Book Reviews

These books have had profound impacts on the way we think and how we teach and research innovation

James Utterback
Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation,
(Harvard Business School Press, 1996)

Mark Stefik, and Barbara Stefik
Breakthrough Stories and Strategies of Radical Innovation
(MIT Press, 2004)

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James Utterback,
Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation.
(Harvard Business School Press, 1996)

By Mike Parsons and Mary B Rose (Lancaster University, UK)

We like this book because Utterback does a number of quite remarkable things. "This book attempts to develop a practical model of the dynamics of industrial innovation -- and model with explanatory power for the scholar, and action ideas for the manager." Mike Parsons : ‘Books which set out to address both the scholar and the manager are rare and those which succeed are rarer still and James Utterback does just this. The book was inspirational for me because I could clearly identify what I had been doing intuitively through my 35 year industrial career. What's more in a new business start-up I was able to communicate to business colleagues clearly and the very concisely how we should proceed in certain areas of product innovation. The book also became the bedrock of our teaching innovation at Lancaster University Management School/IEED.

Mary Rose:

One of the most thought provoking books I have read. Earlier this year I was asked to write a short article for Business History Review about a book which had profoundly influenced my teaching. I wrote a joint article with Mike on Utterback. It influenced us because it creatively used history and genuinely crossed disciplinary boundaries, more than that it is engaging and students enjoy reading it.’ The depth and breadth of Utterback's research is summed up in his statement:-

"It is essential that we understand the linkages of product technologies and manufacturing process, corporate organisation and strategy and the structure and dynamics of an industry"

What does it cover ?

The concept of dominant design lies at the heart of Utterback’s book and can be defined as the product standard, which comes to be taken for granted by consumers and producers alike. Critically, this standard can normally only be identified once it has emerged and cannot easily be predicted in advance. This concept is about far more than technology, however, and is also shaped by a combination of competitive processes and consumer preference. It is the breadth and implications of this concept, combined with a clear, accessible style, which makes the book so inspirational for teaching innovation. Utterback focuses on innovation in ‘complex assemblies’ from the 1880s onwards. Drawing on case studies ranging from the typewriter, to the personal computer, from gas lamps to fluorescent lighting, from amateur photography to digital imaging, he explores the shifting process of innovation and the inter-relationship between product and process innovation. The book does much more than catalogue technological change, however. It demonstrates the competitive processes which underlie the emergence of product standards and so can be linked to Schumpeterian innovation theory, with its emphasis on creative destruction. The book, therefore, genuinely tracks the dynamic and evolutionary process of innovation and demonstrates the shifting nature of competitive advantage.

Innovation is about much more than technological change and the book explores the chaotic environment surrounding the emergence of radical products. There will be a clustering or swarming of inventions around a specific product category before the dominant design emerges. Taking the example of the typewriter, Utterback explores the numerous rudimentary patented devices which preceded the Remington No.1 in 1874 and No.2 in 1878, stimulated by a growing demand for a fast writing machine. He demonstrates the way in which a convergence of technological, social and business changes contributed to the emergence of the dominant design. He traces the chequered development of the Remington company and the extent to which- in common with so many innovations- the Remington represented a synthesis of existing technologies. The QWERTY keyboard, the shift key and the double typeface are features that were taken for granted on the modern typewriter. But this was not without an intensive period of competition lasting around 20 years, activity which looks remarkably like Schumpeterian creative destruction. The swarm of competing and sometimes pirated designs saw companies vying for a growing market in a world where office work was being changed for ever. Success depended in part on networking activity by firms and on the usability of machines, rather than necessarily on technical superiority. It was also often followed by structural change to businesses and by process innovation to sustain advantage. What is interesting too is the level of path dependency once a dominant design is established. The durability of the QWERTY keyboard into the electronic age illustrates this strongly. By no means the most efficient or ergonomic design, the QWERTY has survived for its familiarity and indeed its survival on modern PCs reduced consumer resistance to the new technology.

How does it add to our course ?

Utterback’s approach undoubtedly proved inspirational in the development of our course, because it combined historical, technological and business perspectives. Ours is the unusual collaboration of academic and businessman, where we use our complementary skills to inform our research teaching and indeed Mike’s business. Our collaborative background began with researching and writing Invisible on Everest : Innovation and the Gear Makers ( Philadelphia :2003). The shared experience, derived from that work, helped us to bridge the gap between the worlds of business and academia and created the foundation for developing a course in innovation. The initial attraction of Utterback’s book was that it stimulated a dialogue between us regarding theory and practice of innovation and its relationship to history. This dialogue provided one of the platforms for the development of our innovation course. It was launched in 2004 for the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development, Lancaster University Management School, UK.

