Business Behavior in a Changing World - Annotated Bibliography Example

BUSINESS BEHAVIOR IN A CHANGING WORLD II Business Behaviour in a Changing World II Customer Inserts His/Her Name Customer Inserts Grade Course Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name 06, 01, 2011 Part A: Annotated bibliography Suneja, V. (2001) Policy, Module Three, Study Guide Chapter 7 in Suneja, V. (ed) (2002) Policy Issues for Business: A Reader, London, Sage Publications Ltd. Metcalfe, J.S. (1997) ‘Science Policy and Technology Policy in a Competitive Economy’, International Journal of Social Economics, vol.24, no.7/8/9, pp. 723-740. The paper handles the nature of science and technology and its relation to aspects of market failure which have contributed to the rationale for formulating science policy and technology policy. It distinguishes between the implications of technology policy with respect to traditional market failure, and the recent shift in modern science and technology policy. The advancement of industries and the emergence of refined technology are issues that should make governments critically consider science and technology policy a crucial focus. J. S. Metcalfe, who is affiliated to the Manchester Institute of Innovation and Research (MIoIR) and the Manchester business school University of Manchester is among the top authors having written numerous journals and articles in the economic field adding up to over forty. This article is important in expounding the meaning and significance of scientific and technological policies and its impact in business. Overall, it is a useful article for undergraduate business students to critically study economic policy issues in a modern world as he links theory and policy issues around technology and science. Suneja, V. (2001) Policy, Module Three, Study Guide Chapter 8 in Suneja, V. (ed) (2002) Policy Issues for Business: A Reader, London, Sage Publications Ltd. Freeman, C. (1995) ‘The National System of Innovation in Historical Perspective’, Cambridge Journal of Economics, vol. 19, no. 1, pp.5-24. Freeman’s article relates the concepts of science and technology to innovation, and associates technological innovations to social innovations. He uses nations such as Germany and Japan to illustrate the concept of National Systems of Innovation, giving a comprehensive historical account of the advancement of these nations and others. The article brings out the importance of social factors in technological innovations, and the fact that the social factors are strongly influenced and affected by national system aspects, which should therefore not be ignored in the innovation process. Chris Freeman was a widely read professor who has had an extensive lecturing career. He coined the phrase national innovation system which has been employed in many regions and sectors. This article, though written long ago has been edited several times as it is included in the recent edition of the policy issues textbook. Taken as a whole, the text is useful for undergraduate business students to critically study economic policy issues in a modern world as he links theory and policy issues with technology and innovation. Suneja, V. (2001), Policy, Module Three, Study Guide Chapter 9 in Suneja, V. (ed) (2002) Policy Issues for Business: A Reader, London, Sage Publications Ltd. Porter, M. (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations, Harvard, Harvard Business Review. Michael Porter is an expert in the strategy field, and is concerned centrally with the competitive strategy between countries and corporations. The article majors on how nations can develop a competitive strategy and hence a competitive advantage in global industries; it describes the need for a new paradigm and the theory of national competitive advantage and its dynamics and how to deal with the implications through policy. It emphases the importance of national factors in influencing innovation, and connects this with international factors. Porter is a professor at Harvard Business School, and an important authority in the topic of the competitive advantage of nations. His works are globally recognized and accepted, in academic institutions, corporations and governments. Professor Porter is a widely cited author in the field of business and economics. This article is crucial in discussing the topic of policy issues because it expounds the importance of a competitive advantage between nations and how this can be developed. The publication is definitely a scholarly article that is published by Sage Publications Limited, a reputed publisher. Suneja, V. (2001) Policy, Module Three, Study Guide Chapter 10 in Suneja, V. (ed) (2002) Policy Issues for Business: A Reader, London, Sage Publications Ltd. Lall, S. (1997) Trade and Industrialization, Oxford, Oxford University Press. With a background of a developing economy, Professor Lall ably handles the issue of how industrial development can be achieved and experienced in developing economies, through the development of policies which will enable technological and scientific capability as well as innovative effort. Policy intervention requires that the government steps in during cases of market failure to step in and enforce certain market laws in order to prevent an imminent failure. Such a system, Lall recommends, may not necessarily need an infallible government, but proper policies. Professor Sanjaya Lall was an economics professor and fellow of Oxford University’s Green College. He was not only a higher-ranking economist at World Bank, but was also among the editors who founded the Oxford Development Studies Journal. The article is important to the study of policy issues because it explains the role of the government, with a focus on developing nations, in supporting firms through policy formulation. He dismisses neo-classical theories which lead to inappropriate policy formulations, and recommends the evolutionary theories which are more realistic for developing nations. Part B: Essay It is an undeniable fact that the only thing in the world that is unchanging is change. The world is changing, and this means business cannot remain constant! The role of innovation through science and technology makes this an easy possibility, and for the better. This paper will handle the role of science, technology and innovation policy in economic growth and the impact of these three elements on business organizations. With availability of information, aided by a rapidly improving technology, social behaviour is being influenced by the growing literacy levels, and this has an eventual effect on the behaviour of the consumer of business products and services. As a result of these changes in consumer behaviour, local and global businesses have to constantly offer a novel product or service in the market in order to remain appealing to their consumers in a competitive market (Conceição, 2000). This is what constitutes innovation. Science and technology comprise the core of this kind of innovation. Metcalfe sets the stage for STI (Science, Technology and Innovation) policy discussion by explaining the