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This paper attempts to explore a new insight to both industrialized and growing economies by demonstrating a digital-driven creative disruption in the forest-based bioeconomy which is beginning to replace its conventional and narrow concept of a forest-blinded economy. Notwithstanding the potential broad cross-sectoral benefits to both industrialized and growing economies, natural environments and locality constraints and the incessant challenge of distance have impeded balanced development of this economy. However, driven by digital solutions the economy has taken big steps forward in recent years. Digitalization has enabled real-time end-to-end supply chain visibility, improved delivery accuracy, stock level optimization and alignment with demand planning. These have led to digital ecosystem collaboration and a transparency crossover industrialized and growing economies worldwide. Thus, creative disruptive platform has emerged by embracing digital solutions. By means of an empirical analysis focusing on the noteworthy business activities at the forefront of both upstream and downstream of the chain, this paper demonstrates a transforming stream observed in the forefront of a forest-based bioeconomy chain. This research thus explores a new insight common to both industrialized and growing economies in constructing a creative disruption platform by embracing digital solutions.

This paper explores the roles of technological innovations in the growth of Japan’s motor vehicle industry, mainly from technology spillover perspective from the early 2000s to today. An empirical analysis focusing on business performances, R&D investments, and patent applications taking a noteworthy unique case in Japan was attempted. Empirical analyses on the productivity of patent to technology stock, use of exogenous technologies for their own technological innovation on its Automotive Business Unit elucidated that innovation capabilities, incorporation of exogenous technologies, and profit generation makes a virtuous cycle of continuous technological innovation. Furthermore, we found that the range of technology spillovers is not only expanding along with the development of information communication technology but also superposing itself intricately between organizational (industry– firm–business unit) layers.

Harnessing the vigor of women’s potential is essential for inclusive economic growth in a digital economy moving toward aging society. This can be a soft engine for sustainable growth substitutable for costly hard investment. While there exists explicit evidence of a virtual cycle between economic growth and gender balance improvement, emerging countries cannot afford to overcome the constraints of low income. Given the foregoing, this paper analyzed possible co-evolution between economic growth, gender balance improvement and digital innovation initiated by information and communication technology (ICT) advancement. Using a unique dataset representing the state of gender balance improvement in the function of economic growth and ICT advancement, an empirical numerical analysis of 44 countries was attempted. These countries were classified as emerging, industrialized and with a specific culture. It was found that while industrialized countries, typically Finland, have realized high performance in co-evolution, emerging countries have been constrained by low ICT advancement, and countries with a specific culture have, notwithstanding their high economic level, also been constrained by a traditional male-dominated culture. Japan is a typical case. Based on these findings, lessons from contrasting trajectories between Finland and Japan for emerging countries were analyzed. It is suggested that advancement of ICT, not only quantitatively but also qualitatively in such a way as constructing a self-propagating system, is crucial for emerging countries. A new practical approach for harnessing the potential resources for sustainable growth was thus explored.

In light of the increasing significance of trust-based higher education towards digitally-rich learning environments, co-evolution dynamism between trust in teachers and higher education enabled by ICT advancement was analyzed. Using the rate of trust in teachers for good education in the Global Teacher Status Index, together with statistics on higher education level and ICT advancement, an empirical numerical analysis of 20 countries was attempted. It was identified that while ICT advanced countries have constructed a co-evolution between ICT, higher education and trust, ICT growing countries have not succeeded due to a vicious cycle between ICT and trust. Finland’s educational success can be attributed to this co-evolution while an education productivity paradox can be attributed to a disengagement. It is suggested that steady ICT advancement by making full utilization of external resources in digitally-rich learning environments can be essential to ICT growing countries for their higher education. A new approach for constructing the foregoing co-evolution in a systematic way was thus explored.

In line with the increasing significance of the acceleration of information technology (IT) advancement and also of harnessing the vigor of emerging economies, IT outsourcing to emerging economies has become global concerns. This enables global companies to enjoy a critical competitive edge by choosing the best option in outsourcing strategy and supplier selection. Consequently, supplier selection criteria have become critical issues for both suppliers and customers. This paper attempts to provide insightful suggestions to these issues. An empirical analysis was conducted taking supplier selection criteria evolvement in global IT outsourcing project focusing on action research in a multinational company. Noteworthy findings include impacts of manager's change, identification of creative moment and weighing of supplier selection criteria.

