IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/proeco/v190y2017icp80-87.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The unique chinese innovation pathways: Lessons from chinese small and mediuem sized manufacturing firms

Author

Listed:
  • Chung, Leanne
  • Tan, Kim Hua

Abstract

Many researchers equate the development of Chinese product innovation capabilities to Japanese and South Korean's development paths, that is, from imitation to innovation. Nonetheless, today many Chinese products have competed successfully in the global markets in terms of speed, cost, quality, and innovativeness. China's product innovation performance has gained the world's recognition. The performance of some industrial areas have also outperformed Japan and South Korea. This paper aims to understand and identify the unique phases of Chinese innovation. We collected empirical data from field studies and interviews with managers of ten small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Suzhou province of China. The research shows three unique Chinese innovation phases that are distinctive from the Japanese and South Korean. The results provided interesting insights into how Chinese SMEs in different industries cultivated their skills and knowledge under the three unique phases. We believe the findings contribute towards a better understanding of Chinese innovation in the context of China's evolving institutions and growing firm capabilities. Moreover, findings from this research help to shed light on existing debates for the unique Chinese innovation pathways.

Suggested Citation

  • Chung, Leanne & Tan, Kim Hua, 2017. "The unique chinese innovation pathways: Lessons from chinese small and mediuem sized manufacturing firms," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 80-87.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:proeco:v:190:y:2017:i:c:p:80-87
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpe.2016.09.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925527316302341
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ijpe.2016.09.004?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tan, Justin, 2001. "Innovation and risk-taking in a transitional economy: A comparative study of chinese managers and entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 359-376, July.
    2. David J. TEECE, 2008. "Profiting from technological innovation: Implications for integration, collaboration, licensing and public policy," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: The Transfer And Licensing Of Know-How And Intellectual Property Understanding the Multinational Enterprise in the Modern World, chapter 5, pages 67-87, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    3. Zhang, Min & Zhao, Xiande & Voss, Chris & Zhu, Guilong, 2016. "Innovating through services, co-creation and supplier integration: Cases from China," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 171(P2), pages 289-300.
    4. Xin, Jenny Y. & Yeung, Andy C.L. & Cheng, T.C.E., 2010. "First to market: Is technological innovation in new product development profitable in health care industries?," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(1), pages 129-135, September.
    5. Chong, Alain Yee-Loong & Zhou, Li, 2014. "Demand chain management: Relationships between external antecedents, web-based integration and service innovation performance," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 48-58.
    6. Vincent L. Barker , III & George C. Mueller, 2002. "CEO Characteristics and Firm R&D Spending," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(6), pages 782-801, June.
    7. Dobson, Wendy & Safarian, A.E., 2008. "The transition from imitation to innovation: An enquiry into China's evolving institutions and firm capabilities," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 301-311, August.
    8. Huo, Baofeng & Han, Zhaojun & Zhao, Xiande & Zhou, Honggeng & Wood, Craig H. & Zhai, Xin, 2013. "The impact of institutional pressures on supplier integration and financial performance: Evidence from China," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(1), pages 82-94.
    9. Wang, Longwei & Yeung, Jeff Hoi Yan & Zhang, Min, 2011. "The impact of trust and contract on innovation performance: The moderating role of environmental uncertainty," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(1), pages 114-122, November.
    10. James Bessen & Eric Maskin, 2009. "Sequential innovation, patents, and imitation," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 40(4), pages 611-635, December.
    11. Leanne Chung, 2014. "Headquarters’ Managerial Intentionality and Reverse Transfer of Practices," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 225-252, April.
