The associations between employee qualification levels and innovation and between innovation and training as innovation activity were investigated for automotive component manufacturers in a developing country context, using a survey conducted in South Africa, India and China. Automotive component manufacturers in developing countries have to innovate to remain competitive amidst intense global competition in the sector. It was proposed that employee qualification levels and training were factors contributing to innovation in such companies. The survey questionnaire was developed as part of an international study on innovation-based strategies for globalization in automotive component manufacturing in developing countries. The respondent companies were profiled in terms of their levels of employee qualifications and training and their innovation. Statistical analysis of the South Africa data yielded associations between some categories of education and some types of innovation and between some levels of training as innovation activity and some types of innovation. The associations were consistent with dependency characteristics in the supply chain relationships. Comparison with education and innovation data from China and India showed marked lower education levels in South Africa despite similar levels of innovation activity. This is ascribed to structural differences between the national sectors and the nature of the innovation activity reported.