Organizational capabilities and technology acquisition: Why firms know less than they buy

Industrial and Corporate Change

Volumn 16, Issue 3, 2007, Pages 317-346

  Flowers, Stephen ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

HIGH TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY; INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY; INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT; INNOVATION; ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE;

EID: 34447563643     PISSN: 09606491     EISSN: 14643650     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/icc/dtm011     Document Type: Article

References (67)

1. Adner, R. (2002), 'When are technologies disruptive? a demand-based view of the emergence of competition,' Strategic Management Journal, 23, 667-688.
2. Adner, R. and D. Levinthal (2001), 'Demand heterogeneity and technology evolution: Implications for product and process innovation,' Management Science, 47(5), 611-628.
3. Ahmadjian, C. and J. R. Lincoln (2001), 'Keiretsu, governance and learning: Case studies in change from the Japanese automotive Industry,' Organization Science, 12(6), 683-701.
4. Alvesson, M. and M. Johansson (2002), 'Professionalism and politics in management consultancy work,' in C. Clark and R. Fincham (eds), Critical Consulting; New Perspectives on the Management Advice Industry Blackwell: Oxford.
5. Alvesson, M. and K. Skoldberg (2000), Towards a Reflexive Methodology Sage: London.
6. Anderson, E. and G. Parker (2002), 'The effect of learning on the make/ buy decision,' Production and Operation Management, 11(3), 313-339.
7. Becker, M. and F. Zirpoli (2003), 'Organizing new product development: knowledge hollowing-out and knowledge integration - the FIAT Auto case,' International Journal of Operation and Production Management, 23(9), 1033-1061.
8. Bloomfield, B. P. and T. Vurdubakis (2002), 'The Vision Thing: Constructing Technology and the Future in Management Advice,' in T. Clark and R. Fincham (eds), Critical Consulting: New Perspectives on the Management Consulting Industry. Blackwell: Oxford.
9. Brusoni, S., A. Prencipe and K. Pavitt (2001), 'Knowledge Specialisation, Organisational Coupling, and the Boundaries of the Firm: Why Do Firms Know More Than They Make?,' Administrative Science Quarterly, 45, 597-621.
10. Clark, K. and T. Fujimoto (1991), Product Development Performance: Strategy, Organization and Management in the World Auto Industry. Harvard Business School Press: Boston, MA.
11. Cohen, W. M. and D. A. Levinthal (1990), 'Absorptive Capacity: A New Perspective on Learning and Innovation,' Administrative Science Quarterly, 35, 128-152.
12. Coombs, R., M. Harvey and B. S. Tether (2003), 'Analysing Distributed Processes of Provision and Innovation,' Industrial and Corporate Change, 12(5), 1051-1081.
13. Corcoran, J. and F. McLean (1998), 'The Selection of Management Consultants: How Are Governments Dealing With This Difficult Decision? An Exploratory Study,' International Journal of Public Sector Management, 11(1), 37-54.
14. Creplet, F., O. Dupouet, F. Kern, B. Mehmanpazir and F. Munier (2001), 'Consultants and Experts in Management Consulting Firms,' Research Policy, 30, 1517-1535.
15. Cyert, R. M., H. A. Simon and D. B. Trow (1956), 'Observation of a Business Decision', Journal of Business, 29, 237-248.
16. Davies, A. (2003), 'Integrated Solutions: The Changing Business of Systems Integration,' in A. Prencipe, A. Davies and M. Hobday (eds), The Business of Systems Integration. Oxford University Press.
17. Davies, A., T. Brady, P. Tang, M. Hobday, H. Rush and D. Gann (2003), Delivering Integrated Solutions. mimeo: Brighton, SPRU, p. 35.
18. Davies, A. and M. Hobday (2005), The Business of Projects. Cambridge University Press.
19. Dawes, P. L., P. G. Patterson and D. F. Midgley (1997), 'Involvement of Technical Consultants in High Technology Business Markets,' Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 12(2), 83-102.
20. Dyer, G. W. and A. L. Wilkins (1991), 'Better Stories, not Better Constructs, to Generate Better Theory: A Rejoinder to Eisenhardt,' Academy of Mangement Journal, 16, 613-619.
21. Earl, M. J. (1996), 'The Risks of Outsourcing IT,' Sloan Management Review, Spring, 26-32.
22. Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989), 'Building Theories from case study research,' Academy of Management Review, 14, 532-550.
23. Fine, C. H. and D. E. Whitney (1996) 'Is the Make-Buy decision a core competence?' (Working paper No. 3875-96), Policy and Industrial Development. MIT Centre for Technology: Cambridge, MA, USA.
24. Fincham, R. (1999), 'The consultant-client relationship: Critical perspectives on the management of organizational change,' Journal of Management Studies, 36(3), 335-351.
25. Fincham, R., T. Clark, K. Handley and A. Sturdy (2004) 'Differentiation, differentiation, differentiation: Knowledge boundaries and narratives in management consultancy and the professional service firm,' paper presented at EURAM 2004, St Andrews, May.
26. Fleck, J. (1994), 'Learning by trying: The implementation of configural technology,' Research Policy, 23, 637-652.
27. Flowers, S. (2004), 'Contingent capabilities and the procurement of complex product systems', International Journal of Innovation Management, 8(1), 1-20.
28. Gadde, L. E. and H. Hakansson (2001), Supply Network Strategies. John Wiley & Sons: Chichester.
29. Gardiner, P. and R. Rothwell (1985), 'Tough Customers: Good Designs,' Design Studies, 6(1), 7-17.
