An Investigation of Creative Climate of University R&D

Centers and Policy Implications for Innovation in China

Chunfang Zhou1, Palle Rasmussen1, Lingling Luo2, Tatiana Chemi1  

1Department of Learning and Philosophy, Aalborg University, Denmark2School of Humanities and Law, Northeastern University, China

Email: Chunfang@learning.aau.dk

Introduction

• The recent growing interest in social innovations seeking to improve the well-being of people, communities and society has spread throughout the world. Governments across the world are making and implementing policies to transform the economic base towards high-value products and services in the processes of national innovation.

• There are a growing number of studies suggest that a pattern of transformation towards an entrepreneurial university is emerging, from different bases, in the US, Latin America, Europe and Asia.

• This transformation has been analyzed by discussions from diverse perspectives, such as on the advent of the ‘learning economy’ and the role of University R&D in the ‘knowledge infrastructure’ for production.

• Creativity and creative climate are emphasized in successful progress in R&D activities.

• The creative climate indicates a relatively enduring quality of internal environment of an organization which can be described in terms of a particular set of characteristics or attributes of the organization that influences (and is experienced by) its members’ creative behavior.

Introduction

• Shift from ‘Made in China’ to ‘Created in China’ is underway,

• In 2006, China initiated a 15-year ‘Medium-to-Long-Term Plan for the Development of Science and Technology’. The Plan calls for China to become an ‘innovative oriented society’ by the year 2020, and a world leader in science and technology (S&T) by 2050.

• In the changes towards ‘innovative nation’, Chinese universities are one of key institutions carrying national research projects.

• China’ s division of R&D expenditures between business sectors, the higher education sectors and the government research institutes (GRIs) is now quite comparable to the world’ s leading S&T countries.

• Debates on issues of R&D and innovation, for example, the ‘ quantity’ and ‘quality’

University R&D in POG

Project-Organized Groups

Projects supported by government or companies

Supervisors and students from different levels and diverse backgrounds

High rate of personnel turnover: new recruits & graduates leave

Triple roles of supervisor: Professors, Group Leaders, & Experts

University Labs

Research Questions

• How do R&D personnel evaluate their creative climate of R&D centers in their universities?

• How do leaders of S&T fund sectors in Chinese universities perceive influences of S&T policies on creative climate of R&D centers? And

• Based on results of question 1&2, what are the policy implications for improving roles of university R&D in innovation in China?

Questionnaire Survey

Creative Climate Questionnaire (CCQ)

Results of CCQ

• “Challenge” and “openness/trust” are highest • “Conflict” is lowest, negative factor, conflict seldom exists • “Risk taking” is lowest It is considered as the most unwelcome factor

• 126 R&D members

• 25 R&D centers• among 7

universities.

• 12 fields: production, electricity, electronic, material, chemistry, biology, medicine, agriculture, ocean, environment, process, and civil

engineering.

Questionnaire Survey with Managers of S&T Sectors

• Leaders of S&T fund management sectors in 840 Chinese universities were invited to a questionnaire survey.

• The questionnaire includes an investigation of influences of S&T policies on R&D centers’ climate from six aspects:

① Equality of competition among R&D centers, ② R&D personnel’s spirit of exploring truth in scientific research, ③ Freedom in R&D work and the respect of individual research interests, ④ Positive attitudes towards innovation, ⑤ Cooperation and collaboration between R&D centers ⑥ Shaping research ethics among R&D personnel.

Results from Managers of S&T Sectors

Summary of Findings 1

• From an overall perspective, S&T policies play positive influences on creative climate of university R&D centers.

• This indicates Chinese university R&D centers do respond to the increased R&D expenditure and policy focuses on S&T innovation and enhancing their R&D capabilities.

• Most of the university R&D personnel benefit from the support of S&T policies in fostering positive attitudes towards innovation and spirit of exploring scientific truth in their research.

• The most prominent characteristic of creative industries in China is the encouragement of the infinite release of individual creativity. This creates new products and new market demand by breaking through the hard constraints of material resources. What is more significant is that people have opportunities to give free rein to their creative abilities.

• China has introduced a competitive process for allocation of some public R&D funding (e.g., the National Natural Sciences Foundation)

• The highlights of ‘independent innovation’ in S&T policies call R&D personnel for developing ‘unique creativity’ but meanwhile following the basic principles of scientific research.

Summary of Findings 2

• However, R&D personnel do not like conflicts or disagreements in their group innovation experience that indicates they have a high level of group conformity.

• Moreover, trust is considered as a significant factor of creative climate. Such points reflect the links between traditional Chinese culture and knowledge management practice.

• Confucianism attempts to establish harmony in a complex society of contentious human beings through a strong and orderly hierarchy. People focus and relationship building that emphasizes individual does not exist independently but in a network of relationships, which is called ‘Guanxi’. Accordingly, R&D personnel regard trust as an important concept in their group contexts and meanwhile risk taking is not welcomed, as it may cause embarrassment.

• However, this is a conflict analysis with the previous results such as the S&T policies encourage individual freedom and research interests. This further indicates in the changes towards ‘innovative society’ in China, university R&D centers currently are in a dilemma caused by conflicts between traditional culture and new emerging innovative culture.

Summary of Findings 3

• How can the policy makers create a better creative climate that may consistently improve the roles of university R&D in national innovation system?

• First, a more comprehensive measurement system of innovation is required. The policy makers should improve the measure system of innovation that includes both ‘hard’ indicators and ‘soft’ ability or innovation environment. This also means to measure innovation should be both quantitatively and qualitatively.

• Second, the ‘creative R&D community’ should be encouraged and built by S&T policies in China. As the concept of ‘community’ can represent a network of embedded mutual relationships or it can imply designated social relationships. So communities provide synergy. In this sense, the ‘creative R&D community’ meets the needs of building an ‘innovation system’ where should involve diverse actors such as university, private business, state-owned enterprise, and government research institution, etc. and their collaboration.

• Last but not least, to link the above lines with the particular context in China from a cultural perspective, a self-evaluation of influences of Chinese culture on creativity and innovation is required that contributes to further break traditional cultural barriers to creative climate of university R&D centers and to provide references to policy makers.

Thanks for your attention!