Lyytinen JYU/IT 2010
Page 1
Towards Digital Innovation theory
University of Jyvaskyla
May 28-June 4
Instructor: Professor Kalle Lyytinen
E-mail: kalle@case.edu
4 CET
In this course we will explore pertinent issues in innovation research and innovation theory that
relate to the ongoing issues of digitizing and digitalization (these are different but related things
as you will learn during the course!). The course seeks to provide an encompassing view of the
recent debates around the nature of innovation and the impact of digitizing and digital
capabilities on innovation processes and outcomes within management innovation theory and
literatures on technology management. It looks at pivotal issues in innovation theory and
research like the changing nature of innovation and innovation processes and outcomes, nature of
technology and the specific nature of digital technologies, theories of technology and technology
evolution, empirical studies and analyses of the nature of digital technologies and its impact on
innovation. The course’s overall objective is to prepare students to think critically about the
underlying assumptions and current views of innovation, how they relate to digital innovation
and its impact, and how digitalization needs to be approached in management and policy
research. It will help prepare the prospective students with a critical understanding and practical
guidelines how to engage in innovation in the digital era. As all these are contested and currently
emerging areas of research the students must be prepared to deal with alternative, conflicting and
ambiguous claims about the discovery and justification of emerging knowledge and theory.
The seminar is intensive and requires careful reading of a major works that deal with the nature
of innovation theory, grounding of innovation theories, and conditions under which different
forms of innovation theory emerge. The course expects full participation of all members in a
mutual learning process where all participants actively participate in a dialogue with others
during classes. Participants are expected to connect the issues raised in the course discussions to
their own research interests through a project.
In the project, each team will select one significant (seminal or turning point) piece of
technology, product or service from their area of interest, and will systematically subject it to
analysis in light of the course materials i.e. how digitalization is affecting it. By systematic
analysis and deconstruction I mean a relentless application of critical ideas from the course to
that piece of technology, uncovering its unstated assumptions, challenging its operant logic, and
highlighting its strengths and weaknesses and how digital capabilities are transmogrifying it.
Students are expected to submit a written report at specified time 6/18 (grades will be given
latest 6/24)
Lyytinen JYU/IT 2010
Page 2
Grading will be based 2/3 on class discussion and 1/3 on the final report. The class will draw
mainly on the texts outlined in the syllabus. A reading material packet will be prepared for the
class and will be expected to be read by the course participants. The language of the class is
either Finnish or English depending on the participants.
Faculty
Kalle Lyytinen received his PhD from University of Jyvaskyla, Finland in 1986. He started to use e-mail in
1982 and has been on Internet since 1983. He is currently Iris S. Wolstein professor Case Western Reserve
University in Information Systems. He serves currently on the editorial boards of several academic
journals including, Journal of AIS (Editor-in-Chief), Journal of Strategic Information Systems,
Information Technology & People, Information & Organization, Requirements Engineering Journal,
and Information Systems Journal. He has published over 200 scientific articles and conference papers
and edited or written ten books on topics related to system design, method engineering, implementation,
software risk assessment, computer supported cooperative work, standardization, and ubiquitous
computing. A research team lead by him developed during 1991-1998 one of the leading software
development environments in the world (MetaEdit+, see http://www.metacase.com/) which has been
used in generating code to over 200 million Nokia Mobile Phones. During 1999-2000 he served as a
research professor for Telia-Sonera Corporation (Finland/Sweden), which is regarded as one of the
leading wireless operators in the world. He consulted them for new service models for broadband wireless
services. He is a well-known and renowned expert in wireless services and standardization who has been
nationally interviewed on the evolution of wireless services. He was recently engaged in a project
supported by NSF that focused on the institutional forces involved the development of global electronic
commerce, studies of pervasive computing applications involving clinical applications and logistics, and
uses of 3D modeling technologies in Architecture, Engineering and Construction industries. He has
consulted for several large Finnish, North American and global corporations and public offices including
Nokia, Daimler-Chrysler, OKO Bank, Finnish Parliament, Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs,
TietoEnator, and KeyBank.
Lyytinen JYU/IT 2010
Page 3
Course outline
May 28 Friday
Introduction to Innovation and innovation theory ( 3 hours)
Key topics
-
What is innovation
How innovations can be classified
What affects innovation – pull and push theories
Institutional environment of innovation
Required:
King, J.L., Gurbaxani, V., Kraemer, K.L., McFarlan, F.W., Raman, K.S., and Yap, C.S. "Institutional factors in
information technology innovation," Information Systems Research (5:2) 1994, pp 139-169.
