Analysis of the innovation value chain in strategic projects of the Brazilian Army.
| Autor | Ramalho, Tarso Souza |
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Introduction
Even though innovation has been more and more present in entrepreneurial competitiveness, it also affects other sectors, e.g. civil defense. The military activity, known for its work intensity and troop ships, started to receive intensive capital and innovation investments from the half of the nineteenth century onwards (Markusen, 1986); there was, therefore, a shift from an weaponry competitiveness toward a scientific competition (Paarlberg, 2004; Schmidt, 2013). If during the Second World War the source of the military supremacy corresponded to the industrial production capacity of weaponry of countries like the USA (Paarlberg, 2004), by the end of the war, the scientific capacities started to focus on military powers (Schmidt, 2013), producing successive technology generations and quick changes in the strategic military environment.
Regarding the sector of security and defense, the development and the institutionalization of formal system integration processes date back to the USA and the Cold War period, in which new well-structured innovation projects on technical and technologically complex themes were necessary to fulfill military goals. Due to these projects, weaponry systems became more numerous, aggregating other technologies and components, such as radars, nuclear weapons, rocket propulsion systems and electronic controls in systems that were more complex and ever harder to design, produce and operate (Davies & Hobday, 2005). In the Brazilian context, after the Second World War, the science and technology policies started to become more important. The government started to play an active role in the area of science and technology, guiding projects related to military equipment and other technologies through public intervention (Luz & Reis, 2010).
In the geopolitical and strategic global defense scenario, Brazilian servicemen adopted the strategy of focusing on internal qualification, industrial and technological capacities (Ravara, 2001), mastery of critical and sensitive technologies, organization of R&D and training of high-qualified human resources in a continuous way in order to enable the operation of new intensive and complex systems in the knowledge field (Leske, 2015).
Unlike the civil sector, products developed for the defense present as main characteristics the high lethality and high reliability to accomplish missions. Besides, these critical technologies experience trade barriers and legal restrictions in the countries that possess their property rights. These technologies present high development, production and logistics costs during their service life and reduced manufacturing scale of sophisticated systems and equipment. The production of these products has a high verticalization because the main components are, usually, developed and produced by the defense sector itself. With the development accomplished in long cycles, many times the production is subject to the demand with costs afforded by the costumer. Only simpler and regular consumption products, as for instance the small caliber ammunition, present a routine production and a more predictable commercialization, which is similar to the production of non-military consumer goods (Cunha & Amarante, 2011). In order to meet such demand, in 2008 the National Defense Strategy (NDS) was launched by the Federal President, in which it is possible to find more details about the science, technology and innovation policies for the national defense. The main purpose of such policy is to stimulate the science and technology development, as well as innovation, for the national defense through a national planning aimed at high-tech products. It also promotes the coordinated involvement of civil and military Science and Technology Institutions, industries and universities, defines priority areas and interest technology, and creates funding instruments for the research of materials, equipment and defense mechanisms (DOU, 2008).
With this, the Brazilian army developed strategic projects due to their importance, coverage and impact on all military systems. The crucial factors are centered around the areas: doctrine, resources (human and financial), technological innovation and management, whose main purpose is to meet strategic demands, such as the creation of a defense mentality in the Brazilian society and the use of defense products (Barcellos, 2014). The seven projects are Strategic Project ASTROS 2020, Cyber Defense Strategic Project, Anti-Aircraft Defense Strategic Project, PROTEGER Project, Guarani Project, Full Operational Capability Strategic Project (OCOP, in Portuguese) and Integrated System of Sensing Border (SISFRON, in Portuguese).
While previous research on R&D investments in the Brazilian defense sector focused on innovation policies (Leske, 2018) and impacts of innovation governance on the regional development of science parks (Silva & Quandt, 2019; Silva, Sa, & Spinosa, 2019), current research still does not present the phases of the innovation processes involved in the sector. In our study, we intend to evaluate the model of the innovation process--Which is promoted by investment policies and present in industrial and academic ecosystems--through an applied research that aims to identify the common features among the projects.
In recent approaches on innovation projects, the role played by ecosystems for the success of these enterprises has been gaining strategic relevance, especially for enterprises involved in long-term and highly complex activities. Studies point out a need to carry out studies on the management of the innovation ecosystems regarding uncertainty, as well as their use regarding radical innovation, new markets and emerging industries, in which the value creation outweighs the value capture (De Vasconcelos Gomes, Facin, Salerno, & Ikenami, 2018), e.g. the strategic projects of the Brazilian army.
Our paper analyzes how the innovation process occurs during the management of strategic projects of the Brazilian army. In this context, the purpose of our research is to describe and compare seven case studies that present innovation projects characterized by high investments and transformation potential of the Brazilian army. We also intend to analyze how these processes strengthen the ecosystems, deal with uncertainties in the sector and promote the interaction among players an in environment that presents several restrictions and singularities.
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Theoretical framework
2.1 Organizational innovation process
Organized in sets of activities related to idea creation, problem shooting, implementation and diffusion, the purpose of every innovation process is the generation of a significant economic impact (Salerno, de Vasconcelos Gomes, Silva, Bagno, & Freitas, 2015). In this process, not all ideas are used. Through an innovation funnel, ideas that are more likely to meet the market needs are selected to continue in the process until the implementation stage (Wheelwright & Clark, 1992). The purpose of the innovation funnel is to dismiss ideas in order to pursue a continuous reduction of uncertainties of a project or a set of projects (Silva, Bagno, & Salerno, 2014). In the first phase, also known as front-end phase, ideas are created and then screened according to their relevance; they are then analyzed in a second filter (Phase 2) in order to be approved and used in projects; at last, there is the introduction in the market in Phase 3 (Salerno et al., 2015).
The collaboration between internal and external players in the innovation process according to Clark and Wheelwright (1992) is considered as a necessary technology and innovation source and for a wider selection of new ideas. Chesbrough (2003), on the other hand, proposed a structured open innovation model, as well as the acquisition of knowledge from external sources. According to Chesbrough (2003), open innovation is a way to obtain knowledge through the participation of the ecosystem players.
This model is in accordance with the ideas by Tidd, Bessant, and Pavitt (2001), in which resources from other external organizations reduce the costs of technological development, as well as market entry risks and the development time of a new product. In this model, it is possible to observe the collaboration from the external environment toward the company; and knowledge can also flow out of the organization toward external players through licensing, technology and spin-offs (Bueno & Balestrin, 2012).
Ideas created within the organization and ideas that stem from external partnerships, collaborations and interactions have to go through the procedures of selection, development and implementation before reaching the market as new products, services, processes, business models or a combination of two or more (Goffin & Mitchell, 2005).
Through this innovation ecosystem, the different players (bonded with the common purpose of ensuring value generation) can work both in a dependent way, as suppliers and purchasers, or in a more independent way, only for development and commercialization (Adner & Kapoor, 2010). The common focus of these players is co-innovation and the adoption of the necessary technology and innovation to implement new technologies effectively. This collaboration overcomes the traditional concept of value chain, in which it is possible to benefit from the intensive exchange of knowledge and adequacy to the environment in which the players operate (Lubik, Garnsey, Minshall, & Platts, 2013).
The benefits yielded to the economy through the innovation ecosystem through R&D investments of the military sector cover not only the creation of research and professional training centers, but also spin-off effects already in the initial phases of the research and valuable contracts established between the government and other companies that operate in the ecosystem (Mowery, 2010).
The analytical border, one of the characteristics of the...
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