Management of Innovation in Network Industries : The Mobile Internet in Japan and Europe

Mobile Internet services are a tremendous success in Japan, but fail to gain the acceptance of European customers. Which factors explain the Japanese success story? What makes the difference: demand side factors rooted in a different culture or the fact that Japanese firms manage innovation process differently than their European counterparts? Drawing on a comparative case study Michael Haas analyses the consequences of differences in the innovation strategies of Japanese and European telecommunication firms. He focuses on the following questions: Which are the implications of different approaches towards management of systemic innovations? Do differences matter and why do they matter? The author shows that Europeans can learn from the Japanese and gives advice for future approaches to developments in the European telecommunications industry. Motivation and Research Questions This work seeks to further our understanding on the management of innovations in network industries. Although the economics of network markets like telecommuni- tions, Internet, email, media, computer, and service operations in banking, legal and airline industries have become a major field of economic research; knowledge about how to manage innovation within these markets is less advanced et al. 2000: 793; 2003: 198). The goods and services of these industries regularly manifest themselves as complex system products, which are composed of multiple mutually dependent components and often supplied by different industries 1998: 691; TIDD 1995: 308). Innovation processes associated with complex systems products, therefore, display a systemic character and the issue of how to coordinate the diverse but nevertheless complementary inputs poses a major challenge for innovation management. The issue of how to organise complex innovation projects, however, is still open for debate: A broad range of organisational forms--e. g, vertical integration and TEECE (1996: 68), TEECE (1996: 205), and (2001: 227); decentralised networks--BRESNAHAN and (1999: 13-14); (1999: 162) and (1992: 310); proje- organisationsmHOBDAV (2000: 892) has not only been theoretically derived, but is reported as well in practical use. Front Matter....Pages i-xiv Introduction....Pages 1-12 Innovation in Network Industries: A General Introduction and Analytical Framework....Pages 13-55 The Innovational Challenges of Mobile Internet Services:Empirical Evidence and Theoretical Reflections....Pages 57-115 Organisation of Technical Development and Market Creation in Japan and Europe 2006....Pages 117-161 Market Introduction of Mobile Internet Services: Innovative Performance in Japan and Europe....Pages 163-202 Concluding Analysis: The Causal Links between Team Organisation, Team Behaviour and Team Performance....Pages 203-226 Key Findings, Implications, and Conclusions....Pages 227-236 Back Matter....Pages 237-266 Drawing on a comparative case study Michael Haas analyses the consequences of the differences in the innovation strategies of Japanese and European telecommunication firms. He focuses on the following questions: Which are the implications of different approaches towards management of systemic innovations? Do differences matter and why do they matter?