Innovate on Purpose has an essay called “European versus American Innovation”, that seems tobe worth a look:
Some of this thinking goes back to the mythos of the independent tinkerer or inventor in his lab. I think the US has encouraged independent thought and work, and a legend has grown up around the lonely scientist, inventor or innovator working in isolation in her “skunk works”. Europe, on the other hand, has a much more collegial, collaborative approach to innovation, although I suspect the US still has the advantage in a pure entrepreneurial setting, due to the simplicity of setting up a business and the access to private funds.
This mythos lends itself to the culture of the firms, their processes and tools. Interestingly, many firms in Europe are trying to provide training in leadership and culture around innovation, while consultants in the US seem to offer to “do it for you” and outsource the knowledge to initiate and manage an innovation process. Europe is more collaborative and willing to work across boundaries — look at Airbus as one example. The US is just beginning to consider “Open Innovation”. Europe seems more ready to adopt processes and tools to enable innovation, while the US innovator seems more likely to try to “go it alone”.