Process management and technological innovation: A longitudinal study of the photography and paint industries

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Benner, MJ
• 署名单位: University of Pennsylvania; Harvard University
• 刊物名称: ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCE QUARTERLY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0001-8392
• DOI: 10.2307/3094913
• 发表日期: 2002
• 页码: 676-706
• 关键词: total quality management; corporate performance; capabilities; inertia; exploration; PERSPECTIVE; adaptation; advantage; KNOWLEDGE; FAILURE

摘要

This research explores the impact of process management activities on technological innovation. Drawing on research in organizational evolution and learning, we suggest that as these practices reduce variance in organzational routines and influence the selection of innovations, they enhance incremental innovation at the expense of exploratory innovation. We tested our hypotheses in a 20-year longitudinal study of patenting activity and ISO 9000 quality program certifications in the paint and photography industries. In both industries, the extent of process management activities in a firm was associated with an increase in both exploitative innovations that built on existing firm knowledge and an increase in exploitation's share of total innovations. Our results suggest that exploitation crowds out exploration. We extend existing empirical research by capturing how process management activities influence the extent to which innovations build on existing firm knowledge. We suggest that these widely adopted organizational practices shift the balance of exploitation and exploration by focusing on efficiency, possibly at the expense of long-term adaptation.