The Human Side of Innovation Systems : Innovation, New Organization Forms and Competence Building in a learning Perspective

Abstract

The aim of this book is to analyze the relationship between innovation, English employment and competence development within the framework of new learning organization forms. Knowledge production and innovation are often seen as linear processes, assuming that scientific results are followed by technological invention, production and market introduction. An alternative approach, which is chosen in this book, is the interactive and learning approach to innovation. Here, product innovations are considered expressions of learning processes taking place inside firms and involving different functional groups and various decision levels, as well as relations with the firm's customers and subcontractors. A theoretical framework is constructed which combines the system of innovation approach and the system of employment approach. This framework is applied in a dynamic empirical study of enterprises in the private urban sector in Denmark. The empirical study utilizes a unique longitudinal data set. The data set combines two large surveys and detailed register data on 524 Danish firms, and it includes information on the behavior of the firms and all employees employed in each of the 524 firms for shorter or longer tenures in the period 1990 to 2000.