The Process of Technological Innovation

278 Pages·2007·3.67 MB·English

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 233 697
IR 010 787
TITLE
The Process of Technological
Innovation: Reviewing
the Literature.
INSTITUTION
National Science Foundation,
Washington, D.C.
PUB DATE
May 83
NOTE
284p.
PUB TYPE
Information Analyses (070)
EDRS PRICE
MFO1 /PC12 Plus Postage.
DESCRIPTORS
*Government Role; *Individual
Activities; Industry;
Literature Reviews; Organizational
Climate;
*Organizations (Groups); Research
and Development
Centers; Research Utilization;
School Business
Relationship; *Technological
Advancement; *Technology
Transfer
IDENTIFIERS
*Innovators; *Technological
Change
ABSTRACT
This review of literature
concerned with
technological innovation and
innovation process research is
divided
into five general
parts. Part
I defines basic concepts and
terms and
outlines major analytical
themes. Part II develops the
individual and
organizational dimensions within
which innovative activities
take
place. In Part III, the
sequence of events from technology generation
to implementation and dissemination
is described, and strategic
options available to organizations
in the management of innovation
are discussed. An assessment of the role
of government in affecting
organizational technology is
provided in Part IV and
Part V presents
a list of conclusions drawn from the
review. These conclusions
focus
on the stages of innovation, the
social units involved in
the
innovation process, perceptions
of innovation by technology
producers
and users, indices of innovation,
uncertainty about
new technologies,
the relationship between innovation
and organizational size and
structure, innovation in public
and private sector organizations,
characteristics of innovative
individuals, the relationship
of the
research and development (R&D)
function to innovation, the
implementation of innovation,
technology transfer,
university/industry research
interactions, the innovativeness
of
small high-technology based
firms, and the effects of
regulation and
other government policies
on innovation. An extensive list of
references concludes the publication.
(ESR)
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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
.
NATIOUAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
CENTER (ERIC)
lit This document has been reproduced as
received from the person ur organization
originating it.
1_1 Minor changes have been made to improve
reproduction quality.
Points of view or opinions stated in this docu-
ment do not necessarily represent official NIE
Position or policy.
THE PROCESS OF TECHNOLOGICAL
INNOVATION:
REVIEWING THE LITERATURE
Productivity Improvement
Research Section
Division of Industrial Science
and Technological Innovation
National Science Foundation
May 1983
O
Louis G. Tornatzky
National Science Foundation
J. D. Eveland
National Science Foundation
Myles G. Boylan
Colby College
William A. Hetzner
National Science Foundation
Elmima C. Johnson
National Science Foundation
David Roitman
Michigan State University
Janet Schneider
University of Tennessee
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions
or recommendations expressed in this report
are those of the
authors and do not necessarily
represent the views of the National Science
Foundation.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The assistance and cooperation of the following
persons
in the preparation and review of this document
is gratefully acknowledged:
Tora Kay Bikson
Irwin Feller
Jerald Hage
Andrea Lodahl
Barbara Lucas
Jaime Oaxaca
Everett Rogers
Lynne Schlaaff
Henry Tosi
A.B. Van Rennes
Amy Walton
4
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
vii
PART I:
DEFINITIONS AND APPROACHES TO INNOVATION
Technological Innovation: Definitions
I
and Characteristics
1
Technology: Macro-Organizational Perspectives
3
Innovation Characteristics:
Technology as it
is Perceived
8
Causal Links Between Technology and
Innovation
12
Summary
10
II
Stage-Process Models of Innovation
17
Stages and Processes in Innovation
18
Technology Source-Centered Models
20
Technology User-Centered Models
22
Problems With Stage Models
23
Difficulties in Defining Adoption of
Innovations
24
Defining Levels and Units of Analysis
25
Dependent Variables: A Cautionary Note
31
Innovation Processes and the Limits of
Disciplinary Inquiry
36
Economics
39
Engineering
41
Political Science
42
Psychology
44
Sociology
45
Summary
47
-
-
1 1
PART II:
ORGANIZATIONAL AND CONTEXTUAL COMPONENTS OF INNOVATION
III
Organizational Approaches to the Study of Innovation
49
Schools of Analysis
50
Classical Organization Theory
51
Human Relations
52
