Technological backwardness is the common problem for all developing nations. The acquisition and creation of advanced technologies are the common dreams of these catch-up economies. How to build up the adequate technological innovation system for high-tech industries is the major challenge to all catching-up economies. Because of the success of technological development, this research will investigate the technology innovation and diffusion system by taking the IC industry in Chinese Taipei as a case study. The purpose of this research is the provide a guide for the future direction of technological innovation and diffusion systems and of share experience on the development of technology in the IC industry of Chinese Taipei with other catch-up economies. This paper first presents hottest study topics: Knowledge Management and National Innovation System (NIS), next introduced two analytical frameworks --- the technological trajectory framework and the multiple cooperation framework --- which are used as tools to describe the evolution of technological development in catch up economies. It will then propose a technological innovation and diffusion system for catch up economies. The structure and components of the system will be discussed and a questionnaire survey designed for the IC industry in Chinese Taipei. The results of the survey will be discussed and future development of the technological innovation and diffusion system of the IC industry in Chinese Taipei will be proposed by this research.

This study describes how institutions in a developing country, South Africa influence the salient characteristics and patterns of innovation in firms belonging to an emerging versus a mature industry. The patterns and characteristics of innovation in firms belonging to industries in different phases of their life cycles are influenced by various factors. Because of the wide range of factors and often due to the endogenous relationships between them, empirical studies in describing these patterns remain inconclusive. This research describes the patterns and the significant innovation characteristics of the firms through the lens of institutions. Special attention is paid to the institutional frameworks influencing innovation in firms at national and regional levels. These frameworks are often referred to as National and Regional Innovation Systems. The central argument of this study is that these innovation systems are expected to influence the characteristics of innovation in different ways when firms are situated in developed versus the developing countries. In this regard, this study attempts to contribute to the innovation knowledge-base of developing countries. The salient characteristics discussed in this study are types, institutional support (government), centre of knowledge and geographical locations of innovations. Chi-square, t-tests and stepwise logistic regressions were run on the responses of the firms regarding the chosen characteristics. The results suggest that in most cases these characteristics were different in firms belonging to an emerging versus a mature industry. Also the patterns of innovation were mostly dissimilar from the expectations of the studies based in the developed world. A logistic model was built to explain the relationships between the individual characteristics and the firms belonging to the two phases of the industry life cycle. The model, formulated on the salient characteristics of innovation discussed could successfully predict if a firm belonged to a mature industry or not. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted