Knowledge and Innovation A Comparative Study of the USA, the Uk and Japan

Although governments across the world are implementing policies to transform the economic base towards high value products and services, these policies often fail to achieve their intended outcome because the process of knowledge transfer is not very well understood. In this new book, Helen Brown presents three case studies from the US, the UK and Japan arguing that partnership between public and private sector organizations can take many forms, some of which are very complicated. Vignettes from her case studies explore key attributes of partnerships that are effective in different contexts. Brown argues that 'partnership' should not be prescribed as a panacea for the delivery of complex policy in education, health and economic regeneration. Instead policy makers need to adopt a much more subtle and sophisticated concept of multi-agency partnership that acknowledges the time and effort needed to build trust and new shared practices. Brown takes issue with weak theories of change endemic in some policy, as well as the tacit assumption that knowledge and 'technology transfer' is a logistical problem, that can be resolved by the unblocking of knowledge from Universities to industry. Instead, the author subscribes to a socio-cultural theoretical approach that emphasizes the process of knowledge creation and the significance of consequent changes in the dynamics of human relations. Seen in this light, Brown conceptualizes innovation as collaboration between diverse organizations and individuals, the result of which is organizational learning. This book will be of great interest to students and researchers interested in Policy Studies, Business and Management and Education, as well as policy makers engaged with Communities of Practice theory.Brown, Helen is the author of 'Knowledge and Innovation A Comparative Study of the USA, the Uk and Japan', published 2007 under ISBN 9780415416634 and ISBN 0415416639.