    12. Wang, Qiang & Zhao, Xiande & Voss, Chris, 2016. "Customer orientation and innovation: A comparative study of manufacturing and service firms," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 171(P2), pages 221-230.
    13. Godin, Benoit & Gingras, Yves, 2000. "The place of universities in the system of knowledge production," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 273-278, February.
    14. Yang, Jie & Yu, Guangsheng & Liu, Mingyu & Rui, Mingjie, 2016. "Improving learning alliance performance for manufacturers: Does knowledge sharing matter?," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 171(P2), pages 301-308.
    15. Zhang, Cheng & Dhaliwal, Jasbir, 2009. "An investigation of resource-based and institutional theoretic factors in technology adoption for operations and supply chain management," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(1), pages 252-269, July.
    16. Tan, Kim Hua & Zhan, YuanZhu & Ji, Guojun & Ye, Fei & Chang, Chingter, 2015. "Harvesting big data to enhance supply chain innovation capabilities: An analytic infrastructure based on deduction graph," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 223-233.
    17. Dosi, Giovanni, 1993. "Technological paradigms and technological trajectories : A suggested interpretation of the determinants and directions of technical change," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 102-103, April.
    18. Iris Claus & Les Oxley & Peilei Fan, 2014. "Innovation In China," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(4), pages 725-745, September.
    19. Philippe Aghion & Christopher Harris & Peter Howitt & John Vickers, 2001. "Competition, Imitation and Growth with Step-by-Step Innovation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 68(3), pages 467-492.
    20. Ingo Liefner & Stefan Hennemann & Lu Xin, 2006. "Cooperation in the Innovation Process in Developing Countries: Empirical Evidence from Zhongguancun, Beijing," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 38(1), pages 111-130, January.
    21. Wang, Yueping & Yao, Yang, 2002. "Market Reforms, Technological Capabilities and the Performance of Small Enterprises in China," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 18(1-3), pages 197-211, Feb.- May.
    22. Chen, Kaui-Hwang & Wang, Chun-Hsien & Huang, Shi-Zheng & Shen, George C., 2016. "Service innovation and new product performance: The influence of market-linking capabilities and market turbulence," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 54-64.
    23. Yanmei Zhu & Xinhua Wittmann & Mike Peng, 2012. "Institution-based barriers to innovation in SMEs in China," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 29(4), pages 1131-1142, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Luo, Xingwu & Cao, Dongmei & Tjahjono, Benny & Adegbile, Abiodun, 2022. "Business model innovation themes of emerging market enterprises: Evidence in China," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 1619-1630.
    2. Duan, Yunlong & Liu, Shuling & Cheng, Hao & Chin, Tachia & Luo, Xuan, 2021. "The moderating effect of absorptive capacity on transnational knowledge spillover and the innovation quality of high-tech industries in host countries: Evidence from the Chinese manufacturing industry," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    3. Hubner, Sylvia & Frese, Michael & Song, Zhaoli & Tripathi, Neha & Kaschner, Tamara & Le Kong, Xing, 2022. "An Asia-centric approach to team innovation: Cultural differences in exploration and exploitation behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 408-421.
    4. Tan, Kim Hua & Ji, Guojun & Chung, Leanne & Wang, Ching-Hsin & Chiu, Anthony & Tseng, M.L., 2019. "Riding the wave of belt and road initiative in servitization: Lessons from China," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 15-21.
    5. Liu, Yulong & Ndubisi, Nelson Oly & Liu, Yang & Barrane, Fatima Zahra, 2020. "New product development and sustainable performance of Chinese SMMEs: The role of dynamic capability and intra-national environmental forces," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    6. Zhou, Honggeng & Li, Ling, 2020. "The impact of supply chain practices and quality management on firm performance: Evidence from China's small and medium manufacturing enterprises," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    7. Muddassar Sarfraz & Syed Ghulam Meran Shah & Larisa Ivascu & Muhammad Asim Ali Qureshi, 2022. "Explicating the impact of hierarchical CEO succession on small‐medium enterprises' performance and cash holdings," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(2), pages 2600-2614, April.