We did not set out to develop a conventional business history course. Rather our approach to innovation, is to view it as a bridge between past and future, and thus firmly embedded in history. Innovation is about ‘new combinations’ and the bringing together of bodies of knowledge and experience and as such is embedded in and shaped by history. Such new combinations provide the trajectory which so often breaks the lock-in of path dependency. This made Utterback and the theories and approach he developed ideal for use on our course. We made history matter by ensuring students regularly confronted its impact upon and relationship to the present. In addition, the course’s shape and mode of delivery was shaped by the combination of our knowledge and our own personal histories . History should not just about studying the past, it is a process and way of thinking. It involves understanding the relationship between what is happening now and the past and between continuity and change. Continuity is often seen as little more than tradition and the antithesis of innovation. Yet the past and its accumulated knowledge can be the launching pad for change. This is particularly so when combined with new knowledge and more especially knowledge derived from social networks, especially those which lie in new or previously unexplored spheres. These ideas are underpin the philosophy of our approach to teaching innovation and are of course reflected in Utterback’s book.

Our course is highly interactive with learning occurring through a combination of online materials, personal learning logs and weekly face to face workshops, rather than conventional lectures. A key feature of the course and of the workshops is a weekly innovation diary which draws on the serious business press. In dialogue with Mike and I students assess articles on innovation appearing during the 10 weeks of the course. They set them against the core theories addressed in the course and are assessed through a critical essay on a string of related article. Each article is set within an ‘innovation space’ which considers the positioning of the article in terms of radical and incremental, process product and a paradigm innovation. Students consider potential diffusion processes and the surrounding competitive environment. This discussion of shifting competitive processes draws heavily Utterback which provides both an analytical framework and comparative historical examples. Recently the competitive battle between Sony and Toshiba for DVD format provides an ongoing illustration of the emergence of a dominant design. It illustrates the way in which technical sophistication alone is not enough to confirm a dominant design and the significance of network behaviour, usability and the importance relationship of wider competitive strategies. By looking at this present day phenomenon against similar historical examples –including of course the battle for VCR format between Betamax and VHS- students on our course come understand the process of innovation and competitive strategy. By setting innovations in the wider economic and social context, students lacking any background in history come to understand the importance of the past almost by osmosis.

One of the critical advantages of Utterback for use with students is that it is readable and accessible. One of our prime aims in the cause is to inspire students to embrace different approaches to learning. The availability of genuinely engaging literature is a key part of this process.

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Mark Stefik, and Barbara Stefik
Breakthrough Stories and Strategies of Radical Innovation,
(MIT Press, 2004)

 

This is one of the most original and engrossing books on innovation either of us has read. It is certainly not a text book or a practical guide to innovation. It focuses on radical innovation which in many ways is unusual and often the preserve of the large firm. Yet the ideas it inspires go far beyond this. It looks at the process of innovation as being a dance of 2 questions, ‘what is needed and what is possible’. We now see these as being fundamental, not just to radical innovation, but to the interplay between innovation and entrepreneurship. These are the questions which any innovating entrepreneur asks regularly – knowing what is needed is crucial to understanding markets and implies engaging with customers, but is it possible –will technology, materials and other resources mean that it is viable ? Alternatively, how to meet what is needed with what is possible? This ongoing dance is faced in business regularly. Failure to take these two questions into account, and balancing, them is likely to mean that a clever idea will remain just that, it will not become an innovation. In looking at innovation, the authors consider the way it involves social processes and new combinations of knowledge. Unless two groups understand each other and are able to collaborate and share experience it is likely that the innovation will fail to diffuse-even within the company let alone more widely. The book also highlights that the past matters the past helps you understand where you can go next and helps you build your own style and the crucial importance of knowledge. While highlighting that creativity alone does not lead to invention the book also emphasises the importance of imagination, careful observation and perception to innovation –and most especially the experiential learning that comes from a failed innovation. This is especially important, given the tendency to focus on success. This book is not a core text on our course in the way Utterback is, but it has come to underpin our understanding of innovation and entrepreneurship.

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