Technology Integration: Making Critical Choices in a Dynamic World (The management of innovation & change) Book

How did Microsoft decide which technologies to use when it created Windows 95? According to this groundbreaking new book, technology integration--the process of choosing among a rich palette of technologies in order to make a product work seamlessly and reliably--is a critical element in launching successful new products.

The result of a six-year study of more than fifty companies--including major players like Intel, IBM, Microsoft, Netscape, Silicon Graphics, Sun Microsystems, and Toshiba--in the software and computer industries, this book vividly illustrates the scope and complexity of high-tech new product development and the challenges of translating the knowledge generated by research into real--and competitive--products. It takes readers through the process of technology integration at the managerial and strategic levels; reveals the significant evolution in the structure of research and development in the modern corporation; and uncovers some striking similarities in how both large, science- based, capital-intensive hardware manufacturers and smaller, leaner software firms develop technology integration capabilities.

Iansiti demonstrates convincingly that the ability to leverage new science and technology effectively is not due just to the quality of the work performed in the lab or to the ability to transfer and develop individual technologies. It is also inextricably linked to the ability of the firm to conceptualize how to use a multitude of emerging technological possibilities to define a product that makes business sense.

With these provocative findings, Technology Integration challenges the way traditional R&D organizations should work, as it provides a new and relevant framework for actively managing the space between the creation and the application of technology.