Discontinuous innovation and supply relationships: strategic dalliances

The authors address the need for supply relationships to generate, support, and respond to discontinuous innovation (DI), noting that established ways of working appear insufficient. The peculiarities of DI are explained and contrasted with well-known concepts within innovation. The need for customer firms to be both closely collaborative with suppliers while also exploring potential, unpredictable DI elsewhere is proposed, by means of strategic dalliances . A model is presented for understanding and exploring this emerging management challenge.     

Strategies for best practice in research and technology institutes: an overview of a benchmarking exercise

Many technology institutes have been criticised for their dislocation from, or lack of relevance to, industry. This paper provides an overview of a major benchmaking study which analyzed in depth the most successful technology institutes from eight nations (four in Europe and four in East Asia). Institutes selected for study met a criterion which included a combination of dynamism, relevance to industry, contribution to the national science and technology infrastructure, independent fund-raising capability, innovative organizational structures, and effective management. The paper examines the activities engaged in by the eight institutes, the principal challenges they face, and identifies the main success factors underlying their achievements. The paper attempts to illustrate practical, best practice strategies by showing how leading technology institutes have successfully contributed to their national system of innovation. To this end, success factors have been categorized into those factors which are under the direct control of the institutes (internal), which are outside of their influence (external), and those which can be affected to a lesser or greater extent.     

Strategic Planning in Research and Technology Institutes

Research and Technology Institutes (RTIs) are today facing the challenges of restructuring. New demands are being placed upon them in an increasingly uncertain financial and innovation environment. This paper, which is based upon a review of nine of the most successful RTIs in Europe, North America and East Asia, provides a framework for assessing RTIs and understanding how RTIs need to function to meet user needs within the context of national systems of innovation. The paper suggests some simple tools for identifying and classifying user needs as well as for assessing the strengths and weaknesses of RTIs. It is argued that this type of analysis is a prerequisite for the strategic planning and management of such institutes. The paper points out some of the operational aspects of RTI management where improvement opportunities are often possible.     

Assessing the technological capabilities of firms: developing a policy tool

The development of technological capabilities results from an extended learning process and external policy agents can play an important role in its development. This paper outlines trends in governmental and non-governmental policy initiatives and the use of concepts such as capability and absorptive capacity, which are positioned within generic-staged models of capability maturity. This paper describes the development of a technology capability assessment/audit tool that has been designed to help locate firms within four archetypes based upon their level of maturity on nine key dimensions of the management of technology. The tool is intended to help bridge the gap between our theoretical understanding of the principles of technology management and policy practice – allowing policy makers to design mechanisms that focus resources in areas of greatest need through the appropriate selection of policy mechanisms and the targeted design of policy. The use of this tool in field experiments is described along with the implications for policy making.     

Pushing boxes or solving problems? Some marketing issues in the diffusion of computer‐integrated manufacturing innovations∗

This paper reviews some early evidence on the adoption and diffusion of computer‐integrated manufacturing in the UK. It draws particularly on research into experience with partially‐integrated applications of advanced manufacturing technology such as flexible manufacturing systems. Analysis of both supplier and user side issues is followed by a brief discussion arguing the need for closer integration at a number of levels. Within the supply side the various actors need to cooperate or move towards other forms of strategic alliance. On the user side successful implementation of integrated manufacturing technology appears to depend on supporting organisational integration. Finally, the novelty and complexity of the technological systems being sold requires a shift from simply selling automation products towards working closely with users in providing appropriate and often highly specific solutions to their problems.     

Managing innovation for sustainability

‘Sustainability’ is a major and growing driver of business change. Its implications for innovation are clear – living and working in a world of up to 9 billion people with rising expectations, providing energy, food and resource security, dealing with climate change, ecosystem degradation, a widening economic divide and a host of other interdependent issues will require massive change in products, services, processes, marketing approaches and the underlying business models which frame them. The focus of this paper is to develop an understanding of new approaches to innovation management required to take account of the growing pressures and emerging opportunities in the ‘sustainability’ agenda. In particular, it draws on case studies of a variety of organisations to help answer the question of what practical actions might be taken beyond the rhetoric of moving towards greater sustainability or ‘greening’ of business.     

Search practices for discontinuous innovation: scale development and construct validation

Managing innovation and particularly searching for new ideas in a steady state environment is really different than in discontinuous conditions where traditional practices and routines may prove ineffective. This paper reviews and empirically explores the field of search strategies and practices for discontinuous innovation and, for the first time, tests the validity of a ‘discontinuous innovation (DI) search capacity’ construct. Based on a comprehensive literature review on the innovation search stage and on the evidence of more than 80 case studies reported by the Discontinuous Innovation Laboratory, a questionnaire was developed and submitted to a 500 high-tech firm sample. Four DI search dimensions were identified, each consisting of a bundle of interrelated yet distinct practices. We empirically tested the DI search capacity and measured it as a second-order construct by using the structural equation modelling.