AC951 CW2 Example Case Study.docx

1、AC951 CW2 Example Case StudyDEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING, FINANCE AND MANAGEMENT AC 951: Research Methods and Methodologies in Accounting and Management Lecturers: Dr. Yuval Millo & Dr. Ceri Watkins Session 2006/7 Autumn Term COURSEWORK II Research design for architectural innovations that appear in the

2、 display technology product industry The importance of the innovation in social sciences goes back to the first industrial revolution. Many scholars called attention to technological advance claiming that it has a major role in driving the economic growth and shaping the evolution of organizations (

3、Tushman and Nelson, 1990). Innovation can occur in different levels of social life. For the purpose of this study, I look at innovation at the organizational level. Damanpour and Evan (1984) describe innovation as adaptation of an idea or behaviour that is new to the organization. This adaptation ca

4、n include the generation, development, and implementation of new ideas and behaviours (Damanpour, 1996). Even at an organizational level, there can be several dimensions of innovation. Damapour (1996) describes these dimensions such as administrative, technical, product, and process. In this study,

5、I will focus on a technical innovation in a new product development. Of course, there are not only different dimensions of innovation but also different types of innovation. Betz (2003: 73) describes radical innovations as basic technological innovation that creates a new functionality. If innovatio

6、n is radical, the uncertainty created by the new knowledge is high, and the eagerness of established firms to innovate in the radical innovation will be less likely then the entrants (Reinganum, 1983; Henderson, 1993). Alternatively, incremental innovation is a minor change that improves performance

7、, features, or quality of the established products and strengthens the competitive advantage of the established firms (Tushman and Anderson, 1986; Henderson and Clark, 1990). These two contradicting perspectives on innovation perceive the phenomena as a property of firms. Henderson and Clark (1990)

8、underline the importance of distinction between radical and incremental innovation. However, they also suggest that it is incomplete and the subject of innovation should be examined in greater depth. For example, in 1970s Xerox was the pioneer of the plain paper copiers (Clark 1987, cited in Henders

9、on and Clark, 1990). However, it lost half of its market share when competitors introduced smaller copiers to the market (ibid). Even though Xerox invented the core technologies and had enormous experience in the industry, it could not compete with competitors. Henderson and Clark (1990) suggest tha

10、t in some situations (like Xerox example), radical and incremental innovation perspectives are unable to provide reasons why established firms cant manage the innovation. More over, Henderson and Clark (1990) propose a framework called architectural innovation, which alters the linkages between the

11、components while keeping the core concepts unchanged. As Arrow (1962, cited in Henderson, 1993) suggests, when a new dominant design emerges for an industry, the established firms tend to create “communication channels” and “information filters” in order to increase the efficiency of the firm. These

12、 channels and filters evolve in such a way that they reinforce the architectural knowledge created by dominant design (Henderson and Clark, 1990). Henderson and Clark (1990) claims that these filters and channels can be hazardous for the established firms since they might build barriers to architect

13、ural innovation. The purpose of my study is to investigate the relevance of the framework created by Henderson and Clark to display technology products manufacturers (DTPMs). It is intended to focus on the process of transition from CRT (cathode ray tube) to FPD (flat panel display) with respect to

14、notions introduced in rhetoric of architectural innovation. Henderson and Clark (1990: 12) state that: “architectural innovation is often triggered by a change in a component . that creates new interactions.” In my research, I will be investigating the channels and filters of a firm, which was succe

15、ssful in implementing the architectural innovation. This will be important for firms in display technology products industry since a new wave of architectural innovation is on horizon, which is the organic and polymer light emitting diode displays (JISC, accessed 5th December 2006). Ontology and Epi

16、stemology In my opinion, a social scientist can not purely believe in objectivism or subjectivism, since the properties of the research will be the most significant factor that will define the epistemological philosophy of the research. Thus, I would identify myself as a pragmatist researcher. For p

17、ragmatism, the most important determinant of the research epistemology is the research question and different approaches can be successful for particular question (Saunders et al., 2007). Therefore, a deeper understanding is necessary when I talk about channels and filters of a firm and their relati

18、onship with the architectural innovation. After the emergence of a radical innovation, firms start to create a dominant design. The architecture of the product becomes stable and more efforts are used to increase the quality and the performance of the product incremental innovation(Henderson and Cla

19、rk 1990). To increase the efficiency of the incremental innovation, firms tend to create different sub-units where different components of the product are investigated (ibid). A communication channel is defined as the knowledge transformation among different sub-units (ibid). These channels can be f

20、ormal (such as reporting) or informal (i.e. asking to someone about something). Filters are created (by individuals) to identify which information is critical in the information stream (Arrow, 1974: 54). Henderson and Clark (1990) suggest that filters and channels embody architectural knowledge and

21、in time, they become implicit. They also claim that the emergence of architectural innovation can be screened out because of channels and filters (ibid). In this research, my intension is to investigate the channels and filters of a specific firm and understand the firms structure, which made possib

22、le to overcome the problems crated by architectural innovation. As can be understood form purpose of my research, I am unlikely to use a positivist epistemology for this research. First, one of the key features of positivist approach is the generalizability of the findings (Easterby-Smith et al., 20

23、02). Since I am investigating a specific firm for a specific event, it is not realistic to assume that the findings can be used as a future guideline for different firms. In addition, I am trying to understand individuals (and groups) problem solving techniques and this can be difficult to oversimpl

24、ify. Second, the positivist approach suggests that concepts must be generalized in way that facts can be measured quantitatively (Easterby-Smith et al., 2002). My intension is to understand how different sub-units interact with each other to solve a problem, and a quantitative method will show littl

25、e insight for my question. Therefore, I am intended to use qualitative measures. I believe the knowledge gained from this research will be very subjective and contextual since I am looking at the reflections of groups or individuals to specific social phenomena. It must be understood that the “reali

26、ty” that is investigated is biased according to different perspectives. First, there is the biasness of individuals that will be subject to the research and second, there is the biasness of researcher that will analyze the individuals, groups and the situation. As social actors in the world, people

27、have behaviors and experiences. Behaviors are what we get from the world and experiences are what we make sense of the world based on our behaviors. When the focal point of the research is the individuals and their interactions with social environment, researcher must look at individuals experiences

28、, which will be inevitably subjective. Also, the interactions between observer and participant will create experience on each other, because the nature of the research is very contextual. Finally, the biasness of researcher will be reflected to his or her findings since she will report the experienc

29、e that is gained from the interactions with participants. One can argue that the subjective characteristics of the research will decrease the validity and reliability of the findings. Nevertheless, it is essential to explore the subjective meanings. In order to understand the individuals actions one

30、 must understand the emotions that motivate the individual. Therefore, my epistemological stand for this research is closer to the interpretivism/social constructionism, which defines reality as a socially constructed phenomenon (Easterby-Smith et al., 2002). In addition, interpretivist approach ack

31、nowledges observer as a part of the sense making process (Robson, 2002). As the nature of my study, the research will be an exploratory study where I try to understand the existence of the architectural innovation in a firm and the usage of channels and filters in product development. As the researc

32、her, I do not intend to give any causal relationships between architectural innovation and firms abilities to manage it. My research will not explain relationships between two or more variables that are predefined before the data collection. Rather, critiques about relationships will follow the data

33、 collection. Hence, an inductive approach is necessary which gives a feel of what is going on and helps to understand the nature of the problem (Saunders et al., 2007). Here, I must underline that architectural innovation is used as a tool to identify specific problem sets. These problem sets will help me to understand architectural innovation