Fostering Enterprise: The Innovation and Skills Nexus--Research Readings

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.