1、 1 外文资料 Competing in the global economy: the innovation challenge Rt. Hon. Tony Blair, Lord Sainsbury. Innovation Report.2003.12: 17-31， 52-65. Chapter 1 The innovation challenge Summary Global competition is increasing as a result of trade liberalization, technological change and reductions in tran
2、sport and communication costs. UK based businesses will find it increasingly difficult to compete on low costs alone in labour intensive industries exposed to international competition. The challenge for businesses is to compete on the basis of unique value. We have defined innovation as the success
3、ful exploitation of new ideas and it is central to meeting this challenge. It involves investments in new products, processes or services and in new ways of doing business. Measures to develop the skills and creativity of the workforce are often an essential prerequisite. The speed of technological
4、change and market responses make the challenge to innovate urgent and continuous. Overall UK innovation performance appears to be, at best, average compared to our major competitors. This is reflected in the large productivity gap that exists between the UK and its major competitors. Innovation perf
5、ormance accounts for a significant proportion of this gap. On the whole, UK firms face a challenge: how to raise their rate of innovation? Innovation is a complex process so understanding why the UK has a relatively modest innovation performance is not straightforward. We drew on an extensive review
6、 of the international innovation literature and consulted with a group of leading experts in the field. As a result we have identified seven critical success factors for innovation performance. They are: Sources of new technological knowledge； Capacity to absorb and exploit new knowledge； Access to
7、finance； Competition and entrepreneurship； Customers and suppliers； The Regulatory environment； Networks and collaboration. They help us to identify current strengths and weaknesses of the UK innovation system. A highly abridged summary is provided in this chapter but the more detailed analysis is c
8、ontained in an accompanying economic report. Our vision is of the UK as a key knowledge hub in the global economy. A 2 country that will have maintained its outstanding tradition in the advance of scientific and technological knowledge while developing a similar level of performance in turning knowl
9、edge into exciting and novel products and services. The Report complements the Lambert Review of University-Business links as well as the cross-Government Skills Strategy. It makes proposals to strengthen UK performance against all the success factors building upon initiatives that have gone before.
10、 What is innovation? 1.1. Innovation in this Report is defined as the successful exploitation of new ideas. Ideas may be entirely new to the market or involve the application of existing ideas that are new to the innovating organization or often a combination of both. Innovation involves the creatio
11、n of new designs, concepts and ways of doing things, their commercial exploitation, and subsequent diffusion through the rest of the economy and society. It is this lastdiffusionphase from which the bulk of the economic benefits flow. Most innovations are incrementala succession of individually mode
12、st improvements to products or services over their life cycle. But a few will be dramatic, creating entirely new industries or markets. 1.2. Innovation involves experimentation and risk taking. Some attempts to innovate will fail, but across the economy the successes outweigh the failures. And the f
13、ailures themselves generate new knowledge, which if evaluated correctly, can improve the chances for future success. The risk of failure justifies the potentially high returns from successes, which provide the incentive to innovate in the first place. Successful innovation-led companies have a numbe
14、r of common characteristics (Box 1.1). Characteristics of innovation-led companies: A worldwide focus, often requiring early expansion overseas； A balanced growth strategy, based on organic growth and targeted acquisitions to enter new markets or acquire critical expertise； A balanced investment str
15、ategy； Above average investment in market led research and development； A focus on what really matters to the customer； An innovation culture with corporate leadership that expects growth through development of new products and services. Why is it important now? 1.3. Innovation is vital to most busi
16、nesses operating in the UK if they are to survive and grow in the long term. But there are five reasons why innovation matters more for businesses and the people who work in them today. Markets around the world are being liberalised. This brings opportunities from expanding trade. And firms can loca
17、te all or part of the production process or service wherever the economic advantage is greatest. But UK-based firms also face competition from firms in countries with relatively low labour costs and where education and skills levels are high. For example, hourly labour costs in South Korea are just
18、over half UK levels, but the proportion of graduates in the working age population is almost identical. 3 Long-term reductions in the costs of transportation and communication have also opened up new markets and faster global communications mean that consumers learn about new fashions, ideas and pro
19、ducts faster than ever before. The cost of sea freight has fallen by two-thirds since 1920, air transport by five-sixths since 1930. Transatlantic telephone calls are now almost free on the Internet. Science and Technology are providing new opportunities for businesses to compete based on exploiting
20、 knowledge, skills and creativity to produce more valuable goods and services. Industries are being created, such as Biotechnology, and traditional ones are being transformed (e.g. growth of technical textiles). Because they rely on knowledge and skills, they provide areas where high wage, developed
21、 economies can maintain a competitive advantage over low wage, unskilled ones. Services, accounting for over 70% of the economy, are becoming more technology intensive. Technology is being used to improve business processes and customer service in sectors such as retail, hotels and banking, and to d
22、evelop new products combining creative strengths with the latest technology, such as computer games. Many high technology manufacturers now make more money from services than they do from manufacturing. Increasing environmental concerns are acting as a stimulus to innovation. Demand for environmenta
23、l improvements for example, reducing CO2 emissions and volumes of waste may require changes in the economy and to the way we live. To deliver these changes the market has to generate innovative uses of technology, new ways of doing business and new consumer attitudes. 1.4.The speed of changing techn
24、ology and the extent to which new products and services can change market conditions mean that the challenge to innovate is urgent and continuous. UK-based businesses will find it increasingly difficult to compete on low costs alone in labour intensive industries exposed to international competition
25、. The challenge for businesses is to compete on the basis of unique value. 1.5. The UK is not alone in facing this challenge. European leaders agreed at Lisbon in spring 2000 to make the EU “the most dynamic, knowledge-driven economy in the world by 2010”. Innovation is integral to achieving this vi
26、sion. How is the UK doing? 1.6.We have consulted a distinguished panel of leading academic experts in drawing up the analysis underpinning this Report. This analysis has been published separately. The main points concerning the UKs innovation performance are set out below. The latest international c
27、omparisons of data on business R&D show the UK well behind the US and roughly equal to the EU average. However, it is encouraging that after a steady period of decline from 1.5% of GDP in 1981 to 1.16% in 1997, we have seen a move in the right direction, to 1.24% in 2002. Adjusting for size of econo
28、my, UK firms patenting activity at patent offices in Europe, Japan and the US lies well behind firms in Japan, Germany and the US and is just below the European average. Although systematic data is lacking, it appears that the UK lags behind the US and major Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
