Discovering quiescent meanings in technologies: exploring the design management practices that support the development of Technology Epiphanies

In contemporary business and academia, design has been increasingly viewed as an important strategic asset such that several scholars and executives have recently investigated the links among design, innovation and competitive advantage. Indeed, recent and emerging literature streams are exploring the potential contribution design can provide in valorising and differently adopting new or existing technologies [Dell’Era, Marchesi, and Verganti 2010. “Mastering Technologies in Design-Driven Innovation – How Two Italian Companies Made Design a Central Part of their Innovation Process.” Research Technology Management 53 (2): 12–23 Buganza et al. 2015. “Unveiling the Potentialities Provided by New Technologies: A Process to Pursue Technology Epiphanies in the Smartphone App Industry.” Creativity and Innovation Management 24 (3): 391–414]. This paper aims to investigate the design managerial practices able to support Technology Epiphanies, which are defined as the discovery of quiescent meanings in new or existing technologies [Verganti 2009. Design-Driven Innovation. Changing the Rules of Competition by Radically Innovating What Things Mean. Boston: Harvard Business Press]. The paper relies on four in-depth case studies developed by both primary and secondary sources: Nintendo, Kartell, Technogym and KUKA Robotics. The paper identifies three design management practices that can guide managers in the development of Technology Epiphanies: interpreting technology as an enabling platform, building double-sided network and accessing new knowledge domains.     

双层网络嵌入下结构洞对企业二元创新的影响研究

网络结构特征影响企业知识转移与知识组合效果,进而对创新绩效产生复杂作用。利用我国165家上市企业2007—2018年专利面板数据,实证检验企业知识与协同双层网络嵌入对二元创新绩效的影响,并分析战略柔性和开放度对上述关系的调节作用。研究结果表明,企业知识网络结构洞正向影响利用式创新绩效,负向影响探索式创新绩效;协同网络结构洞与二元创新均存在负相关关系。同时,战略柔性和开放度调节双层网络结构洞与二元创新的关系,且变量间存在有效匹配关系：知识网络结构洞—开放度促进利用式创新绩效提升,而协同网络结构洞—战略柔性促进探索式创新绩效提升。研究结论为解决结构洞与企业创新关系的分歧带来新思路,同时为企业创新绩效提升提供理论借鉴。     

How does knowledge network affect a firm’s explorative innovation? The contingent role of R&D collaborations

Innovation is a process of knowledge recombination [Fleming, L. 2001. “Recombinant Uncertainty in Technological Search.” Management Science 47: 119 p]. Extant literature highlights the importance of a firm’s knowledge base for innovation, while little is known about the structure of a firm’s knowledge base and how it affects the firm’s explorative innovation. Based upon the perspective of network analysis, we portray a firm’s knowledge base as an intra-organisational knowledge network and examine the effects of two structural features of the network – density and centralisation – on the firms’ exploratory innovation. Using a manual collected dataset of 738 Chinese automobile manufacturers, we find that a firm explores fewer new knowledge elements when the firm holds a dense knowledge network or a centralised knowledge network. More importantly, with the increase of a firm’s R&D collaborations with external actors, the negative effect of density is mitigated while the negative effect of centralisation is reinforced. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Human capital and firms’ innovation: evidence from emerging economies

ABSTRACT

We explore the relationship between human capital and firms’ innovation in emerging economies. Most papers consider the formal knowledge developed in R&D laboratories as a major source of innovation. However, a critical portion of knowledge required for innovation resides in human resources and is created outside any formalised R&D activity. We consider that, to improve their technological capabilities, firms should invest in different forms of human capital, namely highly educated workforce and experienced managers, but also in strategic human resource (HR) practices aimed at developing human capital by increasing employees’ firm-specific technical skills and competences. Besides looking at the type of innovation outcomes, we place greater emphasis on the strategies of innovation development, as these should signal an improved firms’ ability, not just to innovate, but to put their own creative effort in the development of innovation. Our results contrast with the traditional view of firms in emerging economies as mainly relying on the external acquisition of innovations, by showing their actual ability to develop new technologies. In this respect, HR practices aimed at fostering employees’ learning and autonomy at work appear more important than the educational attainment of workers, whilst the experience of managers does not seem effective.     

On the nature,function and composition of technological systems

This paper suggests that the economic growth of countries reflects their developmental potential which, in turn, is a function of the technological systems in which various economic agents participate. The boundaries of technological systems may or may not coincide with national borders and may vary from one techno-industrial area to another. The central features of technological systems are economic competence (the ability to develop and exploit new business opportunities), clustering of resources, and institutional infrastructure. A technological system is defined as a dynamic network of agents interacting in a specific economic/industrial area under a particular institutional infrastructure and involved in the generation, diffusion, and utilization of technology. Technological systems are defined in terms of knowledge/competence flows rather than flows of ordinary goods and services. In the presence of an entrepreneur and sufficient critical mass, such networks can be transformed into development blocks, i.e. synergistic clusters of firms and technologies which give rise to new business opportunities.     

