Patterns of Industrial Innovation
Abernathy and Utterback, 1978
• How types of innovations change as units evolve
• Goal: Development of model relating patterns of innvoation to
competitive strategy, production capabilities and organisational
characteristics of a certain unit
, Fluid Pattern Transitional Pattern Specific Pattern
Competitive Functional performance Product variation Cost reduction
emphasis
Innovation User’s needs and technical Expanding internal technical Pressure to reduce cost
stimuli inputs capability improve quality
Type of Frequent major changes Major changes required by rising Incremental for product
innovation volume process; improvement o
productivity and quality
Product line Diverse; custom design Min. one stable design to have Undifferentiated standa
production volume products
Production Flexible and inefficient; More rigid; changes occurring in Efficient; capital-intensiv
processes changes easily major steps rigid; cost of change is h
accommodated
Equipment General purpose, but highly Sub processes automated; islands Special-purpose; mostly
skilled labour of automation automatic; labour tasks:
monitoring and control
Materials Generally available Some specialised materials Specialised materials; if
materials available: extensive vert
integration
Plant Small scale; near user or General purpose with specialised Large scale, highly speci
source of technology sections products
Organisational Informal and Liaison relationships, project and Emphasis on structure, g
control entrepreneurial task groups and rules
,Technological discontinuities
Anderson and Tushman, 1986
• Impacts of technological breakthroughs on environmental conditio
• 3 industries:
• domestic scheduled passenger airline transport (services)
• cement manufacturer (non assembled products)
• minicomputer manufacturer (assembled products)
, competence destroying competence enhancing
discontinuities discontinuities
• means creating a new product class/ • are order-of-magnitude improvements
substitutes for an existing product or new price/performance or efficiency (substit
way of making a given product for older technologies)
• are initiated by new firms • initiated by existing, successful firms
• requires new skills, abilities and knowledge • built on existing knowledge within a pro
in development and production of the class
product • provide the core for subsequent
• new technology fundamentally alters set of incremental improvements
relevant competences within a product • associated with decreased environment
class; opens up new branches (drives turbulence
industrial evolution) • result in greater product-class consolida
• associated with increased environmental smaller entry-to-exit ratios and decreas
turbulence intrafirm sales variability
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