Knowledge and Competitive Advantage: The Coevolution of Firms, Technology, and National Institutions

318 Pages·2003·3.11 MB·English

by  Johann Peter Murmann

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“Ifevolutionarymodelsaretobesuccessfulatallinthesocialsciences,itisinenhancingour
understandingoftechnologicalandeconomicperformanceinthepast.Inthispoineering
work, Johann Peter Murmann does exactly that, and immediately establishes himself as
oneofthemostinnovativeandboldscholarsinthefield.Usingevolutionarytheoryand
managementscience,thisbookshedsimportantlightonthenineteenth-centurychemical
industry.Thisisoneofthemostmethodologicallyoriginalbooksininterdisciplinaryhistory
tocomeoutinrecentyears.”
joel mokyr, Robert H. Stortz Professor of Arts and Sciences and Professor of
EconomicsandHistory,Northwestern(cid:1)Un(cid:1)ive(cid:1)rsity
“Darwinnotonlysetouthistheoryofbiologicalevolutionatsomelengthbutalsoprovided
asmuchempiricalbackingaswasavailableatthetime.InthisremarkablebookJohann
PeterMurmannsetsoutageneralanalysisofcoevolutionandprovidesadetailedexample
tobackitup–howquicklythediscoveryofsyntheticdyesbyanacademicscientistgave
risetoanindustrythatinturninfluencedthedevelopmentofacademicscience.Murmann
providesawell-developedtheoryandevidencetosupportit.Whocouldaskformore?”
davidl.hull,ProfessorofPhilosoph(cid:1)y((cid:1)Em(cid:1)eritus),NorthwesternUniversity
“JohannPeterMurmann’sbookisamajorcontributiontoourunderstandingoftheinter-
relationsbetweentechnologicalchangeandindustryevolution.Thiscomparativestudyof
theemergenceofthesyntheticdyeindustrywonderfullyillustrateshowdifferencesinpublic
policy,universitytraditions,andindustrycontextaffectbothtechnicalaswellasindustrial
change. Murmann’s book will have a major impact on coevolutionary theory as well as
industrialpolicy.Itisabookforresearchersaswellasforpolicymakers.”
michael tushman, Paul R. Lawrence, Class of 1942 Professor, Harvard Business
School (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1)
“Murmann’sadmirablebookprovidesthemostpersuasiveaccount,todate,forGermany’s
early leadership and long dominance of the synthetic dye industry after the momentous,
serendipitous scientific discovery by a young Englishman in 1856. It is an account that
employsasharplyfocused,coevolutionarylensuponthedifferinghistoricalexperiencesof
Germany, Great Britain and the United States. The book calls attention to the ways in
whichtheearlierdevelopmentpathsoftheGermanstateshadequippedthem,muchmore
effectivelythantheirpotentialcompetitors,toexploitthespecializedresearchtoolsofsyn-
theticorganicchemistry,uponwhichcommercialsuccesswastobecomeheavilydependent.”
nathanrosenberg,ProfessorofEc(cid:1)ono(cid:1)mi(cid:1)cs(Emeritus),StanfordUniversity
“JohannPeterMurmann’sbookshowsconvincinglythatcompetitiveadvantage,especially
intheknowledge-intensiveindustries,isfirmlyrootedinnationalinstitutions.Blending
quantitativeanalysisandcasestudyevidenceoveraperiodofdecades,hemakesamajor
contributiontothefieldsofstrategicmanagement,organizationaltheory,andtechnological
innovation.”
maurof.guillen,Dr.FelixSandmanProfessorofInternationalManagement,The
WhartonSchool,UniversityofPennsy(cid:1)lva(cid:1)nia(cid:1)
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Knowledge and Competitive Advantage
Entrepreneurs,managers,andpolicymakersmustmakedecisionsaboutafuturethatis
inherentlyuncertain.Sincetheonlyrationalguideforthefutureisthepast,analysisof
previous episodes in industrial development can shape informed decisions about what
thefuturewillhold.Historicalscholarshipthatseekstouncoversystematicallythecausal
processestransformingindustriesisthusofvitalimportancetotheexecutivesandmanagers
shapingbusinesspolicytoday.Withthisinmind,JohannPeterMurmanncomparesthe
development of the synthetic dye industry in Great Britain, Germany, and the United
Statesthroughthelensesofevolutionarytheory.Theriseofthisindustryconstitutesan
importantchapterinbusiness,economic,andtechnologicalhistorybecausesyntheticdyes,
inventedin1856,werethefirstscientificdiscoveryquicklytogiverisetoanewindustry.Just
aswithcontemporaryhigh-techindustries,thesyntheticdyebusinessfacedconsiderable
uncertainty that led to many surprises for the agents involved. After the discovery of
syntheticdyes,Britishfirmsledtheindustryforthefirsteightyears,butGermanfirms
came to dominate the industry for decades. American firms, in contrast, played only a
minorroleinthisimportantdevelopment.Murmannidentifiesdifferencesineducational
institutions and patent laws as the key reasons for German leadership in the industry.
Successfulfirmsdevelopedstrongtiestothecentersoforganicchemistryknowledge.As
Murmanndemonstrates,acomplexcoevolutionaryprocesslinkingfirms,technology,and
nationalinstitutionsresultedinverydifferentdegreesofindustrialsuccessamongthedye
firmsinthethreecountries.
JohannPeterMurmannisAssociateProfessorofStrategicManagementattheAustralian
GraduateSchoolofManagement.HeisontheeditorialboardoftheJournalofInternational
BusinessStudiesandistheeditorofEvolutionaryTheoriesintheSocialSciences.
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Cambridge Studies in the Emergence of Global Enterprise
Editors
LouisGalambos,TheJohnsHopkinsUniversity
GeoffreyJones,HarvardBusinessSchool
Otherbooksintheseries
National Cultures and International Competition: The Experience of Schering
AG,1851–1950,byChristopherKobrak,ESCP-EAP,EuropeanSchoolofMan-
agement
The World’s Newest Profession: Management Consulting in the Twentieth Cen-
tury,byChristopherD.McKenna,SaidSchoolofBusiness,OxfordUniversity
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Knowledge and
Competitive Advantage
The Coevolution of Firms,
Technology, and
National Institutions
Johann Peter Murmann Australian Graduate School
of Management
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