| Budget Amount *help |
¥12,700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥12,700,000)
Fiscal Year 2005: ¥6,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥6,100,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥6,600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥6,600,000)
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| Research Abstract |
The basic issue behind the project is the source of early stage innovation in Japan (i.e., the discovery of new products or industrially applicable process, and the early stage development of these products and processes). The underlying hypothesis is that until recently, most early stage innovation occurred in the in-house R＆D laboratories of established companies, although informal ties with universities were important for this process. Recently, considerable attention has been paid to universities becoming engaged in the innovation process in a more independent and formalized manner (with university management of their own intellectual property (IP) advocated as a means to encourage this process of independent, university-centered innovation. In addition, attention has been paid to the role of new high technology companies (venture companies) in innovation. Thus, this study was directed at trying to answer questions such as the following :
1.Are large companies becoming less autarkic
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in the sense of relying more on independent outside organizations (particularly universities and venture companies) for early stage innovation? The emphasis here is not on relying on R＆D in subsidiaries or other companies in the same manufacturing group or on informal relationships with universities, but rather on relying on independent entities that are expected to act in their own self interest, especially independent ventures and universities (and their individual researchers that/who behave (at least to some extent) entrepreneurially.
2.How do patterns of innovation vary between countries, in particular reliance on in-house (autarkic) innovation vs. outsourced (open source) innovation, as well as between industries?
3.What evidence is there that an open innovation system might be better or worse than a system of in-house or autarkic system of innovation (taking into account industry, country, etc.)?
4.How have recent changes in the legal status of Japanese universities affected their relations with industry? Are they behaving entrepreneurially or do informal relationships still determine access to university discoveries?
This study did not answer all these issues. However, all these issues are addressed in a follow-on study and a book titled Bridging Islands, Venture Companies and the Future of Japanese and American Industry to be published in May, 2007 by Oxford University Press that combines the findings of this and a follow-on study. Moreover, the publications contained in this report do address some of these issues. Less
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