Yasushi ueki - Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, Indonesia

Innovation policies in general aim at promoting research and development (R&D) activities and consist ofvarious policy instruments for increasing private investments in R&D. Innovation studies also focus mostly onR&D activities as a determinant of innovation performance. However, firms in developing countries do not havea R&D department but achieve innovations. To design innovation policies appropriate to business environmentsin developing countries, we need to fill the gap between the academic/policy focuses and actual innovativeactivities in developing countries. Considering such situation, this study investigates characteristics of the firmsthat attempt innovative activities in Vietnam. The empirical analyses of this study use a questionnaire surveydata that was developed in early 2016. This study applies two analytical methods: a regression analysis and aset-theoretic approach to identify conditions for trying new product introduction. The survey data present that asignificant proportion of the firms in Vietnam attempt to introduce a new product without R&D department. Theresults of the analyses show that a necessary condition for new product introduction is not R&D department butcross-departmental meeting. Firms may need to establish an effective coordination mechanism amongdepartments to integrate internally available resources into innovative activities.

New product introduction, innovation without R&D, qualitative comparative analysis, Vietnam