meaning of science and technology, and differentiating the two. Technology may not be directly thought of as science that has been practically applied to our daily lives (Metcalfe, 1997). Although technology and science may be thought of as distinct bodies of knowledge, co-ordinating the two in policy issues is important since the advancement of one will lead to the progress of the other, while the progress of one will require reliance upon the other. This is because these issues are intricately connected. Science drives technology, while technology will contribute to innovation. While science is financed through taxation, firms compensate their technological effort through market processes and therefore, this link is crucial in policy formulation. Metcalfe (1997) suggests that it is of radical importance that there should be a shift from the focus of traditional market concepts, to modern evolutionary theories which focus on capability, technology and innovation. As pointed out on the outset of this paper, the world economy is subject to periodic changes again and again; hence policy formulation has to be a dynamic process, through innovation, so that it continually responds to the market dynamics. Policy intervention requires that the government steps in during cases of market failure, or when there are very costly projects that private companies may not handle, or when the benefits of a project may need a long period to recover (Lall, 1997). In such instances, the government may be required to step in and enforce certain market laws in order to prevent an imminent failure. Such a system, Lall (1997) recommends, may not necessarily need an infallible government, but proper policies. Market failure means that there is an incapability of market economies to generate economic efficiency (Suneja, 2002). These failures are caused by several reasons; inter alia, a lack of information which contributes to ignorance and deficient decision making. Policies on innovation, science and technology, should be geared towards eliminating the prevalence of such ignorance! Freeman picks up Metcalfe’s introduction of science and technology, and grows it into innovation. Technological innovations usually rely on a host of social innovations, especially national issues, and therefore, it is rather difficult for a business organization to innovate solo. This introduces the idea of national systems of innovation as suggested by Freeman (1995). Taking the examples of Japan and Germany, it is possible to conceptualize the importance of national systems of innovation which have contributed to the emergence of the above mentioned nations technologically. National systems of innovation imply that innovation is influenced by not only science and technology, but it is also influenced by social innovations. These social innovations point to the role of national characteristics in innovation and science and technology in general. The rate of growth of innovation in an economy is essentially a function of the competitive advantage at the national level. Four sets of attributes characterize the national economy: “factor conditions; demand conditions; related and supporting industries and firm strategy, structure and rivalry” (Suneja, 2002, p. 70). Porter (1990) introduces the role of international factors in determining the performance of innovation, in addition to the national factors that Freeman (1995) pointed out. As such, third world countries should not lag behind. Lall (1997) suggests that rather than adopting neo-classical theories, developing countries should espouse evolutionary theories which are more realistic since they need the support of several policies to spur their capability and innovation. Since both markets and governments may be imperfect and fallible, and incapable of encouraging the desired scientific, technological ad innovative endeavour, it is important to adopt and apply the necessary policies for capacity building. As technological innovation continues to grow in a country, the contributing issues eventually lead to organizational competition and therefore the need for strategy in gaining a competitive advantage over other organizations (Porter, 2002). The resulting effect of competition is that there will be increased innovation, increased technological advancement and of course, growth of scientific research. Therefore, the state should ensure that policies are enacted which adequately encourage proper competition between business organizations. Science and technology have gained growing significance in the improvement of a knowledge based economy. Governments and other organizations and business entities in general all contribute to the process of enhancing national and regional science and technology systems (Clayton, 2002). The concept of system innovation involves an interaction between technology and information which helps in turning an idea into a business service or product. In fact, practically all scholars should be in agreement that new knowledge and additions to knowledge are essential for ‘power’ to gain economic advantage. For policy makers, understanding innovation is of utmost importance. The process of innovation is nevertheless bogged by the uncertainty of financial support. In such instances, Lall (2002) suggests that, unlike traditional practices, it is crucial to reinvent the strategy, chiefly through innovative policy. For science, technology and innovation issues to be productive for organizations, it is crucial that capacity is steadily built and improved. Prudent yet progressive and innovative policies and a comprehensive approach to scientific technologies are very crucial and of paramount importance. In conclusion, science, technological and innovative change and development with particular emphasis on global business and new trends of policy formulation are of massive interest to state policy makers. The processes involving decision making and formulation of strategy contribute to technological progress. It is therefore crucial that these decision makers or policy makers be aware of these crucial elements of economic growth and be adequately knowledgeable so that wise decisions are made during their deliberations. . References Clayton, C. (2002) ‘The Rules of Innovation’, Technology Review, vol.105, no. 5, pp. 32–38. Conceição, P. (2000) Science, technology, and innovation policy: opportunities and challenges for the knowledge economy, International series on technology policy and innovation, Westport, Greenwood. Freeman, C. (1995) ‘The National System of Innovation in Historical Perspective’, Cambridge Journal of Economics, vol. 19, no.1, pp. 5-24. Lall, S. (1997) Trade and Industrialization, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Metcalfe, J.S. (1997) ‘Science Policy and Technology Policy in a Competitive Economy’, International Journal of Social Economics, vol.24, no.7/8/9, pp. 723-740. Porter, M. (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations, Harvard, Harvard Business Review. Suneja, V. (ed) (2002) Policy Issues for Business: A Reader, London, Sage Publications Ltd. Read More