• Be able to understand, analyze and assess the relationships between science, technology and innovation and how they impact on competitiveness in emerging economies
• Be able to critically assess the technological performance or potential of a firm, a sector, or a country in an emerging economy
• Know, understand, and be able to apply concepts, theories, models and frameworks in the intersection between international business, innovation and technological change
• Be able to discuss, assess and combine these concepts, theories, models and frameworks
• Be able to identify and select in specific cases of emerging economies problems related to ST&I and subject them to analysis and problem solving on the basis of theories and methods
• Be able to assess and discuss the validity, reliability and scope of generalization for conclusions drawn on the basis of an analysis

Innovation, and its underpinnings in science and technology, is crucial for the competitiveness of firms and national economies. In emerging economies innovation is important for economic transformation and for catching up with the global technology frontier. The knowledge infrastructure of an emerging economy affects absorptive capacities of firms and, thus, their ability to tap into the global pool of technology and professional talent or develop new solutions. It also affects the investment decisions of multinational firms, the quality and depth of their subsidiaries, and the organization of global production networks. Learning about the relationships between science, technology and innovation helps business students understand the role of emerging markets in the global knowledge economy.

Most discussion of the role of science, technology, and innovation (ST&I) relates to the experiences of advanced high-income countries. The aim of this course is to extend this perspective to include emerging economies, including successful non-western economies such as Japan and Korea, which rapidly narrowed the technological gap with innovative institutional arrangements. This takes account of the increasingly important role of emerging economies not just in world production and trade, but also in select technological activities. Students will familiarise themselves with the technological trajectories of countries in Asia, Latin America, Africa, and Eastern Europe. The course will equip them with the tools to critically assess the technological performance or potential of a firm, a sector, or a country in an emerging economy.

The course first defines key terminology and then discusses suitable conceptual frameworks within which to analyse the relationship between science, technology, and innovation. Although some of the theory applies to high-income countries as well, the focus will be on the special circumstances of emerging economies. We then look at country examples that are interesting either because of their successes or their failures and draw out lessons from up-close case studies of individual firms and select sectors. At the end of the course this will allow us to evaluate ST&I both as they play out in different emerging economies and in terms of the effects this has on knowledge production in the global economy.

The course’s development of personal competences: The course facilitates students’ further development of analytical, theoretical, presentational and teamwork skills.

Recommended literature:

Hoskisson, Robert E., Lorraine Eden, Chung Ming Lau and Mike Wright (2000), ‘Strategy in Emerging Economies’, Academy of Management Journal, vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 249-267.

Meyer, K. and Estrin, S. (2002), Investment Strategies in Emerging Markets, Edward Elgar, Chapter 1.

Tidd, Joe, John Bessant, and Keith Pavitt (2005), Managing Innovation: integrating technological, market and organisational change, Chichester: John Wiley.

Dahlman, Carl J. and Jean-Eric Aubert (2001), China and the Knowledge Economy: Seizing the 21st Century, World Bank, ‘Overview’: 1-17.

Dahlman, C. and Utz, A. 2005, India and the Knowledge Economy: Leveraging Strengths and Opportunities, Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.

Kotabe, Masaaki, Preet S. Aulakh, Roberto J. Sabtillán-Salgado, Hildy Teegen, Maria Cecilia Coutinho de Arruda, and Walter Greene (2000), ‘Strategic Alliances in Emerging Markets: A View from Brazilian, Chilean, and Mexican Companies’, Journal of World Business, 35(2): 114-32.

Narula, R. and Dunning, J.H. (2000), ‘Industrial Development, Globalisation and Multinational Enterprises: New Realities for Developing Countries’, Oxford Development Studies, 28(2): 141-67.

Archibugi, D., Howells, J. and Michie, J. 1999, Innovation Policy in a Global Economy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Maskell, Peter and Anders Malmberg (1999), ‘Localised learning and industrial competitiveness’, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 23: 167-185.

Lundvall, Bengt-Åke (1998), ‘Why Study National Systems and National Styles of Innovation?’, Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, 10(4): 407-421.

Doloreux, D. 2002, “What We Should Know About Regional Systems of Innovation”, Technology in Society, 24 (3), 243-263.

Rosenfeld, S.A. (1997), ‘Bringing Business Clusters into the Mainstream of Economic Development’, European Planning Studies, 5(1): 3-23.

Amsden, Alice (2001), The Rise of ‘The Rest’: Challenges to the West from Late-Industrializing Countries, Oxford University Press, Chapter 1: 1-18.

D’Costa, A.P. 2004, “Export Growth and Path-Dependence: The Locking-in of Innovations in the Software Industry”, D’Costa, A.P. and Sridharan, E. (eds.) India in the Global Software Industry: Innovation, Firm Strategies and Development, Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 51-82.

Mowery, D.C. and Nelson, R.R. (eds.) 1999, Sources of Industrial Leadership: Studies of Seven Industries, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Anchordoguy, M. 2000, “Japan’s Software Industry: A Failure of Institutions?,” Research Policy, 29 (3), 391-408.

Baber, Z. 2001, “Globalization and Scientific Research: The Emerging Triple Helix of State-Industry-University Relations in Japan and Singapore,” Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 21 (5), 401-408.

Breznitz, D. 2005, “Development, Flexibility and R&D Performance in the Taiwanese IT Industry: Capability Creation and the Effects of State-Industry Coevolution,” Industrial and Corporate Change, 14 (1), 153-187.