d’une reflexion approfondie sur les changements necessaires et urgents des modes de production, de consommation et d’echange dans lesquels la « contrainte environnementale » pourrait se transformer en innombrables opportunites d’innovations et conduire a l’emergence d’une nouvelle economie. L’innovation verte designe l’innovation ayant une finalite de developpement durable qui se traduit par l’introduction dans l’economie d’un ensemble de produits, services, procedes, methodes, etc. permettant de reduire l’impact de l’activite generale ou particuliere sur l’environnement. Ce livre est consacre aux modeles theoriques de l’economie verte et a l’analyse de differentes experiences d’eco-innovation (leur naissance, leur diffusion, leurs impacts) ainsi qu’a la maniere dont elles s’inscrivent dans un nouveau paradigme sociotechnique en construction.

Innovating for elderly people: the development of geront’innovations in the French silver economy

ABSTRACT The objective of this paper is to study the supply side of the silver market, which is usually neglected by research on this topic. Adopting a systemic approach to innovation, our main goals are to identify the nature of the innovations developed, the way innovations are created, and the issues related to their emergence and diffusion. Our research is based on an empirical study of the French silver economy, which consists in an enquiry carried out in Silver Valley. The results of our study lead us to suggest a new term ‘geront’innovation’ to qualify the various forms of innovations developed to cater for the needs of elderly people. We also put forward the importance of networking and open innovation strategies. Finally, the identified barriers to emergence and diffusion as perceived by the supply side of the market lead us to suggest recommendations to support the diffusion of geront’innovations.

Introduction: Knowledge, Innovation Systems and the Role of Power

Knowledge and innovation are the two main resources of contemporary capitalism. To study and understand these roles, it is first helpful to draw on the theory of systems. Technological innovation cannot be understood when isolated from its context. Putting innovation in perspective requires a holistic and systemic approach: new technologies, new products, but also new markets, new organization and new management practices. The authors in this volume stress the importance of cognitive and social linkages, as well as the role of ‘communities of practice’ in the assessment and analysis of innovation within the enterprise, local and national economies and at the international level. The approach of scholars as well as practitioners should be directed toward the economic and social impacts of innovation activities. The authors here perform a series of studies at different levels (research labs, enterprises and networks) and throughout systems of innovation and innovative milieux based upon practical cases, to present emerging ideas from established theoretical developments of economists, historians and geographers. Indeed, the genesis of knowledge and its diffusion (information) depends upon the density of the relationships among individuals and organizations at both micro-economic and macro-economic levels. What may be concluded from the analysis is that some specific actors (the state, enterprises) determine separately but also jointly, the process of diffusion, coordination and standardization of knowledge and technologies. Institutional and entrepreneurial networks play a fundamental role (vis-àvis the employee or the entrepreneur) in the explanation of the systemic nature and the dynamics of innovation within contemporary capitalism. Cognitive relations between the actors of innovation show that the issue of appropriation of knowledge is as important as the production of new knowledge for the genesis of innovation. The permanent innovation strategy of the enterprise needs continuous flows of scientific and technological inputs. Externalities and agglomeration