Discussion Questions
September 18&20, 2012
POSTECH Strategic Management of Information and Technology Laboratory
(POSMIT: http://posmit.postech.ac.kr)
Dept. of Industrial & Management Engineering
POSTECH
Discussion Questions
■ Chapter 3. Types and Patterns of Innovation
3. Why do technologies often improve faster than customer requirements? What are the
advantages and disadvantages to a firm of developing a technology beyond the current state
of market needs?
Reason of technologies’ faster improvement
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To get some “Title” as the best company
To Predict customer requirements in advance
To gain the competitive advantage by preoccupied technologies
To achieve the firm’s goals (e.g., success in their targeted market, pricing objectives…)
Pure result from R&D
Advantages
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The first-mover’s advantages
Ownership of the future technologies (Monopoly, Patent, … )
Possible to lead the industry in the future
Disadvantages
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Doubtful investment in the new technology
Customers’ pressure to learn the usage of the new technology
Lack of distribution channel
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Discussion Questions
■ Chapter 3. Types and Patterns of Innovation
4. Reclassify the a) types and b) patterns of innovation in your own way (You can add/delete
some categories to the existing one, or make totally different classification) and explain your
classification with proper examples.
Please refer to the supplement material “Mr. Noh’s Innovation”
a)
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Types of innovation:
Strength Reinforcement vs. Weakness Elimination
Position vs. Paradigm
Cannibalization vs. Pie-expansion
b)
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Patterns of innovation
Miniaturization
Enlargement
Extraction
Change of state
High dynamicity
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