It should be known that Japan and USA are realigning themselves through various changes and this is as far as national innovation systems are concerned.
These changes have been occurring at different levels and this is set to continue as time goes by. Both countries have embraced changes to keep up with the pace of globalization for long term sustainability (Jofre 2008, p. 12). As a matter of fact, more attention has been given to the automobile industry because it is undergoing a lot of changes every now and then which means that they can not afford to be left behind.
In a broad perspective, changes in both countries national innovation systems have been inspired by their previous experiences. This is as far as failure and success are concerned. There has been an effort to merge national innovation systems in both countries and this is based on the fact that the ecosystem of the automobile industry and sector is changing.
As far as the two countries are concerned, there has been no single formula for success and this is because most interactions revolve around incidentals. National innovation systems in the two countries are still emerging and this is something that has been closely evaluated. Models of collaboration in both countries are less relevant and this has been prevalent in the automobiles industry.
As a matter of fact, a lot of flexibility and learning has made the automobiles industry to adapt well to the changing environment in both nations (Goto 2000, p. 23). There are a lot of efforts to induce synergy in the national innovation systems and this is as far as the automobiles industry in the two countries is concerned (Jofre 2008, p. 31). In a broad perspective, innovation systems in the two nation’s automobile industry can be said to be in a transition stage.
The two countries compare differently as far as national innovation systems are concerned. Japans innovation revolves around technology that will be substituted for energy. On the other hand, USA innovation has been known to revolve around IT substitution. This is mostly substituted for manufacturing technology to enhance long term sustainability. In Japan, national innovation systems in the automobile industry are aimed at increasing growth (Goto 2000, p. 45).
This is done with limited resources and energy to minimize any misuse that might be experienced. USA innovation is also aimed at increasing growth but this is done through a different direction. In this case, attention is laid on increasing functionalities as time goes by (Mowery 1996, p. 41). As far as national innovation systems in Japans automobile industry are concerned, innovation is led by all stakeholders. This is by both the government and industry.
USA has taken a different path and innovation has been left in the hands of a liberalized arrangement. This involves different innovation agents that have a stake in the automobiles industry as a whole. Japans national innovation systems are based on an in-house approach to research and development (Goto 2000, p. 31). This means that tacit knowledge is embedded in large companies for long term sustainability. On the other hand, national innovation systems in the USA have a strong reliance on foreign human resource.
This means that a lot of mobility and competitiveness are encouraged to push the industry forward. Japan as a nation has always insisted on production efficiency to make its industry unique. In this case, its national innovation system is focused on a lean production concept where it can get enough competitive advantage. USA has focused its national innovation system on new functionalities (Mowery 1996, p. 67). This has been done with an aim of coming up with a network synergy in its automobile industry.
Japans national innovation system is still undergoing some restructuring and this means that the automobile industry has been given a lot of power and autonomy. In USA, the government has always dictated the rules of the game as time goes by thereby reducing the independence of the automobile industry. Japan has come up with research and development policies that guide its innovation system while USA has a lot of regulation and deregulation that have been synonymous with the country (Jofre 2008, p. 12).
As far as Japans national innovation system is concerned, the industry and academy are encouraged to collaborate while the US government has been reviewing and enhancing its innovation environment for long term sustainability. The national innovation system in Japan has less interference from the government and this has been capitalized on to enhance social consensus as far as the automobile industry is concerned.
The USA government has established a lot of presence in its national innovation system and this has been done with an aim of setting up various national priorities in the automobiles industry.
National innovation systems in the USA have a variety of funding sources with a lot of external collaboration while in Japan, funding has mostly come from the government with a lot of internal collaborations by different companies and stakeholders. Japans innovation system encourages low mobility and this can be reflected from its low dependence on foreign skills while USA has a lot of mobility with a strong reliance on foreign skills (Jofre 2008, p. 38).
Both countries have a different approach to national innovation systems but they can still gain by collaborating together which is very good for long term sustainability.
Reference List
Goto, A., 2000. Japan’s national innovation system: current status and problems. London: Oxford University Press.
Jofre, S., 2008. Overview and analysis of Japanese and USA innovation systems. Stockholm: Technical University of Denmark.
Mowery, D., 1996. The U.S. National Innovation System: Recent Developments in Structure and Knowledge Flows. Berkeley: University of California.