qualified scientist but you also need talented people who are entrepreneurial
thinkers who have other attributes to
offer such as a connection with other
companies, governments, universities, suppliers and customers; an ability to work
across multiple disciplines; able to think
outside of the box, etc.
Unfortunately, these interlocking factors don’t seem to exist within the normal
Chinese culture. In fact, the very structure
of Chinese society often presents inherent
barriers to innovation. China has a rather
monolithic culture, growing from a predominantly ( 92 percent) Han-Chinese
population content and a deep tendency
toward strong hierarchies. These factors
do not encourage or favor thinking in new
ways or including outsiders. This makes it
difficult for Chinese scientists to understand new markets, to think creativelyor
to accept eccentrics.
In the U.S. we often see the strong, entrepreneurial, stand-alone, risk everything
persona such as a Steve Jobs. Unfortunately, this trait is not found in China. As
a general rule, Chinese have a strong
group focus, and prefer to work, communicate and share information with people
they know and trust, someone from
within, not from outside. They often exclude personnel from another department
or division even within the same company
or university, even more so if the individual is from outside the organization.
All these long established habits discourage appreciation of different types of
thought, behavior or actions. This often
stifles the kind of cross-fertilization and
cooperation that successful multinationals tap to boost innovation. There is an
old, traditional Chinese saying that sort of
sums up the position of a number of Chinese companies: “Do less, make fewer
mistakes, do nothing, make no mistakes.”
China’s leaders have not fostered a
risk-taking atmosphere or made it clear
that failure isn’t a bad thing. They most
assuredly have not fostered a concept of
rugged individualism or a hero culture. As
a result most of the scientists assigned to
R&D tend to work on projects that have
limited risk associated hence as the data
has shown, we see a preponderance of
utility patents versus true invention
patents. As such, most of the work going
on in China involves low risk “Process Improvements”. The new, novel ideas/con-cept type of R&D that can change the
world is still a rarity.
In the end, innovation capability de-
pends on economic flexibility. The U.S.,
with its entrepreneurial culture, relaxed
labor markets and free capital flows, at
least for the moment, continues to be the
most innovative economy in the world.
China needs such an environment to
bridge the growth and productivity gap
between emerging markets and the devel-
oped world and to truly transform them
into the innovative, energetic economy
that they feel is required to be a true
global leader.
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