Google to open R&D facility in Taiwan

In the last post there was a video from the MIT on the internationalization of innovation. I used the term "transnational" to highlight that it's no longer about firms having a "global" R&D facility in which they design standardized products for mass consumption by the rest of the world.

For a variety of reasons, particular countries are exceptionally gifted at doing particular things. Geography, history, weather and language all play a central role in this in addition to the more obvious things, such as education. This, combined with the idea that people enjoy buying foreign goods (dreams), drives, and should continue to drive, global trade. The British buy their China-manufactured iPods while the Chinese buy Westlife, Coldplay, and Mozart CDs. (Give or take the odd copy!)

+ Nobody is exceptional at everything.

+ We love things that are foreign.

+ We are often constrained by our physical environment.

So when Google wants to master the art of searching Chinese text, why not come to Taiwan and tap into some of that expertise?






innovation management in Asia