Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (2)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Love, J. H.
Right arrow Articles by Roper, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Related Collections
Right arrow D23 - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
Right arrow L24 - Contracting Out; Joint Ventures; Technology Licensing
Right arrow L60 - General
Right arrow O31 - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
Right arrow O32 - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Cambridge Journal of Economics 28:379-395 (2004)
Cambridge Journal of Economics, Vol. 28, No. 3, © Cambridge Political Economy Society 2004; all rights reserved

The organisation of innovation: collaboration, cooperation and multifunctional groups in UK and German manufacturing

James H. Love and Stephen Roper*

Address for correspondence: Aston Business School, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK; email: j.h.love{at}aston.ac.uk

Marked differences exist between the institutional and social context for innovation in the UK and Germany. The question addressed here is how these different contexts affect the objectives and organisation of innovation in UK and German manufacturing. In particular, the paper examines the extent to which UK and German plants engage in inter-plant collaboration and cooperation and multifunctional working as part of their innovative activity, and explores the reasons for differences in these patterns of involvement. The investigation is based on a large-scale, comparative survey of manufacturing plants in the two countries. In Germany, institutional and social norms are found to encourage collaborative inter-plant innovation, but aspects of the German skills training and industrial relations systems make the adoption of more flexible internal systems more difficult. In the UK, by contrast, the more adversarial nature of inter-firm relations makes it more difficult to establish external collaborations based on mutual trust, but less restrictive labour market structures make it easier for UK plants to adopt multifunctional working. This is linked to differences in attitudes to the property rights and transaction cost problems inherent in innovation.

Key Words: Organisation • Innovation • Institutions • Property rights

JEL classifications: D23, O31

Manuscript received September 3, 2001; final version received April 15, 2002.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.