Transfer an idea or technology from one industry to another.
Japanese firms are often better at this due to the ‘generalist’ nature of their employees “who move freely back and forth between divisions….(they are) able to transmit ideas rapidly between consumer and industrial products areas.”
Example: Sony developed CCDs (charge coupled devices) for home video cameras. They then put them into security cameras, videophones and doucment scanners.
Example: Matsushita migrated the CD player from the home to the car.
Example: Japanese robot makers transferred the technology to myriad robot types, including fire-fighters, underwater robots, and sushi-making robots.
Source: Tatsuno, S. (1990). Created in Japan: from imitators to world-class innovators.