Resolving Partial-Viewpoint Paradoxes of Innovation Strategies: Toward an Integrative Framework

Abstract

本文系統化分析1996 至2012 年間社會科學引用指標 (SSCI) 及谷歌學術 (Google Scholar) 資料庫文獻，從知識管理觀點提出一個創新與效率、環境確定與不確定及時間軸的三維架構，整合創新的創造、選擇與擴散相關文獻，從三維空間中看到解決創新策略矛盾的觀點。本研究貢獻包含：(1)解決因為不同研究者聚焦在不同特定二維平面所造成的矛盾，例如產業創新理論中供給面與需求面策略的矛盾，供給面策略主張產品發展早期追求產品創新效能而晚期追求成本效率 (Abernathy and Utterback, 1978)；需求面策略則是主張產品發展早期追求降低成本至顧客願意支付的價格，而晚期追求強化效能以穩定提升價格 (Adner and Levinthal, 2001)；(2) 提出實務中常用的創新產品性 (能) 價 (格) 比作為競爭策略指標並提供理論上合理的解釋；(3) 提供學習創新與技術管理的架構，促進知識發展，此動態三維整合架構可提供後續研究用來解決目前創新研究的相關矛盾。

This study follows a systematic literature review procedure of Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) and Google Scholar databases during 1996-2012. A three-dimensional framework is generated from a knowledge management perspective that integrates relevant studies of innovation creation, selection, and diffusion. The first dimension is innovation and efficiency; the second dimension is uncertain and certain environment; the third dimension is time. This study reviews the previous research concerning knowledge creating/diffusing mechanisms for innovation, autonomous strategic process, induced strategic process in the innovation strategy, the pattern of industrial innovation, and the S-curve in the diffusion of innovations. A method for resolving the current paradox resulting from researchers’ viewpoints of supply-side (e.g., Abernathy and Utterback, 1978) and demand-side strategies (e.g., Adner and Levinthal, 2001) in industrial innovation is offered. Namely, supply-side strategists pursue an innovative product’s performance in the early stage of product innovation process and cost efficiency in the late stage of the process. Contrarily, demand-side strategists advocate reducing product cost to ensure that customers are willing to pay for the product during the early stage of product innovation process; in the late stage of the process, strategists enhance product’s performance to ensure the product’s price stability. In addition, this study legitimates a functional product performance/cost ratio for competitive strategies in practice. Furthermore, this study encourages future studies to resolve innovation paradoxes from a dynamic three-dimensional perspective.