How Canon and Sony Drive Product Innovation Through Networking and Application‐Focused R&D

Abstract

To ensure the ongoing vitality of a company's product offerings, R&D professionals must play a daunting array of roles. The already rapid, yet still accelerating, pace of technological change may lead some companies to devote more resources to intensive internal research efforts. However, the shift toward global competition demands a more market‐oriented focus from R&D; clear understanding of current and potential markets must drive R&D efforts. And efficient, cost‐effective manufacturing of new products requires an R&D organization that understands and interacts effectively with the production department. How does a company create an environment in which its R&D organization comprises market‐savvy, production‐friendly experts in diverse technologies? With case studies of R&D efforts at Canon and Sony, Sigvald Harryson identifies and illustrates the key mechanisms that these companies use to foster product innovation. His examples show how Canon and Sony use a combination of external and internal networking mechanisms to identify and acquire key technologies and related skills, gain market knowledge, improve the results of internal R&D efforts, and ensure the successful transfer of these results to efficient production processes. He identifies four key mechanisms underlying successful product innovation at Canon and Sony: strategic training and job rotation for engineers, application‐driven R&D, direct transfer of development teams from R&D to production, and extensive networking with external centers of excellence and key suppliers. At Canon, the initial training program for all researchers and engineers begins with three months of work on a production line. Sony's new researchers and development engineers spend one month in production. Both companies also give their new R&D professionals three months of training in sales and marketing. The emphasis on market‐driven research at both companies means that researchers have identified some commercial application for almost every initial research proposal that gains approval. Neither company treats research as a long‐term assignment; almost all engineers at both companies eventually move from the labs to production. And rather than viewing this job rotation strategy as a drain on the technological expertise in their labs, both companies rely on strong external networks with key suppliers and university‐based researchers as important sources for acquiring new technologies and the competencies needed to support them.

RETRACTED: The relationship between brokers’ influence, strength of ties and NPD project outcomes in innovation‐driven horizontal networks

“…Specifically, the authors argued that the strategic alliance network is important because it represents relationships between rivals which are acknowledged sources of influence on industry evolution, and because it represents flows of knowledge and access to markets. Examples of horizontal networks have been cited in the high-tech industry (Grabher, 1993;Harryson, 1997), wood industry (Human and Provan, 1997), biotech companies (Powell et al, 1996), and the textile industry (Uzzi, 1997). McDermott (1999) also highlighted the importance of market-and technology-driven alliances which are forms of horizontal networks in his study of radical product development in large manufacturing firms.…”

New Product Development

“…u Frequent job rotation of engineers (Harryson 1997), scientists, and inventors to encourage knowledge sharing and extensive networking.…”

Transdisciplinarity Seen Through Information, Communication, Computation, (Inter-)Action and Cognition

“…At a managerial level transfer can also be facilitated to share information and create new contacts, for example through information exchange events or relocation of personnel. As an example we can mention Canon that relocates its research and development center every six month (Harryson 1997). …”