Internationalization, Production Networks and National System of Innovation

This paper aims to study the capacity of the National Systems of Innovation to affect the innovative performance of firms in internationalized production activities of a developing economy. The research adopted a production networks perspective on Innovation Systems and the empirical work involved a survey to firms from the automotive productive network in Argentina. The importance of domestic and external sources of knowledge to the innovative performance of these firms was evaluated through the use of multivariate analysis and data clustering techniques. The main findings of the study are that: i) the innovative performance of argentinian auto parts firms is positively related to certain complementation between internal and external sources of knowledge; and that ii) the importance of the national innovation system is essential for them, even if those firms belongs to internationalized production networks that operates in a developing country.Internationalization; National System of Innovation; Production Networks; Automotive Production Network; Argentina

Internacionalización, Tramas Productivas y Sistema Nacional de Innovación

Internationalization, Production Networks and National System of InnovationThis paper aims to study the capacity of the National Systems of Innovation to affect the innovative performance of firms in internationalized production activities of a developing economy. The research adopted a production networks perspective on Innovation Systems and the empirical work involved a survey to firms from the automotive productive network in Argentina. The importance of domestic and external sources of knowledge to the innovative performance of these firms was evaluated through the use of multivariate analysis and data clustering techniques. The main findings of the study are that: i) the innovative performance of argentinian auto parts firms is positively related to certain complementation between internal and external sources of knowledge; and that ii) the importance of the national innovation system is essential for them, even if those firms belongs to internationalized production networks that operates in a developing country

Internacionalización, Tramas Productivas y Sistema Nacional de Innovación

Internationalization, Production Networks and National System of InnovationThis paper aims to study the capacity of the National Systems of Innovation to affect the innovative performance of firms in internationalized production activities of a developing economy. The research adopted a production networks perspective on Innovation Systems and the empirical work involved a survey to firms from the automotive productive network in Argentina. The importance of domestic and external sources of knowledge to the innovative performance of these firms was evaluated through the use of multivariate analysis and data clustering techniques. The main findings of the study are that: i) the innovative performance of argentinian auto parts firms is positively related to certain complementation between internal and external sources of knowledge; and that ii) the importance of the national innovation system is essential for them, even if those firms belongs to internationalized production networks that operates in a developing country

Labor flexibility and competitiveness during the Convertibility Plan

The nineties in Argentina was marked by an ambitious set of structural reforms known as the Convertibility Plan. Margin, some authors claim that their collapse was due, among other things, lack of competitiveness of Argentina's economy. We believe that this did not go unnoticed by "policymakers" and tempt in this paper analyze the policies that were undertaken to address the shortcomings in competitiveness that the country suffered. The central hypothesis of this paper is that it underlay a narrow concept of competitiveness led flexible policies (deregulation, labor flexibility indiscriminate opening) that ended, at last, completely undermining the country's competitiveness and sustainability bury Plan. On the other hand, we believe that a more realistic view of the phenomenon of competition to understand this failure and be a guide to avoid mistakes committed similes.Convertibilidad; Argentina; Competitividad; Flexilización Laboral; Labor flexibility; Competitiveness

Internacionalización, Tramas Productivas y Sistema Nacional de Innovación

This paper aims to study the capacity of the National Systems of Innovation to affect the innovative performance of firms in internationalized production activities of a developing economy. The research adopted a production networks perspective on Innovation Systems and the empirical work involved a survey to firms from the automotive productive network in Argentina. The importance of domestic and external sources of knowledge to the innovative performance of these firms was evaluated through the use of multivariate analysis and data clustering techniques. The main findings of the study are that: i) the innovative performance of argentinian auto parts firms is positively related to certain complementation between internal and external sources of knowledge; and that ii) the importance of the national innovation system is essential for them, even if those firms belongs to internationalized production networks that operates in a developing country

Modificaciones en la organización del trabajo en empresas productoras de software abierto y formas de apropiación

Se presentan los resultados de un estudio de caso en profundidad en una empresa dinámica del sector de Software y Servicios Informáticos de Córdoba, que produce sobre herramientas de tipo open source. Se relacionan los hallazgos obtenidos acerca de la organización del trabajo, la participación en la comunidad de software abierto y las formas de apropiación de los beneficios de la innovación en la empresa, en un análisis crítico de los argumentos convencionales sobre el vínculo entre niveles de innovación y regímenes de apropiabilidad privada.publishedVersio

Flexibilización laboral y competitividad durante el plan de convertibilidad

The nineties in Argentina was marked by an ambitious set of structural reforms known as the Convertibility Plan. Margin, some authors claim that their collapse was due, among other things, lack of competitiveness of Argentina's economy. We believe that this did not go unnoticed by "policymakers" and tempt in this paper analyze the policies that were undertaken to address the shortcomings in competitiveness that the country suffered. The central hypothesis of this paper is that it underlay a narrow concept of competitiveness led flexible policies (deregulation, labor flexibility indiscriminate opening) that ended, at last, completely undermining the country's competitiveness and sustainability bury Plan. On the other hand, we believe that a more realistic view of the phenomenon of competition to understand this failure and be a guide to avoid mistakes committed similes

Learning and knowledge accumulation's processes in the argentinian auto parts firms

