PurposeThe purpose is to better understand the way legal mechanisms follow up and support or repress economic growthDesign/methodology/approachThe case of the Israeli R&D Law is presented, and the development of the law is compared to changes in the environmentFindingsThe findings show that the legal aspect of economic support laws is significant and that better adaptation to the environment is required.Practical implicationsAreas / countries seeking to enact laws regarding economic growth and R&D support should analyze this example and draw conclusions for their law formulation systems.Originality/valueThis paper is a case study article showing the example of a well documented impact of the legal system on economic growth, and how changes in the environment should be translated without delay, or with minimum delay into the legal framework. It could help policy makers and legal decision makers better understand the impact of such laws.

This chapter presents a model of open innovation as a collaborative effort of firms, mostly SMEs that are managed under a government support with the assistive involvement of academia. While normally industry-academia cooperation is R&D focused, the model presented is a model of open innovation not involving dedicated R&D. It deals with the process of assimilating existing technologies and methodologies; the model focuses on search, identification, and implementation phases to improve competitiveness through open innovation strategies. The model claims that specifically for SMEs, innovation not related to R&D, and especially open innovation, is hard to deal with alone. Therefore the model presents a group of SMEs working together towards that end, and the role of the governing authority supporting them. The model is supported by a short case study of a national program of Israel, the Users Association for Advanced Technologies.

Evolution has long been a biological process “borrowed” by management sciences to define structural and procedural development in organizations. The theory of Darwinian Evolution in biology has existed for a long time and still (with modification) remains the main theory in life sciences. However in biotechnology new concepts have risen. In parallel, organization sciences have been evolving the concept of evolution on different levels of the organization, discussing the evolution of organization during their life cycle, the evolution of populations of organizations, sectors, etc. Directed evolution in biology creates new organisms that can produce molecules with attributes better fitting industrial use, from naturally occurring organisms, allowing new organisms to function in non‐biological environments and perform processes they never needed to perform in a natural environment. We will show that by translating the concept from biology into organization sciences, we can develop the techniques for the evolution of new organizational structures and fitting routines, that would fit new emerging environments, where we seek the best adapted routines and structures for performance. We will adopt the concept of directly evolving a structure fitting for pre‐designed purposes by using bio‐technology methods, and will try and bridge the gap in organization sciences between the current development of the evolutionary theory and the advance made in biology. At the end discusses opportunities for research (the European Framework Program, national programs), together with a proposed general plan of action. The theory and the techniques descried can lead to further research and active experimentation.

This chapter presents a case of SMEs from non-High-Tech sector, which would normally find innovation harder than sectors with intensive R&D. The Users Association of Advanced Technologies is a national program that helps SMEs in searching, identifying, selecting, and implementing technologies, methodologies, and processes by reducing the resources required for that activity. The program reduces operation as well as managerial costs and allows SMEs to acquire the innovation they require, which they could not otherwise get. The initial concept of the program was meant for Israeli SMEs, however, as the concept is universal, the case study argues that the concept and basics can be adopted by other countries/regions. It can also be regarded as a risk mitigating program executed on behalf of SMEs. The readers can identify and define the concept as well as the basics to be adopted for other countries and regions. The program presented through this case does not support R&D, or the creation of new knowledge by itself, and therefore presents a complementary activity to R&D support programs.

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