Patterns of Industrial Innovation

Abstract

The definition and focus of innovation change as a company matures. A produc innovation by a small, technology-based company is often the same process equipment adopted by a large company to improve production. In seeking to understand the variables that determine successful strategies for innovation, it is clear that there are 3 stages in the evolution of a successful enterprise: 1. its period of flexibility, in which the enterprise seeks to capitalize on its advantages where they offer greatest benefit, 2. its intermediate years, in which major products are used more widely, and 3. its full maturity, when prosperity is assured by leadership in several principal products and technologies. Major innovations usually pass through countless minor duct and systems improvements. Incremental innovations typically produce a highly specialized system that depends upon economies of scale and mass marketing for success.