Marcie J. Tyre

Windows of Opportunity: Temporal Patterns of Technological Adaptation in Organizations

This paper examines the introduction and adaptation of technologies that support productive operations. The authors argue that the process of technological adaptation is not gradual and continuous, as often argued in the innovation literature, but is instead highly discontinuous. Evidence from three manufacturing and service organizations indicates that there exists a relatively brief window of opportunity to explore and modify new process technology following initial implementation. Afterwards, modification of new process technologies by users is limited by the increasing routinization that occurs with experience. Thus, the technology and its context of use tend to congeal, often embedding unresolved problems into organizational practice. Subsequent changes appear to occur in an episodic manner, triggered either by discrepant events or by new discoveries on the part of users. These findings have important implications for theories of technological change.

How learning by doing is done: problem identification in novel process equipment

Abstract The unit cost of producing manufactured goods has been shown to decline significantly as more are produced. It has been argued that ‘learning by doing’ is at the root of this phenomenon, but the modes of learning actually involved have not been studied in detail. In this paper we attempt to provide a better understanding of the learning behaviors involved in learning by doing via a study of 27 problems that affected two novel process machines in their first years of use in production. First, ‘interference finding,’ is described, a form of learning by doing that appears to be central to the discovery of the problems studied. Next, the reasons why the problems identified by templating were not discovered prior to field use - before ‘doing’ - are explored. Two causes are identified: an inability to identify existing problem-related information in the midst of complexity, and the introduction of new problem-related information by users and other problem solvers who learn by doing after field introduction of the machine. We find that problems due to information lost in complexity emerge earlier than do problems due to user learning by doing. Tests of reason are used to show why it would be very difficult to eliminate doing from learning by doing. Finally, other implications of the study findings are discussed.

Managing the introduction of new process technology: International differences in a multi-plant network

Abstract This paper examines the introduction of new technologies in the manufacturing environment, and addresses two central questions. First, how can factories introducing new process technology deal with change rapidly and effectively? Further, what fundamental organizational changes are necessary to enable plants to respond successfully to the challenge of technological change? The research examined 48 projects where new manufacturing technologies were introduced. Projects were undertaken in plants in Italy, West Germany, and the United States which belong to a single company. In comparing success across regions, performance measured by startup time and operating improvement was significantly lower in the U.S. plants than in European operations. A significant portion of this performance gap can be explained by differences in the way project teams in each region used available mechanisms for identifying and solving the problems associated with new technologies. U.S. project teams were, on average, less likely than those in Europe to engage in preparatory problem-solving activities, or to solve problems by working with external technical experts, or by merging different functional perspectives within the project group. To understand the source of these differences, the paper examines historical and organizational differences among the operations in different geographic regions. Over time, local managerial choices had resulted in distinct sets of organizational capabilities, resources, and assumptions that affected the way plants in different regions approached technological problem solving. The paper argues, therefore, that such managerial choices constitute important strategic decisions which have long-lived implications for technological innovation in the manufacturing environment.

THE MECHANICS OF LEARNING BY DOING: PROBLEM DISCOVERY DURING PRO0CESS MA CHINE USE

This article is cast in the mold of a relatively new interdisciplinary field called management of technology. Researchers who specialize in this field are interested in understanding the process of technological innovation, and in learning how to manage it better. Their primary disciplinary training tends to be in economics or organizational behavior, and they often have some engineering or scientific training and experience as well. Most are based in business schools, and their research insights are often influenced and enriched by close contact with R&D engineers and managers who are trying to execute the detailed, day-to-day process of developing new technology-based products and processes. Researchers in management of technology often seek to frame studies that simultaneously address practical issues of concern to technology developers and more general questions of interest to academic colleagues. The study we report on here follows this pat-