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Six paths to Chinese company innovation

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Abstract

Based on two multi-year research streams involving extensive interviews with both Chinese and Western companies in China, this paper provides a perspective on the emerging paths of Chinese company innovation. We report on what we found to be six major paths to innovation taken by Chinese companies. While all these paths have also been taken by many Western companies, we discuss here the unique Chinese adaptation or intensification of each approach. Our findings indicate that the innovation advantages of Chinese companies may well be in the creative combinations of available innovation practices. We conclude with views on the future of innovation in China and directions for future research.

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Notes

  1. For an excellent in-depth treatment of perspectives on creativity in the East versus the West, see Morris and Leung (2010).

  2. Indeed, in the nineteenth century when the US economy was taking off, many US firms engaged in IPR violations (Peng et al., 2017).

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Acknowledgments

George S. Yip thanks Akzo Nobel, Bosch, DSM, Philips, and Shell for sponsoring the CEIBS Center on China Innovation, which was the enabling entity for most of his research. Mark J. Greeven thanks the National Institute of Innovation Management, Zhejiang University for enabling most of his research. The authors hereby acknowledge the continuous and significant support of Editor-in-Chief Emeritus and Consulting Editor Mike W. Peng and the insightful and constructive reviews of the anonymous reviewers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IMD Business School, Chemin de Bellerive, 23, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Mark J. Greeven

  2. Imperial College Business School, South Kensington Campus, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2AZ, UK

    George S. Yip

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  1. Mark J. Greeven
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  2. George S. Yip
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Correspondence to Mark J. Greeven.

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Greeven, M.J., Yip, G.S. Six paths to Chinese company innovation. Asia Pac J Manag 38, 17–33 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-018-9635-3

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