Ruy Quadros

Technological Innovation in Brazilian Industry: An Assessment Based on the São Paulo Innovation Survey

Abstract This article presents results of the technological innovation section of the PAEP survey, which is a large sample survey of firms in the most industrialized Brazilian federate State. The first PAEP collected data in 1997, referring to 1996, in more than 10,000 industrial firms. Innovation questions followed the OECD guidelines. The article starts with a methodological summary. It shows that the rate of innovation output in Sao Paulo—that is the share of innovative firms—revealed a considerably extensive adoption of technologically new or improved products and/or processes in the period 1994/1996. The innovative performance of Sao Paulo industrial firms is examined for distinct firm groups, taking into account firm size, the origin of capital ownership (national vs. transnational firms) and industrial sector. The article reveals that the distance between Sao Paulo industrial firms and their counterpart in industrialized countries is even more substantial in terms of R&D activities. The findings about the sources of information for innovation and their motivation for innovation reinforce the features of the pattern of innovation presented in the article, that is, there has been quite substantial innovation but little knowledge in the innovation process of the industry of Sao Paulo.

From adaptation to complete vehicle design: a case study of product development capabilities in a carmaker in Brazil

The paper is concerned with the technological activities accomplished in multinational subsidiaries of carmakers in Brazil, particularly with their involvement in Product Development (PD) and the related acquisition of technological capabilities. It has been found that carmakers have been following different PD strategies, presenting a variation of PD capabilities that justified the definition of a specific typology according to their levels of complexity. An in-depth case study has been carried out about the Meriva project (GM Brazil), which has been one of the most complex cases of PD performed by a Brazilian automotive unit ever. Amongst its findings, there has been a change on the quality, complexity and responsibility of the activities the Brazilian engineering has carried out, qualifying some of the subsidiaries to play a major role on automotive global PD.

Innovation capabilities in the Brazilian automobile industry: a study of vehicle assemblers' technological strategies and policy recommendations

This paper is concerned with the development of technological capabilities in the Brazilian subsidiaries of multinational assemblers in Brazil, particularly their involvement in Product Development (PD). The paper addresses the following issues: What roles have vehicle assembly subsidiaries played in building up local technological capabilities in PD in Brazil? How complex are such activities? Are innovative technological capabilities being accumulated as result of the involvement of subsidiaries with PD? Complementary, the paper addresses the question of what are the implications of assemblers PD location strategy for local auto-parts producers. The paper concludes with policy implications and discussion on the benefits of decentralisation.

Patterns of technological activities of transnational corporations affiliates in Brazil

Using factor analysis of indicators of different types of technological input, we have identified distinct behaviours of transnational corporation subsidiaries in Brazil. We show that such diversity of technological strategies has been influenced by the size of firms, the industrial sector to which the firm belongs and the nationality of foreign capital. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

BETWEEN CENTRALISATION AND DECENTRALISATION OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT IN MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS: RECENT TRAJECTORIES IN BRAZILIAN SUBSIDIARIES OF CAR ASSEMBLERS

O objetivo deste artigo e fazer uma analise acerca da natureza, volume e extensao das atividades de desenvolvimento de produtos realizadas pelas subsidiarias das montadoras de auto veiculos instaladas no Brasil. Baseado em entrevistas junto a todas as montadoras de automoveis instaladas no Brasil, a primeira constatacao e que essas empresas apresentam uma forte inclinacao ao desenvolvimento de atividades ligadas a adaptacao dos veiculos as condicoes locais e ao desenho de derivativos de plataformas globais. Contudo, foi possivel identificar uma recente e crescente tendencia ao desenvolvimento local de produtos globais, sob coordenacao da engenharia automotiva brasileira. Nao obstante, este cenario tende a ser bastante heterogeneo, podendo ser identificadas distintas estrategias de produto entre as subsidiarias no Brasil, com diferentes implicacoes para a capacitacao da engenharia automotiva brasileira.

Innovation management in subsidiaries of multinational corporations in the Brazilian electro-electronic industry

With the increasing pressure for innovation in the last decades, multinational companies have started to increase the decentralization of their activities, in order to reach the affiliates contribution to the generation of knowledge and innovation. The subsidiaries, on the other hand, seek for more responsibilities, especially in activities with intense technological content, in order to guarantee their competitiveness. In this way, this research analyzed the relationship between responsibilities of a subsidiary with its innovation management practices. To support that, an exploratory case study of five subsidiaries of the electro-electronic industry installed in Brazil is proposed. The chosen theoretical framework is that which considers the innovation management as a process, and adopts the subsidiary perspective to explain its evolution. Three sets of determinants are studied in order to explain the evolution of the responsibilities of a subsidiary: headquarters, subsidiary and local environment determinants. The results make it evident a positive relationship between subsidiaries responsibilities and their practices of technological innovation management, and also explain how this relationship works. Yet, the research findings suggest significant differences between the subsidiaries studied, and that they have focused their innovation management on the market, with little efforts to longer-term technology research practices.

