Technological Niches Research Articles

Strategic niche management from a business perspective: taking cleaner vehicle technologies from prototype to series production

Strategic niche management has been outlined as a policy approach to assist development and diffusion of cleaner new technologies. Based on a case study describing the efforts of a leading actor in the heavy vehicle industry to develop and commercially introduce hybrid-electric vehicles, this paper discusses strategic niche management from the perspective of the manufacturing firm. In particular, the paper analyses experiences from extensive field tests executed in London, tests which involved a number of different manufacturers, hybrid systems and vehicles. The scale of this technological niche added confidence and credibility to the technology and helped opening up an important niche market, which was supported by an extensive subsidy scheme. The analysis shows how the field tests and the subsidies jointly functioned as bridging policies that facilitated an important step in the market formation process. The analysis further points at a critical tension between niches and the volume-oriented business of a major vehicle manufacturer, showing how investments in new technology need to be warranted in market trends and projections of future sales and production volumes to become accepted within a vehicle manufacturer's organization.

Modular exaptation: a missing link in the synthesis of artificial form

Exaptation, the cooption of existing technologies for emergent functions is an important mechanism for innovation. Exaptation may enable an existing technology to (a) construct a new technological niche, (b) enter into a preexisting niche, or (c) transform an internal component of an existing product by increasing its efficiency or extending its range of uses, without the creation of any new products. Therefore, this article explicitly introduces the concept of exaptation, with a brief review of relevant literature. We also consider literature on modularity in technical systems, focusing on functions and functional modules, to address why we need to build on current evolutionary theories of technological development to account for exaptation. We thereby derive a model of modular exaptation, which leads to a discussion of technological change, as a coupled interaction of modular exaptive and adaptive processes. Key implications and avenues for further research close the article.

Climbing quality ladders and the evolution of technology dynamics: rethinking the role of demand in technological change

The current paper analyses how the information gathering capabilities of consumers affect the patterns of technological innovation, establishing an explicit link among market demand, firms and the evolution of technology dynamics. We examine the effects that different decision theoretical driven demand structures may have on the incentives of firms to signal the existence of and introduce technologically superior products. We illustrate how the generation of technological niche markets depends on the ability of decision makers to reverse their information gathering processes and compare the goods observed in different markets before making a choice. In addition, we obtain equilibrium situations where the introduction of technologically superior products and subsequent generation of niche markets, i.e., climbing the technological quality ladder, is suboptimal for the signalling firm. Further, numerical simulations are introduced to illustrate the theoretical results obtained.

Recent Progress in Semiconductor Properties Engineering by Ultrasonication

This work presents review of the recent patents and applied researches in the field of ultrasonic processing of the semiconductor materials and devices. The ultrasound demonstrates selective and, simultaneously, complex character of the effect on semiconductors. In contrast to the thermal or light energy, uniformly absorbed over semiconductor volume, the acoustic wave energy is mainly absorbed by the crystal lattice defects. The peculiarities of this interaction results in practical applications of the ultrasonication of semiconductors for electronic properties design. It was shown that US processing has found technological niche as supporting operation during ion implantation process and growth of semiconductors. The use of an inhomogeneous stress and piezoelectric harmonic potential produced by surface acoustic waves in low dimensional heterostructures to improves the efficiency of available optoelectronic and nanoelectronic devices as well as create new ones. The phenomenon of acoustic cavitation that underlies at the basis of such technological processes as cleaning and sonochemical synthesis is discussed separately. Keywords: Acoustics cavitation, gettering effect, semiconductor devices, sonochemistry, ultrasound.

Incremental by Design? On the Role of Incumbents in Technology Niches – An Evolutionary Network Analysis

In this paper, we study the evolution of governance structures in technological niches. At the case of public funded research projects and the resulting cooperation networks related to smart grid and systems in Denmark, we raise the questions which actors over time inherit a central position—associated with high influence on the development of research trajectories—in the network. We are particularly interested in what role incumbent actors, connected to the old regime of fossil based energy production, play in shaping future technological trajectories. The protected space theoretically created by such public research funding offers firms an environment to experiment in joint learning activities on emerging technologies, shielded from the selection pressure on open markets, thereby facilitating socio-technological transitions. Generally, the engagement of large incumbent actors in the development of emerging technologies, particularly in joint research projects with entrepreneurial ventures, is positively perceived, as their resource endowment enables them to stem large projects and bring them all the way to the market.

