Innovation in Industrial Research is a valuable resource for researchers working for industries or the public sector, managers of research projects, consultants and graduate students. --Book Jacket.

Interactions between firms and universities are key building blocks of innovation systems. This book focuses on those interactions in developing countries, presenting studies based on fresh empirical material prepared by research teams in 12 countries

Traditionally, industrial laboratories like AT&T's Bell Labs and the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center were wellsprings of powerful new technologies. Yet in the competitive environment of the 1980s and 1990s research activities have been downsized, redirected, and restructured within most of the firms that once were major sponsors of industrial research. In this book, top technical managers of Alcoa, IBM, Intel, and Xerox along with leading scholars of the history and economics of technological change discuss the consequences of this trend. They explore new ideas for linking research with commercial markets and identify the evolving roles for industry, government, and universities in shaping a new era in industrial research.

Workshop participants offered a variety of suggestions to the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other federal agencies to improve the usefulness and relevance of data on industrial research and innovation, as well as to increase efficiency in collecting and processing the data. The suggestions dealt with the need to (1) clarify policy information needs; (2) improve the quality, coverage, and collection of existing data items; and (3) identify and collect new types of data.

Innovation in Industrial Research gives new and experienced researchers insight into how they can improve the quality of their industrial research. It discusses the methods currently available to researchers, from quality tools to the scientific method. Key aspects of research are covered, including: publications, patents, ethics and management of project teams.The book also examines responsible conduct in research, and illustrates mistakes made by researchers and how these can affect the reputation of the research being undertaken or the institutions involved. Finally, the author analyses ways of achieving innovation in industrial research.Innovation in Industrial Research is a valuable resource for researchers working for industries or the public sector, managers of research projects, consultants and graduate students.

The debate over offshoring of production, transfer of technological capabilities, and potential loss of U.S. competitiveness is a long-running one. Prevailing thinking is that "the world is flat"â€"that is, innovative capacity is spreading uniformly; as new centers of manufacturing emerge, research and development and new product development follow. Innovation in Global Industries challenges this thinking. The book, a collection of individually authored studies, examines in detail structural changes in the innovation process in 10 service as well as manufacturing industries: personal computers; semiconductors; flat-panel displays; software; lighting; biotechnology; pharmaceuticals; financial services; logistics; and venture capital. There is no doubt that overall there has been an acceleration in global sourcing of innovation and an emergence of new locations of research capacity and advanced technical skills, but the patterns are highly variable. Many industries and some firms in nearly all industries retain leading-edge capacity in the United States. However, the book concludes that is no reason for complacency about the future outlook. Innovation deserves more emphasis in firm performance measures and more sustained support in public policy. Innovation in Global Industries will be of special interest to business people and government policy makers as well as professors, students, and other researchers of economics, management, international affairs, and political science.