The barriers and consequences of radical innovations: Introduction to the issue

This article introduces the special issue on barriers and consequences of radical innovation (RI). Radical innovation, as distinct from more incremental forms of innovation, is increasingly important for organizations and national economies. However, firms face many challenges and barriers (both internal and external) which hinder their RI efforts, and result in significantly higher failure rates for RIs as compared with other forms of innovation. Individually and collectively, the twelve cross-disciplinary articles in this special issue provide a number of important contributions to the extant knowledge base. While most of the contributions focus on barriers, with a concomitant emphasis on enablers, some insights are also offered into the lesser examined area of consequences, particularly the unintended consequences of RI. The editorial concludes by summarizing key issues and presenting provocations for further research.     

Appropriability regime for radical and incremental innovations

In the present day markets, new product development and innovation are essential for value creation. Innovation, however, hardly provides benefits if rivals are able to copy it with little or no extra cost. Consequently, being able to build an appropriability regime that provides effective protection against imitation and enables getting returns on investments in innovation is necessary. The problem is that choosing the methods to protect different kinds of innovations is not straightforward. In this paper we study appropriating from radical and incremental innovations. It is widely known that many significant differences exist between the two innovation types, and the appropriability conditions are no exception. Empirical evidence on the topic is provided by analyzing survey data collected among 299 companies. As a result, the effects of environmental dynamism and research and development (R&D) intensity on radical and incremental innovation are illustrated, and knowledge is provided on the role of the appropriability regime in enhancing the potential to profit from radical and incremental innovations.     

Entrepreneurship,strategy, and organization: Individual and organization in the behaviour of the firm

The main purpose of this paper is to set out a number of ideas on business policy and corporate strategy which underlie a larger research project. It arises in part from a University Seminar in Industrial Economics which for many years provided a forum for academics and businessmen to discuss the growth and organization of particular firms: in part from the upsurge of interest in teaching business policy: and in part from a growing preoccupation, especially among business historians, with the decision-making processes within firms. These have wide implications for the understanding of the nature of entrepreneurship and strategy in the modern business corporation.     

The commercialization of user innovations: the development of the rodeo kayak industry

In this study, we analyze the commercialization process of user innovations in open communities. We have traced 16 cases of user innovators who have commercialized their own innovations or have been involved in the commercialization process to some extent. By developing and manufacturing new products, the user innovators in our sample created a fast-growing community. They used low-cost manufacturing techniques and were able to start a new industry before established manufacturers could enter the market. The transformation process from a user innovation community to a commercial and manufacturing community brought about a number of major changes. In this paper, we track those changes as: the motives for innovating, the community size and characteristics, the type of innovation, the type of assistance and the disclosure of information, the form of communication, and competition between innovating users.     

The contributions of interpreters to the development of radical innovations of meanings: the role of ‘Pioneering Projects’ in the sustainable buildings industry

Studies of innovation management have often focused on two domains: technologies and markets. An ever‐increasing standard of living is pushing companies to develop products and services that are not only profitable but also socially responsible. Sustainable housing offers an intriguing empirical setting that allows the investigation of new processes able to support innovations that must be both profitable and socially responsible. Energy‐efficient houses not only require technological changes (new sustainable energy technologies) but also require behavioural changes in consumers' attitudes, decisions and practices about living in sustainable houses. Companies are not only innovative in regard to their own product but apply the entire system of application with which their specific technologies interact. The development of Pioneering Projects requires many skills and competencies that often exceed the capacity and competencies of a single company. In other words, Pioneering Projects are testing grounds for experimentation, where unconventional, temporary partnerships of stakeholders from different industries unite in the development of real market applications. The paper addresses the value of key interpreters in facilitating the development of radical innovations of meanings in the sustainable buildings industry. Specifically, the paper analyses the ability to create value for the Pioneering Projects from the exploration and knowledge diversity of the interpreters and the impact that Pioneering Projects have on the companies' outcomes. Empirical data about Pioneering Projects were collected from two manufacturing companies in Denmark: DOVISTA and Saint‐Gobain Isover.     

Environment,strategy, organization structure and performance: Patterns in one industry

This paper reports the findings of an empirical field study of savings and loan associations. The investigation centres upon whether combinations of environment, strategy, and organization structure of “high”-performance firms differ from combinations associated with “low”-performance firms. Results show that such combinations differ, both statistically and with respect to their basic character. There is also evidence that norms held by managers of competing institutions and the nature of relationships between organizations and populations served to influence the vigour and form of interfirm rivalries and, in turn, organizational performance.     