Sustainability Trajectories of Asian and African Small and Large Enterprises

Research on sustainability has grown considerably over the past 25 years. Sustainability science research so far has revolved around four areas: biological research; geophysical research; technological research; and social research, with the last two being the foci of this special edition. The technological research niche focuses on the design of devices and systems to produce more social goods with less environmental harm, whereas social research is interested in how human institutions, economics systems and beliefs shape the interactions between societies and the environment (Kates, 2000). Most of the present efforts in these areas concentrate on multinational enterprises and large organizations, especially those of Western origin. According to Ndubisi (2008), this trend has left a wide gap in our understanding of sustainability trajectories of firms in Asia and Africa. According to Porter and van der Linde (1995), on one side of the ecology–economy trade-off are the social benefits that arise from strict environmental standards, and on the other are industry’s private costs for prevention and clean-up – costs that lead to higher prices and reduced competitiveness. Many developing nations on Asian and African continents are viewed as non-competitive, which makes strict adherence to social environmental standards a remote goal, as it is capable of worsening the existing state of non-competitiveness. Nonetheless, the growing environmentfriendly initiatives by some Asian and African businesses are beginning to challenge this idea. As such, it is timely to report the outcomes of rigorous research on sustainability trajectories, namely the nature, models, initiatives, distinct patterns over time, variability and outcomes of technological and social sustainability by Asian and African enterprises. This special issue of the Journal of Asian and African Studies focuses on technological and social research with the aim of understanding how for-profit and not-for-profit small and mediumsize enterprises (SMEs) and their larger counterparts in Asia and Africa approach the subject of sustainability and contribute towards sustainability of the business and the environment. We solicited cutting-edge research articles in the form of theoretical, empirical or case study research focusing on sustainability of Asian and African SMEs based on the following (but not limited to) topics: Business Sustainability and Succession Planning; Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Governance; Economic Development; Environmental Marketing; Environmental Quality; Ethical Business Practices; Globalization and Environmental Implications; Green Entrepreneurial Orientation; Green Production and Supply Chain; Green Technology and Innovation; Internal Marketing and Productivity Sustainability; Management of Environmental Quality; Resources Acquisition and Utilization; Sustainability of Born Global Firms; Sustainable Performance and Competitive Advantage; and Strategy and Sustainability. 493600 JAS48410.1177/0021909613493600Journal of Asian and African StudiesNdubisi 2013

Biotechnologies for greenhouse gases (CH4, N2O, and CO2) abatement: state of the art and challenges

Today, methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions represent approximately 98% of the total greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory worldwide, and their share is expected to increase significantly in this twenty-first century. CO2 represents the most important GHG with approximately 77% of the total GHG emissions (considering its global warming potential) worldwide, while CH4 and N2O are emitted to a lesser extent (14 and 8%, respectively) but exhibit global warming potentials 23 and 298 times higher than that of CO2, respectively. Most members of the United Nations, based on the urgent need to maintain the global average temperature 2°C above preindustrial levels, have committed themselves to significantly reduce their GHG emissions. In this context, an active abatement of these emissions will help to achieve these target emission cuts without compromising industrial growth. Nowadays, there are sufficient empirical evidence to support that biological technologies can become, if properly tailored, a low-cost and environmentally friendly alternative to physical/chemical methods for the abatement of GHGs. This study constitutes a state-of-the-art review of the microbiology (biochemistry, kinetics, and waste-to-value processes) and bioreactor technology of CH4, N2O, and CO2 abatement. The potential and limitations of biological GHG degradation processes are critically discussed, and the current knowledge gaps and technology niches in the field are identified.

Anchoring of innovations: Assessing Dutch efforts to harvest energy from glasshouses

In the multi-level perspective (MLP), two key levels are socio-technical regimes and technological niches. The linking processes between these levels, however, are not well understood. We use the concept of anchoring as a starting point towards a theory of linking and distinguish three forms: technological, network and institutional anchoring. Our case study concerns attempts to reduce energy consumption in the Dutch glasshouse horticulture sector, consisting of a variety of alternative energy approaches. Distinguishing the three forms of anchoring appears to be useful for studying and understanding the interactions between novelty, niche and regime. The study reveals that ‘hybrid actors’ and ‘hybrid forums’ play a crucial role in bringing about various forms of anchoring. These findings are not only of analytical interest, but also relevant for practitioners who desire to induce system innovation to contribute to sustainability.

Does X Lead Me to Infer Y? Distal and Proximate Analogies and the Initiation of Product Markets

A market is formed within a technological niche when consumers purchase products that have been offered for sale by producers. Hence, for price discovery to occur and for a market to form, producer...

Competition in a technological niche: the cars of the future

The notion of ‘niche’ has proved to be useful to account for the emergence of radical innovations. Most studies, however, deal with the development of single emerging technologies. In this paper we address the competition between multiple niche technologies. Within the niche of the ‘car of the future’ two options compete: the battery-electric and the hydrogen car. While both are shielded from regular market forces, they have to compete in terms of R&D funding, supportive regulation and infrastructure build-up. In our case study we trace the competition in terms of design rules and expectations and show how attention for both options has alternated in three phases, which follow the high hopes and subsequent disappointments of the different component technologies. Whereas there is room for simultaneously developed, multiple options at the local level, at the global level attention and expectations seem much more focused on either the one or the other.

Transition towards sustainable material innovation: evidence and evaluation of the Flemish case

In this article, we focus on testimonies on recent sustainable material innovations in 15 Flemish production firms. We look at evidence of transition towards sustainable material innovation, considering: (1) how material innovation can improve the sustainability of products and processes with respect to people, planet and profit and (2) what are stimulating and hindering factors met when adopting sustainable material innovation. Trends observed from assessing the sustainability features of the individual material innovation cases are presented in 3P evaluation grids. A meta-analysis of the testimonies considers drivers and barriers for sustainable material innovation on the level of technological niches, socio-technical regimes and socio-technical landscapes, referring to the multi-level perspective used in transition literature. It was found that the interplay between these levels has been key in all the assessed cases. Stimulated by the increasing scarcity and rising prices of raw materials, a growing eco-sensitivity among their customers, and the downright need for economic survival, production companies turn to look for more innovative ways of using materials in order to arrive at more sustainable products and production processes.

Technological innovation capabilities in the thin film transistor-liquid crystal display industries of Japan, Korea, and Taiwan

The study described herein uses US Patent and Trademark Office data to assess variations in technological innovation capabilities, and their influence on market performance, among leading TFT-LCD producers in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. The empirical results suggest that TFT-LCD producers in Korea and Taiwan built innovation capabilities by creating complementary knowledge for Japanese firms, whose technologies lead the way in the industry. The results also show that latecomers sought to expand production by selecting certain technological fields, but that they exploited these fields in different ways. Specifically, Korean conglomerates increased their scale of technology in order to improve their technological positions, while Taiwanese producers pursued innovations that strengthened their technological efficiency. While Japanese firms led the way in terms of both technology and market share during the 1990s, they then evolved to become merely technological leaders from 2000 onwards. However, Japanese firms have since renewed their business strategies to counter the aggressive market expansion of their competitors by strengthening the protection of their intellectual property rights through inter-keiretsu collaborations in technological niches, and by securing leadership in the market in high value-added key components in order to retain more of the profits from their own innovations. Four policy imperatives for both technology leading and latecomer countries regarding the development of sustainable industries associated with the industrial cycle and market dynamics are discussed.

Management Insights

Management Insights

Entry into new niches: the effects of firm age and the expansion of technological capabilities on innovative output and impact

AbstractWe provide evidence that young firms systematically differ from older firms in their innovative output when they enter ‘new to the firm’ technological niches. We analyze data from 128 biotechnology firms since their inception and track these firms over time. Our analyses reveal that the organizational age at which the firm branches into new technological niches significantly influences its innovative activity. We refine the focus of the extant literature by separately examining the effects of branching on the quantity of innovative output and the impact that this output has on the technology domain. Subsequent to branching into new niches, we find that older firms have a higher quantity of output than their younger counterparts, whereas young firms tend to outpace their older rivals with higher impact. We discuss the implications of these findings for the literature on dynamic capabilities and entrepreneurship. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Impact of Founders' Professional-Education Background on the Adoption of Open Science by For-Profit Biotechnology Firms

This paper investigates the effect of founders' professional-education background on the adoption of an open-science technology strategy, using a sample of 512 young biotechnology firms. After controlling for founders' prior work experience and other organizational and environmental factors, I find that firms with proportionally more Ph.D.-holding entrepreneurs on the founding team have a higher probability of adopting open science. In addition, founders' educational background can mitigate the constraint of organizational environments on strategy. A crowded technological niche provides a more challenging environment for firms to implement open science, due to higher scooping risks. The deterrent effect, however, of such a high-risk environment is smaller among firms founded by proportionally more Ph.D.-holding entrepreneurs. There is also some evidence of a stronger effect of founders' educational background on open science in an institutional environment in which open science has yet to become the industry norm. This finding is consistent with and complements the growing body of research that emphasizes the importance of entrepreneurial background in developing knowledge about new-venture strategy and structure. This paper was accepted by Olav Sorenson, organizations.

