The author presents a compelling look at how innovation transforms industries, raising the fortunes of some firms while destroying others. The book draws on the rich history of innovation by inventors and entrepreneurs--ranging from the birth of typewriters to the emergence of personal computers, gas lamps to fluorescent lighting, George Eastman's amateur photography to electronic imaging--to develop a practical model for how innovation enters an industry, how mainstream firms typically respond, and how--over time--new and old players wrestle for dominance. Utterback asserts that existing organizations must consistently abandon past success and embrace innovation--even when it undermines their traditional strengths. He sets forth a strategy to do so, and identifies the responsibilities of managers to lead and focus that effort.
Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation offers a pioneering model for how innovation unsettles industries and firms, and features fascinating histories of new product developments and strategies for nurturing innovation. "The most valuable book I've read in years. . . . The analysis is brilliant."--Tom Peters. Available August 1996.
Utterback (management and engineering, MIT) has compiled an impressive volume, combining considerable research with case histories that chart the ebb and flow of assembled and nonassembled products through the American marketplace. Theory is used in conjunction with interesting descriptions of the history of such innovations as the typewriter, the light bulb, and plate glass to demonstrate the impact of innovation in such industries as word processing, automobiles, and super computers. Weaving together research and examples, Utterback persuasively argues that companies should not always sacrifice long-term research and development projects for the sake of immediate financial reward. He shows that overly conservative practices have often left giant companies on the outside looking in when new, radical innovations have made more traditional processes and products obsolete or irrelevant. This is an important study on the role innovation plays in manufacturing and technology. Recommended for academic and larger public library business collections.
Randy Abbott, Univ. of Evansville Libs., Ind.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
