Module 3 Flashcards
(32 cards)
What are the three innovation patterns in the Utterback and Abernathy model?
Fluid Pattern, Transitional Pattern,
Specific Pattern
Number of firms starts declining in the ____ phase.
Transitional Phase
Process innovation starts increasing the ____ phase.
Transitional Phase
What is the predominant type of innovation in the Specific Pattern?
Incremental for product and process, with cumulative improvement in productivity and quality
What type of organizational control is present in the Fluid Pattern?
Informal and entrepreneurial
How is innovation stimulated in the Transition Pattern?
Opportunities created by expanding internal technical capability
What is the predominant type of innovation in the Fluid Pattern?
Frequent major changes in products
What are the main competitive emphasis on different patterns?
Fluid Pattern: Functional product performance
Transition Pattern: Product variation
Specific Pattern: Cost reduction
Innovation stimulated by information on users‘ needs and users‘ technical inputs in ____ Pattern.
Fluid
What is the concept of a “Dominant Design”?
A design that becomes standard in an industry.
Is the emergence of a Dominant Design guaranteed in every industry?
No, it is a frequent pattern, not a law of nature
Comments & Critiques about the Utterback and Abernathy model
- Concept of “Dominant Design” is applicable only ex post?
- Can there be more than one Dominant Design?
- Is the concept applicable given modern (flexible) manufacturing?
- In what industries is it applicable?
- What happens in the case of radical innovation?
What can firms learn from the Utterback and Abernathy model?
Organizational change, path dependency, search behavior, resistance, competencies, structure
What strategy did Fuji follow in the 1980s?
Squeeze film business, prepare for digital, develop new lines
Why was Fuji more successful than Kodak in adapting?
It diversified and prepared for digital early
What are sustaining technologies?
Linear improvement of existing technology.
What are disruptive technologies?
Introduction of completely new approaches that have the potential to create a new industry or transform an existing one.
What are the characteristics of disruptive technologies?
Offer, at least initially, little in the way of performance, but plenty in terms of cheapness, convenience, and ease of use.
Why do established firms often fail with disruptive tech?
They focus on current customers and profit margins
What is a revolutionary innovation?
Radical changes, e.g., digital photography, nanobots, semiconductors
What is an evolutionary innovation?
formed by the convergence of previously separate research areas, e.g., faxing, electronic banking
What dilemma do firms face with disruptive innovation?
Improve existing products or invest in less profitable disruptive tech
What is the innovator’s dilemma?
A company which is in an existing business and listening to its existing customers feels that there is no need for anything new.
Should it invest its money to make new products that its best customers can use→improve the company’s profit margins or
invest its money to create worse products that none of its customers can use, that would wreck its profit margins.
- Large companies choose to overlook disruptive technologies until they become more attractive profit-wise.
- Because disruption can take time, incumbents even frequently overlook disrupters.
What happens if large companies ignore disruptors too long?
Disrupters surpass sustaining technologies in satisfying market demand with lower costs.
