Imitation to Innovation: The Dynamics of Korea's Technological Learning (Management of Innovation and Change)

Linsu Kim examines the pivotal role that technology development has played in South Korea's dramatic transformation over the last three decades from an economy based on subsistence agriculture to a highly-industrialized global competitor. Kim identifies a pattern in which Korean firms acquire foreign technologies, assimilate and improve these technologies, and, eventually, invest in their own research and development. In the introductory chapters, Kim establishes a theoretical context for analyzing the dynamics of innovation, defining technology as a collection of physical processes to transform inputs into outputs, as well as the knowledge and skills required to carry out these transformations. In the first part, he explores the roles of public policy and the sociocultural environment in setting the stage for Korea's technological evolution. In part two, he draws on extensive case studies from large companies in a variety of manufacturing industries, to illustrate patterns of technological development in the private sector. In the final part, Kim considers the implications of Korea's experience as a potential role model for other catching-up countries. This work is part of the "Management of Innovation and Change Series".