China has demonstrated world leading wind energy development in the last five years which can be attributed to the fusion between its design and manufacturing strength in indigenous wind turbine industry and newly emerging wind energy industry in absorption of global best practices. An empirical analysis of China’s wind energy development trajectory over the last decade focusing on the technology sourcing from foreign firms in support of domestic players for accelerating functionality development through enhanced knowledge identification, absorption, assimilation and acclimatization was attempted. Important lessons learned include (i) importance of supply chain in the technology diffusion, (ii) effective technology acquisition and assimilation through early domestic firm engagement, (iii) effect of relevant domestic firms involvement in technology transfer partnership to induce inter-industry spillovers, and (iv) a framework for an emerging nation to develop new functionalities. Similarity and disparity with similar success of fusion in solar industry (JTMGE 3, 2) were also identified.

In light of the significant impacts on global economy both nations and firms witnessed a dramatic advancement of information and communication technology (ICT). There was particularly bi-polarization between ICT advanced and growing economies compelling a vicious cycle between ICT advancement and its productivity decline in these economies. The institutional sources of resilience were analyzed. On the basis of an empirical analysis comparing technopreneurial performance in world top 500 ICT firms by market value, sales and profit over the last decade, resilient firms maintaining world top 100 position by all three values over the whole period were identified. Institutional sources enabling resilient firms maintain leading position can largely be attributed to co-evolutionary acclimatization ability, which harnesses the vigor of emerging power of counterparts both in home countries and in advanced countries as well as growing economies in a co-evolutional way. Such ability maximizes synergy between efficiency and resilience in their technopreneurial management. Contrasting business model in global ICT firms with and without resilience structure suggests the sources of emerging trap due to ICT advancement and endorsed the significance of co-evolutionary acclimatization. This suggests the significance of institutional co-evolution between ICT advanced and growing economies that enables both economies to harness the vigor of partners for global sustainability.

Increasing fear of the global simultaneous stagnation derived from the Euro-crisis together with the New Normal in growing economies reveals the limit of individual strength leading to the significance of fusion with global best practices. Dramatic advancement of the Internet has enabled consumers in any nation to choose and learn from world’s strongest suppliers. Both trends inevitably necessitate co-emergence of institutional innovation between suppliers and consumers for sustainability. On the basis of an empirical analysis comparing institutional systems in 100 nations, this paper demonstrates the significance of this co-emergence thereby navigating the New Normal in growing economies.

In light of a conspicuous strength in China’s solar and wind industry in recent years this paper analyses the catalytic role of the government in inducing the institutional source of its strength. Critical comparison of the two industries show China’s renewable energy policies for wind industry was more effective than the solar industry through adopting a self-propagating functionality development through fusing the external technology with domestic industries know-how to co-evolve both production and diffusion through effective assimilation. This suggests a new insight for growing economy to devise effective policy framework to develop a globally competitive industry

In light of a conspicuous strength in China’s solar industry in recent years this paper analyzes an institutional source of its strength. Empirical analysis was conducted focusing on the interaction between indigenous semiconductor industry (“East”) and newly emerging solar industry in absorption of global best practices (“West”) thereby fusion between them was demonstrated. Success of this fusion can be attributed to a joint work between industry’s intensive effort in learning global best practices for exploring new business and government’s catalytic role for the attainment of decarbonisation society for nation’s sustainability. This suggests a new insight for growing economy for its development of global competitive industry.

Following up the contrasting behaviors that growing economies suffer from an autarky cycle between consumption and economic growth. Advancing and advanced economies allow GDP growth for inducing investments efficiently. An empirical analysis was conducted in 40 countries, inspired by Samuelson’s multiplier-accelerator model, to examine a mechanism for switching from an autarky cycle to an investment-inducing virtuous cycle. The results suggest that a correlation between consumption growth and investment intensity is crucial to enable a shift from an autarky cycle to a virtuous cycle. The transition dynamism of economic cycles in these countries in the last three decades is also analyzed.

