Fundamentals of Innovation

13 important questions on Fundamentals of Innovation

When is an innovation competence enhancing?

When it builds on existing knowledge, innovating leveraging a companies existing competencies.

When is an innovation competence destroying?

When the innovation does not build on existing knowledge, rendering it obsolete. (previous innovation is no longer necessary)

Why is the performance improvement slow in the S-curve early stage?

Fundamentals of the technology are often not wel understood.
No evaluation routines to assess progress or potential.
Difficult to attract other researchers if no legitimacy is established.
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What are discontinuous technologies?

An innovation that fulfills a similar market need, but does so by building on a new knowledge base. E.g. Vinyl records to compact disks.

What is technology diffusion?

The spread of a technology through a population. Plotted: Adopters vs Time (unlike regular S-curve)

Why do some firms shift more slowely to new groundbreaking technologies?

    1. Complexity of the knowledge underying new technologies
    2. Slow development of complementary resources that make the technology useful.

What are the limitations of the S-curve model as prescriptive tool?

  1. It is rare that the true limits of a technology are known in advance, and there is often disagreement what that limit wil be.
  2. S-curve is not set in stone. Unexpected market changes, complementary technologies, etc, can change the lifespan
  3. Firms can influence the shape of the curve with their own development activities.

What are the factors that influence wheter switching to a new technology will benefit a firm?

  1. Advantages offered by the new technology
  2. If the technology fits the firms abilites
  3. If it fits the firms position in complementary resources
  4. The expected rate of diffusion, switching earlier or later than it should based on the s curve of diffusion

What is the cycle of technological change?

Initial period of turbulence, followed by rapid movement, the diminishing returns, finally displaced by a new technological discontinuity.

What are the phases of the technology evolution model of Utterback and Abernaty?

Fluid phase (lots of experimenting with the product)
Specific phase (innovations become specific to the dominant design)

What is the 'era of incremental change'?

When the dominant design is established and firms focus on efficiency and market penetration. They cease to invest in learing about alternative architecture, and become less able to respond to major architectural innovations.

What are the main difficulties of disruptive innovation?

  • The best customers do not want disruptive innovations
  • Disruptive innovations often do not provide the profit margins companies seek
  • Small markets do not solve the growth needs of large companies, and markets that don't exist cannot be analysed
  • Financial investment tools are biased towards existing businesses

What is an example of Creative Destruction, introduced by Schumpeter?

Henry Fords' assembly line, providing a whole new way of working that revolutionised the market and overturned the existing competition, while 'destroying' other markets and laborers jobs.

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