Technology Development and Innovative Practice

This chapter on innovative practice supporting technological development has several thematic overlays that show some consistency in terms of patterns, but also some diversity in terms of strategies that researchers have employed in this area. Beginning with Hage and Aiken’s (1969) seminal work on routinization and how the social structures of organizations affect technological development and innovation, readers will see two general trends in terms of approach: the statistical and the sociological. Whether it is Aldrich’s (1972) use of path analysis to study the nature and effects of organizational variables on innovative practice, or Rothwell et al.’s (1974) identification of innovation success factors, or Downs and Mohr’s (1976) defining of innovation through factors of variability, quantitative methods are shown to be increasingly powerful tools in identifying the nature of innovation and technology development. Nelson and Winter (1977) continue in this vein by establishing an inclusive theoretical structure for innovation, Dewar and Hage (1978) identify variables of structural differentiation and complexity that affect this domain, and Kimberly and Evanisko (1981) suggest variables to follow that come from both within individual organization units and their wider contexts. Pavitt (1984) uses sectoral pattern analysis to describe how a combination of technology sources, user requirements, and potential technology appropriation affect how we understand technical change and the structural relationships between technology and industry. Fisher and Fry (1971) end the quantitatively based section with a discussion of their substitution forecasting model.

Social Influence and Human Interaction with Technology

This chapter discusses how information that supports innovation flows throughout an organization, the construction and effects of team composition, the innovative processes that teams employ, and the development, implementation, and evaluation of systems used to manage the flow and distribution of information. As Allen and Cohen (1969) point out, effective communicators rise in their organizations as a result of their willingness to engage information—by reading and conversing outside of their immediate settings, but as Tushman (1977) explains, that kind of outreach precipitates special boundary roles, which come about to satisfy an organization’s communication network’s role of bridging an internal information network to external sources of information. Thompson (1965) investigates the conditions necessary to move an organization from a single-minded focus on productivity to one of those that facilitate innovation. At times, that means engaging rival firms, and von Hippel (1987) demonstrates that information sharing is economically beneficial to the organizations doing the trading. Freeman’s (1991) finding that information regarding innovative processes entails the development of effective information networks confirms how important it is for successful innovation that there exist effective external and internal communication networks, and that individuals collaborate to share information. von Hippel (1994) returns later in the chapter to qualify this point by showing that there is a direct correlation between the level of stickiness and the expense related to moving that information to a location where it can be applied to solving a problem.

Open Source and Software Development Innovation

It is beyond question how ubiquitous and powerful computing has become for commerce, communication, and culture. As the articles addressed in this chapter make clear, the development of software poses challenges to those with commercial concerns?those that build software and those that use it?as well as specific situations in which management and innovation theory is responsive also to nonproprietary software development. We begin with two articles by Boehm, arguably the most prominent voice in software engineering today. The first, with Ross (1989), introduces advances in theory to aid software project management, and the second (1991) takes a close look at risk management as it pertains to software development projects. Fichman and Kemerer (1997) present their research findings related to knowledge management in software process innovation management environments, while Nambisan and Wilemon (2000) explain the mutually advantageous bodies of knowledge that the realms of software development and new product development hold for one another. Fajar and Sproull (2000) consider software development management from a knowledge and team management perspective, and their findings have affinities with Farris et al.’s (2003) introduction of the Web of Innovation, which facilitates an organization’s e-knowledge management systems and their application to new product development.

Directions in the Field of Technology Innovation Management

Although the goal of this book is to provide foundational knowledge through indepth consideration of the seminal literature in the technology innovation management field, we now offer some thoughts on integrating the past, present, and future research directions in this field. The underlying theme that holds together the research considered in this book is the tension between the old (current routine) and the new (innovation). Mainstream business and management theory, like economic theory, focuses on the assumption of equilibrium. The study of technology innovation management at its core considers how to manage in the face of dynamics caused by the novelty and uncertainty associated with innovation. The nature of these dynamics can differ depending on a variety of factors. In some cases, the innovation causes smaller disruptions, due either to the magnitude or the nature of its effects. Such changes are often associated with terminology such as continuous, evolutionary, incremental, or sustaining. At other times, the disruptions are quite large, either due to a greater magnitude of change or a substantial difference in the change. These changes are often associated with terms such as discontinuous, disruptive, radical, or revolutionary. A major challenge to technology innovation management research is that the assumption of equilibrium is needed in many cases to allow for sufficient simplification of phenomena to produce generalizable theory and solutions that are tractable and close formed.