Knowledge interaction towards inclusive learning: Promoting systems of innovation and competence building

This paper draws on recent conceptual approaches to economic growth, in which the accumulation of knowledge is the fundamental driving force behind growth. This fact is reflected in the trend in developed economies towards an increasing investment in advanced technology, R&D, education, and culture. Concepts such as learning ability, creativity, and sustained flexibility gain greater importance as guiding principles for the conduct of individuals, institutions, nations, and regions. It is thus legitimate to question the traditional way of viewing the role that contemporary institutions play in the process of economic development and to argue for the need to promote systems of innovation and competence building based on learning and knowledge networks. This broad concept has motivated the work behind the present work, which reviews the strongest themes of the 4th International Conference on Technology Policy and Innovation (ICTPI), which was held in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil, in August of 2000. Under the broad designation of “learning and knowledge networks,” the conference brought together a range of experts to discuss technology, policy, and management in a context much influenced by a dynamics of change and a necessary balance between the creation and diffusion of knowledge. While the idea of inclusive development developed in previous conferences entails a process of shared prosperity across the globe following local specific conditions, it is crucial to understand the dynamics of the process of knowledge accumulation, which drives a learning society. Thus, this special issue includes a set of extended contributions to the Curitiba conference that are largely grounded on empirical experiences of different regional and national contexts. The aim of this introductory paper is to set the stage for these contributions, with an original contribution on possible views for the learning society.     

多层创新网络结构洞特征对组织创新绩效的影响——来自新能源汽车领域的实证分析

基于1997-2019年我国新能源汽车领域专利申请数据，采用复杂网络方法构建组织合作网络、成员合作网络以及知识融合网络3类创新网络，并量化3类网络中的结构洞特征。在此基础上，采用面板负二项回归模型实证分析组织合作网络、成员合作网络以及知识融合网络结构洞特征对组织创新绩效的影响。结果表明：仅考虑直接作用时，组织合作网络与知识融合网络结构洞特征对组织创新绩效具有显著正向影响，且知识融合网络结构洞特征对组织创新绩效的影响程度更大。在进一步考虑交互作用后，组织合作网络、成员合作网络以及知识融合网络结构洞特征的两两交互项均对组织创新绩效具有显著正向影响，其中，成员合作网络与知识融合网络的交互作用对组织创新绩效影响最大。结构洞特征替换为聚集性特征后，研究结论依旧稳健。最后，基于多层创新网络优化视角提出相应的政策建议。     

A prospective on macrocybernetic process management systems

In an editorial in the February 1996 issue of Technological Forecasting and Social Change Professor Linstone noted that “the rapid pace of technology has not been matched by the pace of human change.” Were we to drop our perspective a bit lower, a similarly troublesome imbalance within technology itself becomes apparent: the rapid rate of increase in the complexity of process-related technologies relative to the much slower rate of increase in the sophistication of process control systems. The conclusion at which most technological forecasts seem to arrive is that there will be a continuation—perhaps even an acceleration—of the trend toward more intricate and sweepingly extensive processes (production-related and otherwise). If so, there is the specter of a steadily increasing shortfall between requirements and capabilities, and hence the likelihood of even grander technological embarrassments. This article considers two ways in which this shortfall might be kept in check. Increases in the intricacy of processes can be met, and to a considerable extent are already being met, by exchanging conventional process control facilities for enhanced alternatives. Less certain is how expansions of project scope might best be accommodated. One possibility is to consider exchanging process control systems for broader-purview process management systems. Hence the focus in this article is on prospects for the development of macrocybernetic constructs.     

多层创新网络结构洞特征对组织创新绩效的影响——来自新能源汽车领域的实证分析

基于1997-2019年我国新能源汽车领域专利申请数据，采用复杂网络方法构建组织合作网络、成员合作网络以及知识融合网络3类创新网络，并量化3类网络中的结构洞特征。在此基础上，采用面板负二项回归模型实证分析组织合作网络、成员合作网络以及知识融合网络结构洞特征对组织创新绩效的影响。结果表明：仅考虑直接作用时，组织合作网络与知识融合网络结构洞特征对组织创新绩效具有显著正向影响，且知识融合网络结构洞特征对组织创新绩效的影响程度更大。在进一步考虑交互作用后，组织合作网络、成员合作网络以及知识融合网络结构洞特征的两两交互项均对组织创新绩效具有显著正向影响，其中，成员合作网络与知识融合网络的交互作用对组织创新绩效影响最大。结构洞特征替换为聚集性特征后，研究结论依旧稳健。最后，基于多层创新网络优化视角提出相应的政策建议。     

