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The Next Generation: Technology Adoption and Integration Through Internal Competition in New Product Development

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  • Alva Taylor

    (Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755)

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of internal competition that occurs when new technology challenges the technology in a firm's existing products. New-technology development projects are traditionally judged by market success---and most fail. If we examine their impact on existing-technology product development, a different interpretation arises. Drawing on the literature on the influence of social factors on interfirm search and adoption of new technologies, this study argues that similar processes occur intrafirm. Evidence from a field study on new-technology product development in high-technology firms shows that internal competition influences existing-technology product development groups to integrate the new technology into the next generation of their own products. The reason is twofold. First, these groups shift their search toward the new technology and allocate resources to gain a deeper understanding of it. Second, access to internal information and the mobility of workers across project boundaries benefit the existing-technology groups. The findings provide a model of innovation that illustrates an endogenous process of internal competition. This often political and contentious process can have a strong influence on technology adoption and integration.

Suggested Citation

  • Alva Taylor, 2010. "The Next Generation: Technology Adoption and Integration Through Internal Competition in New Product Development," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(1), pages 23-41, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:21:y:2010:i:1:p:23-41
    DOI: 10.1287/orsc.1080.0399
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    Cited by:

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    3. Abdelghani Es-Sajjade & Terry Wilkins, 2017. "Design, Perception and Behavior in the Innovation Era: Revisiting the Concept of Interdependence," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 6(1), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Mohammad Hossein Khasmafkan Nezam & Ali Attafar & Ali Nasr Isfahani & Arsh Shahin, 2013. "Human Capital and New Product Development Performance Efficiency- The Mediating Role of Organizational Learning Capability," International Journal of Learning and Development, Macrothink Institute, vol. 3(6), pages 79-87, December.
    5. Magistretti, Stefano & Dell'Era, Claudio & Verganti, Roberto, 2020. "Searching for the right application: A technology development review and research agenda," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    6. Kafouros, Mario & Wang, Elizabeth Yi, 2015. "Technology transfer within China and the role of location choices," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 353-366.
    7. Nuno Oliveira & Davide Secchi, 2023. "Theory Building, Case Dependence, and Researchers’ Bounded Rationality: An Illustration From Studies of Innovation Diffusion," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 52(2), pages 993-1042, May.
    8. Samuel C MacAulay & John Steen & Tim Kastelle, 2020. "The search environment is not (always) benign: reassessing the risks of organizational search," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 29(1), pages 1-23.
    9. Hervas-Oliver, Jose-Luis & Sempere-Ripoll, Francisca & Boronat-Moll, Carles, 2012. "Process innovation objectives and management complementarities: patterns, drivers, co-adoption and performance effects," MERIT Working Papers 2012-051, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    10. Natalya Vinokurova & Rahul Kapoor, 2020. "Converting inventions into innovations in large firms: How inventors at Xerox navigated the innovation process to commercialize their ideas," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(13), pages 2372-2399, December.
    11. Ron Adner & Rahul Kapoor, 2016. "Innovation ecosystems and the pace of substitution: Re-examining technology S-curves," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 625-648, April.

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