Centre
for Research on Innovation and CompetitionCentre
for Research on Innovation and Competition
Jeremy Howells | Research Programme | Research Interests | Papers
Exploring the nature of innovation in service activities and its conceptualisation within innovation more generally. Development of the notion of service 'encapsulation' in the innovation process and the combinatorial role of services in goods innovation and consumption. Particular research emphasis has been on linking services with industrial consumption in the innovation process, and forms one of the major CRIC research programmes supported by ESRC in the area of services. A second strand of research is on the emergence and growth of R&D services and their evolution over time (see 4 below). Current projects include leading a major study on innovation in services with Bruce Tether and Elvira Uyarra, surveying service innovations across the European Union and North America. Publications include:
2004 "Innovation, consumption and services: encapsulation and the combinatorial role of services" The Services Industries Journal, 24, 19-36.
2003 "Barriers to innovation and technology transfer in services: firm level and policy issues in a global context" Asia Pacific Tech Monitor 20 (3), 29-35.
2001 'The nature of innovation in services' in OECD (Eds.) Innovation and Productivity in Services OECD, Paris, 55-79.
2000 (with Miles, I., Boden, M. and Andersen, B.) "Service production and intellectual property" International Journal of Services Technology and Management 1 (1), 37-57.
2000 (with Andersen, B. Hull, R. Miles, I. and Roberts, J.) Knowledge and Innovation in the New Service Economy Edward Elgar, Cheltenham. ISBN 1-84064-572-5.
This research covers one of CRIC's major research themes funded by the ESRC, namely knowledge and competition. The focus of my research is on the nature of knowledge itself and its links with the innovation process. Current work is centred around, firstly, the issue of the conceptualisation and epistemology of knowledge and, secondly, the geography and location of knowledge activity and innovation. I am currently editing a CRIC book on knowledge with Stan Metcalfe. More specific empirical work on technical knowledge sourcing within the firm is outlined in 4 below. Publications include:
2002 "Tacit knowledge, innovation and economic geography" Urban Studies 33, 871-884
2002 "Mind the gap: information and communication technologies, knowledge activities and innovation in the pharmaceutical industry" Technology Analysis & Strategic Management 14, 335-370.
2000 (with Roberts, J.) "From Innovation Systems to Knowledge Systems" Prometheus 18, 17-28.
1996 "Tacit knowledge, innovation and technology transfer" Technology Analysis & Strategic Management 8, 91-106. [To be reprinted in Storey, J. (Ed.) (2004) The Management of Innovation, International Library of Critical Writings in Business and Management, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham].
Research here has centred on work undertaken for the Higher Education Council for England (HEFCE) and its higher education agency counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The research has two strands. Firstly, how research activity is more generally structured and organised within higher education institutions (HEIs) and how this is changing over time, particularly in relation to changes in policy. Secondly, and more specifically, the research is interested in conceptualising and charting the growth and development of industry-academics links in the UK innovation system and across the world. Publications include:
2003 (with Nedeva, M.) "The international dimension to industry-academic links" International Journal of Technology Management 25 (1/2), 5-17.
2000 (with Georghiou, L. Rigby, J. Glynn, S. and Reeve, N.) Impact of the Research Assessment Exercise and the Future of Quality Assurance in the Light of Changes in the Research Landscape Final Report for prepared for Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), UK.
1999 Commercialisation of University Research in Europe Final Report to Canadian Advisory Council on Science and Technology (ACST), Industry Canada, Ottawa.
1998 (with Nedeva, M. and Georghiou, L.) Industry-Academic Links in the UK Final Report to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), Bristol.
4. R&D, the sourcing and transfer of technology and distributed innovation
Particular interest here centres on the changing nature of R&D activity and how firms source research and technological knowledge for their innovation purposes. Theoretical interest centres on firstly how the knowledge boundaries of the firm are managed in relation to the innovation process and secondly on charting the emergence and growth of 'knowledge intermediaries' to help generate and source research and knowledge for firms. This, research however, also has direct practical implications for firms and the research has involved close collaboration with companies. A recent project with Andrew James and Khaleel Malik and funded by ESRC, EPSRC, LINK and sponsor companies has studied the sourcing of research and knowledge for innovation by a range of firms and organisations in the UK. The research has close links with, and been supported by, the Association of Independent Research and Technology Organisations (AIRTO) in the UK, and has also involved more specific research with the international ceramics research organisation, CERAM. Publications include:
2003 (with James, A. and Malik, K.) "Sourcing external technological knowledge: a Decision Support Framework for companies" International Journal of Technology Management 27 (2/3)
2003 (with James, A. and Malik, K.) "The sourcing of technological knowledge: distributed innovation processes and dynamic change" R&D Management 33, 395-409.
2000 "International coordination of technology flows and knowledge activity in innovation" International Journal of Technology Management 19 (7-8), 806-819.
1999 "Research and technology outsourcing and innovation systems: an exploratory analysis" Industry and Innovation 6, 111-129.
1999 "Research and technology outsourcing" Technology Analysis & Strategic Management 11, 17-29.
PREST
AIRTO
(Applied Industrial Research Trading Organisations)
CERAM
The systems of innovation approach has proved valuable in highlighting the issue of context in the innovation process and in turn introducing and underlining the role of wider socio-economic processes and institutional arrangements in innovative activity that have been neglected in the past. Particular emphasis within the current research programme is on regional and sectoral systems within a global dimension and the importance of spatial scale in viewing systems activity. Publications include:
2003 'Systems of innovation in a global economy' in Michie, J. (Ed.) Handbook on Globalisation Edward Elgar, Cheltenham,
2002 "A European innovation system in pharmaceuticals?" International Journal of Biotechnology 4, 96-114.
1999 (with Archibugi, D. and Michie, J.) "Innovation systems and policy in a global economy" Technology Analysis & Strategic Management 11, 527-539.
6. Geography of innovation and regional development
There is increasing interest in how geography shapes the innovation process and how innovation in turn influences urban and regional growth and development. Any meaningful study of the innovation process has to take account of geography and the spatial organisation of firms. The dynamics of innovation in turn have a powerful impact on regional economic development and growth. This research strand within CRIC is undertaken in close collaboration with Bruce Tether and Elvira Uyarra. Current research is focused on the existence and implications of innovation clusters and networks in the field of biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. Publications include:
2002 "Tacit knowledge, innovation and economic geography" Urban Studies 33, 871-884
2000 'Knowledge, innovation and location' in Bryson, J. R. Daniels, P. W. Henry, N. and Pollard, J. (Eds.) Knowledge, Space, Economy Routledge, London, 50-62.
1999 'Regional Systems of Innovation?' in Archibugi, D. Howells, J. and Michie, J. (Eds.) Innovation Systems in a Global Economy Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 67-93.
CRIC has combined with PREST to form the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research (MIoIR).
New book: Trust in Food, A Comparative and Institutional Analysis by Unni Kjaernes, Mark Harvey & Alan Warde.
CRIC Final Report to ESRC:"Main Report" and "CRIC Performance Indicators 1997-2006".
'Instituted Or Embedded? Legal, Fiscal and Economic Institutionalisation of Markets' by Mark Harvey
'Beyond Efficiency and Market Shares: Competition within the Finnish Games Industry' by Mirva Peltoniemi
'Accounting for Economic Evolution: Fitness and the Population Method' by Stan Metcalfe
'Innovation and Final Consumption: Social Practices, Instituted Modes of Provision and Intermediation' by Andrew McMeekin & Dale Southerton
'Alfred Marshall’s Mecca: Reconciling the Theories of Value and Development' by Stan Metcalfe