The Management of Research and Innovation Systems: Comparative Study of the East and the West Practices

Purpose: This paper reviews and analyses the national innovation systems in selected countries: Israel and Germany (Western practices) and Singapore and Taiwan (Eastern practices) in order to identify the uniqueness, challenges and best practices of each innovation system. Design/methodology/approach: This is a comparative study looking at the best practices in in the East (Singapore and Taiwan) and the West (Israel and Germany). A review of certain innovative practices in each of the countries is discussed. Findings: The findings provide valuable information for countries, particularly developing countries, to learn and design appropriate innovation ecosystem in respective countries. Originality/value: - The impact of Science and Technology (SandT) development is not equally distributed across countries. Not all countries are able to absorb the benefits or able to take great advantage of SandT advancement, despite the efforts and resources allocated for RandD activities. The study articulates the implication for developing countries such as Malaysia to take some pointers on how certain successful innovative countries managed their SandT. Keywords: National Innovation Ecosystem, Science and Technology, East and West Practices, Comparative Study