Information and Communication Technology Management

In this chapter on information and communication technology management, we retain a chronological order to emphasize the development of research interests and approaches as technology itself grows more complex, sophisticated, and increasingly integral to a firm’s innovative ends and operative strategies. We begin with two articles concerned with behavior—specifically, attitudes and decision behavior in the early realm of management information systems. Robey (1979) looks at the attitudes of members of sales departments to understand how individual predispositions to computerized information systems affect human performance with them, ultimately suggesting that the identification of expectancy factors can coalesce into a model of user reactions and motivations toward MIS. In the same year, Zmud investigates information processing and decision behavior, and their effect on the successful development of an organization’s management information systems

Diffusion and Innovation

This chapter introduces the seminal literature addressing technological diffusion, innovative product diversification, and the organizational strategies and constraints that firms face when introducing and adopting new technologies and innovative management strategies. We begin with diffusion. Abrahamson (1991) draws critical distinctions between the processes undertaken by rational adopters of inefficient technologies and the conditions that promote the irrational rejection of efficient innovations. Attewell’s (1992) focus is on organizational learning and abilities that drive the diffusion of innovative information and computing technologies. Cooper and Zmud (1990) examine managerial involvement with information technology, its effect on the adoption and infusion of that technology, and the role of rational decision models in explaining IT adoption. The section on diffusion closes with Narin and Perry’s (1987) look at the use of patent and citation data as a method of gauging a firm’s technological strength. In this case, information is the innovative product being diffused.

Introduction to the Field of Technology Innovation Management

This book differs from other academic works on the management of technology and innovation because it focuses on the seminal research of the field. Such work continues to be returned to by many authors over time because it supplies information considered to be core and foundational in nature. Consequently, the focus of this book is on older work that appears to be of increasing relevance over time and newer work that has quickly become highly influential. For the specialist practitioner interested in a specific technology or the academic who is interested in innovation from the perspective of a specific traditional discipline, this book will provide you with a strong foundation that cuts across traditional fields and boundaries. With the foundational knowledge in place, readers have a solid base over which to place the specialist knowledge that is of importance to them. Although the focus of the book is on foundations, the section on technology and management information systems offers additional insight into MIS, which many information systems professionals, universities, and professional organizations consider to be an independent discipline of increasing importance to fields that use information to develop and alter business policies and procedures. The final chapter focuses on the future of technology innovation management. By conducting a textual analysis of recent research from the top specialty journals in technology innovation management, we offer the reader sufficient information to consider what topics and directions recent research in the technology innovation management specialty is taking.

Knowledge and Change in Organizations

This chapter on the role of knowledge in the operation of organizations consists of two main thrusts: the effects of knowledge (accrual, dissemination, and implementation) on organizational change, and more specifically, the manner and effects of knowledge transfer within and among firms conducting innovative product design and development. We begin with Grant’s (1996) view of the importance and processes of knowledge coordination within a firm’s administrative hierarchy, and follow with Nonaka and Konno’s (1998) concept of ba, or a shared space for the creation and emergence of knowledge. Greenwood and Hining’s (1996) examination of the role of radical change on their theory of neo-institutionalism focuses on cognition and its relationships to operative procedures and behavior norms, as opposed to the more traditional view of institutionalism, with its fundamental goals of stasis and equilibrium. Leonard-Barton’s (1992) article attempts an in-depth view and explanation of how one identifies and exposes organizational capabilities in the face of organizational structures that promote management practices that have the potential to stifle innovation rather than institute and nurture change.

R&D Process Models

This chapter on research and development processes and models begins with a section concerning the economics and finance of R&D. Liberatore and Titus (1983) address the level and effectiveness that R&D managers have over the budgeting activities related to their projects and how best to improve these activities. Guerard, Bean, and Andrews’ (1987) focus is on the financial decisions hypothesis and development of an econometric model to examine the relationships of R&D with financing decision making. Hill and Snell (1988) discuss the different stresses and influences that investors and consumers place upon the R&D process, while Hokisson and Hitt (1988) examine management structure and diversification to understand their effect on investment by external capital markets in R&D firms. Baysinger and Hoskisson (1989) are also concerned with diversification strategies that affect R&D, reporting on their empirical research findings that suggest a positive relationship between the level of R&D intensity and the level of business dominance. The section concludes with Pisano (1990) and his discussion of sources of transaction costs, particularly small-numbers-bargaining hazards and appropriability concerns, and their effect on the selection of internal or external R&D sources when technological changes affect the locus of R&D expertise.

New Product Development

The articles addressed in this chapter on new product development can be classified in two general categories—papers that address the internal processes that assist or hinder development, and those that focus on factors that contribute to a new product’s success or failure in terms of performance and diffusion. We begin with Cooper and Kleinschmidt (1986), who report on the second phase of the New Prod project. Its goal was to examine the nature of the steps that affect the development process and determine how the step-wise structure was modified by the developer companies in order to improve process performance. Clark (1989) looks at project scope, or the extent to which in-house part development affects new product development and overall project performance. The new product development process, as a comprehensive scope of work, is the subject of Millison, Raj, and Wilemon’s (1992) discussion, specifically what the tensions and trade-offs are that occur among different functional areas and how they affect innovative product development. Wheelwright and Clark (1992) provide insight into strategies to plan, focus, and control a firm’s project development, offering an aggregate project plan that promotes management clearly delineating the roles and steps of each participant’s activities. Griffin and Page (1993) offer a practitioner’s framework that identifies and coordinates the many measures of product development success and failure, and holds them up against existing measures used by academic researchers. We then move to Souder’s (1988) article examining the relationship between R&D groups and marketing groups, the nature of the problems between them, and the structure of potentially effective partnerships.