This book deals with both the understanding of, and the explanation of, knowledge about the causes, processes, and patterns of convergence innovation. It argues that the process of convergence innovation is a continuous disequilibrium between reference technology and its matching technology, adjusting the optimal balance between the functions of the two technologies. Contributors describe how convergence innovation is a learning process that requires both vertical and horizontal convergence, and case studies explore the different types of convergence innovation such as outside-in and inside-out. Convergence innovation has been taking place mainly by applying IT technologies to vast areas of conventional technologies, so that individuals or firms reap the benefits of the convergence between IT and conventional technologies. Such innovations are made possible by convergence, and they ultimately improve the welfare of human beings as companies solve diverse problems and increase employment. Examples in this book include biochemical companies in Indonesia, who were able to increase their market shares in bio-fertilizer and bio-pesticide products through bio-based technological convergence; and textile machinery firms in South Korea who have been survived by achieving convergence innovation on their core competences. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Asian Journal of Technology Innovation.

Technology in several forms, especially Information Technology (IT), has a strong tendency to converge at varying degrees. This phenomenon of converging innovation is likely to deepen and widen in the future due to intense competition in global markets. Asian manufacturing firms in particular lead the global industrial innovation. Convergent innovation exists as a constant disequilibrium between reference technology and matching technology; innovations of these technologies occur at different degrees to attain an optimal balance. Innovations as a result of convergence are often beneficial, improving welfare and employment. This book sheds light on the little-discussed idea of convergent innovation with examples hailing from Asia. The book also proposes new theories and investigates convergence at the micro level – guaranteed food for thought for academics interested in innovation economics and management.

Technology in several forms, especially Information Technology (IT), has a strong tendency to converge at varying degrees. This phenomenon of converging innovation is likely to deepen and widen in the future due to intense competition in global markets. Asian manufacturing firms in particular lead the global industrial innovation. Convergent innovation exists as a constant disequilibrium between reference technology and matching technology; innovations of these technologies occur at different degrees to attain an optimal balance. Innovations as a result of convergence are often beneficial, improving welfare and employment. This book sheds light on the little-discussed idea of convergent innovation with examples hailing from Asia. The book also proposes new theories and investigates convergence at the micro level – guaranteed food for thought for academics interested in innovation economics and management.

Innovation contributes to corporate competitiveness, economic performance and environmental sustainability. In the Internet era, innovation intelligence is transferred across borders and languages at an unprecedented rate, yet the ability to benefit from it seems to become more divergent among different corporations and countries. How much an organization can benefit from innovation largely depends on how well innovation is managed in it. Thus, there is a discernible increase in interest in the study of innovation management. This handbook provides a comprehensive guide to this subject. The handbook introduces the basic framework of innovation and innovation management. It also presents innovation management from the perspectives of strategy, organization and resource, as well as institution and culture. The book’s comprehensive coverage on all areas of innovation management makes this a very useful reference for anyone interested in the subject. Chapter 5 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781315276670

The dissertation examines the determinants of convergence following divergence in industrial targeting in two Asian Newly Industrializing Economies, South Korea and Taiwan. Both economies shifted into the high-end segment of information and communications technology (DRAMs, ASICs, PCs, telecom equipment, multi-media, software, etc.) manufacturing between 1985-1996. While Taiwan had previously been specializing in high-tech and lower-end IT primarily, Korea had been pursuing autos, steel, shipbuilding and DRAM industries.

This volume aims to document the most important worldwide accomplishments in converging knowledge and technology, including converging platforms, methods of convergence, societal implications, and governance in the last ten years. Convergence in knowledge, technology, and society is the accelerating, transformative interaction among seemingly distinct scientific disciplines, technologies, and communities to achieve mutual compatibility, synergism, and integration, and through this process to create added value for societal benefit. It is a movement that is recognized by scientists and thought leaders around the world as having the potential to provide far-reaching solutions to many of today’s complex knowledge, technology, and human development challenges. Four essential and interdependent convergence platforms of human activity are defined in the first part of this report: nanotechnology-biotechnology-information technology and cognitive science (“NBIC”) foundational tools; Earth-scale environmental systems; human-scale activities; and convergence methods for societal-scale activities. The report then presents the main implications of convergence for human physical potential, cognition and communication, productivity and societal outcomes, education and physical infrastructure, sustainability, and innovative and responsible governance. As a whole, the report presents a new model for convergence. To effectively take advantage of this potential, a proactive governance approach is suggested. The study identifies an international opportunity to develop and apply convergence for technological, economic, environmental, and societal benefits. The panel also suggests an opportunity in the United States for implementing a program aimed at focusing disparate R and D energies into a coherent activity - a "Societal Convergence Initiative”. This study received input from leading academic, industry, government, and NGO experts from the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

This book observes and analyzes transnational interactions of East Asian pop culture and current cultural practices, comparing them to the production and consumption of Western popular culture and providing a theoretical discussion regarding the specific paradigm of East Asian pop culture. Drawing on innovative theoretical perspectives and grounded empirical research, an international team of authors consider the history of transnational flows within pop culture and then systematically address pop culture,digital technologies, and the media industry. Chapters cover the Hallyu—or Korean Wave—phenomenon, as well as Japanese and Chinese cultural industries. Throughout the book, the authors address the convergence of the once-separated practical, industrial, and business aspects of popular culture under the influence of digital culture. They further coherently synthesize a vast collection of research to examine the specific realities and practices of consumers that exist beyond regional boundaries, shared cultural identities, and historical constructs. This book will be of interest to academic researchers, undergraduates, and graduate students of Asian media, media studies, communication studies, cultural studies, transcultural communication, or sociology.

Existing accounts of East Asia’s meteoric growth and structural change has either been explained as one dictated essentially by markets with strong macroeconomic fundamentals, or a consequence of proactive governments. This book departs from such a dichotomy by examining inductively the drivers of the experiences. Given the evolutionary treatment of each economic good and service as different, this book examines technological catch up with a strong focus on the industries contributing significantly to the economic growth of the countries selected in Asia. The evidence produced supports the evolutionary logic of macro, meso and micro interactions between several institutions, depending on the actors involved, structural location and typology of taxonomies and trajectories. The book carefully picks out experiences from the populous economies of China, India and Indonesia, the high income economies of Korea and Taiwan, the middle income economies of Malaysia and Thailand, and the transitional least developed country of Myanmar. Chapters 1-7 of this book were originally published as a special issue of Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy.

The purpose of the 4th International Asia Conference on Industrial Engineering and Management Innovation (IEMI 2013) is to bring together researchers, engineers and practitioners interested in the application of informatics to usher in new advances in the industrial engineering and management fields.