Abstract

U.S. leadership in technological innovation has remained an important source of national income and pride. Indeed, recognizing that advanced economies compete primarily on the basis of innovation, U.S. scholars were among the early leaders in studying and describing effective organizational approaches to knowledge creation, sharing, and utilization. Nevertheless, despite their established capabilities, U.S. firms apparently still make use of only a fraction of their available knowledge. While the U.S. still has the world’s leading research universities and is home to many world-class firms that champion technology and innovation, there are growing concerns that the business values and practices essential to the creation and sharing of knowledge and its full utilization in innovation initiatives may not be evolving at the same pace in the U.S. as they are in some of its leading foreign competitors. This article examines some of the current criticisms and concerns about management practices in U.S. firms and discusses the management theories and behavioral prescriptions that are critical to maintaining global leadership in innovation-based economic competitiveness.