Flexible Innovation

Technological alliances have begun to change the way high-technology companies conduct research and development. While most companies still carry out R&D in isolation, the secretive, closed laboratory is becoming a thing of the past. Flexible Innovation, the first study of these changes within the Canadian context, is a comprehensive look at the state of technical collaboration in high-technology firms and a guide-book for formulating and facilitating technical alliances. Basing his study on in-depth interviews in more than 130 companies across Canada, Jorge Niosi analyses the scope of collaborative research activities - both domestic and international - in the fields of biotechnology, electronics, advanced materials, and manufacturing of transportation equipment. He describes successful patterns of collaboration, obstacles and limitations, and the role of public policy, universities, and government laboratories in technological alliances and compares Canadian partnerships and public policy with similar patterns in Europe, the United States, and Japan.