The Emergence of the Turbofan Engine

Smith, George E.; Mindell, David A.

doi:10.1007/978-94-011-4379-0_4

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Instead, Pratt and Whitney, the other US jet engine builder surviving from the early postwar melée of projects and innovations, devised an engine with the fan at the front, rather than the rear, and replaced steel compressor components with much lighter titanium, further enhancing power and thrust to weight ratios. These P&W engines, along with redesigned competitors from GE and RollsRoyce 'have powered virtually all wide body aircraft since the late 1960s' (Smith and Mindell 1999;Stephens and Cazier 1995). Here a redesign process that was initiated by the emerging regulatory constraints generated a radical innovation that continues to have effects on global transportation.…”

Section: Case 4: Creating the Turbofansmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Yet, as the knowledge-base for moving toward solutions was dramatically underdeveloped, designers focused on 'working around ignorance [or] more precisely, the recognition of ignorance and ways of compensating for and safeguarding against it' (Smith and Mindell 1999). GE tried first to extend capabilities by putting a powered fan at the exhaust end of an engine, so as to heighten the pull-through thrust.…”

Section: Case 4: Creating the Turbofansmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Constraints as sources of radical innovation? Insights from jet propulsion development

Gibbert

Scranton

2009

Management & Organizational History

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In popular parlance, 'necessity is the mother of innovation'.Yet, in innovation management and organizational behavior in general, there is little systematic study into the enabling role of constraints in innovation. In fact, constraints in terms of knowledge or resources are typically connoted negatively, and in order to limit their negative impact on innovation, such constraints need to be overcome. This article contributes to the prevailing notion of overcoming knowledge and resource constraints by discussing four historical cases in the early phases of jet propulsion development. We detail enabling effects of constraints on innovation by drawing on Gidden's structuration theory, and discuss implications for innovation management.

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Section: Case 4: Creating the Turbofansmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Case 4: Creating the Turbofansmentioning

confidence: 99%