Arms and Innovation: Entrepreneurship and Alliances in the Twenty-First Century Defense Industry [Hardcover]

James Hasik (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2008

With many of the most important new military systems of the past decade produced by small firms that won competitive government contracts, defense-industry consultant James Hasik argues in Arms and Innovation that small firms have a number of advantages relative to their bigger competitors. Such firms are marked by an entrepreneurial spirit and fewer bureaucratic obstacles, and thus can both be more responsive to changes in the environment and more strategic in their planning. This is demonstrated, Hasik shows, by such innovation in military technologies as those that protect troops from roadside bombs in Iraq and the Predator drones that fly over active war zones and that are crucial to our new war on terror.
            For all their advantages, small firms also face significant challenges in access to capital and customers. To overcome such problems, they can form alliances either with each other or with larger companies. Hasik traces the trade-offs of such alliances and provides crucial insight into their promises and pitfalls.
            This ground-breaking study is a significant contribution to understanding both entrepreneurship and alliances, two crucial factors in business generally. It will be of interest to readers in the defense sector as well as the wider business community.

 

 

(20080501)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Arms and Innovation is an important and novel contribution to the literature on how and why innovation in weapons systems takes place and the respective roles of larger and smaller firms. This is an especially important issue at a time when the Pentagon and industry focus is on military transformation.”—Robert L. Pfaltzgraff, Jr., Fletcher School, Tufts University
 
 
 
 

(Robert L. Pfaltzgraff, Jr. )

“This is a must read for anyone with an interest in innovation in military technologies. Well researched and engagingly written, Hasik’s focus on the role of small firms in the arms innovation process will be of interest to policy makers, academics and analysts in Europe as well as the United States.”—Andrew James, Manchester Business School
 
 
 
 

(Andrew James )

“Defense technology innovation and the evolution of the defense-industrial base is a critical issue as the United States continues to adapt its military for the security challenges of the 21st century. Arms and Innovation examines contemporary case studies and provides very useful insights into the dynamics driving new weapons technology development.”—Pierre Chao, Center for Strategic and International Studies

 

 

(Pierre Chao )

About the Author

James Hasik is a consultant to the aerospace and arms industries. He is the author of The Precision Revolution and has been an expert commentator on international security topics for CNN, the Boston Globe, CBS Radio, and Australian National Radio, among others.

 

 

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (September 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226318869
• ISBN-13: 978-0226318868
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #401,785 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A recommended book, October 18, 2008

By 

Kemal Burak Codur (Ankara, Turkey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Arms and Innovation: Entrepreneurship and Alliances in the Twenty-First Century Defense Industry (Hardcover)

Although it is relatively easier to find books or journal articles about innovation in other sectors, publications about defense industry are produced much less frequently. For this reason this book is among major sources of information that one can find.

The book is about small businesses, but in its last chapter it also includes information applicable to larger enterprises and governments. The main points of emphasis are narrated over 6 case studies. Most of the the case studies are about very recent defense projects, like mine resistant vehicles and unmanned vehicles.

Chapter 1 introduces and discusses the main points of emphasis. Each following chapter describes a case study. Last chapter reviews and concludes the main points of emphasis. The case study chapters are easy to read, since they include story of the defense projects. I personally enjoyed reading these chapters. First and last chapters are more concentrated with direct results, thus reading them needs more care.

All case studies are from USA. The writer provides detailed information about each project. Some of the information comes from people involved in the projects, so most probably even people familiar with these projects will find the details interesting.

The writer provides around 50 to 100 footnotes for each chapter. Actually the foot notes consume almost a quarter of the total page count of the book. Researchers will find these footnotes very valuable, as they direct the reader to the sources containing more detailed information about the subject in consideration.

Although the book could contain deeper discussions, the book would be harder to read in that case. I strongly recommend the book to people working in defense industry, government and military officers and all other readers interested in innovation.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great defense industry strategy book, November 13, 2011

By 

Matthew - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Arms and Innovation: Entrepreneurship and Alliances in the Twenty-First Century Defense Industry (Hardcover)

As I finish my MBA and looking to go back into the defense industry after a two year hiatus. I found this book thoroughly helpful in understanding business strategy, and how small defense industry businesses position themselves among the larger giants such as the Lockheed Martins and Northrups. It offers a high level overview of how the industry works in terms of contracts.

I completely agree with one of the other poster that due to the nature of the industry it's really hard to find books in discussing this type of subject matter and would recommend this book to anyone in the industry who wants to understand the industry from a higher level.