The Impact of Founders’ Professional Education Background on the Adoption of Open Science by For-Profit Biotechnology Firms

This paper investigates the effect of founders’ professional-education background on the adoption of an open-science technology strategy, using a sample of 512 young biotechnology firms. After controlling for founders’ prior work experience and other organizational and environmental factors, I find that firms with proportionally more Ph.D. - holding entrepreneurs on the founding team have a higher probability of adopting open science. In addition, founders’ educational background can mitigate the constraint of organizational environments on strategy. A crowded technological niche provides a more challenging environment for firms for implementing open science, due to higher scooping risks. The deterring effect, however, of such a high-risk environment is smaller among firms founded by proportionally more Ph.D. - holding entrepreneurs. There is also some evidence of a stronger effect of founders’ educational background on open science in an institutional environment in which open science has yet to become the industry norm. This finding is consistent with and complements the growing body of research that emphasizes the importance of entrepreneurial background in developing knowledge about new venture strategy and structure.

Public-private innovation: Mediating roles and ICT niches of industrial research institutes

Innovation processes involve diverse sets of organizations including universities, private firms, corporate research labs and public research institutes. Collaborative forms of knowledge production and innovative activity enable actors to reduce risk, specialize, and take advantage of knowledge internal and external to the own organization. This paper discusses interactions and collaborations between public and private sector innovation. This is done through an analysis of semi-public research institutes in Sweden and their roles as arenas for R&D processes involving industry, university and government in terms of funding, research and public—private innovation. Particular attention is paid to technological niches of research institutes and utilization of research findings from collaborative R&D. The results show that institutes occupy specific niches which influence their ways of transferring knowledge. It is argued that diversity among R&D performers as well as funding opportunities is paramount for innovation systems to thrive.

Four Essays on the Formation and Evolution of U.S. Biotechnology Companies - Executive Summary

This dissertation examines entrepreneurial activities in the U.S. biotechnology industry. I combine (i) data on founders, scientific advisors and research executives of all U.S. biotechnology firms that have filed IPO prospectuses between 1972 and 2002, and (ii) a random matched sample of 5,000 life scientists drawn from the underlying population, to conduct a large-scale, quantitative analysis of university scientists' entrepreneurial activities. The first essay investigates how propensity to start or advise a for-profit biotechnology company varies with the social and physical proximity to previous participants in commercial science. The second essay examines gender differences in scientists' participation in for-profit biotech ventures. The third essay analyzes the publication strategies of young biotech companies to assess how founders' professional orientation, firms' technological niches, and the influence of competitors jointly shapes firms' propensity to adopt the open science strategy. The fourth essay explores the diffusion of knowledge in science, especially in the context of the ever increasing exchanges between academia and industry during the past two decades.

Strategic niche management and sustainable innovation journeys: theory, findings, research agenda, and policy

This article discusses empirical findings and conceptual elaborations of the last 10 years in strategic niche management research (SNM). The SNM approach suggests that sustainable innovation journeys can be facilitated by creating technological niches, i.e. protected spaces that allow the experimentation with the co-evolution of technology, user practices, and regulatory structures. The assumption was that if such niches were constructed appropriately, they would act as building blocks for broader societal changes towards sustainable development. The article shows how concepts and ideas have evolved over time and new complexities were introduced. Research focused on the role of various niche-internal processes such as learning, networking, visioning and the relationship between local projects and global rule sets that guide actor behaviour. The empirical findings showed that the analysis of these niche-internal dimensions needed to be complemented with attention to niche external processes. In this respect, the multi-level perspective proved useful for contextualising SNM. This contextualisation led to modifications in claims about the dynamics of sustainable innovation journeys. Niches are to be perceived as crucial for bringing about regime shifts, but they cannot do this on their own. Linkages with ongoing external processes are also important. Although substantial insights have been gained, the SNM approach is still an unfinished research programme. We identify various promising research directions, as well as policy implications.

Industrial ecosystems as technological niches

In this paper we consider industrial ecology as a novel and distinct state in the evolution of production systems trajectory. More specifically, adopting an evolutionary institutionalist's perspective at the socio-technical system level of analysis, we discuss the transition towards an industrial ecology-inspired industrial production system through the governance approach of strategic niche management (SNM). Towards this end, the paper first develops industrial ecology as a novel state of the industrial production socio-technical system paying particular attention at its technological component, then it discusses in detail the transition of this system through SNM, and examines whether existing implementations of the industrial ecology (industrial ecosystems and eco-industrial parks) are efforts embracing this philosophy and transition procedures. We conclude by stressing the importance of adopting the technology policy and strategic niche management perspectives in eco-industrial projects and we provide insights for accomplishing it in a more effective manner.