The Heart of the Dragon: Linking Innovation, Learning and Education in China

The influence of China in business and innovation on the rest of the World will only continue as the new century progresses. History shows that China once greatly influenced Western culture and provided the world with new, radical inventions. However, the country did not progress well even with the establishment of new China in 1949 in particular during the “cultural revolution” and retreatment from the rest of the world during the twentieth century. Starting with the reforms of Xiaoping it was Western culture’s turn to influence Sino-culture and Chinese innovation- resulting largely in what some have called a ‘cost innovation’ strategy (Zeng & Williamson, 2007). However, this influence has been shown to exaggerate the incremental nature of innovations within the Chinese context (Johnson & Weiss, 2008). As the next phase in its transition towards a major global economic power, China has embarked on a mission to develop its capabilities for new and radical endogenous innovation and update the educational and intellectual mission of the country.

In the age of globalisation, China presents a unique setting for organizations. The unprecedented growth of China's economy, which remains the fastest growing in the world, offers significant potential for both Chinese and foreign investors.

The Journal of Technology Management in China (JTMC) is an international journal committed to encouraging and publishing work from researchers and practitioners within the technology and knowledge transfer, technology and business strategy and technology management fields in China.
Scope (of the Special Issue)

This special issue explores the topics presented in the seminal paper “A stage model of education and innovation type in China: The paradox of the dragon”, which won the 2007 Society for Global Business & Economic Development (SEGBED) best paper award and was subsequently published in JTMC. That paper presented a stage model of innovation linking innovation practices and processes to explore the changing nature of education and business in China over the last 20 years and into the future. The major issues explored were the links among education (and its reforms), learning and creativity, innovation type and business growth.

Papers for this special issue should relate to one of the topics delineated in the paper mentioned above. We welcome original empirical and conceptually rigorous papers at all levels of analysis. In general, papers should examine the connections among innovation, education and managing technology and business growth in China.

Topics may include:

* Historical perspectives of innovation, learning and education in China
* Case studies of Chinese created radical innovations
* Educational and innovation practices at the individual level
* Descriptive case studies characterizing the creativity of individuals and correlating this with educational background and life experiences within the Chinese context.
* Explorations of how individuals manage creative tensions within educational instruction in the schools, col1eges and universities in China
* Educational and innovation practices at the classroom level
* Exploration of the progress of various regions of China in classroom reforms
* Comparison cases of classrooms in which CBU (creative but undesirable) student behaviour is tolerated versus DBU (desirable but uncreative) student behaviour.
* Educational and innovation practices at the industry and institutional level
o Investigations of the creative process in Chinese educational institutions.
o Case studies and descriptions of industry and the need and use of creativity to explore the practices being implemented by Chinese companies like Lenovo, hazier, Alibaba and Baidu.
o Educational and innovation practices at the national level
o Educational and innovation policies involved in technological and process/service related innovation.
o Critical analyses of China’s national policies toward innovation and education.


We are also hoping to hold a conference for authors of accepted papers in order to present their papers and improve upon them for the final round of submissions. The conference is tentatively planned for Summer, 2010 at Erie, PA, USA. Details to follow.

Coverage (of JTMC)
JTMC is the only journal that focuses exclusively on technology management in China. The journal encourages theoretical and applied research papers which identify good practice, address the existing deficiencies in processes and assist in the development of the transfer of technology and knowledge.

Coverage includes the following areas of technology management and how they impact upon the areas of marketing, human resources, accounting and finance and the supply chain:

Technology management
Technology transfer
Chinese business and culture
Research management in China
Innovation management
Technology economics
Knowledge transfer and sharing
Knowledge management
Technology and business strategy
Project management
Entrepreneurship and leadership
Cross - culture management
Product life cycle management

Guest Editors of the Special Issue (Please send submission to Dr. Johnson)
Professor William H.A. Johnson
E-mail: whj1@psu.edu

Professor Joseph W. Weiss
E-mail: jweiss@bentley.edu

Editor
Dr Richard Li-Hua, Salford University, Manchester, UK
r.li-hua@salford.ac.uk

IMPORTANT DATES
Deadline for submitting all the papers to Guest Editors: March 1, 2010
Tentative Conference at Penn State Erie for authors of selected papers: July 2010

References:
Johnson, W.H.A. and Weiss, J.W. (2008) A stage model of education and innovation type in China: The paradox of the dragon. Journal of Technology Management in China. Vol. 3, No. 1, 66-81.

Zeng, M and P. Williamson (2007). Dragon at your door: How Chinese cost innovation is disrupting global competition. Boston, MA. Harvard Business Press.