Chinese entrepreneurs focus on innovation: Ancient philosophy promotes economic development

Abstract

Purpose

To examine the way that China's cultural traditions affect the country's approach to innovation management and evaluate the impact of the philosophy contained in the ancient I Ching text on effectiveness in translating research spending into patent applications.

Design/methodology/approach

Compares innovation performance between countries with and without an awareness of the I Ching philosophy as part of their cultural tradition. Presents an econometric analysis of the relationship between research expenditures, proportion of population engaged in research and relative levels of patent applications in nine countries.

Findings

Ask people about China today and the first thing they are likely to talk about is economic growth and the sheer volume of goods that the country manufactures and sends to Europe and America. It is unlikely though, that they will mention creativity and innovation. And yet, China's total number of patent applications rose tenfold between 2000 and 2007, from almost 20,000 to around 200,000 – only just behind Japan and the USA. This is a country that is changing fast, but it still only has ten years of experience of global competition – a key driver of innovation for many companies. It is worth asking whether exposure to western management techniques is as significant as China's long history and distinctive culture. How can Chinese entrepreneurs most effectively develop innovative organizations?

Practical implications

Highlights both China's modest relative performance in innovation to date and the speed at which the country's patent applications have grown in recent years.

Originality/value

Raises questions on the cultural factors affecting innovation performance for further qualitative and quantitative investigation.

Citation

(2014), "Chinese entrepreneurs focus on innovation: Ancient philosophy promotes economic development", Strategic Direction, Vol. 30 No. 1, pp. 7-10. https://doi.org/10.1108/SD-12-2013-0095