Engines of innovation : U.S. industrial research at the end of an era

A collection of papers which analyze the institutional context of research and innovation in US industry, providing a historical perspective. The book also explores opportunities for linking research and innovation with commercialization. Frontmatter (page N/A) Preface (page vii) Introduction: Technology's Vanishing Wellspring (Richard S. Rosenbloom and William J. Spencer, page 1) PART ONE The Institutional Context of Research and Innovation in Industry (page 11) 1. The Evolution of Industrial Research in the United States (David A. Hounshell, page 13) 2. The Roles of Universities in the Advance of Industrial Technology (Nathan Rosenberg and Richard R. Nelson, page 87) 3. Strategic Alliances and Industrial Research (David C. Mowery and David J. Teece, page 111) PART TWO Perspectives from Practice (page 131) 4. Research and Change Management in Xerox (Mark B. Myers, page 133) 5. Reinventing Research at IBM (John Armstrong, page 151) 6. The Future of Industrial R&D, or, Postcards from the Edge of the Abyss (Peter R. Bridenbaugh, page 155) 7. Some Personal Perspectives on Research in the Semiconductor Industry (Gordon E. Moore, page 165) PART THREE Reconceptualizing Research and Innovation (page 175) 8. Commericializing Technology: Imaginative Understanding of User Needs (Dorothy Leonard-Barton and John L. Doyle, page 177) 9. Rethinking the Role of Industrial Research (Mark B. Myers and Richard S. Rosenbloom, page 209) Conclusion: Shaping a New Era (Richard R. Nelson, Richard S. Rosenbloom, and William J. Spencer, page 229) References (page 241) Index (page 265) About the Contributors (page 275) Traditionally, industrial laboratories like AT&T's Bell Labs and the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center were wellsprings of powerful new technologies. Yet in the competitive environment of the 1980s and 1990s research activities have been downsized, redirected, and restructured within most of the firms that once were major sponsors of industrial research. In this book, top technical managers of Alcoa, IBM, Intel, and Xerox along with leading scholars of the history and economics of technological change discuss the consequences of this trend. They explore new ideas for linking research with commercial markets and identify the evolving roles for industry, government, and universities in shaping a new era in industrial research. Examines the impact of corporate downsizing on industrial research