Expanding

This chapter (“Expanding”) explores the stage in the R&D cycle when the innovation extends its market reach beyond the beachhead and enters into the mainstream. The discussion highlights the new types of competencies that need to be engaged to successfully expand its range and be accepted by mainstream original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). These competencies include the ability of top management to push and steer radical innovation, a technology itself that is capable of interconnecting and evolving with external systems, and the active participation of a champion connector who can arrange and nurture these external connections. Within this context, the chapter focuses on three principal expansion strategies, namely platforming, spanning, and complementing. Of the three, platforming poses the greatest risks for a company but also promises the greatest benefits. Case studies presented in the areas of polymers, wireless technology, and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) illustrate these points.