Social versus technical innovation
Social versus technical innovation
On Tuesday 10 September 2013, the Department of Technology, Society & Economics organised a public lecture/discussion evening on: "Social versus technical innovation" in the Great Hall of the KIVI NIRIA building.
The meeting was introduced by Prof Alfred Kleinknecht, Emeritus Professor of Economics at TU Delft. Innovations are not a purely technical process. Innovation success depends, among other things, on labour relations within an organisation. Knowledge-driven organisations tend to have flat, low-hierarchical structures; there is room for stubborn thinkers; dissent and scepticism are not tolerated but encouraged; there are emphatically no sanctions for failed projects. Innovation benefits from diversity and variety. All this is presented against the background of the "Varieties of Capitalism" literature and the push to deregulate and flexibilise the labour market. Effects of a deregulation strategy depend, among other things, on the dominant innovation model in a sector. Empirical research provides evidence that deregulation of labour relations matters little for firms with a "Garage Business" model, while firms with a "routine" innovation model suffer.
Alfred Kleinknecht (Lehrensteinsfeld, 1951) is a German-born professor of economics of innovation at TU Delft's Faculty of Technology, Governance and Management. Kleinknecht graduated in economics from the Free University of Berlin in 1977 and then spent some time at the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin. In 1984, he obtained his PhD from the Free University Amsterdam. Since then, he has been associated with the University of Maastricht, the University of Amsterdam, again the Free University Amsterdam and, since 1997 until now, TU Delft. In 2006, he was a visiting professor at the Universita La Sapienza in Rome and in 2009 a visiting professor at the Université Panthéon Sorbonne in Paris. Kleinknecht is loved by the media for his mostly divergent but thoughtful take on economic news.
On Wednesday, 6 November 2013, he gave his farewell speech as professor at TU Delft entitled: "A legacy of Schumpeter".
An article by Kleinknecht and Professor Kleinknecht's presentation can be downloaded here:
- Article
- Presentation
For further information, please contact: Joop Nicolaï(nicolai-lelystad@hetnet.nl)
Description
Innovations are not a purely technical process. Success of innovation depends, among other things, on labour relations within an organisation. Knowledge-driven organisations tend to have flat, low-hierarchical structures; there is room for stubborn thinkers; dissent and scepticism are not tolerated but encouraged; failed projects are explicitly not punished. Innovation benefits from diversity and variety. All this is presented against the background of the "Varieties of Capitalism" literature and the push to deregulate and flexibilise the labour market. Effects of a deregulation strategy depend, among other things, on the dominant innovation model in a sector. Empirical research provides evidence that deregulation of labour relations matters little for firms with a "Garage Business" model, while firms with a "routine" innovation model suffer
Speaker(s)
Alfred Kleinknecht (Lehrensteinsfeld, 1951) is an originally German professor of the economics of innovation at TU Delft's Faculty of Technology, Governance and Management. Kleinknecht graduated in economics from the Free University of Berlin in 1977 and then spent some time at the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin. In 1984, he obtained his PhD from the Free University Amsterdam. Since then, he has been associated with the University of Maastricht, the University of Amsterdam, again the Free University Amsterdam and, since 1997 until now, TU Delft. In 2006, he was a visiting professor at the Universita La Sapienza in Rome and in 2009 a visiting professor at the Université Panthéon Sorbonne in Paris. Kleinknecht is loved by the media for his mostly divergent but thoughtful take on economic current affairs.
Location
Prinsessegracht 23, 2514 AP The Hague
Organiser
Technology, Society & Economics
Name and contact details for information
Further information via the e-mail address below.