Multi-mode interaction among technologies

Abstract

Technological innovation is manifested in the development of new products, processes and techniques such that emerging technologies often substitute for more mature technologies. The interaction between technologies is typically referred to as competition, implying a confrontational interaction. The setting of technology strategy is thus often concerned with issues relating to the competition between emerging technologies and the response of mature technologies to the offense from emerging technologies -strategies for attack and defense. In this paper it is argued that the interaction between technologies should be viewed in a broader sense than mere competition, and it is suggested that a multi-mode framework provides a much richer setting for assessing the interaction of two or more technologies. This concept has been successfully applied in biological and organizational ecology, and it is shown that it can be equally useful when applied to the dynamics of technological interaction. It is proposed that the effect that one technology has on another's growth rate be taken as a classification criterion.Examples are given to illustrate that three major modes of interaction exist, viz. pure competition, symbiosis and predator-prey. In addition, the notion that the interaction between technologies can in general shift temporally from one mode to another is motivated. It is suggested that, since the characteristics of the three modes differ from one another, it is appropriate to develop managerial strategies that apply specifically to each of the three modes, instead of just applying generic "competition" strategies. AcknowledgmentsThe authors wish to thank two anonymous reviewers and Dr. Theodore Modis for their insightful comments, and the graduate students at the University of Pretoria who helped in identifying some of the examples. Multi-mode interaction among technologies

Assessing transition trajectories towards a sustainable energy system: A case study on the Dutch transition to climate-neutral transport fuel chains

“…Lessons learned from historical transition trajectories show that add-on and hybridization technologies often occur. This means that technologies in an early phase physically link up with established technologies (Pistorius & Utterback, 1997;Geels, 2002). Our case shows that transition steps that intentionally have been incorporated as hybridization technologies or intermediaries do not score as well as expected (e.g.…”

Renewable Energy Technology—Is It a Manufactured Technology or an Information Technology?

“…There is a very strong emphasis of window of opportunity in terms of the stable and unstable phases of technological competition. (A more general taxonomy is available in [28] on the interaction between new technology and incumbent technology, i.e., predator and prey, symbiosis, etc.) This (evolutionary) approach has a strong underpinning of techno-economic dynamics.…”

Application of system dynamics to corporate strategy: an evolution of issues and frameworks

“…Its roots lie in the work of Abernathy and his collaboration with my colleague Jim Utterback. Over the ensuing years a rich collection of empirical studies, conceptual frameworks, and quantitative models of innovation were developed (e.g., Abernathy, 1978;Abernathy and Utterback, 1978;Abernathy and Clark, 1985;Tushman and Anderson, 1986;Henderson and Clark, 1990;Klepper and Graddy, 1990;Utterback and Suarez, 1993;Utterback, 1994;Milling, 1996;Christensen, 1997;Pistorius and Utterback, 1997;Christensen et al, 1998;Utterback and Afuah, 1998;Christensen and Overdorf, 2000;Milling, 2001). …”