Introduction

The innovation literature has long recognized the role of research and development (R&D) and skilled scientists and engineers in successful innovation in science-based sectors. More recent works within the national innovation systems perspective highlighted the importance of other factors to successful innovation, particularly in low-and medium-technology sectors, where formal R&D frequently plays a secondary role. These other factors include interactions with suppliers and customers, other forms of ‘open innovation’ and feedback mechanisms from the market. These interactions frequently form within localized networks creating unique innovation systems at the regional or national level (Lundvall 1988; Nelson 1993).

Both innovation strategies based on science and on interactive networks require learning in order to develop competences and to be able to rapidly exploit external and internal change. In such a ‘learning economy’, the speed of the innovation process is a critical factor in economic performance. Using Danish data, Jensen et al. (2007) show that innovation performance is significantly enhanced when firms combine science-based learning with experiencebased learning. One possibility is that how firms organize the production and distribution of responsibilities among their workforce could have a significant effect on learning and hence on innovative capabilities.

Some of the early contributions to the innovation literature evaluated the effect of organizational structures on the success of innovation. The Sappho study pointed to the importance of interactions between different divisions of the same firm (Rothwell 1972). Indirectly, Kline and Rosenberg's (1986) ‘chain-link’ model of innovation points to the importance of feedback loops and interactions between agents within the same organization but operating at different stages of the innovation process. Freeman's (1987) analysis of the Japanese innovation system partly explained the success of Japanese innovation performance by the specific organizational characteristics of Japanese firms, while Gjerding (1992) looked at the role of organizational change in national innovation systems. More recently, there have been several systematic attempts to evaluate the effect of specific modes of work organization on national innovation performance (Lundvall 2002; Lam 2005; Lam and Lundvall 2006; Lorenz and Valeyre 2006).