IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-00404187.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Creating Products in the Absence of Markets: A Robust Design Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Christophe Midler

    (CRG - Centre de recherche en gestion - X - École polytechnique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Philippe Silberzahn

    (CRG - Centre de recherche en gestion - X - École polytechnique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to examine how firms deal with a situation of true uncertainty about their potential markets and technologies. Specifically, we ask how firms can create products when the corresponding market does not exist. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based on a longitudinal study of a high-tech firm, combined with analysis of existing theory in Product Design and Entrepreneurship. Findings – Markets and products are usually a defining choice made early on by firms in their strategic process. Such a choice guides their development by providing a ‘stable concept' to which decisions can be related to. When markets do not exist yet, however, this approach is not effective: Early choice of products and markets limits firms' flexibility by constraining their ability and willingness to adapt, while fundamental new technical and market information is likely to emerge during the project that will prove the initial assumptions wrong. We show an alternative approach where products and markets actually result from a generic process of products and markets exploration driven by the firm. We suggest that this approach forms a robust design in that it allows the firm to deal with the uncertainty by simultaneously developing its products and exploring markets, while preserving the flexibility to adapt to the changing environment. Practical implications – The practical implication of this paper is to suggest an alternative approach to deliberate planning in high-tech ventures. With this approach, rather than markets and products, strategy defines a market and technology exploration process. Originality/value – The paper is original in three ways: 1) It links the product design and market exploration processes in high-tech firm development; 2) It is based on an in-depth longitudinal study; and 3) It results from an academic-practitioner collaborative work.

Suggested Citation

  • Christophe Midler & Philippe Silberzahn, 2008. "Creating Products in the Absence of Markets: A Robust Design Approach," Post-Print hal-00404187, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00404187
    DOI: 10.1108/17410380810853812
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-00404187
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-00404187/document
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1108/17410380810853812?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James G. March, 1991. "Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 71-87, February.
    2. Henry Mintzberg & James A. Waters, 1985. "Of strategies, deliberate and emergent," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(3), pages 257-272, July.
    3. David J. Collis, 1994. "Research Note: How Valuable are Organizational Capabilities?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(S1), pages 143-152, December.
    4. Mary Tripsas, 1997. "Unraveling The Process Of Creative Destruction: Complementary Assets And Incumbent Survival In The Typesetter Industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(S1), pages 119-142, July.
    5. Maidique, Modesto A. & Zirger, Billie Jo, 1985. "The new product learning cycle," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 14(6), pages 299-313, December.
    6. David J. Teece & Gary Pisano & Amy Shuen, 1997. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 509-533, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Armand Hatchuel & Pascal Le Masson & Benoit Weil & Marine Agogué & Akin Kazakçi & Sophie Hooge, 2016. "Multiple forms of applications and impacts of a design theory -ten years of industrial applications of C-K theory," Post-Print hal-01184426, HAL.
    2. Armand Hatchuel & Pascal Le Masson & Benoit Weil & Marine Agogué & Akin Kazakçi & Sophie Hooge, 2015. "Multiple forms of applications and impacts of a design theory -ten years of industrial applications of C-K theory," Post-Print hal-01200460, HAL.
    3. Thomas Gillier & Gérald Piat & Benoît Roussel & Patrick Truchot, 2009. "Portfolio Management Of Innovation Fields : Applying Ck Design Theory In Cross Industry Exploratory Partnership," Post-Print hal-00416790, HAL.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Philippe Silberzahn & Christophe Midler, 2007. "Creating Products in the Absence of Markets: A Robust Design Approach," Post-Print hal-00263305, HAL.
    2. Mary J. Benner, 2010. "Securities Analysts and Incumbent Response to Radical Technological Change: Evidence from Digital Photography and Internet Telephony," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(1), pages 42-62, February.
    3. Hazhir Rahmandad, 2012. "Impact of Growth Opportunities and Competition on Firm-Level Capability Development Trade-offs," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 138-154, February.
    4. Mehmet Ali Köseoglu & John A. Parnell & Melissa Yan Yee Yick, 2021. "Identifying influential studies and maturity level in intellectual structure of fields: evidence from strategic management," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(2), pages 1271-1309, February.
    5. Jan-Erik Vahlne & Jan Johanson, 2017. "From internationalization to evolution: The Uppsala model at 40 years," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(9), pages 1087-1102, December.
    6. Giovanni Gavetti, 2012. "PERSPECTIVE—Toward a Behavioral Theory of Strategy," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 267-285, February.
    7. Manuel Portugal Ferreira & Fernando Ribeiro Serra & Emerson Maccari, 2013. "When the innovator fails to capture rents from innovation," Working Papers 101, globADVANTAGE, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria.
    8. Natarajan Balasubramanian, 2011. "New Plant Venture Performance Differences Among Incumbent, Diversifying, and Entrepreneurial Firms: The Impact of Industry Learning Intensity," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 57(3), pages 549-565, March.
    9. Mait Rungi, 2012. "Influential Capabilities and Their Development in a Project Business: Results of an Estonian Survey," Research in Economics and Business: Central and Eastern Europe, Tallinn School of Economics and Business Administration, Tallinn University of Technology, vol. 4(2).
    10. Pinho, José Carlos & Prange, Christiane, 2016. "The effect of social networks and dynamic internationalization capabilities on international performance," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 391-403.
    11. One-Ki (Daniel) Lee & Vallabh Sambamurthy & Kai H. Lim & Kwok Kee Wei, 2015. "How Does IT Ambidexterity Impact Organizational Agility?," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 26(2), pages 398-417, June.
    12. Soluk, Jonas & Decker-Lange, Carolin & Hack, Andreas, 2023. "Small steps for the big hit: A dynamic capabilities perspective on business networks and non-disruptive digital technologies in SMEs," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    13. Pascal Le Masson & Armand Hatchuel & Mario Le Glatin & Benoit Weil, 2018. "Designing Decisions In The Unknown: Towards A Generative Decision Model For Management Science," Post-Print hal-01937103, HAL.
    14. Bing Bai & Byungjoon Yoo & Xiuquan Deng & Iljoo Kim & Dehua Gao, 2016. "Linking routines to the evolution of IT capability on agent-based modeling and simulation: a dynamic perspective," Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 184-211, June.
    15. Yu-Shan Chen & Ching-Hsun Chang, 2013. "The Determinants of Green Product Development Performance: Green Dynamic Capabilities, Green Transformational Leadership, and Green Creativity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(1), pages 107-119, August.
    16. Yi Liu & Longwei Wang & Changhong Yuan & Yuan Li, 2012. "Information communication, organizational capability and new product development: an empirical study of Chinese firms," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 37(4), pages 416-432, August.
    17. Ljungquist, Urban, 2012. "New Dimensions Added for Enhanced Core Competence Application," Working Papers 2012/03, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Department of Industrial Economics.
    18. Maurizio Zollo & Sidney G. Winter, 2002. "Deliberate Learning and the Evolution of Dynamic Capabilities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(3), pages 339-351, June.
    19. Jorge Ferreira & Sofia Cardim & Arnaldo Coelho, 2021. "Dynamic Capabilities and Mediating Effects of Innovation on the Competitive Advantage and Firm’s Performance: the Moderating Role of Organizational Learning Capability," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 12(2), pages 620-644, June.
    20. Petra Andries & Dirk Czarnitzki, 2014. "Small firm innovation performance and employee involvement," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 21-38, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00404187. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.