Contingency Theory
53
Systems Theory
55
The Problems of Goals, Information and
Uncertainty
57
Innovativeness as an Organizational Property
60
The Key Concept. of "Organizational Structure"
63
Structure and Innovation
64
The Special Problem of Size
67
Interorganizational Interactions and
Innovation
69
Summary
76
IV
Contextual Influences on Technological Innovation
77
Analytical Approaches
78
Diffusion Research
78
Microeconomic Theory
81
Recent Theoretical Work in Economics
83
Findings from Systems and Organizational
Research
86
Distinguishing between the Public and Private
Sectors
89
Artifactual Differences
94
Real Differences
97
'Summary
99
Actors in the Innovation Process
V
101
Actor Characteristics
102
Actor Roles
106
Actors Disaggregated and Aggregated
110
Summary
112
PART III:
THE SEQUENCE OF INNOVATION ACTIVITIES
Technology Generation, Choice and Design
VI
113
R&D Management: Producing Technology
113
Designing Technology Systems
118
Technology Choice
119
Sociotechnical Design Perspectives
123
Summary
130
The User's Role:
VII
Implementation Issues
131
Measuring the Implementation Process
138
Adaptation and Fidelity
140
Factors Affecting Implementation
1,26
Intr.aorganizational Influences on
Implementation
1/:6
Macro Influences on Implementation
148
Innovation Outcomes and Implementation
149
Undoing Implementation
152
Summary
153
The Spread of Technology
VIII
155
General Perspectives on Marketing and
Dissemination
155
Evidence from the Private Sector
156
Special Problems of the Public Sector
158
Technology Transfer Systems and Initiatives
161
History and Current Practice
162
Choosing the Technology to be Transferred
165
Choice of Transfer Mechanisms
167
Evaluating the Success of Transfer
Mechanisms
168
University/Non-University Interactions
169
Goal Congruity and Capability
172
Boundary-Spanning Structures
173
Organizational Incentives and Awards
175
Special Initiatives Involving Small Business
Firms
176
iv
Commercialization Programs and Demonstration
Projects
180
Summary
185
PART IV:
GOVERNMENT POLICY AND INNOVATION
IX
Government Policy and Innovation
187
Regulation
189
Tax Policy
-195
Patent Policy
198
Developing Scientific and Technical
Personnel
202
Supply Issues
203
Manpower ,lows
206
Effects of Government Transaction
Devices
208
Accountability vs. Innovativeness
209
Transaction Devices and the Transfer/
Dissemination of Technology
210
Transactions and the Science and
Technology Infrastructure
211
Mandated Technology
-- The Case of Management
Decision Aids
212
Summary
216
PART V:
SUMMARY: LESSONS LEARNED AND UNLEARNED
217
List of References Cited
223
FIGURES:
1.
The Innovation Process: Conceptual Overview
ix
Definitions of Technology
2.
6
3.
Stages and Processes in Technological
Innovation
21
4.
Disciplinary Approaches to Innovation
38
8
v
Implementation of Innovation: Differences
5.
between Public and Private Sectors
91
Actors in the Innovation Process
6.
103
Sociotechnical Design and Choice
7.
120
Innovation Implementation
8.
137
Main Elements of-the Agricultural Extension
9.
System and its Extensions
163
PREFACE
This review of literature
the fields and subfields generically
in
known as "innovation process research"7has been four years in preparation.
It represents the product of several different disCiplines and research
is likely to be frustrating to some of its
traditions and,
as such,
it
readers.
Different concepts-can go by similar names, and the same concepts
may likewise be found under different guises and in different places.
No
A4
single organizing framework is adequate for integrating
the diverse
themes to be found in this literature.
Ns
The integrating approach which we have chosen to employ startk with
the idea that technological innovation must be considered in an organiza-
This focus is relevant for two related reasons.
tional context.
First,
most significant innovations require the mobilization of organizational
resources to be effectively utilized, and thus are inherently bound up with
the dynamics of organizational behavior.
Second, many previous reviews of
innovation research have focused either on macro variables such as tax or
social policies or on micro variables such as characteristics of innovation
adopters, to the frequent exclusion of the organizational contexts in which
the effects cf these variables are played out.
While we try to consider the full array of variables employed in pre-
vious innovation research, the complexity of the field makes it inevitable
that we will have, either by desion or inadvertence, excluded certain re-
ferences deemed by any particular reader to be of importance.
Despite
these limitations, we believe that this review is worth presenting to the
u