The chapter off er an overview of how technological entrepreneurship works in China using the case of Qrobot –a brand new product that interacts with Tencent’s QQ, China’s most used instant messaging service and the world’s largest community. More specifi cally, the brief life of Qrobot is used to illustrate how government policies, government research institutes, entrepreneurs, enterprises and investors worked together, from the development of the technology to its introduction to the market, describing what has been referred to as ‘technological entrepreneurship with Chinese characteristics’. In doing so a comprehensive picture of the actors, roles and dynamics of Chinese technological entrepreneurship will be off ered, along with a discussion of the eff ects of such factors as government and its research institutions’ direct and indirect support, foreign companies, transnational communities and the overall environment. In addition the diff erences and similarities with Western counterparts will be highlighted. Concerning the latter, conclusions will refl ect on whether there is really something like a ‘technological entrepreneurship with Chinese characteristics’ or if the differences underlined are just the temporary eff ects of China’s transitional state. In this regard the study of contingencies is suggested as a viable research direction to answer this question, and some thoughts are given on how this kind of research should be crafted.
Technological entrepreneurship with Chinese characteristics: the Qrobot case
PETTI, CLAUDIO;
2012-01-01
Abstract
The chapter off er an overview of how technological entrepreneurship works in China using the case of Qrobot –a brand new product that interacts with Tencent’s QQ, China’s most used instant messaging service and the world’s largest community. More specifi cally, the brief life of Qrobot is used to illustrate how government policies, government research institutes, entrepreneurs, enterprises and investors worked together, from the development of the technology to its introduction to the market, describing what has been referred to as ‘technological entrepreneurship with Chinese characteristics’. In doing so a comprehensive picture of the actors, roles and dynamics of Chinese technological entrepreneurship will be off ered, along with a discussion of the eff ects of such factors as government and its research institutions’ direct and indirect support, foreign companies, transnational communities and the overall environment. In addition the diff erences and similarities with Western counterparts will be highlighted. Concerning the latter, conclusions will refl ect on whether there is really something like a ‘technological entrepreneurship with Chinese characteristics’ or if the differences underlined are just the temporary eff ects of China’s transitional state. In this regard the study of contingencies is suggested as a viable research direction to answer this question, and some thoughts are given on how this kind of research should be crafted.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
