Methods for Innovation
The Varying Role of Industrial Research in DSM's Nitrogen Fertilizer Business, 1925-1970
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4021792 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Arjan Van Rooij (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2007 |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 550-574 |
| Publication date | 2007-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Technology and Culture (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0040-165X • E-ISSN: 1097-3729 |
| Publisher | Project MUSE (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1353/tech.2007.0139 |
| OpenAlex | W2119479463 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 6 |
In this article the varying methods firms use to innovate are central in an attempt to balance our understanding of innovation processes. Often, research-driven innovation attracts the most attention, obscuring the contributions of other company functions and of external technology. In this article, three key parameters are used to distinguish methods of innovation: scope (of the technological work undertaken), localization (who was involved in the firm) and source of technology (whether internal or external). Firms choose a particular method under the influence of its broader innovation strategy. This framework is used to analyze innovation processes in the fertilizer business of the Dutch chemical company DSM in the period between 1925 and 1970. The example of DSM shows that firms have used different methods of innovation simultaneously, even in high-tech and competitive industries, and well into the twentieth century. To focus only on R&D gives a one-sided view of innovation
Agronomy · Biology · Business · Fertilizer · Industrial organization · Nitrogen · Nitrogen fertilizer · American Environmental and Regional History · Chemistry · Economic Growth and Productivity · Research, Science, and Academia
What Engineers Know and How They Know It
Inter-firm R&D partnerships
Sectoral patterns of technical change
Engineering Contractors in the Chemical Industry. The Development of Ammonia Processes, 1910–1940
The relationship between intrafirm and contractual forms of industrial research in American manufacturing, 1900–1940
The Industrialization of Invention
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |