ch 3-- Types and Patterns of Innovation

technology trajectory

the path a technology takes through its lifetime. This path may refer to its rate of performance improvement, its rate of diffusion, or other change of interest

technology diffusion

the spread of a technology through a population

dominant design

a product design that is adopted by the majority of producers, typically creating a stable architecture on which the industry can focus its efforts

discontinuous technology

a technology that fulfills a similar market need by building on an entirely new knowledge base

competence-enhancing (-destroying) innovation

an innovation that builds on (renders obsolete) existing knowledge and skills. Whether an innovation is competence enhancing or competence destroying depends on whose perspective is being taken. An innovation can be competence enhancing to one firm, while competence destroying for another

architectural innovation

an innovation that changes the overall design of a system or the way its components interact with each other

radical innovation

an innovation that is very new and different from prior solutions

incremental innovation

an innovation that makes a relatively minor change from (or adjustment to) existing practices

component (or modular) innovation

an innovation to one or more components that does not significantly affect the overall configuration of the system