1st Edition

Managing Technological Development

    In this book, the story of how IKEA and its paper producers struggled to solve the problem of creating environmentally friendly paper constitutes the foundation of a discussion of technological development. Through a detailed analysis of the case-study, the authors demonstrate the necessity of including social, technological and economical factors when dealing with such issues.
    Focusing on the interactive aspects of commercial and technological development, they examine how new solutions are developed and shaped in relation to the different companies and organizations involved. They investigate resources in terms of how they are related and built into other resources through historical and contemporary interaction processes. Their overall emphasis is on dealing with the issue of how different, closely and distantly related companies and organizations are affected when resources are developed.

    1. How to Cope with Development in a Developing World 2. Interaction and Resource Development 3. Managing Resources Merged into 'Basic' Technologies - How to Utilise and Develop a Facility and its Products 4. Managing a Greening Demand - Changes in the Image of a Technology 5. Initiating Change - the Development of a 'lead2 User' 6. Managing Change Through Interaction - the Advantage of Being Small 7. Managing Change Through Interaction - Taking Advantage of Being Big 8. Living with Change - Utilising Possibilities in Path Dependence 9. Living with Change - Handling Increased Variety Through 'Wait and See' 10. Living with Change - Through Moving Resources Characterised by heaviness and Variety 11. Empirical Experiences Concerning Interfaces between Resources 12. Interacting Resources Creating Friction

    Biography

    Håkan Håkansson is an internationally recognised researcher within the business-to-business field. He has published a number of books and articles within industrial marketing, purchasing and technological development, and is one of the founding members of IMP.
    Alexandra Walusewski is a researcher with a background in journalism. For more than two decades, she has been engaged in the study of technological and industrial development, and she works in both the IMP and STS research traditions.