Innovation in the Global Age: Implications for Business and Management in the Knowledge Economy

Abstract

The current era of globalization is characterized by far-reaching shifts in the economy as well as in a variety of other spheres of human activity. The present article focuses upon innovation, an activity that is viewed as crucial for business success in today’s knowledge economy, and which seems to be in the middle of an extensive process of global restructuring. The article begins with an overview of the nature of the knowledge economy, highlighting in the process the significance of the digital revolution, the rising knowledge-intensity of economic activities, the changing relationship between services and manufacturing, and the growing importance of tacit knowledge. Next, the article examines some of the major structural changes that are transforming the field of innovation in a rapidly globalizing knowledge economy, and while so doing draws attention, in particular, to certain changes in scholarly understanding of the innovation process, the rise of considerable innovation activity outside the traditional centers of innovation, and the ongoing globalization of innovation. Finally, the concluding section of the article discusses some implications of these developments for business and management.