Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
the competitive advantage of firms (Porter, 1990). These conditions
can be divided into four different categories: factor conditions,
demand conditions, the strength of supporting industries and the
structure of firms (Porter, 1990). Or, put differently, qualities like
infrastructure support and a skilled workforce, the domestic market
for the industry's product, the presence of supplier industries, and
the capability of management all influence the success of local firms
(Porter, 1990). When all these factors are provided for at the national
level, local companies obtain a competitive advantage (Porter,
1990).
Importantly, many of these elements can be manipulated via
government policy; indeed, this has formed the basis of much
government policy development worldwide. One such example is the
American Competitiveness Initiative
launched in 2006 (US
Government, 2006). The American Competitiveness Initiative
outlined a ten-year plan for building research and development
capacity, improving education standards and providing tax breaks
for research and development. Specific areas of focus for research
and development included hydrogen fuel technology, better adoption
and coordination of information health technologies and increased
broadband access. Strategies taken up under the American
Competitiveness Initiative included reform of intellectual property
regulation, boosting numbers of research personnel at postdoctoral
and higher levels and building new research institutes.
The European Union's Lisbon Strategy of 2000 is another example
of the attempt to manage innovation for enhanced competitive
advantage, albeit from the level of a regional economic framework
rather than the level of the firm or nation. The Lisbon Strategy was
a ten-year plan devised for the economies of the European Community
to work together in order to increase the competitive advantage, and
hence prosperity, of the Community overall (Martens, 2010).
However, analysis conducted by EU researchers and policy developers
suggests that the Lisbon Strategy has had limited success, an outcome
that they at least partly attribute to a lack of commitment at the level
of individual member states (Martens, 2010). Nevertheless, planning
and management of future strategies is still an integral part of the
goals of the European Union (Martens, 2010).
