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This book of readings on innovation was commissioned by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) and looks at the relationship between skills, innovation and industry. In November 2010, the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) held a forum in Sydney on the relationship between innovation and skills which explored many of the concepts addressed in this book of readings. Other researchers in the area have also contributed to chapters in this book. The authors offer a variety of views on innovation and its relevance. While the authors view innovation from differing perspectives, they all implicitly acknowledge the importance of innovation to productivity. This volume contains the following papers: (1) Overview (Penelope Curtin and John Stanwick); (2) Innovation in the modern economy (John Rice); (3) What skills are relevant to innovation? (John Stanwick and Francesca Beddie); (4) Building up the innovative capabilities of workers (Ludger Deitmer); (5) Neuroplasticity and its application for skills in innovative workplaces (David Rumsey); (6) Why firms innovate and what it means for VET (Josie Misko and Lisa Nechvoglod); (7) The role of education and skills in Australian management practice and productivity (Renu Agarwal and Roy Green); (8) Building innovation capacity: the role of human capital formation in enterprises (Andrew Smith, Jerry Courvisanos, Jacqueline Tuck and Steven McEachern); (9) Capabilities, innovation and performance: an assessment using Australian data (Peter Fieger and John Rice); (10) Tradespeople and technicians in innovation (Phillip Toner); (11) VET and the diffusion and implementation of innovation in the mining, solar energy and computer games sectors (Robert Dalitz, Phillip Toner and Tim Turpin); and (12) Some thoughts on VET and innovation: an economic perspective (Tom Karmel). Individual papers contain tables, figures, footnotes and references.

This book explores how two nations with widely divergent political economies, Germany and the United States (U.S.), embraced change in four contemporary settings. "Mutual Learning with Trade-Offs" (Kirsten Wever) discusses mutual learning and the distinguishing characteristics of the political economies of Germany and the U.S. "Deregulation and Restructuring in Telecommunications Services in the U.S. and Germany" (Rosemary Batt, Owen Darbishire) emphasizes the interplay between organizational and institutional change and labor-management relations. "Institutional Effects on Skill Creation and Management Development in the U.S. and Germany" (David Finegold, Brent Keltner) illustrates how the strengths of each country are mirrored in the weaknesses of the other. "National Institutional Frameworks and Innovative Industrial Organization" (Steven Casper) compares two efforts at mutual learning and innovation in the area of supplier relations and shows how cumbersome institutional change can be in Germany and how the U.S. affords its private sector greater latitude to adopt new systems. "Perils of the High and Low Roads" (Lowell Turner et al.) examines contemporary employment relations . It describes Germany's struggle with taking the "high road," including high wages, high-level skills, and high labor-value added in a highly institutionalized market, and how the U.S., taking the "low road," faces stagnant wages, income inequality, continuing union decline, and highly fragmented systems of employment relations embedded a diverse political economy. (Each article contains references. Includes cited author and subject indexes.) (YLB)