The unique Chinese innovation pathways: lessons from Chinese small and medium sized manufacturing firms

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,...

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Main Authors: Chung, Leanne, Tan, Kim Hua
Format: Article
Published: Elsevier 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41166/
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author Chung, Leanne
Tan, Kim Hua
author_facet Chung, Leanne
Tan, Kim Hua
author_sort Chung, Leanne
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description 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
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spelling nottingham-411662020-05-04T19:56:02Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41166/ The unique Chinese innovation pathways: lessons from Chinese small and medium sized manufacturing firms Chung, Leanne Tan, Kim Hua 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 Elsevier 2017-08 Article PeerReviewed Chung, Leanne and Tan, Kim Hua (2017) The unique Chinese innovation pathways: lessons from Chinese small and medium sized manufacturing firms. International Journal of Production Economics, 190 . pp. 80-87. ISSN 0925-5273 Chinese Innovation SME Product Development Imitation China Shanzhai http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925527316302341 doi:10.1016/j.ijpe.2016.09.004 doi:10.1016/j.ijpe.2016.09.004
spellingShingle Chinese Innovation
SME
Product Development
Imitation
China
Shanzhai
Chung, Leanne
Tan, Kim Hua
The unique Chinese innovation pathways: lessons from Chinese small and medium sized manufacturing firms
title The unique Chinese innovation pathways: lessons from Chinese small and medium sized manufacturing firms
title_full The unique Chinese innovation pathways: lessons from Chinese small and medium sized manufacturing firms
title_fullStr The unique Chinese innovation pathways: lessons from Chinese small and medium sized manufacturing firms
title_full_unstemmed The unique Chinese innovation pathways: lessons from Chinese small and medium sized manufacturing firms
title_short The unique Chinese innovation pathways: lessons from Chinese small and medium sized manufacturing firms
title_sort unique chinese innovation pathways: lessons from chinese small and medium sized manufacturing firms
topic Chinese Innovation
SME
Product Development
Imitation
China
Shanzhai
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41166/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41166/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41166/