Architectural Innovation free essay sample

Henderson and Clark are of the opinion that such innovations may threaten established organizations – It destroys the usefulness of a firm’s architectural knowledge but preserves the usefulness of its knowledge about the product’s components. One of the core ideas proposed is that once a dominant design has emerged, the architectural knowledge of the product becomes ingrained in the organizational knowledge and information processing structures as firms strive to focus on refining the process rather than searching for new linkages between components. Thus in the event of an architectural innovation, critical information may be screened out, and solutions overlooked because of the firm’s resistance to change. Consequently, firms may find it difficult to react and regain market leadership thereby losing its competitive edge. Empirical evidence photolithographic alignment equipment industry has shown that is indeed the case. In all four episodes of architectural innovation in the industry, the market leader failed to respond effectively to new architectural innovations due to its preoccupation with the knowledge it was equipped with of the existing obsolete architecture. We will write a custom essay sample on Architectural Innovation or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This paper is based on empirical data from both semi-structured interviews, and journals and reports. Such materials are based on the opinion of an individual or group, whose vested interests may undermine their credibility and objectivity. The semi-structured nature of the interviews and varying number and/or rank of the members of each product-development team interviewed point towards an uncontrolled sample. Given the constraints of the available data set and the length of the research period however, the authors did a good job in reconciling possible differences by using the secondary data to corroborate and supplement the primary sources, thus portraying a fairly accurate picture of the industry’s evolution. This paper illustrated the concept of architectural innovation presenting established organizations with threats that could significantly impact them through an empirical study of a single industry. The effects of innovation on this industry could perhaps be extrapolated to other industries. Further research applied to other industries, as recommended by the authors, would widen the scope of the sample and eliminate any possible biases or industry-specific aberration and help develop a more comprehensive understanding of the impacts of innovation on industries in general. In a knowledge-based economy, horizontal and vertical transfer of knowledge can be said to be a common feature. This may be attributed to the recent spate of mergers and acquisitions, a highly mobile workforce, and the increased interdependency between firms and industries. It might thus be timely for future research to focus on the impact of innovation in such a climate, vastly different from that in the 1980s. The paper discussed the why and how of established firms losing their competitive edge; while new firms gain a foothold due to their flexibility and ability to exploit new architectural innovations despite their limited competencies. It would only appropriate then, to research on the possible modes of action different firms should take. The paper shed some light on how established, threatened firms should respond to an innovation with significant competitive implications that could make or break their existing business, but none for new firm, which was not the main focus of the paper. Considering the advantages new firms have in entering the market, additional research could be done on the risks of entrance, given the unpredictability of the marketplace as seen in the dot com bubble, and the danger of staying away from business opportunities as per Kodak from digital cameras. The arguments in this paper are strongly supported by evidence within the set scope of the photolithographic alignment equipment industry. The nature of the data itself was subjective, but it was corroborated with other sources, thus rendering it reliable. In all, this paper is one of a high standard with well-documented evidence and credible arguments put forth in a comprehensible way that prompts the reader to ruminate upon the wider implications of the thesis.