We are undertaking studies at three levels: that of the firm, that of the sector or industrial cluster, and that of the regional system of innovation.

At the firm level, we use a product cycle model to partition the activities of the firm, and distinguish sources of innovation, e.g. in-house, suppliers, customers, competitors, public sector. This dissection defines an innovation-source/innovation-activity matrix. We have found that different types of firms have distinctly different profiles on this matrix, which we will begin to quantify through surveying and case studies in technology intensive firms. This framework is essentially a topological transformation of the Chain Link model of Kline and Rosenberg, but is more regular and amenable to specialization and generalization. The clients of the MettNet Institute provide a well documented starting point.

At the sector/cluster level, we use a generalization of the "diamond" framework that originated in the management literature. This framework is particularly suited to discussion of regional industrial structure, for example because of its treatment of quasi-substitutable determinant pairs (local/external markets, etc.) and the explicit treatment of "soft infrastructure" such as regional S&T policy. The innovation matrix at the firm level maps easily onto the cluster framework, allowing the transfer of information developed in one context to the other.

At the system of innovation level, we return to the firm-centred model as a starting framework. Actors in the innovation system can locate themselves in this model — according to which firms they influence, how, and at what stage(s) of the product cycle. We want to understand and assess the effectiveness of those interactions.


       
 
 
 
 
         
   
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