The Processes Of Technological Innovation

Ground-breaking yet non-technical analysis of the analogy that technological artefacts 'evolve' like biological organisms.

Managing technological innovations and related policy and strategy issues have been a central focus of the new millennium. This book series presents an interdisciplinary scholarship and dialogue on the management of innovation and technological change in a global context from a variety of perspectives, including strategic, managerial, behavioral, and policy issues. Papers selected in this volume have four prominent themes: the wide spread interests and the global application of the technological innovation; the practicality of the research on technological innovation implementation to foster success and financial growth; the socio-technical challenges behind innovation and creativity that might outweigh the benefits; and the new principles/practices/perspectives on our understanding of the technological innovation. Contributed by prominent scholars and practitioners from around the world in innovation, management and policy area, this book will become a very useful read for anyone who is interested in learning the most contemporary perspectives on the subject.

Technology refers to any set of standardised procedures for transforming raw materials into finished products. Innovation consists of any change in technology which has tangible and lasting effect on human practices, whether or not it provides utilitarian advantages. Prehistoric societies were never static, but the tempo of innovation occasionally increased to the point that we can refer to transformation taking place. Prehistorians must therefore identify factors promoting or hindering innovation.This volume stems from an international workshop, organised by the Collaborative Research Centre 1266 'Scales of Transformation' at Kiel University in November 2017. The meeting challenged its participants to detect and explain technological change in the past and its role in transformation processes, using archaeological and ethnographic case studies. The papers draw mainly on examples from prehistoric Europe, but case-studies from Iran, the Indus Valley, and contemporary central America are also included. The authors adopt several perspectives, including cultural-historical, economic, environmental, demographic, functional, and agent-based approaches.These case studies often rely on interdisciplinary research, whereby field archaeology, archaeometric analysis, experimental archaeology and ethnographic research are used together to observe and explain innovations and changes in the artisan's repertoire. The results demonstrate that interdisciplinary research is becoming essential to understanding transformation phenomena in prehistoric archaeology, superseding typo-chronological description and comparison.This book is a scholarly publication aimed at academic researchers, particularly archaeologists and archaeological scientists working on ceramics, osseous and metal artifacts.

The book provides a basic introduction on innovation technology in research and industry, mainly chemical/ technical industry and therefore bridges the gap between academic and corporate markets. The different innovation stages are discussed and tools presented how to successfully apply this knowledge within a research organization.

Management of Research and Development Organizations Managing the Unmanageable R. K. Jain and H. C. Triandis Written by the manager of a large research and development organization and a leading behavioral scientist, this book explores some of the essential topics in R&D management while providing hands-on guidance for putting specific techniques to work. 1990 (0 471-50791-1) 268 pp. Managing Technology in the Decentralized Firm Albert H. Rubenstein Technology has traditionally advanced faster than our ability to manage it. Here is a book designed to assist the professional in furthering the corporate technology program through its effective management. Based on studies of over 200 decentralized firms spanning a period of thirty years, Managing Technology in the Decentralized Firm addresses crucial aspects of the research and development and innovation processes, and suggests how to make them pay off. 1989 (0 471-61024-0) 476 pp. Statistical Quality Control for Manufacturing Managers William S. Messina In today’s competitive environment, the responsibility of the manufacturing manager has expanded to include ownership of the quality of the products coming off the line. The author uses real-life business situations to demonstrate how a manager can incorporate statistical quality control (SQC) into virtually any manufacturing line. He also offers practical advice on techniques managers can use to improve quality, increase productivity, and enhance the competitive position of the line. 1987 (0 471-85774-2) 331 pp. Management of Technological Change Yassin Sankar Technology produces changes within the organization that must be considered for effective implementation of innovations. This book focuses on the dynamics of technological change, especially the human aspects. The author examines the impact of technological change on job design, work flow, job stress, the elements of corporate culture, the organizational system, the information technology of the organization, the leadership style and strategic premises, the organizational design, and the value systems of managers and the organization. 1991 (0 471-63147-7) 374 pp.

This book will take the reader through a systematic examination of the factors involved in process innovation. It starts with the considerations to be initiated in the boardroom and at group management level and develops into a hands-on guide for middle management and professional engineers directly involved in the innovation of process technology. The book initially puts process innovation in a corporate perspective, providing a framework for the development of a corporate process innovation strategy. Some new methodological tools are also introduced which support the targeting and proper roadmapping of improved process capabilities, and the progression of customer and end-user product demands, into raw-material specifications in a well-managed supply and demand chain.Various aspects of the design of a process innovation organisation are reviewed in a later section. In the context of the development of process technology, this book advocates the importance of delineating and clarifying corporate work processes. Various environments for development work are discussed, from initial test work to pilot-plant testing and the use of demonstration facilities to achieve lean process innovation. The importance of an open collaborative approach is stressed. This includes involving external equipment manufacturers at an early stage as well as collaborative development of customers' use of the products in their production processes, with a view to excellence in future application development.Process innovation will not, however, generate profit or reduce operating costs until the new or improved process technology is operating well in the plant. Best practice for start-up of new process technology and process plants is examined, starting with a fresh outlook on technology transfer in general. This often-neglected area of management of process innovation is, in fact, of an importance equivalent to that of a product launch in the development of new products. The final part of the book closes the circle, discussing how to implement and measure the strategic intent of process innovation. Improving the general performance of corporate process innovation is then covered by going through success factors and key performance indicators, and their aggregation on a corporate level.