Nov 18, 2009
Unsatisfactory Innovations
Unsatisfactory Innovations (Section Three from Lundvall, 1985)
“Can we explain deviations from the, optimal rate, and direction of innovation by specific properties of user-producer relationships? Can we develop a set of policy recommendations based upon such an analysis?”
While ‘optimal’ might not be a relevant term when talking about innovations, it is possible to assess innovative performance in some way. This section examines four case studies of ‘unsatisfactory innovation’.
Dairy Processing
- Nature of unsatisfactory innovation: Overly capital intensive, inflexible and more highly automated compared with the needs of the users.
Clothing Industry
- Nature of unsatisfactory innovation: Introduction of innovations in areas such as electronics, lasers and chemistry is too slow.
Waste Water Treatment
- Nature of unsatisfactory innovation: Little or no interdisciplinary innovation.
Software Products
- Nature of unsatisfactory innovation: Systems and programs too centralized leading to passive usage and low adaption to local needs.
Take-away: Characteristics of user-producer relationships in unsatisfactory innovation
- Producer dominance: Lack of competency on the user side. Policy which increases user competence (through to final users) may be beneficial.
- Linkage Lack: Policy (such as in Japan) which helps to develop linkages and channels of information between users and producers will be of value.
- Producer dominated relationships were all present in the examples, but this may not be a characteristic of unsatisfactory innovation.
