Technological discontinuities, competition and firm performance

References

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• Foster . 1976 . op. cit , February Ref. 1.
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• Examples of technologies in this sense can be analogue radio, digital radio, mechanical gearing, etc.
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• Granstrand and Sjölander . 1986 . op. cit , 31 February Ref. 1.defined generic technologies as, "the broader science and technological area from which a cascade of technologies emerge". As an example of a generic technology, they mentioned electronics, which contains technologies such as electronic hardware; microelectronics, etc.
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• 1986 . op. cit , 31 February Ref. 1.Tushman & Anderson, op. cit.. Ref. 4.
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• Ibid
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• Filter built up by the methods used in forecasting the future environment.
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• Ansoff and McDonnell . op. cit , Ref. 8
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• Ansoff and McDonnell . op. cit , Ref. 8 As managers respond to signals from the environmnt, they meet successes and failures, Over time, these create a model in the mind of the manager about ‘things that work’ and ‘things that do not’—their ‘success model’. However, when the environment undergoes a discontinuous change, the manager's histroical success moel is the major obstacle in realizing the needd for change
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• Dosi , G. 1988 . Sources, Procedures, and hlicroeconomic Effects of Innovation . Journal of Economic Literature , XXVI : 1120 – 1171 . Engineers can be said to be limited by the ‘technological trajectory’ in which the engineer is working. A technological trajectory is defined as “the activity of technological progress along the economic and technological trade-offs defined by a paradigm”
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• Ansoff and McDonnell . 1990 . op. cit , 35 Ref. 65
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• The people committed to the old technology might be substituted for by engineers with another technological background, or at least they will have to learn and unlearn a great deal, and their power within the organization might be threatened.
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• Jacobsson , S. 1986 . Electronics and Insustrial Policy. The Case of Computer Controlled Lathes , London : Allen & Unwin . Ehrnberg and Jacobsson, op. cit., Ref. 1
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• 1981 . The Strategic Management of Technology , Brussel : Arthur D. Little . For a discussion on external technology sourcing, see, for instance, Granstrand & Sjölander, op.cit., Ref. 1; E. Roberts & C. Berry, Entering New Businesses: Selecting Strategies for Success, Sloan Management Review, 26, 1985. For a general elaboration on closed and open networks, see L.L.G. Soete, Trade and Technology Policies and International Competitiveness Processdings of the Wallenberg Symposium on the Mattsson, Marknadsforing for konkurrenskraft (Malmö Liber, 1982) (in Swedish.)
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• As could organizational inertia.
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• Metcalfe , J.S. 1988 . “ The Diffusion of Innovation: An Interpretative Survey ” . In Technical Change and Economic Theory Edited by: Dosi . 561 – 589 . London There are two main types of models that explain the speed of diffusion: either the diffusion increases as the product becomes more known, or because it gets cheaper and better. For a further discussion on factors that determine the speed of diffusion, see, for instance, E. Mansfield, Technical Change and the Rate of Imitation', Econometrica, 29, 1961; E.M. Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations (New York, The Free Press, 1983); M.E. Porter, Competitive Advantage. Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance (New York, The Free Press, 1985); B. Arthur, Competing Technologies: An Overview, in: Dosi et al. (Eds), Technical Change and Economica Theory (London, Pinter, 1988); B. Gold, Technological Diffusion in Industry: Research Needs and Shortcomings, The Journal of Industrial Economics, 29, 1981; Ehrnberg & Jacobsson, op. cit., Ref. 1
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• The speed of diffusion is defined here in relative terms; the speed is said to be 'fast' if the market has grown large enough for there to be substantial scale economics by the point in time that the temporary barriers disappear. In contrast, the speed has been 'slow' if no scale economies have arisen when the temporary barriers disappear. Thus, the speed of market growth is defined in relation to the speed by which the temporary barriers disappear, and the model rests on the assumption that scale economies exist.
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• Oskarsson , C. and Sjöberg , N. 1991 . Produktivitet inom Mobiltelefoni , Göteborg : Chalmers University of Technology . Where no other sources are given the CNC machine tool and FMS cases are based are on Ehrnberg & Jacobsson, op. cit., Ref. 1, and the mobile telephone case is based on (in Swedish)
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• Ehrnberg and Jacobsson . 1991 . op. cit , Ref. 1
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• Porter . 1991 . op. cit , For a description of an overall cost leadership strategy, seeRef. 2
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• In terms of motor power and extra functions.
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• The implementation of CNC machines often met with great resistance from the work force, fearing that skilled workers would lose their jobs and a great deal of education was required to learn how to program, run and maintain the machines.
