Ammon Salter

Innovation in project-based, service-enhanced firms: the construction of complex products and systems

This paper explores the management of innovation within firms producing complex products and systems. It is based on a study of how design, engineering and construction firms develop and produce buildings and structures. We contend that these project-based, service-enhanced forms of enterprise are not adequately addressed in the innovation literature. Project-based firms rely upon combining technical expertise from other organisations in order to deliver their own technical capabilities, usually in one-off processes. The paper argues that these firms are only able to effectively harness and reproduce their technological capabilities by integrating project and business processes within the firm. Our results show the need for a better conceptual understanding and new management practices to link project and business processes. The paper offers a framework for achieving this, explaining the dynamics of project-based firms and how they can improve performance across portfolios of projects.

The economic benefits of publicly funded basic research: a critical review

This article critically reviews the literature on the economic benefits of publicly funded basic research. In that literature, three main methodological approaches have been adopted — econometric studies, surveys and case studies. Econometric studies are subject to certain methodological limitations but they suggest that the economic benefits are very substantial. These studies have also highlighted the importance of spillovers and the existence of localisation effects in research. From the literature based on surveys and on case studies, it is clear that the benefits from public investment in basic research can take a variety of forms. We classify these into six main categories, reviewing the evidence on the nature and extent of each type. The relative importance of these different forms of benefit apparently varies with scientific field, technology and industrial sector. Consequently, no simple model of the economic benefits from basic research is possible. We reconsider the rationale for government funding of basic research, arguing that the traditional ‘market failure’ justification needs to be extended to take account of these different forms of benefit from basic research. The article concludes by identifying some of the policy implications that follow from this review.

Postcards from the Edge: Local Communities, Global Programs and Boundary Objects

This paper considers the limitations of project management tools as boundary objects within dispersed or global programs of teamwork. The concept of boundary object is receiving growing attention in the management literature. These artefacts are argued to provide a basis for negotiation and knowledge exchange between differentiated communities of practice. The paper assesses these claims theoretically and empirically in the context of global projects. Theoretically it draws on the literatures on boundary objects, dispersed work and project management tools and organization. The paper then analyses a case study of a global program in a major computing corporation. The program spanned numerous geographical sites across the US, Europe and Japan as well as several functional communities of practice including production, services, sales, IT and company registry. The method involved interviews with 33 program managers at six sites and analysis of program management devices such as integrated timelines, online status reporting tools and modular roadmaps. The paper argues that in dispersed programs where there is no opportunity for face-to-face interaction, and/or ambiguous lines of authority, project management tools will be ineffectual as boundary objects and prone to avoidance. Boundary objects are inherently limited precisely because of their marginal nature, the effects of which are exacerbated in diverse and dispersed programs.

Science and Innovation: Rethinking the Rationales for Funding and Governance

The evolving research policy environment new actor relationships models of research funding.

Last among equals: a comparison of innovation in construction, services and manufacturing in the UK

This paper contrasts the attitudes of firms towards innovation from the construction sector with those in services and manufacturing, using data from the UK innovation survey. We examine the liabilities that construction firms face in their innovative activities in comparison to other sectors, drawing from literature on the distinctiveness of construction as an economic activity. We find that the liabilities of immobility and unanticipated demand are among key distinguishing features that separate innovative behaviour in construction from other industries. The paper concludes with a discussion of the merits of cross‐sectoral comparative research of this kind, together with issues for further research.

Learning and Innovation Management in Project-Based, Service-Enhanced Firms

This paper explores the management of innovation in project-based firms. Our research indicates that the traditional boundary between manufacturing and services is becoming obsolete as new forms of manufacturing emerge to supply physical products packaged together with intangible services. Many complex products are now designed, produced and operated as discrete or small batch projects, leading to a growth in firms specialising in project-based activities. These range from the provision of specialist services to co-ordination and systems integration. Not enough is known about how project-based firms manage technology. This paper attempts to develop a framework for understanding the dynamics of project-based firms. It offers a new approach to understanding how they improve performance by focusing on the development of technical capabilities in the context of the provision of enhanced services.

Coping with open innovation: : responding to the challenges of external engagement in R&D

Open innovation often requires wholesale changes to the nature of R&D. However, academic research and managerial practice have paid little attention to the challenges that individuals face in the daily pursuit of open innovation. As a result, there is little understanding of how individuals cope with open innovation, and which organizational practices can support them in this role. Drawing on the experiences of R&D professionals, this article identifies four specific challenges and coping strategies of individuals engaged in open innovation. It proposes a range of open innovation practices that organizations can implement to better equip their staff to undertake effective external engagement.

THE INTENSIFICATION OF INNOVATION

This paper suggests that the innovation process has intensified as a result of the application of new digital technologies. These technologies that simulate, model and integrate, intensify the innovation process through facilitating economy of effort and definiteness of aim. Of all the many analytical lenses used to examine innovation, the most valuable in accounting for this “automation of innovation” is Rothwells concept of the 5th Generation Innovation Process. Our paper revisits this element of Rothwells (1992) prize-winning article in R&D Management. It reviews the use of a range of enabling technologies and strategic management practices for the automation of innovation that were either in gestation or unknown at the time of Rothwells paper. Rothwells speculation about the increased “electronification” of the innovation process, and of related technological and strategic integration, has proven to be correct. The use of the new “electronic toolkit” can transform the innovation process by facilitating the transfer, transformation and control of information. Using insights from contemporary innovation and management research, this paper examines the benefits and limitations of these digital technologies in dealing with the challenges of innovation of reducing costs and increasing speed, predictability and strategic organisational integration. It presents a conceptual framework for assessing the intensification of innovation and outlines some strategic managerial precepts that will facilitate effective use of these technologies. The paper concludes with speculations about future developments in the intensification of innovation and its impact for strategic management, together with questions for further research.

Innovation and performance in engineering design

This paper explores the experiences of engineering, design and construction organizations (EDOs) in developing innovative approaches to performance measurement in their design activities. It contrasts experiences of these firms with those of manufacturing organizations. It finds that performance measurement of engineering design activities is poorly understood in many industries, including construction. The development of new performance measures can provide a new opportunity for innovation in engineering, design and construction firms. At present, the measures used to assess design in construction are based on the financial performance of a project rather than other important objectives of the design process, such as quality and buildability. In manufacturing industries, firms rely on measures of new product development, but these indicators also say little about the measurement of engineering design activities, that is, those on‐going and continuous. To realize the innovative potential of design and performance measures, EDOs need to take a broader perspective on the nature of design activities, and to look to the experiences of leading manufacturing firms to find new ways of measuring and understanding their design activities.

'Inequality' of innovation: skewed distributions and the returns to innovation in Dutch manufacturing

It is a commonly held view that returns to innovation are highly skewed, that is, not all firms innovate, and the returns received from innovation for the firms that are successful innovators are highly concentrated in the hands of the few. Using data from two community innovation surveys for the Netherlands, this article investigates the properties of the distribution of the returns to innovation for different types of innovation. It finds that the returns to innovation are indeed highly skewed, but the distribution of the returns is shaped by the degree of novelty of the innovation – the more novel the innovation, the greater the concentration of the returns. The article also explores the distribution of the returns across different sectoral contexts, finding that low-technology sectors are characterised by higher performance diversity among innovators than high-technology sectors.