Chapter 3: Types And Patterns Of Innovation Flashcards
Define technological spillovers
Technological spillovers are a positive externality from R&D resulting from the spread of knowledge across organizational or regional boundaries
Define technology trajectory
Technology trajectory is the path a technology takes through its lifetime. This path may refer to its rate of performance improvement, it’s rate of diffusion, or other change of interest.
Both the ______________ and the _________________ have been shown to conform to an s-shaped curve.
Both the RATE OF PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT and the RATE OF ADOPTION have been shown to conform to an s-shaped curve.
Define discontinuous technology
Discontinuous technology is a technology that fulfills a similar market by building on an entirely new knowledge base. Examples include: propeller planes to jets, chemical photography to digital, carbon copying to photocopying ect…
Define dominant design
Dominant design is a product design that is adopted by the majority of producers, typically creating a stable architecture on which the industry can focus its efforts
Draw the technology cycle diagram and describe its parts
Each technological discontinuity created a period called the era of ferment which is full of turbulence and uncertainty. Once a dominant design is selected, there is an era of incremental change where firms attempt to simplify the product design.
Case: is the Tatar Nano a radical innovation or an incremental innovation? Competence enhancing or competence destroying, and from whose perspective? Component or architectural innovation?
The Tata is a radical innovation since it has many features that have never before seen in a car before and all of these features were implemented at the same time. It used a benchmark of two wheeled scooters making it have features akin to a cross between a car and a scooter.
It is competence enhancing for Tata because they can use steel in the cars. It is also competence enhancing for Tata’s suppliers since they are being forced to come up with innovative components. It is not competence destroying for competitors in the low end car market since some consumers may want a bit better quality than a Tata.
I think it is an architectural innovation because it is a change in the overall design (two calendar engine) and the way the parts interact (fuel chamber with the engine)
What factors do you think influence the rate at which consumers have adopted (or will adopt) the Tata Nano?
The Tata Nano’s perceived safety and quality will likely impact it’s technology trajectory.
- Adoption will be slow initially because it is an unfamiliar product
- it will accelerate as the technology becomes better understood (as long as it works as consumers want it to)
- eventually, the market will become saturated and the rate of adoption will decline
Draw the normal curve of diffusion of innovation and adopter categories.
2.5% - innovators
13.5% - early adopters
34% - early majority
34% - late majority
16% - laggards
The two majority sections are known as the critical mass
S-curves pertain to what?
Technology improvement and technology diffusion
The s-curve is not a prescriptive tool because:
- It is rare that a technology’s limits are known in advance
- unexpected changes in the market can influence the performance
- development activities (incremental upgrades like with the iPhone) can influence the s-curve