Innovation and Technology Management in Brazilian Subsidiaries in the Electro-Electronic Industry

In an increasingly competitive and challenging market, multinational corporations have evolved to allow or to actively encourage each subsidiaries to become more involved in the local generation of knowledge and innovation for the benefit of the global corporation. Subsidiaries, in turn, seek more responsibilities and opportunities in order to acquire more complex types of competences and to assure their survival and competitiveness. Thus, subsidiaries have been active contributors to the decisions and competitiveness of their wider corporate groups. In subsidiaries that acquire competence- creating mandates, the way in which technology and innovation are managed changes with their expanded responsibilities. This paper draws on an on-going case study of six subsidiaries installed in Brazil operating in the electro-electronics industries. The objective of the research is to compare these subsidiaries in order to better understand their actual technological innovation management practices (TIP), and to comprehend the connection between TIP and evolution towards more strategic roles on the subsidiaries. The preliminary research findings suggest significant TIP differences between the subsidiaries studied, and that the practices of innovation management are closer to the market (mostly product development related). Indeed, there is little presence of practices related to longer-term technology research.

Development of New Competencies and Practices the Innovation Management to Sustainable Development: The Study of Natura

Environment issues have induced firms to search and develop cleaner technologies and production practices. This process has created new business opportunities, which are related to sustainable production and to the conservation of the environment. This paper aims at understanding the implications of innovation trajectories based on the development of sustainable products and technologies for innovation management practices and the related managerial competencies. The study explores the case of a Brazilian leading cosmetics manufacturer - Natura, through the search of secondary data on the company and its industry; as well as the search of primary data by means of interviews accomplished with professionals of the research and development, strategy and marketing areas of Natura. The results show that the company presents a capability of perception of the technological and market opportunities when developing products for market niches not explored in Brazil, besides the effort for implementation of routines entirely new in the company and the mobilization of resources and competencies in its technological innovation management, such as strategic and structural arrangements; relationship with the suppliers and the training of these; technological competencies and knowledge sources; development of products and research and development projects; and marketing strategy

Technological Innovation in Knowledge Intensive Business Services: An Analysis of the Brazilian Context

Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) are the center of the rearrangement of industrial production and service chains nowadays. Aiming to maximize their results, these businesses use diversification, partnerships, networks, mergers and acquisitions, among other strategies. An important dimension of the diversification and growth of KIBS in developing countries is their growing internationalization. The objective of this paper is, analyzing the characteristics of KIBS in Brazil, to contribute to the comprehension of how the implications of this process can be contradictory for the capacitation of local KIBS: on one hand they have access to new technologies and integration into international service streams; on the other, there is some abandonment of the research and development activities which are so vital for the maintenance of critical competences for KIBS. This analysis focuses on the generation of technological innovation in the Brazilian context, comparing it with published international data. It is based on a research done by PAEP, the first research on services innovation in Brazil, using the Oslo Manual guidelines. Partnerships between local and international companies and research centers were found to be important for the constant growth shown by KIBS. Other conclusions and recommendations related to this sector are also presented

Service Innovation Management Models: Planned, Iterative and Emergent Innovations

Although service innovations present characteristics that make them different from innovation in goods, literature presents traditional innovation management models, whose development has been based on the experience of manufacturing industries, as valid and applicable to service companies. Service innovation may take place in multiple dimensions, considering technological and non-technological elements. It may result from planned efforts, but can also emerge from the service practice, what indicates that these models may not be the only way open to service companies. The present article analyzes whether reference models for innovation management, which have influenced new product and service development activities, are suitable and adopted by service companies in the information technology (IT) sector in Brazil. We analyzed data from 10 Brazilian IT service companies, supplying software development, systems integration and mobile services development. Findings suggest that traditional reference models for innovation management are suitable to service companies, but three other possibilities were identified. These possibilities relate to the innovation processes discussed by Toivonen (2010) and are identified here as (i) compression rapid application model, (ii) experiential rapid application model and (iii) practice-driven model. Even though innovation management models are not able to capture all diversity present in service sectors, acknowledgement of the different service innovation dimensions and innovation processes allow service companies to improve their understanding, develop competencies, and organize better their innovation efforts.