IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/abaman/v19y2020i5d10.1057_s41291-019-00073-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Beyond the inflection point: how and why individuals promote inventions in Japan

Author

Listed:
  • Miikka J. Lehtonen

    (Aalto University)

  • Ainomaija Haarla

    (Aalto University)

  • Masaaki Kotabe

    (Temple University)

Abstract

While Japan is one of the most innovative countries in the world, it has experienced a prolonged stagnant economic growth in the last 20 years. The development of new products and/or services has become critical for future economic growth. However, we know little about how individuals disseminate and legitimize inventions for new product and/or service development in Japan. This paper bridges this gap by looking at how and why material scientists, architects, and designers promote new inventions in Japan. We identified three novel roles (initiator, integrator, and interpreter) individuals take upon themselves to legitimize new uses for raw materials.

Suggested Citation

  • Miikka J. Lehtonen & Ainomaija Haarla & Masaaki Kotabe, 2020. "Beyond the inflection point: how and why individuals promote inventions in Japan," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(5), pages 505-529, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:abaman:v:19:y:2020:i:5:d:10.1057_s41291-019-00073-3
    DOI: 10.1057/s41291-019-00073-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41291-019-00073-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41291-019-00073-3?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. Robert Jensen & Gabriel Szulanski, 2004. "Stickiness and the adaptation of organizational practices in cross-border knowledge transfers," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 35(6), pages 508-523, November.
    2. Gerke, Anna & Dickson, Geoff & Desbordes, Michel & Gates, Stephen, 2017. "The role of interorganizational citizenship behaviors in the innovation process," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 55-64.
    3. Bruneel, Johan & D'Este, Pablo & Salter, Ammon, 2010. "Investigating the factors that diminish the barriers to university-industry collaboration," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 858-868, September.
    4. Erik Stam, 2015. "Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and Regional Policy: A Sympathetic Critique," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(9), pages 1759-1769, September.
    5. Tom Nicholas, 2011. "Independent invention during the rise of the corporate economy in Britain and Japan," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 64(3), pages 995-1023, August.
    6. Lee G. Branstetter & Mariko Sakakibara, 2002. "When Do Research Consortia Work Well and Why? Evidence from Japanese Panel Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(1), pages 143-159, March.
    7. Masao Nakamura, 2011. "Adoption and policy implications of Japan’s new corporate governance practices after the reform," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 187-213, March.
    8. Anna Gerke & Geoff Dickson & Michel Desbordes & Stephen Gates, 2017. "The role of interorganizational citizenship behaviors in the innovation process," Post-Print hal-01541618, HAL.
    9. Motohashi, Kazuyuki, 2005. "University-industry collaborations in Japan: The role of new technology-based firms in transforming the National Innovation System," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 583-594, June.
    10. Jeffrey H. Dyer, 1996. "Does Governance Matter? Keiretsu Alliances and Asset Specificity as Sources of Japanese Competitive Advantage," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(6), pages 649-666, December.
    11. Maki Umemura & Stephanie Slater, 2017. "Reaching for global in the Japanese cosmetics industry, 1951 to 2015: the case of Shiseido," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(6), pages 877-903, August.
    12. Aurore Haas, 2015. "Crowding at the frontier: boundary spanners, gatekeepers and knowledge brokers," Post-Print hal-02313832, HAL.
    13. E. Bacchiocchi & F. Montobbio, 2009. "Knowledge diffusion from university and public research. A comparison between US, Japan and Europe using patent citations," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 169-181, April.
    14. Zoltan J. Acs & Luc Anselin & Attila Varga, 2008. "Patents and Innovation Counts as Measures of Regional Production of New Knowledge," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 11, pages 135-151, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. Masahiko Aoki & Geoffrey Rothwell, 2013. "A comparative institutional analysis of the Fukushima nuclear disaster: Lessons and policy implications," Chapters, in: Comparative Institutional Analysis, chapter 8, pages 105-132, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    16. Aoyama, Yuko & Izushi, Hiro, 2003. "Hardware gimmick or cultural innovation? Technological, cultural, and social foundations of the Japanese video game industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 423-444, March.
    17. Ankrah, Samuel & AL-Tabbaa, Omar, 2015. "Universities–industry collaboration: A systematic review," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 387-408.
    18. Dennis A. Gioia & Kumar Chittipeddi, 1991. "Sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(6), pages 433-448, September.
    19. Linus Dahlander & Siobhan O'Mahony & David M. Gann, 2016. "One foot in, one foot out: how does individuals' external search breadth affect innovation outcomes?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 280-302, February.
    20. Szulanski, Gabriel, 2000. "The Process of Knowledge Transfer: A Diachronic Analysis of Stickiness," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 9-27, May.
    21. Wen, Jiang & Kobayashi, Shinichi, 2001. "Exploring collaborative R&D network:: some new evidence in Japan," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(8), pages 1309-1319, October.
    22. Tomoki Sekiguchi & Fabian Jintae Froese & Chie Iguchi, 2016. "International human resource management of Japanese multinational corporations: Challenges and future directions," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 15(2), pages 83-109, April.
    23. Richard R. Nelson, 2006. "The Market Economy and the Scientific Commons," Chapters, in: Birgitte Andersen (ed.), Intellectual Property Rights, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    24. Masahiko Aoki, 2013. "Comparative Institutional Analysis," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15474.
