Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
possession of the capabilities needed for sustained economic growth
in an internationally competitive selection environment, in which …
there are others … that have an equivalent but differentiated set of
capabilities' (Cantwell, 2006: 543), where this competition might be
at the firm, cluster or national level (Cantwell, 2006: 543). Framed
in this way, managing innovation in the global stem cell economy
can be seen as part of a global competition for building economic
growth from this emerging industry.
Importantly, competition, in this context, is not about defeating
rivals but is, instead, about building capabilities (Cantwell, 2006).
Consequently, there can be many successful entities (firms, clusters
or countries) in a competitive environment (Cantwell, 2006). That
is, by building capability within an industry like the stem cell
sciences, the objective is not necessarily to be the global leader of the
field but is to be a proficient player within the field overall. It has
also been observed that competitiveness of one firm (or cluster or
country) is good for all of the other contenders due to transfers of
skills and knowledge spillover (Cantwell, 2006).
There are a number of ways of conceptualizing the factors that impact
on competitiveness (Miozzo and Walsh, 2006). There are wide-ranging
debates about the best ways of measuring competitiveness and what
kinds of competitiveness have the biggest impacts on economic
growth (Miozzo and Walsh, 2006). Nevertheless, measuring,
analysing and reporting on competitiveness is a significant global
business, with the World Economic Forum's
Global Competitiveness
Report
and the
World Competitiveness Yearbook
produced by the
Institute for Management Development argued to be two notable
examples of the competitiveness of nations (Miozzo and Walsh,
2006). Both reports use quantitative measures across a range of
categories, in addition to opinions from leaders in different sectors,
to rank the countries included in each report (Miozzo and Walsh,
2006). The metrics used and the conceptual framework behind
reports like these are often a source of discussion and debate about
what are, in fact, the main elements of competitiveness.
One perspective on competitiveness is that it is best considered
from the point of view of the firm (Porter, 1990). Firm-level
competitiveness is primarily measured by capacity for growth in
