Transnational innovation

You read a lot these days about how transnational firms learn from the numerous country-markets in which they operate. Toyota in the United States learns cutting-edge manufacturing skills from Toyota in Japan. While another Japanese company, Pioneer, a producer of professional CD players for DJs, learns from the highly demanding British market. On it goes: firms are learning specific capabilities from different parts of the world. Why? Because no country is the best at everything.

In terms of managing innovation, you can imagine how problems can arise when you start having discussions with people in different parts of the world. Some questions that can cause major debate and headaches are these:


What, exactly, is a disruptive innovation and how does it differ from a breakthrough innovation?

What constitutes a "new" product?

At what point does product innovation become process innovation?

Can process innovations be considered separately from product innovations in a world increasingly dominated by services?


innovation, innovation management, China, Taiwan