Process Improvement Group

A successful technical organization must
consistently out-train and out-innovate its local and global
competitors. It is also true, however, that Research and
Development is one of the first departments downsized or cut
in times of austerity. This paper acknowledges this cycle and
relates it to national policy conditions. It is expected that
countries in which the level of national need is high (lower on
hierarchies of need and quality of life indices) would see less
sophisticated targeted policy initiatives, lower levels of
technical innovation and associated policy innovations, and
vice-versa. Given the rapid diffusion of technology and of
emergence of national economies, we discuss need based policy,
and policy advocacy avenues for technical policy
entrepreneurs.