Firms' innovation capability-building paths and the nature of changes in learning mechanisms: Multiple case-study evidence from an emerging economy
Paulo N. Figueiredo, Marcela Cohen & Saulo Gomes
#2013-007
Although much has been written about organizational-level learning,
there is a dearth of empirical studies that explore the role of changes
in the nature of firm-centred learning mechanisms in affecting
inter-firm differences and similarities in the accumulation of
innovation capabilities, especially among firms from emerging economies,
known as latecomers. By examining the relationships between these issues
based on fieldwork evidence from 13 natural resource-processing firms in
Brazil (1950-2000s), this study found that: (1) firms that combined the
use of external and internal learning mechanisms with increased
intensity and quality achieved higher innovation capability levels than
firms that used these learning mechanisms with limited frequency and
unchanged quality over time; (2) the relative importance of both
external and internal learning mechanisms changed as firms' capabilities
approached world-leading levels; (3) some combinations of external and
internal learning mechanisms were associated with the attainment of
particular innovation capability levels. Therefore, if latecomer firms
expend limited efforts in using and deliberately changing the intensity
and, mainly, the quality of both external and internal learning
mechanisms over time, they will deepen their innovation capabilities
slowly and will remain innovation 'followers' rather than becoming
world-leading innovators. Using a novel approach that explores the
relationship between latecomer firms' innovation capability-building and
the extent of changes in the underlying learning mechanisms, this paper
furthers our understanding of the nature and dynamics of learning and
its role as a primary source of firms' international innovation
performance. It also challenges recent approaches that seem to over
emphasize open learning processes and post-Chandlerian forms of learning
as the leading sources of firms' innovation capabilities.
Key words: Innovation capability building; learning mechanisms;
latecomer firms; natural resources; multiple case-study; Brazil.
JEL classification: O12, O32, O33, M10, Q2