水利质检机构水环境监测实验室的安全管理

就水利质检机构水环境监测实验室而言,在模式和管理上都有其共同之处,笔者介绍了其所在实验室安全管理工作的特点,并说明这种模式的实验室在管理上具有管理统一、互相监督、互相借鉴、节约资源等优点,同时强调了水环境监测实验室要加强安全和环保管理。     

Managing radical innovation: an overview of emergent strategy issues

Despite differences in definitions, researchers understand that radical innovation within an organization is very different from incremental innovation , and and that it is critical to the long-term success of firms. Unfortunately, research has also shown that it is often difficult to get support for radical projects in large firms [14], where internal cultures and pressures often push efforts toward more low risk, immediate reward, incremental projects. Interestingly, we know considerably less about the effective management of the product development process in the radical than in an incremental context. The purpose of this study is to explore the process of radical new product development from a strategic perspective, and to outline key observations and challenges that managers face as they move these projects to market. The findings presented here represent the results of a longitudinal (since 1995), multidisciplinary study of radical innovation projects. A multiple case study design was used to explore the similarities and differences in management practices applied to twelve radical innovation projects in ten large, established North American firms. The findings are grouped into three high-level strategic themes. The first theme, market scope, discusses the challenges associated with the pursuit of familiar versus unfamiliar markets for radical innovation. The second theme of competency management identifies and discusses strategic challenges that emerge as firms stretch themselves into new and unfamiliar territory. The final theme relates to the people issues that emerge as both individuals and the project teams themselves try to move radical projects forward in organizations that are not necessarily designed to support such uncertainty.A breadth of subtopics emerge within and across this framework relating to such ideas as risk management, product cannibalization, team composition, and the search for a divisional home. Taken together, our observations reinforce the emerging literature that shows that project teams engaging in radical innovation encounter a much different set of challenges than those typically faced by NPD teams engaged in incremental innovation.     

Divergent and convergent logic of firms: Barriers and enablers for development and commercialization of innovations

This paper describes and discusses similarities and differences in the priorities, interests, and interactional goals of companies involved in the development and commercialization of innovation. We refer to such priorities, interests, and interactional goals as the logic of firms, and point to how differences among companies in these regards may enable or inhibit the development and commercialization of innovation. A case study in drug development, from a Taiwanese biopharmaceutical, illustrates two types of innovations: generic and novel drug development. Findings suggest how logic places focus on how certain actors may be more motivated toward innovation, but also on how the logic portrayed by actors can promote certain types of innovations (in this case generic ones), while inhibiting others (novel innovations). The paper concludes that companies need to have convergent logic (i.e. have the same priorities and similar or complementary interests and interaction goals) if an innovation process is to be successful. The focus on priorities, interests, and interactional goals of companies in innovation processes complements previous research that has primarily focused on the actual interaction, not what motivates it. The construct of shared logic nets as a means of analyzing convergent logic and gaps between different types of logic help to understand enablers and barriers to innovation.     

Work organization and occupational development in CIM: the case of Swedish NC machine shops

This article reports the results of a large survey of Swedish manufacturing companies employing numerically-controlled technology, on work organization and the changing nature of operator skills. The results are assessed in the light of likely changes in organizational structures and skill composition in future forms of computer-integrated manufacturing.     

Technology development in the multinational firm: a framework for planning and strategy

Abstract The authors' purpose is to improve the coupling between technology development and corporate strategic planning in multinational firms by providing a much needed technology planning framework. The framework, which is developed in some detail, divides the planning process into three stages: technology scanning, strategy development (product level) and implementation (country level). In the first stage an answer is sought to the question, “What technologies (as distinct from businesses) are we, or should we be in?”. in the second, the aim is to develop a strategy for each of the products from the chosen technologies; in the third stage, details of implementation on a country-by-country basis are worked out. Although presented as a sequence of three stages, the framework is to be applied iteratively. The authors argue that technology for all its vital importance to a global company, cannot be treated as a profit centre. This is part of the difficulty in implementing the technology management function, especially in multidivisional and global firms. They believe that use of this framework will make it easier to integrate technology development into the strategic planning process. In addition it will serve to integrate managers from different parts of the company into a formalized technology planning exercise.     

