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Recent studies within the innovation systems perspective have not paid enough attention to the role that Vocational Training (VT) centres and technical workers can play in innovation processes. In this paper we review the recent international literature on the issue and present an exploratory case study carried out in the Northern Spanish region of Navarre, which has a high level of both industrial activity and VT education. The study is based on quantitative and qualitative evidence from industrial SMEs and VT agents. The different types of relationships between VT centres and SMEs are analysed: formal education, in-company work training, hiring of graduates, continuous training, and innovation-related services. Results show that firms have a highly positive perception of VT centres' more 'traditional' missions (graduate education and employability), but more advanced and innovation- related missions have a limited reach right now. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bibliographical review on patents as a source of information for innovation in competitive environments, as well as a description of the advantages and limitations of their use as a source of information. The possible applications in the technical, scientific, commercial and legal fields are identified and classified. It refers to the work of the librarian related to the patents because its treatment requires knowledge of the profession. It is concluded that patents should be considered invaluable source of relevant information for competitiveness in organizations. However, their use has not been promoted accurately in developing countries like ours. This tendency should be corrected in order to make use of this resource for the development and innovation of our region. It covers the material published from 1977 until September, 2009, of Latin America and Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we analyze whether innovation in companies is related to the introduction of new forms of labour organization and personnel policies that imply more participative human resource management. At the same time, we will tackle the relations between firms' innovative capacities and the managements' promotion of values oriented towards higher participation, commitment and autonomy of workers. The empirical analysis is based on a survey carried out in companies of more than 30 workers. The results obtained after applying different techniques of analysis indicate that the innovative organizations do attribute greater importance to values that promote workers' participation, initiative and autonomy. However, the same results also demonstrate that these companies have progressed little in the implementation of organizational modifications and mechanisms needed to be able to put these values into practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]