Using a distance measure to operationalise patent originality

We introduce a distance measure to operationalise Trajtenberg, Henderson, and Jaffe’s [1997. “University Versus Corporate Patents: A Window on the Basicness of Invention.” Economics of Innovation and New Technology 5: 19–50] originality construct (an ex-ante indicator of firms’ technological capabilities). Our measure captures (1) technological diversity, (2) technology distance from patent antecedents, and (3) degree of novelty per each patented innovation. The V-score measure uses the Derwent World Patent Index system to classify technologies hierarchically – making similarities and differences pronounced. Power is gained by using all of the technology-classification codes describing a focal patent’s claims when calculating whether its technology space was incrementally different or radical from those of its antecedent patents (and identifying whether its technology-class code combinations were commonplace at the time when the patent application was made). Our V-score’s prediction of firms’ performance is contrasted with Hall, Jaffe, and Trajtenberg’s [2001. Hall, B. H., A. B. Jaffe, and M. Trajtenberg. 2001. The NBER Patent Citations Data File: Lessons, Insights and Methodological Tools. NBER Working Paper No. 8498] Herfindahl measure of the same originality construct. Results indicate that the distance measure of technological content produces differently signed results when evaluating patents’ performance effects or predicting a firm’s trajectory.     

创新网络架构特征组态对知识转移绩效的影响机制

创新网络为各类创新主体的资源共享、互动交流、知识转移等活动提供平台,是企业拓展知识边界,进而实现高效创新的重要途径。在提取影响创新网络架构多样化、技术水平、地域跨度和闭合性4个条件变量的基础上,以高质量知识转移绩效为结果变量构建概念模型,同时,收集63家高新技术企业数据,借助模糊集定性比较分析法（fsQCA）,识别出3类创新网络架构特征组态并揭示其核心特征。研究发现,企业可通过搭建延伸互通型、行业区域联盟型、精准互通型等创新网络架构获得高质量知识转移绩效。研究结果不仅可为企业获取高质量知识转移绩效提供差异化路径,而且可为企业高效构建复杂创新网络架构提供参考。     

Path Dependence in the Innovation of Complex Technologies

This article investigates three factors that affect the path dependence of complex technologies and the organizational networks that carry out their innovation: culture and institutions, organizational learning, and technology design. Evidence from the rapidly growing body of literature on path dependence and from six case studies of complex technologies (i.e. turbine blades, cardio-imaging technology, audio compact discs (CD's), radiation therapy technology, micro-floppy disks, and microprocessors) is used to investigate the impact of culture, organizational learning, and technology design on path dependence. Three innovation patterns associated with co-evolution of technologies and organizational networks provide the framework used to structure the investigation.     

Knowledge,innovation, and control towards accountability: a comparative case study

This paper deepens the countervailing relationship between control and innovation in highly innovative networks. It adopts a middle range theory perspective [Broadbent and Laughlin, 2013. Accounting Control and Controlling Accounting: Interdisciplinary and Critical Perspectives. 1st ed. Bingley: Emerald Group] integrated with the quintuple helix model (Carayannis and Campbell, 2010. “Triple Helix, Quadruple Helix and Quintuple Helix and How Do Knowledge, Innovation and the Environment Relate To Each Other?.” International Journal of Social Ecology and Sustainable Development 1 (1): 41–69] to explore how control and innovation interact and shape each other in the contexts of high complexity and intensive knowledge creation, towards the satisfaction of accountability demands by stakeholders. The research relies upon two case studies and reveals what are the factors positively shaping the interaction between innovation and control towards greater accountability. We document that successful changes are facilitated by the implementation of adequate and innovative informal control devices favouring collaborative relationships, reinforcing innovation and shared knowledge and capabilities within the organisation. The findings are relevant to all complex settings involved in multifaceted processes of producing knowledge and innovation.     

基于技术学习的区域创新网络升级研究:以浙江台州为例

技术学习是影响区域创新网络升级的核心因素,外向型和内向型技术学习是其两种典型模式。通过对浙江台州146家集群企业的问卷调查发现:区域创新网络中的技术学习活动非常活跃,非正式技术学习活动居于主导地位,龙头企业在技术学习中扮演着关键角色。从完善内部网络和开拓外部联系两个角度,提出了进一步推动产业集群创新网络升级,提升集群企业技术创新能力的对策建议。     

Influence and inefficiency in the internal capital market

I model inefficient resource allocations in M-form organizations due to influence activities by division managers that skew capital budgets in their favor. Corporate headquarters receives two types of signals about investment opportunities: private signals that can be distorted by managers, and public signals that are undistorted but noisy. Headquarters faces a tradeoff between the cost of attaining an accurate private signal and the value of the information the signal provides. In contrast to existing models of “socialism” in internal capital markets, I show that investment sensitivity to Tobin's Q is higher than first-best in firms where division managers hold equity (a result consistent with evidence presented in Scharfstein, 1998). When managers face high private costs from distorting information (equity holdings), headquarters may commit to investment contracts that place “too little” weight on private signals and “too much” weight on public signals (i.e. Q). This result has implications for managers in the design of capital budgeting processes and incentive compensation systems.     