A goal-oriented pharmaceutical research and development organization: an eleven-year experience

Pharmaceutical R & D effort is multidisciplinary and matrix in management form, but variable in organizational detail. Upjohn's discipline-oriented organization (coordination matrix) of 11 years ago is compared to its current organization consisting of a goal-oriented, leadership matrix and a simultaneously existing coordination matrix. Product development success and individual performances were similar for the concurrent coordination matrix and leadership matrix. Consensus on candidate product identification and execution of development plans is easier with a leadership matrix than with a coordination matrix, but flexible response to new or changing goals seems more likely with a coordination matrix. The location of candidate product advocacy differed in the two types of organization. Strategies effected over the 11-year period to overcome inherent limitations of goal-oriented organizations and functional organizations included the maintenance of competing yet synergistic, functional, and goal-oriented organizations, a strong publication and basic research policy, and a Troika' approach to candidate selection and development in the functional organization.     

国际石油公司一体化发展现状及趋势分析

埃克森美孚、壳牌、BP、道达尔、雪佛龙五大国际石油公司均采用上下游产业一体化发展模式,业务、产品和服务多元化,产业链各环节协同发展,提升整体竞争力,并适时对产业链进行优化调整,主动适应能源行业发展趋势和竞争环境变化。近年来,五大公司受益于产业一体化发展,较为平稳地应对了低油价冲击,并且通过降低成本、资产优化等措施,提升了产业经营能力和质量,盈利能力对油价的依赖程度明显下降。炼油、化工等中下游业务在低油价时期表现较为稳健,受到一体化公司的重视,主要国际石油公司油气产业链进一步完善,产业发展更趋于均衡。     

国际VC市场的变化及中国的对策

介绍了国际VC市场的竞争与变化,剖析了中国企业的成功做法,指出政府及行业监管部门在行业整合过程中的积极作用,并通过对东北制药总厂的案例分析,揭示了规模经济和自主知识产权在国际市场竞争中的重要性,对欲参与国际市场竞争的中国企业有一定的启发和借鉴意义。     

Trans-European networks and the Common Information Area: The development of a European strategy

The EU has set out to introduce information and communication technologies into all areas of the socioeconomic structure. Initially, however, a Common Information Area (CIA) needs to be established to ensure that information and communication are freely mobile throughout the economic and social space. To this end the EU needs to develop a strategy to ensure that a series of high-powered telecommunication networks emerge in an integrated and coordinated fashion. While several initiatives to assist the market-based provision of the CIA have been established, there seems to be an absence of an overarching coordinated strategy to aid its development. A single body to oversee the EU telecommunication sector may need to be established.     

太平洋机电集团的品牌发展战略

一、品牌的含义及其在市场竞争中的作用 世界著名广告大师大卫·奥格威曾对品牌作过深刻的描述[1]:“品牌是一种错综复杂的象征,它是产品属性、名称、包装、价格、历史声誉、广告方式的无形总和。品牌同时也因消费者对其使用的印象,以及自身的经验而有所界定。”     

Multinational management strategy and ASEAN regional development

This paper reports the findings of a cross-sectional survey of 128 senior managers of multinational corporations in Singapore. Specifically an attempt was made to link the development of ASEAN regionalism to the nature of MNC management, and the strategic posture of the MNC in the ASEAN region. Based on the work of Nye (1971) the study was designed to investigate the extent to which perceptions of the viability of ASEAN were associated to corporate strategic action. The results suggested that the origin of the manager (international expatriate, ASEAN expatriate and local) is statistically associated with technical product decrease, merger growth and market/product decrease strategies. There was no support for the notion that this was due to positive perceptions of ASEAN regionalism.     

大型煤炭企业发展战略若干问题研究

企业发展是对企业未来发展方向和目标的一种谋划,是根据明天的情况判断今天做些什么。所以发展战略是企业的灵魂,是企业前进的航标,是职工的一个预期,只有用战略来统一和吸引职工,才能形成企业的高度凝聚力、向心力和团队战斗力。在中国入世和经济全球化的今天,正确的发展战略对大型煤炭企业集团保持持续健康发展至关重要。为此,笔者对大型煤炭企业发展战略的主体定位、管理体制、核心能力和主要管理者的作用等问题作一探讨。一、关于煤炭企业发展战略方向目标的选择问题随着国内市场国际化,国际市场国内化,市场竞争日趋激烈多变,每个企业都…