Emerging Patterns and Enduring Myths of Innovation in Japan: Concluding Thoughts

摘要

The studies presented in this collection have outlined some of the significant and emerging changes in the patterns of innovation in Japan, illustrating with examples from across diverse industries and business sectors, and developing arguments from a number of internal and external perspectives. This concluding contribution highlights aspects of the human dimension informing the enduring myths and emerging patterns of innovation in Japan. It develops from the premise that innovation as a managed process proceeds - and succeeds or fails - through consideration of the individual and collective efforts of people. The people in this case are Japanese; the focus is on how they interact as employees, as managers, as inventors and as entrepreneurs. The emphasis is on how their combined efforts and imagination serve to shape what management scholars and business analysts describe as the emerging and enduring 'national innovation system' of Japan.