A central factor which characterizes design-related innovative activities is that a major source of knowledge – that is designers – is very often located outside the firm. This raises a central management issue for the firm and unavoidably generates a tension between designer consultants and...

This paper empirically studies the determinants of firms’ decision to offshore product development activities (i.e. R&D, product design and engineering services). A logit model is estimated using survey data from the Offshoring Research Network on offshore implementations initiated by US firms...

This paper discusses firm-operational innovation processes against the background of conflict and cooperation relations between employers and work councils. It is demonstrated that the German model of codetermination offers occasion structures for an active role of work councils and other...