Successful Incumbents: Puzzles in the Adoption of Risc (Reduced Instruction Set Computers) (Classic Reprint)
Book Details
Author(s)
Allan N. Afuah
Publisher
Forgotten Books
ISBN / ASIN
1332283594
ISBN-13
9781332283590
Availability
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Sales Rank
#99,999,999
Marketplace
United States 🇺🇸
Description
Excerpt from Successful Incumbents: Puzzles in the Adoption of Risc (Reduced Instruction Set Computers)
Abstract:
Both organizational and neoclassical economic theory suggest that incumbents should fail and new entrants prosper in the face of radical technical change. However, in many industries, incumbents have been more successful in adopting radical innovations than new entrants. This paper argues that this deviant behavior can be explained by two factors. On the one hand, an innovation that is radical to the innovating entity may not be radical to the members of its innovation value-added chain of suppliers, customers and complementary innovators. Therefore, to understand the success or failure of firms in adopting technologies, one must examine not only the effects of the technology on the adopter's competence, one must also examine its effects on the competence of the firm's innovation value-added chain. On the other hand, what may be seen as competence-destruction by organizational theorists may be regarded as obsolescence of network externalities by economists. Therefore success is better understood using the combined multidisciplinary approach of exploring both competence and network externalities effeas along the value-added chain.
This paper uses detailed data on the adoption of RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computers) by computer workstation makers to explore the importance of the above two factors in explaining the success of firms in the face of new technologies. Both qualitative and quantitative analysis of detailed field and archival data suggest that firms whose value-added chain of suppliers, customers and complementary innovators experience the least competence-destruction and obsolescence of network externalities are more successful, ceteris paribus. It distinguishes between the effects of competence and network externalities and suggests that customer competence plays a larger role in the success of firms in the face technical change than do network externalities.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Abstract:
Both organizational and neoclassical economic theory suggest that incumbents should fail and new entrants prosper in the face of radical technical change. However, in many industries, incumbents have been more successful in adopting radical innovations than new entrants. This paper argues that this deviant behavior can be explained by two factors. On the one hand, an innovation that is radical to the innovating entity may not be radical to the members of its innovation value-added chain of suppliers, customers and complementary innovators. Therefore, to understand the success or failure of firms in adopting technologies, one must examine not only the effects of the technology on the adopter's competence, one must also examine its effects on the competence of the firm's innovation value-added chain. On the other hand, what may be seen as competence-destruction by organizational theorists may be regarded as obsolescence of network externalities by economists. Therefore success is better understood using the combined multidisciplinary approach of exploring both competence and network externalities effeas along the value-added chain.
This paper uses detailed data on the adoption of RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computers) by computer workstation makers to explore the importance of the above two factors in explaining the success of firms in the face of new technologies. Both qualitative and quantitative analysis of detailed field and archival data suggest that firms whose value-added chain of suppliers, customers and complementary innovators experience the least competence-destruction and obsolescence of network externalities are more successful, ceteris paribus. It distinguishes between the effects of competence and network externalities and suggests that customer competence plays a larger role in the success of firms in the face technical change than do network externalities.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
