Skip to main content

Process Management and Technological Innovation: A Longitudinal Study of the Photography and Paint Industries

Item

Title
Process Management and Technological Innovation: A Longitudinal Study of the Photography and Paint Industries
Abstract/Description
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 organizational 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.
Date
2002
In publication
Administrative Science Quarterly
Volume
47
Issue
4
Pages
676-707
Resource type
en
Resource status/form
en
Scholarship genre
en
Language
en
Open access/full-text available
en No
Peer reviewed
en Yes
ISSN
0001-8392
Citation
Benner, M. J., & Tushman, M. (2002). Process Management and Technological Innovation: A Longitudinal Study of the Photography and Paint Industries. Administrative Science Quarterly, 47(4), 676–707. https://doi.org/10.2307/3094913

Export

Comments

No comment yet! Be the first to add one!

I agree with terms of use and I accept to free my contribution under the licence CC BY-SA.

New Tags

I agree with terms of use and I accept to free my contribution under the licence CC BY-SA.