Technology Integration: Making Critical Choices in a Dynamic World (Management of Innovation and Change) (Hardcover)

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Key Phrases: technology integration capability, technology integration process, technological yield, Silicon Graphics, Von Hippel, Harvard Business School (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

The premise of this book is simple: In a rapidly changing environment, traditional R & D is doomed. The alternative is technology integration, not to replace R & D but to "leverage both capabilities by managing their interaction." The best way to achieve that is to design a process: create teams with basic knowledge, developmental ability and implementation experience; make sure they receive input from end users and marketing; allow them to iterate and experiment often using that input; and make sure they expect change.

Iansiti's background--he holds a doctorate in solid-state physics and is on the faculty at Harvard Business School--informs this unusual book. As a research monograph and a management primer, it can be read by disparate audiences.

On the research side, it summarizes Iansiti's six-year study of more than 100 R & D projects in the United States, Europe and Japan in four areas: mainframes, semiconductors, workstations and Internet software. He explains the fieldwork, performance and outcome measures used to evaluate the effectiveness of each project.

On the management side, companies that emphasize process over product are generally more successful than those that do not. The names that emerge from Iansiti's analysis are not surprising: Intel, IBM, Microsoft, Netscape, Yahoo. But this list arises from an independent assessment tool.

Is his methodology capable of "predicting" corporate behavior? There is a good chance. -- Upside, Stephen E. DeLong

Product Description

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.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 249 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Business Press (November 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0875847870
• ISBN-13: 978-0875847870
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,214,295 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great book for people working in high-tech, October 9, 1998

By A Customer

This book was handed to me by the president of our company about five months ago, with the instructions, "Read this. I think it will change the way we build software." Turns out he was right.

The basic tenet of this book is that, in a rapidly changing and uncertain environment, companies must delay basic technology decisions as long as possible in order to best understand the context in which their product will be used. Changes in context can (i.e., new technologies, changing market requirements, competitive products) can take a product with killer potential and turn it into a market flop within weeks. This applies to manufacturing and system design as well as my industry, software, and was something that we ourselves had experienced.

Iansiti's writing style is fairly dry, and the exhaustive statistical analysis of his research can be, well, exhausting. I found myself skimming the middle of almost every chapter while he proved his points, so I could get to the good stuff: the case studies. Iansiti had access to Microsoft, Netscape, and Silicon Graphics, among other notable names, and his studies of successful and unsuccessful approaches to technology integration vividly illustrated the effect that a flexible decision-making process can have on a company's success, both in individual projects and in the market as a whole.

I used the basic principles Iansiti put forth and the case studies that he used to support them as a basis for redesigning my company's entire development process. We now have reduced the time-to-market for new features from over six months to less than two, and we are finding that our clients are happier and our products are seeing more success in the market as a result.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is scrambling to keep up with today's rapidly changing high-tech environment. It will make you take a hard look at the way you do business.

4.0 out of 5 stars Its all about the Domain/Context, June 12, 2007

By	W Watson "Autodidact" (Kyle, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This book is great at covering a number of topics:

1) An overview of the current state of Research and Development and how it works
2) Backing up what it says about R&D with interviews into some of the big players in the IT industry
3) Giving a functional solution to how you should integrate teams and efforts

I would say my favorite take away from this book is the separation of knowledge into two types: Domain and Context. I think the book should have elaborated more on this subject.

For other readers who have read The Keystone Advantage, this book is written in different style. There are numerous references to regression analysis and altogether has a research feel to it.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good. Concepts on integration are compelling., June 11, 1999

By	L. Milone "skykeys" (Wallingford, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book highlights several key concepts on successful and unsuccessful approaches to integrating product features in the high tech arena. Despite the fact that some of the statistical analysis was over my head, I found the book readable and insightful. The depth of research is impressive. I recommend this book to anyone in the software or hardware industry.