HomeResearch & Knowledgeback to HomeChinaback to Research & KnowledgeUnderstanding China’s next wave of innovationback to China

Video

Understanding China’s next wave of innovation

Professor Mark J. Greeven looks at the next wave of innovators from China

By Mark J. Greeven

6 min.

April 2019

In recent years, a handful of Chinese companies have emerged as global innovators and have garnered a lot of attention. But there’s another, less obvious force to be reckoned with in China as well: thousands of innovative companies that are quietly disrupting numerous industries, overtaking incumbents, and developing new products and new business models.

IMD Professor Mark J. Greeven, along with Imperial College Business School Professor George S. Yip, and CEO of GSL Innovation Wei Wei recently carried out research on the next wave of innovators from China. They developed an emerging innovators framework specifically for China, detailing the different types of Chinese innovators, and the lessons for non-Chinese multinationals.

Their research was published in the MIT Sloan Management Review, in an article titled Understanding China’s Next Wave of Innovation. This article draws on insights in their recently released book, Pioneers, Hidden Champions, Change Makers, and Underdogs: Lessons From China’s Innovators (MIT Press).

In this new IMD Research and Knowledge video series, IMD faculty explore the surprising results from recently-published influential, research-based articles, and spell out the main learning points for business leaders.

How does this new wave of innovators affect your company?

Watch the video and find out.

Further reading:

Understanding China’s Next Wave of Innovation in MIT Sloan Management Review

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Keep reading

Article

Stakeholders and Strategy - Brain Circuits

Leaders are often unaware of their value-critical stakeholders, inhibiting progress on strategic issues. The solution is to get rid of free riders and predators and build more involvement in the value-creation cycle by the stakeholders that matter...

Strategy Stakeholder Management

By Paul Strebel, Angeliki Papasava and Patrick Reinmoeller

in I by IMD Brain Circuits

1 May 2025

Article

Repairing reputational damage: don’t go the way of Boeing

All organizations should have a plan to secure trust during, after (and even before) a crisis hits. Here are a host of examples, good and bad, to learn from.

Case Study

The price of innovation: Will Medacta compromise its DNA by embracing robotics?

Strategy Innovation

By Carlos Cordon, Antonio Di Brino, Jesper Fibiger, Frank Kristensen, Soniya Soniya and Alison End Fineberg

Article

China's pharmaceutical sector - Demographic driven

Explore how innovation, R&D, and policy reforms are reshaping China’s pharmaceutical sector amid rising healthcare demand and demographic shifts.

China Decision Making Global Business Innovation Marketing

By Mark J. Greeven and Sophie Liu

in I by IMD

Article

China's pharmaceutical sector - Demographic driven

Explore how innovation, R&D, and policy reforms are reshaping China’s pharmaceutical sector amid rising healthcare demand and demographic shifts.

China Decision Making Global Business Innovation Marketing

By Mark J. Greeven and Sophie Liu

in I by IMD

Article

China's Apparel Sector -Domestic Champions

China’s apparel sector – particularly sportswear – continues to show remarkable resilience in domestic retail sales, despite global economic headwinds such as monetary tightening, geopolitical tensions, and shifting consumer demand. The domestic m...

China Innovation

By Mark J. Greeven and Sophie Liu

in I by IMD

14 April 2025

Article

China's technology sector - AI innovation

China’s technology sector continues to accelerate global innovation through AI integration, ecosystem expansion, and semiconductor development. Despite regulatory shifts and trade tensions, companies investing in R&D and diversifying business mode...

China Artificial Intelligence Technology Management

By Mark J. Greeven and Sophie Liu

in I by IMD

14 April 2025

Article

Strategy Meets Execution - Supply Chain

10 years of exclusive surveys reveal top supply chain strategy challenges—and how tools like AI, ML, and digital twins are reshaping the path forward.

Strategy Supply Chain

By Ralf W. Seifert and Katrin Siebenbürger Hacki

in I by IMD

Article

Fakery and Falsehood - Prevention is Better Than Cure

It’s possible to immunize people against false or manipulated information through simple exercises that policymakers and platforms could easily roll out.