    8. Zhang, Jing A. & O'Kane, Conor & Chen, Guoquan, 2020. "Business ties, political ties, and innovation performance in Chinese industrial firms: The role of entrepreneurial orientation and environmental dynamism," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 254-267.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yi Zhang & Kaihua Chen & Guilong Zhu & Richard C. M. Yam & Jiancheng Guan, 2016. "Inter-organizational scientific collaborations and policy effects: an ego-network evolutionary perspective of the Chinese Academy of Sciences," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 108(3), pages 1383-1415, September.
    2. Giovanni Dosi & Luigi Marengo & Corrado Pasquali, 2010. "How Much Should Society Fuel the Greed of Innovators? On the Relations between Appropriability, Opportunities and Rates of Innovation," Chapters, in: Riccardo Viale & Henry Etzkowitz (ed.), The Capitalization of Knowledge, chapter 4, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Zhang, Man & Merchant, Hemant, 2020. "A causal analysis of the role of institutions and organizational proficiencies on the innovation capability of Chinese SMEs," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(2).
    4. Rakas, Marija & Hain, Daniel S., 2019. "The state of innovation system research: What happens beneath the surface?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    5. Ma, Li & Zhai, Xin & Zhong, Weiguo & Zhang, Zhi-Xue, 2019. "Deploying human capital for innovation: A study of multi-country manufacturing firms," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 241-253.
    6. Wang, Yanping & Gao, Jie & Wei, Zelong, 2022. "The double-edged sword of servitization in radical product innovation: The role of latent needs identification," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    7. Gligor, David & Russo, Ivan & Maloni, Michael J., 2022. "Understanding gender differences in logistics innovation: A complexity theory perspective," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    8. Im, Hyun Joong & Shon, Janghoon, 2019. "The effect of technological imitation on corporate innovation: Evidence from US patent data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    9. Richard A. Hunt & Bret R. Fund, 2016. "Intergenerational Fairness and the Crowding Out Effects of Well-Intended Environmental Policies," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(5), pages 878-910, July.
    10. Cohen, Wesley M., 2010. "Fifty Years of Empirical Studies of Innovative Activity and Performance," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 129-213, Elsevier.
    11. Huo, Baofeng & Gu, Minhao & Jiang, Bin, 2018. "China-related POM research: Literature review and suggestions for future research," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 134-153.
    12. Chang, Yuan-Chieh & Chen, Min-Nan, 2016. "Service regime and innovation clusters: An empirical study from service firms in Taiwan," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(9), pages 1845-1857.
    13. Gerard Llobet & Javier Suarez, 2010. "Entrepreneurial Innovation, Patent Protection and Industry Dynamics," Working Papers wp2010_1001, CEMFI.
    14. Gauguier, Jean-Jacques, 2009. "L’industrialisation de l’Open Source," Economics Thesis from University Paris Dauphine, Paris Dauphine University, number 123456789/4388 edited by Toledano, Joëlle.
    15. Tammy L. Madsen & Michael J. Leiblein, 2015. "What Factors Affect the Persistence of an Innovation Advantage?," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(8), pages 1097-1127, December.
    16. Olga Slivko & Bernd Theilen, 2014. "Innovation or imitation? The effect of spillovers and competitive pressure on firms’ R&D strategy choice," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 112(3), pages 253-282, July.
    17. Fuentelsaz, Lucio & Gómez, Jaime & Palomas, Sergio, 2016. "Interdependences in the intrafirm diffusion of technological innovations: Confronting the rational and social accounts of diffusion," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(5), pages 951-963.
    18. Xie, Zongjie & Hall, Jeremy & McCarthy, Ian P. & Skitmore, Martin & Shen, Liyin, 2016. "Standardization efforts: The relationship between knowledge dimensions, search processes and innovation outcomes," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 48, pages 69-78.
    19. Murmann, Johann Peter & Frenken, Koen, 2006. "Toward a systematic framework for research on dominant designs, technological innovations, and industrial change," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 925-952, September.
    20. Hyeon Chang Kim & Woojin Yoon, 2019. "Study On Types Of Technology Cooperation Partner And Innovation Performance: Focusing On Incremental And Radical Innovation," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(01), pages 1-25, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:proeco:v:190:y:2017:i:c:p:80-87. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ijpe .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.