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Identity And Strategy As A Duality: The Cases Of Ibm And Corning In The Commercialisation Of Fiber Optic Technology

Author

Listed:
  • LINDA TEGARDEN

    (Associate Professor Emerita of Management, Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech, United States)

  • YOLANDA SARASON

    (��Associate Professor Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management, College of Business, Colorado State University, United States)

  • ELLEN KRUPAR

    (��Associate Professor Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management, College of Business, Colorado State University, United States)

Abstract

There is a growing understanding of how incumbent firms successfully commercialise nascent technology. However, there is less understanding of why firms follow their disparate strategic trajectories. We draw upon insights in the organisational identity literature to investigate why IBM and Corning commercialised the fiber optic technology differently, given they were both technology-driven diversified corporations and initiated high investments in fiber optics when it was beginning to commercially emerge in communications. Our qualitative study investigates how and why that IBM’s customer-focused identity and Corning’s science-focused identity explain why they entered the fiber optic market along such distinct trajectories. We explore the relationship between identity and strategy as a duality, in that they cannot be understood as separate and distinct from each other but are as two sides of the same coin. We offer that understanding this relationship yields insights into why and how firms can follow different trajectories in the successful commercialising of nascent technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Linda Tegarden & Yolanda Sarason & Ellen Krupar, 2022. "Identity And Strategy As A Duality: The Cases Of Ibm And Corning In The Commercialisation Of Fiber Optic Technology," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 26(02), pages 1-25, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:ijimxx:v:26:y:2022:i:02:n:s1363919622500190
    DOI: 10.1142/S1363919622500190
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