Lyytinen, K., and Damsgaard, J. "What's wrong with the diffusion of innovation theory: The case of a complex and
networked technology," in: Diffusing Software Product and Process Innovations, M.A. Ardis and B.L.
Marcolin (eds.), Kluwer Academic Publishers, Norwell, MA, 2001, pp. 173-190.
Gupta, A.K., Tesluk, P.E., and Taylor, M.S. "Innovation at and across multiple levels of analysis," Organization
Science (18:6) 2007, pp 885-897.
Recommended
Attewell, P. "Technology diffusion and organizational learning: The case of business computing," Organization
Science (3:1) 1992, pp 1-19.
Cooper, R.B., and Zmud, R.W. "Information Technology Implementation Research: A Technological Diffusion
Approach," Management Science (36:2) 1990, pp 123-139.
May 31 Monday (3 hours) Evolution and nature of technology; digital
technologies ad industries
Key topics
-
What is technology
How does technology evolve
What elements influence technological evolution
The nature of digital technology and its unique features
Digital economy and its size
Required:
Lyytinen JYU/IT 2010
Page 4
Arthur, M.B. The nature of technology: What it is and how it evolves Free Press, New York, 2009. (cursorily
chapters 2, 4, 7, 8)
Bryngfjolsson and Saunders ( Chapter 1, 2)
Youngjin Yoo, Kalle Lyytinen, Richard Boland, Nick Berente, James Gaskin, Dough Schutz, Nikhil Srinivasan:
“THE NEXT WAVE OF DIGITAL INNOVATION: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES”, A REPORT OF AN NSF
RESEARCH WORKSHOP ON “DIGITAL CHALLENGES IN INNOVATION RESEARCH”
Economist: Special issue on Data deluge see
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15579717
Case Internet computing change:
Luo J., Lyytinen K., Rose G. (2010): “Internet Computing as a Disruptive Information Technology Innovation in
Software Firms: The Role of Strong Order Effects ”, to appear in Information System Journal
June 1, Tuesday (3 hours) How does Digital technology evolve;
Singularity
-
The scope and pace of innovation in digital technologies
The new features of digital innovation
R. Kurzweil. “Kurzweil’s Law (aka ‘The Law of Accelerating Returns’)”, available at
http://www.kurzweilai.net/meme/frame.html?main=memelist.html?m=1%23664
Read: The Petabyte Age:
Because More Isn't Just More — More Is Different See:
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/16-07/pb_intro#ixzz0jlbkRu5y
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/16-07/pb_intro
Henfridsson, O., Yoo, Y., and Svahn, F. "Path creation in digital innovation: A multi-layered perspective," Sprouts:
Working Papers on Information Systems (9:20) 2009, pp http://sprouts.aisnet.org/9-20.
Youngjin Yoo, Kalle Lyytinen, Richard Boland, Nick Berente, James Gaskin, Dough Schutz, Nikhil Srinivasan:
“THE NEXT WAVE OF DIGITAL INNOVATION: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES”, A REPORT OF AN NSF
RESEARCH WORKSHOP ON “DIGITAL CHALLENGES IN INNOVATION RESEARCH” (PP. )
Tilson, D., Lyytinen, K., and Sørenson, C. "Desperately seeking the infrastructure in IS research: Conceptualization
of "digital convergence"," in: 43rd HICSS, 2010.
Case
Yoo, Lyytinen, Thummadi, Weiss, Berente:”Unbounded Innovation with Digitalization: A Case of Digital Camera”,
AoM 2010 proceedings, forthcoming
Lyytinen JYU/IT 2010
Page 5
June 2, Wednesday: Impact of digital technology on innovationopenness and scale
Key topics
-
Nature of digital innovation as infrastructure
Opennness and democratization of innovation
Tuomi, I. Networks of Innovation: Change and Meaning in the Age of the Internet Oxford University Press, New
York, 2002. (especially chapters 3, 4,5 )
Hanseth O., Lyytinen K. (2010): “Design theory for adaptive complexity in information infrastructures”,
forthcomi ng Journal of Information Technology
Anderson : In
the Next Industrial Revolution, Atoms Are the New Bits, Wired 25/1/2010
Zittrain: The Future of Internet and how to stop it. see http://yupnet.org/zittrain/archives/6#5
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/01/ff_newrevolution/
See http://www.wired.com/wiredbizprogram/ (Anderson talk about disruption in price)
Recommended
Chesbrough, H. Open Innovation: The new imperative for creating and profiting from technology Harvard Business
School Press, Boston, 2003.
