What We Do
At the Competence Centre for Global Innovation (CC-GI), we invent, improve and develop models and tools that companies use to compete globally with new products, know-how and technologies. We use research and frameworks from different disciplines such as innovation, R&D, strategy, international business, and organization science to understand better how firms, teams, and individuals effectively innovate across geographics distances. Some example questions of our cross-border innovation research include:
Why This Matters
As companies grow and expand into new markets, they develop specific solutions and organizations targeting local opportunities. This leads to a dispersion of R&D and innovation capabilities, and to the replication of R&D effort due to complicated cross-border communication and coordination of business and technology plans. Innovation is already difficult enough – spatial distance and interorganizational boundaries make global innovation especially hard.
Our Source of Competence
We have built the world’s largest database of industrial R&D centres that help us track corporate best practice in global R&D footprint and organization. Our models and frameworks have been applied in multinational firms, giving us additional insight into implementation challenges and successful application. We have more than a hundred case studies, from all relevant industries, covering major geographies, including emerging markets in China, India, Latin America and Africa, but also advanced economies in Europe and North America.
Some Ongoing Projects
The portfolio of our projects is evolving, as in any research group, but some of the ongoing projects include:
Who We Are
CC-GI is based at the SGI in Singapore, with several supporting researchers operating from afar as part of a global research network called GLORAD.
CC-GI is led by Prof. Max von Zedtwitz, a veteran of thirty years of experience in global R&D and innovation. Not only has he widely published in both leading academic and managerial journals on global innovation, he was also a lead partner in a global operational strategy advisory firm responsible for global new product development. David Teece, one of the leading management scholars of the last forty years, called his work “foundational to the discipline of international business.” Prof. von Zedtwitz has led dozens of consulting and research projects in global R&D and innovation. He has won numerous awards, including one for “Best Paper with a Focus on Applicability” by the R&D Management Journal and the Thomas P. Husted Award by the Journal of Product Innovation Management.
Dr. Joachim Thraen is a post-doctoral researcher with more than a dozen years of experience working on geopolitics, innovation and global strategy in firms such as Bain, UBS, Johnson & Johnson, and Merck-Sharpe-Dome (MSD). He is pursuing a ‘habilitation’ at the University of St.Gallen, where he is also an external lecturer. Research Associate Rithika Venkatesh is a PhD student at the University of St.Gallen and focuses on corporate incubation, technology-based entrepreneurship, and organizational capabilities. Research Associate Ralf Mischkowski is also a PhD student at the University of St.Gallen and focuses on global R&D, team diversity, and intellectual property. Switzerland-based Anna Rudawska is an external PhD student at the University of St.Gallen and focuses on international innovation and R&D organization of Chinese multinationals.
Who We Work With
CC-GI is part of GLORAD, a network of academic centres dedicated to global R&D and innovation research, with participating teams in Denmark, Silicon Valley, Germany, Brazil, China, France, Switzerland, and Lithuania. Most of these teams are led by local professors with their own PhD research groups, while some work directly with Prof. von Zedtwitz within the GLORAD network (for instance, France-based PhD student Ilias Kanbar who focuses on reverse innovation in and from Africa).
How to Engage Us
We conduct tailored innovation-oriented discovery journeys to China, India, Silicon Valley, Switzerland, and Denmark for senior managers and executives. Typical focus areas are: drone technologies, 3D printing, managing subsidiary-HQ relations, location decision-making, collaboration management, organizational upgrading, technology intelligence, engaging in local innovation ecosystems, etc.
We offer roundtables and workshops on cutting-edge global innovation topics such as “how to protect yourself against emerging market innovators”, “the business builder: how to incubate start-up companies” or “finding the perfect innovation location in four simple steps.”
We do readiness assessments for domestic champions trying to establish or turn around their international market presence. We do capability global R&D and innovation reviews for multinational companies.
We host researchers from partner universities on joint research topics (minimum length of stay applies due to visa regulations). This includes external PhD students sponsored by companies.
What We Have Done Previously
Here are some projects that we have already completed, although academic follow-on projects may still be in the works. We also develop corporate applications and take-aways from our often academically-driven PhD projects.
Five Recent Managerial Publications
Five Recent Academic Publications
Five “Classics”
For a full list of publications, follow this link.
Managing Director & Professor