Nick von Tunzelmann

Historical coevolution of governance and technology in the industrial revolutions

Abstract While the relationships between technological change and organisational change have been widely observed in specific cases, little has been done to generalise about such interrelationships over the longer term. The paper uses historical evidence to categorise the principal changes in governance (covering the control, structure and process of systems) in the industrial epoch, which are seen as the successive predominance of markets, (corporate) hierarchies and then networks. These correspond to the successive importance of labour processes, capital processes and information processes. There appears to be a link with the three ‘industrial revolutions’ that have arisen at century-long intervals since the later 18th century, though the causal interrelationships remain uncertain and by no means necessary. Network alignment is suggested as a means for bringing about the coevolution of governance and technology in development processes. A number of mechanisms for matching technological with organisational change are suggested by the governance literature, although no one theory of governance appears able to explain the observed historical phenomena.

Technology policy, European Union enlargement, and economic, social and political sustainability

Taking a theoretical and normative stance, this article critically examines the inconsistency of the European Unions technological and economic goals for 2010 and the recent eastern enlargement, proposing a wider application of the notion of sustainability. Defining policies that tackle technological, economic, social and political sustainability will allow the addressing of widespread network failures, which represent a major hurdle for unfolding the innovative and economic potential of the Central and Eastern European Countries and of the EU-25 in general. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

Technological fusion and telemedicine in Japanese companies

Abstract The extent of technological fusion has been widely regarded as a feature of Japanese companies. In this paper we look at the kinds of relationships observed at the company level in the emerging area of telemedicine. The linkages here are expected to be vertical between companies as well as horizontal. The data are derived from Japanese databases on both publications and patents, using keywords to identify imaging and communications related technological fields. Using multidimensional scaling techniques, we find marked distinctions at the company level between image and communications fields, and hence little evident fusion within companies. Using principal component analyses, we find specializations in imaging fields but greater clustering across communications fields. The latter are seen as providing the technological infrastructure for the former to develop within. At the industry level, NTT publishes a higher proportion of papers than it takes out patents, and this provides scientific infrastructure for the overall system. Specialist companies then undertake product development. Fusion thus takes place more at the industry level than the company level in telemedicine.

Towards a better understanding of the role and dynamics of corporate R&D

New analytical approaches and empirical evidence continue to shed light on the issue of corporate R&D. The papers in this special issue, which were originally presented at the conference Role and Dynamics of Corporate R&D (Seville, 8–9 October 2007), offer a sample of such approaches and evidence. They cover a number of issues ranging from the effects of mergers and acquisition in technology sourcing to the internationalisation of R&D collaboration in Europe. Other papers presented at the conference hinted at future directions of research, such as a ‘cost and benefits’ view of R&D investments and the role of R&D in boosting ‘absorptive capacity’. However, further research is still needed into issues such as the quality of R&D, the importance of exogenous drivers, the precise nature of ‘spillovers’ and the impact of government policies.

Firm Capabilities and Cooperation for Innovation: Evidence from the UK Regions

This chapter focuses on the relationship between firms’ technological competencies and capabilities and different forms of cooperation for innovation by combining the analysis of both micro and meso levels, i.e. the level of the firm and of the geographical region. Our findings, based on the Fourth UK Community Innovation Survey (CIS), provide new insights regarding the relationship between cooperative linkages for innovation and firms’ technological status. Firstly, the distinction between competencies and capabilities adopted in this chapter seems appropriate for going beyond the rather simplistic dichotomy of ‘innovative’ versus ‘non-innovative’ firms commonly used in interpreting CIS data. Secondly, we find that the analysis for the UK as a whole masks stark regional differences in terms of intra- and extra-region collaborative linkages and firms’ technological status.

Monitoring industrial research: role and dynamics of corporate R&D: summary report of the first European conference on corporate R&D Seville, 8-9 October 2007

The conference Role and Dynamics of R&D, held on 8-9 October 2007, brought together the community of researchers on corporate R&D to learn about recent developments in the field and outline future avenues of research. A number of aspects of corporate R&D were covered, such as its drivers and determinants, its role in the economy, firm and sector dynamics, and methodological issues. Designated rapporteurs summarisd and documented the most important messages of the papers presented and the debates that followed. This summary report is an edited compilation of their work