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• Jacobsson . 1991 . op. cit , Ref. 19
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• Jacobsson . 1991 . op. cit , : 10 – 12 . The versatility and flexibility was enhanced, the programming was simplified and other functions, such as tool changing, could be added
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• Watanabe . 1983 . op. cit , : 37 Ref. 34
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• Jacobsson . 1990 . op. cit , : 49 Ref. 19See citation from Today's Machine Tool Industry, 1977 in
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• Jacobsson . 1990 . op. cit , : 81 Ref. 19 See citation from E. Sciberras & M. Payne, The UK Machine Took Industry: Recommendations for Industrial Policy
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• This is explained by Watanabe, op. cit., Ref. 34.
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• Jacobsson, op. cit., Ref. 19.
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• Jacobsson . 1990 . op. cit , : 48 Ref. 19 In 1973, the average weight per CNC lathe produced in Japan was 5.5 tons compared with 13.0 in West Germany
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• Sometimes an FMS consists of processing stations other than CNC machine tools, but here we will only deal with metal-cutting FMSs based on CNC machine tools.
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• In a sample of 655 FMS installations (with a minimum of two machine tools), 46% of them included 2-4 CNC machine tools, I. Tchijov, FMS World Data Bank (Laxenburg, IIASA, 1989).
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• Ehrnberg & Jacobsson, op. cit., Ref. 1.
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• One reason for this is that many of the FMS producers have been led into this activity by customers. In some cases, machine tool producers have hesitated to enter the FMS business, but large customers (such as Volvo), with great bargaining power, have forced them to—otherwise they would have bought the machine tools from other suppliers.
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• It should be noted that the data include only systems with two machines or more. These systems are based chiefly on machining centres—in 1985, two-thirds of the stock of FMSs incorporated only machining centres.
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• During the first half of the 1980s, computer communication was thought to be an important technological entry barrier for the machine tool firms, the access to which would be restricted to computer firms only, giving them an opportunity to enter the FMS market. However, during the 1980s, computer technology became standard and generally available. Today (according to an interview in July 1991 by Ellinor Ehrnberg and Staffan Jacobsson, with Nils Martensson, professor in Manufacturing Automation at the Department of Production Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology), any MSc in computer engineering can do the computer communications part of an FMS, mainly by using commercial software.
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• See Tryggestad, 'Users as Designers of Advanced Manufacturing Technology: The Swedish Engineering Industry's Sourcing of Automation Know-how and Equipment', Proceedings of the EA.R.I.E. 18th Annual Conference, Ferrara, September 1991; Carlsson and Jacobsson, op. cit., Ref. 20.
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• For small FMSs (2~4 CNC machine tools), the cost of the machines is 50%-55% of the total costs, and the cost of the information system is continually being reduced, making the machine share larger.
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• Better speech quality, the possibility of moving freely within the system area with only a minor risk of a dropped call, and the introduction of hand-held mobile telephones.
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• The limited radio skills in most of the public switching firms, such as Siemens, Northern Telecom, Alcatel and NEC, were barriers for these firms and contributed to their winning contracts and exclusively on their domestic markets. Furthermore, limited experience of international business was also a hindrance for many of the public switching firms.
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• Ericsson, Motorols, AT&T, Northen Telecom, NEC, Siemens, Alcatel, Ericsson Reference Lists Cellular Systems, 1986-1991 (Ericsson).
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• Other important skills were developed in close cooperation with the Swedish PTT, Televerket, including operation and maintenance skills—application technologies—and the whole concept of nationwide mobile telephony, working and functioning as normal fixed telephony. Ericsson won the contract for the switch to the NMT system in the late 1979s, in competition with companies such as Motorola, NEC, Hitachi and Fujitsu. After the competition, cooperation between Swedish PTT and Ericsson began, though not in any jointly owned organization. Later Ericsson and Swedish PTT developed the mobile data system MOBITEX, within a joint venture formed for that purpose, named ERITEL.
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• Telecator, February 1986, presents several forecasts made between 1980 and 1985, by different consultants, of the number of mobile telephone subscribers in the US in 1990. The forecasts vary widely. In 1980, there were two forecasts presented—one of 1 million (IRD) and one of 2.5 millions (ADL). In 1984, there were another two—one of 1.4 millions (Link Resources) and one of 7 millions (Arthur Andersen). The actual outcome was approximately 5 million subscribers in 1990 (Ericsson Reference List Cellular Systems, January 1991). In 1979, the Swedish PTT forecast 40 000 subscribers in 1990 in Sweden; in 1982, the forecast by the PTT was 80 000 in 1990; Affarsvarlden, 4 March 1987. In reality, the number of subscribers in 1990 in Sweden reached over 450 000 (Ericsson Reference List Cellular Systems, January 1991).
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• Granstrand & Sjolander, op. cit., Ref. 1.
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