Diffusion of Innovation Management Practices in Manufacturing Industry in Brazil: Comparing Multinational Subsidiariesto Brazilian National Firms

The paper addresses the building of innovation management capabilities at firm level in emerging economies by investigating the adoption of innovation management practices in Brazilian manufacturing firms. Innovation management practices in this paper encompass innovation strategy design, innovation management processes and tools and innovation networking practices. The paper investigates how Brazilian subsidiaries of multinational corporations which carry out R&D and innovation activities compare to firms controlled by Brazilian nationals in terms of diffusion of innovation management practices. In order to investigate empirically these issues, a survey of an intentional sample of 65 Brazilian firms was carried out in 2015. The survey comprised the application of an electronic structured questionnaire supported by visits and extensive interviews aimed at collecting evidence. Findings indicate that subsidiaries of multinational corporations in Brazil have presented higher rate of diffusion of innovation management practices and developed more capabilities than their local competitors. Nevertheless, Brazilian national firms have shown higher profile in adoption of practices related to technology intelligence and networking with Brazilian public research institutions. Amongst factors explaining such differences and nuances, firms' marketing and technology strategies and the span of their R&D function scope stand out.