China: barreras a la innovación

China está siempre en candelero, creciendo a pasos agigantados frente a la admiración y envidia de otros países. De ahí que sorprenda encontrarse artículos que ponen en duda el desarrollo a largo plazo del dragón. Business Week publica una nota que señala las serias barreras a la innovación presentes en China:

The very structure of Chinese society has inherent barriers to innovation. The country's monolithic culture, growing from a predominantly Han-Chinese tradition, and a deep tendency toward strong hierarchies, does not encourage thinking in new ways or including outsiders. This makes it difficult to understand new markets, to think creatively, or to accept eccentrics.

(...)

What you see in China is a focus on the boss and on the "right" way of doing things. When you add to the equation the fact that manufacturing in China subsists on such tight margins, there is not much left for R&D. And even the best universities in China need to take creative energy and focus it straight into applications to turn a profit quickly, perhaps as a spin-out company, rather than offering space for experimentation.