Global Companies Local Innovations

Investigating the innovation activities of multinational corporations this book uncovers and examines why the geography of innovation by multinationals is overwhelmingly local in spite of their global operations in manufacturing and sales through case studies of produce development by three global players: Toyota Sony and Canon. The microdynamic approach of the book allows an in-depth investigation of the engineering and technical aspects of innovation making. The book unfolds the complex and constant process of trial and error in innovation and reveals three fundamental natures of innovation making: complexity interdisciplinarity and prototyping and testing. In order to manage these three natures of innovation firms have to plan ironically for unplanned situations and to collocate knowledge people and resources.