Types of Innovation and Adoption

Question 1

What do Abernathy and Utterback tell about the industry life cycle?

Answer 1

After a radical product innovation, a dominant design emerges, which induces a shakeout of players in the industry, the remaining of which focus on process innovation (incremental product innovation).

Dominant Design: clear understanding of product requirements of the market. Common architecture adopted by most producers.

Question 2

What is Rogers’ model of Adoption?

Answer 2

Adoption is crucial in the diffusion of a new product or technology. The adoption curve is divided in:

• Early adopters
• Early majority
• Late majority
• Laggards

There is a Critical mass that defines the treshold after which general adoption will follow.

In between Early and Late majority lies 50% of market share.

Question 3

What does Moore preach about the Chasm?

Answer 3

The chasm is an obstacle in the adoption curve, a certain number of adopters that companies manage to reach and surpass, or “cross”, only if they are able to nurture their network, and to take the majority with them.

Question 4

What are complementors?

Answer 4

A company is your complementor if:
- Customers value your product more when they have the other player’s product, than your product alone. (Demand side definition)

• It is more attractive for suppliers to provide resources to you when it’s also supplying the other player than when when it’s supplying you alone.

Question 5

What can be used to solve the chicken and egg problem in platforms?

Answer 5

Incentives and punishment, a way to control your network system.
(Incentives, value of producing game for platform)
(Punishment, authentication chip)