30. Granstrand, O. and S. Sjolander (1990), 'Managing Innovation in Multi-Technology Corporations,' Research Policy, 19(1), 35-60.
31. Granstrand, O., P. Patel and K. Pavitt (1997), 'Multi-technology corporations: Why they have 'distributed' rather than 'distinctive core' competencies,' California Management Review, 39(4), 8-25.
32. Hamel, G. and C. K. Prahalad (1994), Competing For The Future. Harvard Business School Press: Boston, MA.
33. Hargadon, A. and R. I. Sutton (1997), 'Technology Brokering and Innovation in a Product Development Firm,' Administrative Science Quarterly, 42(4), 716-734.
34. Hislop, D. (2002), 'The client role in consultancy relations during the appropriation of technological innovations,' Research Policy, 31, 657-671.
35. Hobday, M. (1998), 'Product complexity, innovation and industrial organisation,' Research Policy, 26, 689-710.
36. Hobday, M. and H. Rush (1999), 'Technology management in complex product systems (CoPS) - Ten Questions Answered,' International Journal of Technology Management, 17(6), 618-638.
37. Hobday, M., A. Davies and A. Prencipe (2005), 'Systems integration: A core capability of the modern corporation,' Industrial and Corporate Change, 14(6), 1106-1143.
38. Langlois, R. N. (2003), 'The vanishing hand: The changing dynamics of industrial capitalism,' Industrial and Corporate Change, 12 2), 351-385.
39. Lincoln, J. R., C. L. Ahmadjian and E. Mason (1998), 'Organizational learning and purchase-supply realtions in Japan: Hitachi, matsushita and toyota compared,' California Management Review, 40(3), 241-264.
40. Loasby, B. J. (1998), 'The Organisation of Capabilities,' Journal of Economic Behaviour & Organization, 35, 139-160.
41. Micklethwait, J. and A. Woolridge (1996), The Witch Doctors. Heinemann: London.
42. Moriarty, R. T. and T. J. Kosnick (1989), 'High-tech marketing: concepts, continuity, and change,' Sloan Management Review, 30 7-17.
43. Norton, J. A. and F. M. Bass (1987), 'A diffusion theory model of adoption and substitution for successive generations of high-technology products,' Management Science, 33(9), 1069-1086.
44. O'Shea, J. and C. Madigan (1997), Dangerous Company: The Consulting Powerhouses and the Businesses they Save and Ruin. Times Business: London.
45. Patel, P. and K. Pavitt (1997), 'The technological competences of the world's largest firms: Complex and path-dependent, but not much variety,' Research Policy, 26, 141-156.
46. Pavitt, K. (1998), 'Technologies, products and organisation in the innovating firm: What Adam Smith tells us and Joseph schumpeter doesn't,' Industrial and Corporate Change, 7(3), 433-452.
47. Pavitt, K. (2003), 'Specialization and systems integration: Where manufacture and services still meet,' in A. Prencipe, A. Davies and M. Hobday (eds), The Business of Systems Integration. Oxford University Press: Oxford.
48. Prahalad, C. K. and G. Hamel (1990), 'The core competence of the corporation,' Harvard Business Review, 68(3), 79-92.
49. Prencipe, A. (1997), 'Technological competences and product's evolutionary dynamics: A case study from the aero-engine industry,' Research Policy, 25, 1261-1276.
50. Prencipe, A. (2000), 'Breadth and depth of technological capabilities in CoPS: The case of the aircraft engine control system,' Research Policy, 29, 895-911.
51. Quinn, J. B. (2000), 'Outsourcing innovation: The new engine of growth,' Sloan Management Review, 41, 13-28.
52. Roberston, P. L. and R. N. Langlois (1995), 'Innovation, Networks and Vertical Integration,' Research Policy, 24, 543-562.
53. Rosenberg, N. (1982), Inside the Black Box: Technology and Economics Cambridge University Press.
54. Rothwell, R., C. Freeman, P. Jervis, A. Horsley, A. B. Roberston and J. Townsend (1974), 'SAPPHO-updated; project SAPPHO phase II',' Research Policy, 3(3), 258-291.
55. Sahlin-Andersson, K. and L. Engwall (2002), 'The dynamics of management knowledge expansion,' in Sahlin-Andersson, Kerslin and Engwall, Lars (eds), The Expansion of Management Knowledge: Carriers, Flows, and Sources. Stanford Business Books, Stanford University Press: Stanford.
56. Sarvery, M. (1999), 'Knowledge management and competition in the consulting industry,' California Management Review, 41(2), 95-107.
57. Sturgeon, T. (2002), 'Modular production networks: A new american model of industrial production?,' Industrial and Corporate Change, 11 3), 451-496.
58. Takeishi, A. (2002), 'Knowledge partitioning in the interfirm division of labor: The case of automotive product development,' Organization Science, 13(3), 321-338.
59. Tayles, M. and C. Drury (2001), 'Moving from make/buy to strategic sourcing: The outsource decision process,' Long Range Planning, 34, 605-622.
60. Teece, D. J. (1986), 'Profiting from technological innovation,' Research Policy, 15(6), 285-305.
61. Thornke, S. and E. von Hippel (2002), 'Customers as innovators: A new way to create value,' Harvard Business Review, No.April, 5-11.
62. Venkatesan, R. (1992), 'Strategic sourcing: To make or not to make,' Harvard Business Review, 70(6), 98-107.
63. von Hippel, E. (1986), 'Lead users: A source of novel product concepts,' Management Science, 32(7), 791-805.
64. von Hippel, E. and R. Katz (2002), 'Shifting innovation to users via tootkits,' Management Science, 48(7), 821-833.
65. Webster, F. E. and Y. J. Wind (1972), Organizational Buying Behaviour Prentice-Hall Lac: Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
66. Weick, K. (1995), Sensemaking in Organizations. Sage Publications: London.
67. Yin, R. K. (1989), Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Sage Publications: London.