Mainstream studies on innovation consider innovation processes as necessarily driven by expenditures on formal R&D and the input of engineers and scientists with third-level degrees. This bias in the literature has led to the view that micro-and small enterprises (MSEs), which constitute the majority of Africa's enterprise base, are non-innovative. Building on an existing critique largely emerging from developing countries, this study provides evidence that, despite their lack of formal R&D expenditures, MSEs in Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda are in fact active innovators. The paper argues that the mainstream literature fails to capture important dynamics and practices that are central to innovation in MSEs. Arguing that the way work activity is organised is closely linked to learning, capability development and, ultimately, innovation, the paper unpacks the relationships between these three processes with evidence from MSEs in the four African countries. The empirical findings demonstrate that an important basis for the innovativeness of African MSEs is the adaptability of employees and their ability to learn on the job and to make use of their own ideas in solving the problems they face in work.
La ciencia moderna está sometida a una gran presión. Una potente combinación de expectativas crecientes, recursos limitados, así como tensiones entre la competencia y la cooperación y la necesidad de financiación basada en pruebas, está creando un cambio importante en la forma en que se conduce y se percibe la ciencia. En medio de esta “tormenta perfecta” está el encanto de la excelencia en la investigación, un concepto que impulsa las decisiones que toman las universidades y los patrocinadores y define las estrategias de investigación y las trayectorias profesionales de los científicos. Pero, ¿qué es la ciencia “excelente”? Y ¿cómo reconocerlo? Después de décadas de investigación y debate, todavía no hay una respuesta satisfactoria. ¿Estamos haciendo la pregunta incorrecta? ¿Es la realidad más compleja y la “excelencia en la ciencia” más esquiva de lo que muchos están dispuestos a admitir? ¿Cómo se debe definir la excelencia en diferentes partes del mundo, particularmente en los países de bajos ingresos del “Sur global”, donde se espera que la ciencia contribuya a los problemas urgentes del desarrollo, a pesar de los recursos a menudo escasos? Muchos se preguntan si el Sur global está importando, con consentimiento o sin este, las herramientas defectuosas para la evaluación de la investigación de América del Norte y Europa que no son adecuadas para su propósito. Este libro presenta una visión crítica de estos temas, abordando cuestiones conceptuales y problemas prácticos que inevitablemente surgen cuando la “excelencia” está en el centro de los sistemas científicos. Como resultado del trabajo de creación de capacidad de la Iniciativa de Consejos de Subvenciones Científicas en el África Subsahariana, se dirige a los académicos, así como a los administradores y financiadores de la investigación en todo el mundo. Al enfrentar problemas difíciles y verdades incómodas, los capítulos contienen ideas y recomendaciones que apuntan hacia nuevas soluciones, tanto para el Sur global como para el Norte global.
Mainstream studies on innovation consider innovation processes as necessarily driven by expenditures on formal R&D and the input of engineers and scientists with third-level degrees. This bias in the literature has led to the view that micro-and small enterprises (MSEs), which constitute the majority of Africa's enterprise base, are non-innovative. Building on an existing critique largely emerging from developing countries, this study provides evidence that, despite their lack of formal R&D expenditures, MSEs in Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda are in fact active innovators. The paper argues that the mainstream literature fails to capture important dynamics and practices that are central to innovation in MSEs. Arguing that the way work activity is organised is closely linked to learning, capability development and, ultimately, innovation, the paper unpacks the relationships between these three processes with evidence from MSEs in the four African countries. The empirical findings demonstrate that an important basis for the innovativeness of African MSEs is the adaptability of employees and their ability to learn on the job and to make use of their own ideas in solving the problems they face in work.
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