From the early 1990, there is a process of modernization of the automotive industry in Argentina that modifies both the required skills and methods of learning processes in the automakers and auto parts suppliers. The local automakers permanently cease its efforts to launch new models using the adaptive design procedure on the basis of models discontinued in developed countries and begin to introduce models of cars from the latest technology completely designed and developed in the laboratories of their headquarters. This modernization process was accompanied and underpinned by a sharp decline in the national minimum required components for the automobile to be considered as national. Thus, the automakers had large margins of freedom to replace with foreign suppliers by increasing the local supply is not suited to their demands in terms of design, technological complexity, quality, price, etc.. In this context, the ability to design and adaptation of products - it was a very important competitive asset for auto parts companies until the early 1980 - was no longer relevant. The companies failed to design the products they made, and went on to produce goods according to the plans of the automakers. They did not allow local suppliers to make changes, however small these were. In return, the need to reduce costs, improve quality and reduce delivery times to avoid being displaced by internal or external competition, pressure generated hitherto unknown in the auto parts producers to make more efficient production processes and change their traditional organizational forms, it they required the completion of a major effort which appealed to both external sources of knowledge as cumulative competence within the companies themselves In addition, the nineties were characterized by entry into the country of major international auto parts, through direct investment or joint ventures with domestic firms. As a result of these changes in the automotive and auto parts increased the importance of technology transfer from abroad as a source of knowledge for productive modernization. This scenario is extended, albeit with some changes to the current decade. On the one hand, the automotive industry crisis that manifested itself in all its harshness in 2001 and 2002 sharply reduced production volumes as auto parts companies had to adapt its structure to the new situation. Success in this task was strongly related to the existence of internal powers to enable them to cut costs, reduce production scales, introducing new products, find new customers, etc. Companies were not able to implement these changes, a situation that included several subsidiaries of major international companies, had to leave the market. For its part, the new macroeconomic scenario in the country installed after the 2002 devaluation led to renewed interest in the terminals to increase the degree of national integration, vehicle manufacturing, opening up new possibilities and new demands for local producers. They also began to develop some experience, but emerging patterns of delegation and participation of local auto parts makers in international design projects. Framed in this picture, the overall objective of this work is to investigate in an exploratory way, sources and forms of learning and the accumulation of productive knowledge of auto parts companies in Argentina. The paper is structured as follows. The section II describes the theoretical framework underlying the analysis and presents the hypotheses guiding the research. Section III mentions the sources of information used, and the next section describes the behavior of firms in relation to the analysis of key variables, namely: technical assistance or technology transfer, internal and external efforts made to enable or facilitate the introduction of innovations, the level of endogenous capabilities and innovative performance. Section V presents the main results of the analysis, that shows 5 groups that differ according to the characteristics of firms that adopt the processes of learning and knowledge accumulation and the related innovation performance. Finally, we present the main conclusions.Learning Process; Knowlegde's Accumulation; Innovation; Automotive Production Network; Argentina

Taxonomías, oportunidades tecnológicas y cadenas globales de valor en países en vías de desarrollo: una sistematización conceptual y una propuesta de abordaje

Este artículo tuvo por objetivo generar un aporte conceptual a partir de la interpelación de dos dimensiones clave dentro de literatura del desarrollo: el rol de las taxonomías tecnológicas y la emergencia de esquemas de producción global, en particular, de cadenas globales de valor. Así, se propone abordar la discusión acerca de la evaluación del cambio estructural desde un enfoque integrador, en busca de relacionar la aproximación taxonómica y la de cadenas globales de valor (CGV). La metodología aplicada se basa en un protocolo mixto de revisión estructurada y síntesis de literatura. Sus contribuciones proponen un esquema analítico capaz de poner en evidencia las debilidades de tratar ambos enfoques de forma aislada, concluyendo que una mirada enriquecida de los fenómenos de cambio estructural requiere la fusión de ambas miradas para no incurrir en recomendaciones o evaluaciones incompletas.

El conocimiento productivo aplicado en el sector autopartista de Córdoba: sus distintas dimensiones

The great expansion of the production of cars and trucks in Argentina, which began in 2003 and remains strong in 2008, was transmitted to the auto parts sector, it not only had to increase their level of production but also was forced to modernize, to introduce new models and to gradually improve the processes and the organizational form of productive activities within enterprises. In a previous study (Motta, Morero and Llinas, 2007) presented at the 12 th Annual Meeting of the PME's Network held in Campinas (Brazil), the authors carried out an initial exploratory study on sources of learning and accumulating knowledge for innovation in Argentine auto parts businesses in the immediate aftermath of the crisis (2002-2006). As a result of this analysis, we created a typology of firms according to the sources of learning and knowledge accumulation. A total of 5 groups of companies formed, where it could be seen that different forms of knowledge accumulation (accumulated knowledge crystallized endogenous capabilities, their own efforts for the generation of new knowledge and knowledge acquired from external sources) were strongly interdependent and complementary in determine the innovative performance of firms. This time, the overall objective is to deepen this topic. Specifically, interest focuses on studying: i) how do companies to introduce new products, processes and organizational forms and then make improvements in them, and ii) the sources of the knowledge and what knowledge is relevant to each case. The article consists of four sections. The next section presents the theoretical framework, the questions guiding the research and the specific objectives of the same. The third section describes the methodology and analysis are some characteristics of the firms surveyed. Finally, the fourth section summarizes the main conclusions