common among plants in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland than in the
Bavaria (Figure 7). Previous studies have linked the difficulties of implementing
multi-functional working in Germany to rigidities stemming from apprenticeship
based training (e.g. Streeck, 1996; Finegold and Wagner, 2000) and the more
incremental and developmental nature of innovation activity in Germany (e.g. Roper,
1997). Culpepper (1999, p. 53) summarises the situation as follows: ’the organisation
of work in multi-functional teams rejects the concept at the heart of the German skills
system, that a skilled worker brings to the process a (portable) technical skill that is
his or her contribution to production’. The weakness of the UK and Irish
apprenticeship systems, and progress towards flexibility within the UK and Irish
labour markets, are likely to have made any such barriers in Northern Ireland and the
Republic of Ireland less important.
One possible approach to overcoming any such internal rigidities is for plants to
develop links with outside organisations with complimentary or reinforcing
competencies (e.g. Buckley and Carter, 1999; Crone and Roper, 2000). Figure 8
summarises the percentage of all manufacturing plants involving external
organisations of varying types in their innovation activity from 1996-99 (see also
Veugelers and Cassiman, 1999). In each of the study regions the most common
innovation links (covering 25-35 per cent of innovators) are, unsurprisingly, along the
supply chain to either customers or suppliers (Figure 8). Links to other group
companies existed for around 20 per cent of all manufacturing plants, but were more
common in the Republic of Ireland reflecting the importance of externally-owned
businesses particularly in the high-tech sectors (Gorg and Ruane, 1997). Links to
consultants were also notably more common in the Republic of Ireland than in either
Bavaria or Northern Ireland, however, horizontal linkages to competitors were equally
common in each of the study regions existing for 5-10 per cent of innovating plants
(Figure 8). In terms of plant’ innovation links to the non-business sector, very similar
levels of interaction were noted in each of the study regions (Figure 8). Around 20 per
cent of plants in each of the study regions had links to universities, while fewer than
one in ten plants had links to private research institutions. More marked differences
existed between the study regions in the strength of plants’ links to industry and
government operated laboratories.
17