B202B_TMA01 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

B202B_TMA01 - Essay Example urther argue that it is the identification of the cycles of technology that eventually determines the type of innovation but at the same time the cycles the same are affected and influenced by the innovation employed by organizations, especially in high technology sensitive product markets. Technological discontinuities, according to Tushman et al. (1997), intervene with incremental innovations – which are oriented towards improving and continuously re-configurating technologies – and eventually result in a conflict and rivalry between already existing technologies and new emerging technologies. Tushman and O’Reilly (2002) explain that the technological cycles involve four phases; the technological ferment where the emergence of technology is feasible and competencies are developed, the emergence of the dominant design – which reflects the best practices and the innovations on the technology, the retention phase which refers to the era of incremental innovation and improvement of the existing technology takes place and finally the variation phase, where technological discontinuity emerges and the competencies and capabilities of organizations are either enhanced or destroyed. Great importance is attributed by Tushmann and Murmann (1997) to t he second and fourth phase of the technology cycles; the authors suggest that the emergence of innovation with the selection of the dominant design sets forth the mechanisms for proceeding from product innovation to process innovation. While the focal point after the technological ferment is the development of the product, the choice over the dominant design energizes the innovation at the process level and shifts the attention to the process oriented new designs (Tidd et al., 1999). Once the dominant design is set it gradually leads to the incremental innovation which predominantly focuses on improving the â€Å"standard product† (Tushman et al., 1997). The next phase that is critical for the innovation with regards to