Strategy Communication

By Sander van der Linden

in I by IMD

10 April 2025

Report

IMD Smart City Index 2025

IMD produces a yearly Smart City Index offering a balanced focus on economic and technological aspects of smart cities on the one hand, and “humane dimensions” of smart cities (quality of life, environment, and inclusiveness) on the other. In this...

Competitiveness Technology Management Innovation

By Arturo Bris, José Caballero, Christos Cabolis, Francesca De Nicola, Fabian Grimm and William Milner

IMD World Competitiveness Center Report, 8 April 2025

Stakeholders and Strategy - Brain Circuits

By Paul Strebel Angeliki Papasava and Patrick Reinmoeller
in I by IMD Brain Circuits 1 May 2025

Summary

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Strategy

Stakeholder Management

Browse all topics

The price of innovation: Will Medacta compromise its DNA by embracing robotics?

By Carlos Cordon Antonio Di Brino Jesper Fibiger Frank Kristensen Soniya Soniya and Alison End Fineberg
Case reference: IMD-2663 ©2025

Summary

Medacta Group SA is a rising star in the orthopedics market, achieving global success through innovative products and techniques, with a particular emphasis on minimally invasive techniques that bring meaningful value to its patients. With its approaches such as Anterior Minimally Invasive Surgery (AMIS) for hip replacement and Kinematic Alignment for knees, Medacta offers high-quality techniques, supporting tools and cutting-edge implants. It also offers personalized surgeon education through the Medacta Orthopedic Research and Education (M.O.R.E.) Institute. Medacta is situated in an evolving landscape, with competitors including Stryker and Zimmer Biomet investing heavily in robotic technologies. Technological advances are being made in data-driven planning tools – including augmented reality – and research institutes are looking for the most advanced solutions as demanded by many hospitals and surgeons. Despite these trends in the industry, Medacta's CEO, Francesco Siccardi has concerns regarding the value of existing robotic systems, noting their lack of proven benefits in patient outcomes or cost reductions, especially in a context of increasing emphasis on value-based care and sustainability. The case explores the opportunities and challenges confronting Medacta as they decide whether to enter the orthopedic robotics market. The company wants to continue to differentiate itself and drive growth in line with its foundational principles of patient care, operational excellence and sustainable innovation. Today, Francesco faces a critical decision around whether now is the time to enter the robotics market and, if so, how Medacta should do so to preserve its culture and stay true to its DNA.

Reference IMD-2663

Organization Medacta Group

Industry Healthcare, Medical Device

Available Languages English

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Strategy

Innovation

Browse all topics

China's pharmaceutical sector - Demographic driven

By Mark J. Greeven and Sophie Liu
in I by IMD

Summary

Explore how innovation, R&D, and policy reforms are reshaping China’s pharmaceutical sector amid rising healthcare demand and demographic shifts.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

China

Decision Making

Global Business

Innovation

Marketing

Browse all topics

China's pharmaceutical sector - Demographic driven

By Mark J. Greeven and Sophie Liu
in I by IMD

Summary

Explore how innovation, R&D, and policy reforms are reshaping China’s pharmaceutical sector amid rising healthcare demand and demographic shifts.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

China

Decision Making

Global Business

Innovation

Marketing

Browse all topics

China's Apparel Sector -Domestic Champions

By Mark J. Greeven and Sophie Liu
in I by IMD 14 April 2025

Summary

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

China

Innovation

Browse all topics

China's technology sector - AI innovation

By Mark J. Greeven and Sophie Liu
in I by IMD 14 April 2025

Summary

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

China

Artificial Intelligence

Technology Management

Browse all topics

IMD Smart City Index 2025

By Arturo Bris José Caballero Christos Cabolis Francesca De Nicola Fabian Grimm and William Milner
IMD World Competitiveness Center Report, 8 April 2025

Summary

Available Languages English

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Competitiveness

Technology Management

Innovation

Browse all topics