    25. A Delios & W J Henisz, 2003. "Policy uncertainty and the sequence of entry by Japanese firms, 1980–1998," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 34(3), pages 227-241, May.
    26. Peltokorpi, Vesa & Froese, Fabian, 2014. "Expatriate personality and cultural fit: The moderating role of host country context on job satisfaction," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 293-302.
    27. Cohen, Wesley M. & Goto, Akira & Nagata, Akiya & Nelson, Richard R. & Walsh, John P., 2002. "R&D spillovers, patents and the incentives to innovate in Japan and the United States," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(8-9), pages 1349-1367, December.
    28. Akira Takeishi, 2001. "Bridging inter‐ and intra‐firm boundaries: management of supplier involvement in automobile product development," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(5), pages 403-433, May.
    29. Howell, Jane M. & Shea, Christine M. & Higgins, Christopher A., 2005. "Champions of product innovations: defining, developing, and validating a measure of champion behavior," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 641-661, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Miikka J. Lehtonen & Ainomaija Haarla & Masaaki Kotabe, 0. "Beyond the inflection point: how and why individuals promote inventions in Japan," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 0, pages 1-25.
    2. Nobuya Fukugawa, 2013. "University spillovers into small technology-based firms: channel, mechanism, and geography," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 38(4), pages 415-431, August.
    3. Jörn Block & Christian Fisch & Kenta Ikeuchi & Masatoshi Kato, 2022. "Trademarks as an indicator of regional innovation: evidence from Japanese prefectures," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(2), pages 190-209, February.
    4. Hiroyuki Okamuro & Junichi Nishimura, 2013. "Impact of university intellectual property policy on the performance of university-industry research collaboration," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 273-301, June.
    5. Massimo G. Colombo & Massimiliano Guerini & Cristina Rossi-Lamastra & Andrea Bonaccorsi, 2022. "The “first match” between high-tech entrepreneurial ventures and universities: the role of founders’ social ties," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 270-306, February.
    6. Junichi Nishimura & Hiroyuki Okamuro, 2011. "R&D productivity and the organization of cluster policy: an empirical evaluation of the Industrial Cluster Project in Japan," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 117-144, April.
    7. Yindan Ye & Thomas Crispeels, 2022. "The role of former collaborations in strengthening interorganizational links: evidence from the evolution of the Chinese innovation network," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(5), pages 1343-1372, October.
    8. Nishimura, Junichi & Okamuro, Hiroyuki, 2018. "Internal and external discipline: The effect of project leadership and government monitoring on the performance of publicly funded R&D consortia," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(5), pages 840-853.
    9. Noman Arshed & Waqas Ahmad & Uzma Hanif, 2022. "A Spatial Temporal Exploration of Factors Motivating Academia-Industry Collaboration," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(1), pages 521-540, March.
    10. Hong, Jacky Fok Loi & Snell, Robin Stanley & Easterby-Smith, Mark, 2009. "Knowledge flow and boundary crossing at the periphery of a MNC," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 539-554, December.
    11. Garcia-Perez-de-Lema, Domingo & Madrid-Guijarro, Antonia & Martin, Dominique Philippe, 2017. "Influence of university–firm governance on SMEs innovation and performance levels," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 250-261.
    12. Tom Broekel & Matthias Brachert & Matthias Duschl & Thomas Brenner, 2015. "Joint R and D subsidies, related variety, and regional innovation," Working Papers on Innovation and Space 2015-01, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.
    13. Jianghua Zhou & Rui Wu & Jizhen Li, 2019. "More ties the merrier? Different social ties and firm innovation performance," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 445-471, June.
    14. Amit Shovon Ray & Sabyasachi Saha, "undated". "Patenting Public-Funded Research for Technology Transfer: A Conceptual-Empirical Synthesis of US Evidence and Lessons for India," Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, New Delhi Working Papers 244, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, New Delhi, India.
    15. Winkler Renata, 2014. "Training and knowledge transfer at the interface of cultures," Management, Sciendo, vol. 18(1), pages 1-14, May.
    16. Lin, Feng-Jyh & Wu, Shang-He & Hsu, Maw-Shin & Perng, Chyuan, 2016. "The determinants of government-sponsored R&D alliances," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(11), pages 5192-5195.
    17. Thomas Hamadi & Jens Leker & Klaus Meerholz, 2018. "Emergence Of Innovation Champions: Differences In The R&D Collaboration Process Between Science And Industry," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 22(08), pages 1-17, December.
    18. Elina BENEA-POPUȘOI & Ecaterina RUSU, 2018. "Knowledge spillovers in the process of formation of the economic clusters," Eastern European Journal for Regional Studies (EEJRS), Center for Studies in European Integration (CSEI), Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova (ASEM), vol. 4(2), pages 94-107, December.
    19. Rene Belderbos & Victor Gilsing & Shinya Suzuki, 2015. "Direct and mediated ties to universities: ‘Scientific’ absorptive capacity and innovation performance of pharmaceutical firms," Working Papers of Department of Management, Strategy and Innovation, Leuven 504836, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Department of Management, Strategy and Innovation, Leuven.
    20. Qiu, Shumin & Liu, Xielin & Gao, Taishan, 2017. "Do emerging countries prefer local knowledge or distant knowledge? Spillover effect of university collaborations on local firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(7), pages 1299-1311.

    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:pal:abaman:v:19:y:2020:i:5:d:10.1057_s41291-019-00073-3. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave.com .

    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.