邻近性与自主合作创新网络演进:以集成电路产业链为例

随着科学的发展及与知识的融合,越来越多的创新通过多个组织合作完成,但现有研究对于合作创新机理仍缺乏共识。从社会网络视角出发,通过引入邻近性概念构建合作创新解释框架,然后基于中国1985-2015年集成电路领域的500 945条专利的全样本数据,通过QAP多元回归分析发现:地理邻近、知识积累邻近、知识结构邻近与创新环境邻近共同影响合作伙伴选择,且随着时间推移与产业发展,地理邻近的重要程度逐渐降低,知识结构邻近的影响呈现U型变化,知识积累邻近和创新环境邻近在产业进入成熟阶段后开始正向影响合作创新伙伴选择,表明合作创新网络内已经出现一定程度的阶层固化现象。     

专利家族视角下技术演化路径依赖研究——以光刻技术为例

以专利家族为研究视角,阐述技术路径动态演化过程中的路径依赖。专利家族自引会对技术主路径造成干扰,通过对主路径进行调整,提出一种修正技术主路径的新思路。研究发现：光刻技术在“投影对准和曝光系统—浸没式投影物镜—浸没式光刻材料—光刻胶”4个阶段经历了“路径消解—路径产生与路径依赖—路径消解与突破”的动态演化过程。在此过程中,以荷兰阿斯麦、德国蔡司和日本东京电子为代表的专利家族发挥重要作用。其中,以阿斯麦为核心的利益联盟垄断核心技术,强化光刻技术发展的路径依赖作用,占据市场领先地位。研究结论有助于深化对路径依赖理论的认知,通过揭示光刻技术路径演化过程及企业演化格局,为后发国家突破技术路径依赖提供实践启示。     

复杂网络下产业转移与区域技术创新扩散影响关系研究

在对产业转移与区域技术创新扩散的复杂网络结构进行分析的基础上,结合复杂网络和采纳阈值模型等相关理论,以技术类型为调节变量,构建了基于产业转移的区域技术创新扩散仿真模型,并借助Netlogo仿真平台进行了仿真分析。结果表明,产业转移规模、创新程度及信息整合与技术创新扩散速度均呈正向相关关系,但在技术创新扩散深度上,受阈值机制的影响,二者关系呈现阶段性变化规律,且在不同的技术类型情况下,转移产业规模、创新程度及信息整合对技术创新扩散深度的影响也存在差异性特征。最后为产业转移和区域经济管理者提出了相关对策建议。     

关键核心技术产学研协同创新机理研究——以芯片光刻技术为例

产学研协同创新是突破关键核心技术“卡脖子”问题、实现科技自立自强的重要途径,但鲜有研究揭示面向关键核心技术创新的产学研协同机理。基于复杂系统管理理论,构建关键核心技术产学研协同创新机理系统框架,揭示产学研非线性互动协同创新规律,并以芯片光刻技术为例,借助社会网络分析法实证解析该框架。研究发现：(1)资源整合—主体交互—系统涌现是基于复杂系统管理视角提升产学研协同网络成效、加快关键核心技术突破的有效途径;(2)主导者—桥梁—辅助者权力分配规则能够有效促进多元主体在交互过程中通过嵌入性社会关系推动关键核心技术创新的价值增值;(3)模块化—松散耦合的网络结构能够消除主体间交互障碍、最大化结构红利,是产学研协同复杂网络在系统结构层面涌现的关键核心技术创新突破规律。最后,通过芯片光刻技术专利合作网络实证解析关键核心技术产学研协同创新机理,提出强化面向关键核心技术产学研协同创新、助力高水平科技自立自强的对策建议。     

Evaluating innovation networks in emerging technologies

Interorganisational innovation networks are increasingly important for innovation in emerging technology fields. The performance of such networks can have a large impact on the future development of emerging technologies. A useful framework for the evaluation of innovation networks however does not yet exist. In this paper, such a framework is developed, using elements of the social network analysis literature and the resource-based view. This framework is subsequently applied to compare two policy-driven innovation networks: 1) the Center for Translational Molecular Medicine; and 2) the BioMedical Materials program. Based on this first empirical exploration of the framework implications for management and further policy development are formulated.