Consumption increase in emerging markets is significant for global sustainability as it helps in overcoming structural impediments that impede investment inducement. In this light, the paper aims at demonstrating a hypothesis that resonance between innovation and consumers triggers co-emergence of investment essential for an emerging market and further analyses resonant behavior between attractive goods and consumers. The elevation in face temperature of consumers looking at attractive goods was measured at the event corner of a Japanese supermarket by utilizing thermography. Noteworthy findings obtained include that consumer temperatures increase as they perceive, recognize and decide to purchase attractive goods while elevated temperatures decrease when the goods are not attractive enough to purchase. Consumer couples also incorporate a general tendency to converge toward the same decision in a resonant way. Through correlation analysis of sales records, it was demonstrated that sales of attractive goods represents innovation which increases by resonating consumer demand through construction of a spirally developing virtuous cycle. These findings provide a constructive suggestion for stimulating latent consumer vitality in emerging markets as a way of inducing investment.

Ensuring a sustainable water supply is crucial in all economies. Technological breakthrough has made possible the idea of using membranes to treat water. Recycling water and desalination are substitutes for the traditional water treatment process. While sea water is plentiful, the process of desalination depends largely on electricity, making the process costly. Singapore's success in NEWater (recycled water) depended on its stepwise advancement of membrane technology with sophisticated complementary engineering systems based on advanced information technology. This advancement contributes to electricity efficiency improvement in desalination which in turn accelerates dramatic advancement of the complementary engineering systems. Synergistic effects between NEWater and desalination can be expected by constructing a hybrid management of technology fusing indigenous strength and the effect of learning leading to a new phase in Singapore's NEWater development and also the trigger of its desalination endeavor. By means of an empirical analysis of Singapore's pioneer challenge, this paper demonstrates the significance of this endeavor for global sustainability.

The relationship between Growing economies have recovered from the global financial crisis faster than many developed economies and increased the consumption significantly over the past years. In light of the role of their consumption growth in global sustainability, this paper analyzes the decisive factors leading to a virtuous cycle between consumption propensity and investment in growing economies. An empirical analysis was conducted to identify the contributing factors to such a cycle in 40 countries. They could be divided into three economic groups by the marginal propensity to consume. The results suggest that growing economies suffer from an autarky cycle between consumption and GDP due to insufficient investment elasticity against consumption elasticity while advancing and advanced economies allow GDP growth to induce investment efficiently. A possible trigger for inducement of investment by growth in growing economies can be 'frugality'.

Given the increasing significance of the co-evolution between advanced and growing economies for problem-solving innovation that aims at solving global critical issues, this paper attempts an empirical analysis to identify the optimal co-evolutionary trajectory, which could benefit both advanced and growing economies. While Japan has succeeded to develop the hybrid management of technology fusing indigenous strength and learning ability, it has revealed some limitations during the global simultaneous economic stagnation. The analysis suggests that the dual hybrid management of technology coevolving also with growing economies is decisive to the problem-solving innovation of the nation. This benefits nations in growing economies as well. This paper provides new insights into the problem-solving innovation, and also inducing strategy of growing economies for global sustainability.

Japan has achieved conspicuous technology advancement and subsequent productivity increase by overcoming threats and constraints of sustainable development of economy and society. The achievement can be attributed to a sophisticated combination of industrial efforts and government stimulation. This paper analyzes the government role in inducing industrial strength in Japan. Empirical analyses were conducted focusing on technology driven development trajectory between Japan and the US over the last two decades. The results reveal that Japan incorporates sophisticated mechanism enabling the hybrid management of technology fusing indigenous strength and learning ability. While the combination of government and industry stagnated in the 1990s, a swell of reactivation emerged in the early 2000s. This can largely be attributed to revitalization of the mutual interaction between government and industry. Such a catalyst role of government R&D inducing the hybrid management demonstrated by Japan would provide a new insight in emerging economies.

This paper illustrates Singapore’s strategy in catching up with global water treatment nations. Water is an important economic resource for Singapore, creating value-added jobs and stimulating research and development in various related technology trajectories. The analysis shows that from a nation lacking in competence in the water industry, Singapore has successfully transformed herself into a global hydrohub, exporting indigenous capabilities and offering consultancy for water projects. With long-term government policies and funding support for initial R&D and subsequent industry R&D inducement by means of the introduction of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) programme, Singapore has been able to build up her competence in waste water treatment. This is probably the first paper that analyses the development of the water industry in Singapore from the management of technology and policy perspectives.