Ouverture de ‘Global Networks and Local Development-1’

The global competitive landscapes of innovation and imitation have significantly changed the relative position of many Nation-States and the business relations between global networks and local firms. The US large corporations have lost their historical leadership in innovation. As a matter of fact US in the past had ruled the diffusion of innovations and the 'block' of imitations, but now they are looking for a new role in the control of the innovation and creative imitation processes, without any engagement in the local development. In addition, the main European countries (such as Germany, UK and the Russia) lost their leadership in innovation, although they played a leading role in the social and economic development of last century closed markets. At the same time, global markets have expanded the market power of corporations based in countries with high investments in innovation (e.g. the Japanese firms) or focused on creative imitation (e.g. the South Korea and Taiwan corporations).