Climate for innovation

Elmer Staats, former comptroller general, in his paper, Improving the Climate for Innovation, What Government and Industry Can Do (17) treats the economic problems and further points out that the U.S. Government is substantially behind other governments in understanding and supporting innovation and its innovative businesses. 

Staats, E. B., "Improving the Climate for Innovation-What Government and Industry Can Do", Research Management (September 1976) 9-13. 

Inventors differ from irmovators in that the former are involved in the conception or discovery of something new, whereas the latter take this concept or discovery all die way to commercial reality. The important point is that R D, even thou only a part of the innovation process, can be the critical first step in this process, whether the innovation is in response to market pull or technology push. As pointed out in this volume, a healthy climate for R D is crucial to a healthy climate for innovation and business in general. 

The purpose of this discussion is not to reflect on whether one area of the advanced world is more innovative than the other but to point up those factors that create a very favorable climate for innovation in Japan. 

There are at least four key factors that contribute to creating a favorable climate for innovation. These factors exist in any advanced society, but it is my view that these characteristics in Japan result in a more favorable climate that ... 

I would like to consider with you those key factors that contribute to creating a favorable (or unfavorable) climate for innovation and discovery and the particular characteristics in each of these that result in a very favorable climate for future discovery and innovative contributions from Japan. These key... 

Capital formation and utilization are vital to the free enterprise system and the free enterprise system is the best overall climate for innovation. 

The climate for innovation has taken a steady pounding in recent times. By comparison, the climate was salubrious in the early 1960 s. Entrepreneurs flourished and venture capital flowed readily to finance new technological initiatives with long-term pay offs. Innovators and entrepreneurs took big chances in an economic environment that encouraged the creation of new technologically based enterprises. The risks were hlgh> b ut so were the po tentlal rewards. 

Consequently, the question is now whether government regulation affects the climate for Innovation, it does of course. Nor is the question whether or not there should be government regulation. Of course, there must be. 

The climate for innovation is given a lot of lip service, and responsibility for the maintenance of this climate laid on management s back. We can t eurgue with this too much, except... 

Fig. 4.34 Cooper et al. (2004) study shows the percentage of businesses that have each element of a positive climate for innovation...

It has been — and still is — an unfortunate feature of our political life that industry appears reticent to come forward with practical suggestions for public policies designed to improve the climate for risk-taking in the private sector — a necessary prerequisite for industrial innovation. To be sure, industrial leaders point to ... 

This overall industrial picture has aroused much concern about our national innovation capability and reduced efforts towards economic growth. To the extent that this results from an adverse climate for business investment, including the complex effects of increasing regulatory activity, the concern is probably correct. However, for anyone to infer that more conservative or shorter-range industrial R D has put us in a reduced innovative positive would be to reverse completely the actual cause-and-effect relations. 

These socio-economic factors contribute to a stability within the individual and society which, in turn, creates a favorable climate for reflective thinking which, in turn, leads to discovery and innovation. 

This generally leads to more patient money, longer-term projects, and a more favorable climate for the innovative process. 

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