June 3, Thursday: Impact of digital technology on innovation –
hetereogeneity and service innovation
Key topics
- New forms and types of innovation
- Pace of innovation
- Radical and new forms of innovation
Readings
Yoo Y: COMPUTING IN EVERYDAY LIFE: A CALL FOR RESEARCH ON EXPERIENTIAL
COMPUTING, MIS Quarterly Vol. 34 No. 2, pp. 213-231/June 2010
Yoo Y, Lyytinen K., Boland R. (2010): “Innovation in the Digital Era: Four Classes of Innovation Networks”,
Working paper submitted to Organization Science
Boland, R.J., Lyytinen, K., and Yoo, Y. "Wakes of innovation in project networks: The case of digital 3-D
representations in architecture, engineering and construction," Organization Science (18:4) 2007, pp 631647.
Brynjolfsson, E., and Saunders, A. Wired for innovation: How information technology is re-shaping the economy
MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2009. (especially chapters 4, 5)
Lyytinen JYU/IT 2010
Page 6
The Future of Money: It’s Flexible, Frictionless and (Almost) Free
See http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/02/ff_futureofmoney/
Case
Jönsson K., Holmström J., Lyytinen K. (2009): ” Turn to the material: Remote diagnostics systems and new forms
of boundary-spanning” Information& Organization, 19, 3, pp.233-252
June 4, Friday Presentations of industry cases (3 hours)
Nokia: IP networks and new business models of communicating (Markku Ilvesmaki ) + case on IP networks
Required:
Kaplan, S., and Tripsas, M. "Thinking about technology: applying a cognitive lens to technical change," Research
Policy (37:5) 2008, pp 790-805.
Luo J., Lyytinen K., Rose G. (2010): “A knowledge based model of Radical innovation in Entrepreneurial Software
Firms”, submitted to MISQ
Lyytinen JYU/IT 2010
Page 7
Report
By June 18, you will have to submit a8-10-page (single-spaced) report on an emerging digital
technology of your choice. This is an group report (2-3 people). Your report should include a
discussion of the technology or trend, a description of how it works, an analysis of its potential
value to organizations and markets, and discuss how the features of digitalization are changing
this product or markets. Involve a discussion of its market potential, limitations, costs, and so
forth. Discuss why it can be disruptive and how it may break the business model of the past.
Evaluation of these reports will rely on the following questions:
Content
How well did you discuss what it is?
How well did you discuss how it works?
How well did you discuss its value to organizations, industry and market?
How well did you discuss its future potential and future disruptive nature?
How well did you discuss its limitations?
Style
How convincing were you?
How well organized was the report?
How interesting was the report?
The following is a list of suitable innovations for your report. If you would like to choose
another, certainly feel free to consult with me.













4G
Mobile business computing
Bluetooth, Zigbee – narrow range
and personal area networks
Biometrics
Grid computing, cloud computing
IPv6 (mobility, scale)
Nanotechnology and MEMS
Nomadic computing
RFID , smart dust, mores
Social computing in business
contexts
Wearable computers
Web 3.0
Software as Service (SaaS)






Organic processors
Web services and SOA
Voice and tactile interfaces
Workflow automation
Business intelligence
Security
Lyytinen JYU/IT 2010
Page 8
Internet sites to follow in conducting the analysis:
http://www.zdnet.com/:
A good general source for news on technology changes, industry
transformation and new corporate news; includes good podcasts and video
clips by industry leaders
http://www.brint.com/:
A good general knowledge portal for IT and management related topics, offers
access to a wide range of materials
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/:
A general web site for e-business and commerce related topics
http://www.ecominfocenter.com/:
Another site which primarily focuses on e-business and commerce and related
business solutions
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/:
New economy business mantra, offers insights into new emerging
technologies and business models
http://www.wired.com/:
Another new economy oracle, more consumer focused on “cool” things.
Sometimes excellent industry analyses or technology analyses
http://www.ft.com/home/us:
Good news source on business and IT change, sometimes good industry
analyses or analyses of CIO roles
http://www.businessweek.com/ebiz/index.html:
Another general business news source; offers more detailed technological
analyses than FT
http://www.economist.com/index.html:
Well edited and authoritative source of business and technology news