Abstract :
All four articles in this issue deal with the general subject of how firms react to their environments (markets, price, competition, opportunities, threats) in the area of innovation. Some firms take an organizational approach to dealing with the environment by setting up, changing, or eliminating parts of the organization assigned to perform functions related to technological innovation. Others take an approach which involves changed (hopefully improved) methods of acquiring and processing information about the environment (costs, competitors´ activities, market characteristics). Still others emphasize internal processes such as communication and decision-making.