Organizations, Institutions, and Activities: The Case of Taiwan's Optical Components

In this paper, we analyze the rise of the Taiwanese optical components industry, examine the ways in which institutions emerge and develop over time, and the resulting effects on innovative capability and performance. Following broadly Taiwan's system of innovate approach, we develop a historical viewpoint in the context of process, centered on the interaction between organizational action and social institutions over time. In particular, we rely on ten activities that were recently proposed by Edquist and Hommen, among other NSI scholars, as points of entry into the phenomenon explored. These activities include: (1) provision of R&D, (2) competence building, (3) generation of new markets, (4) articulation of quality requirement demands, (5) provision of organizations, (6) networking, interactive learning and knowledge integration, (7) provision of institutions, (8) incubation activities, (9) financing, and (10) provision of consultancy services.