Towards a New Theory of Innovation Management: a Case Study Comparing Canon, Inc. and Apple Computer, Inc.

Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 8 ( 1991 ) 67-83 Elsevier

Towards a new theory of innovation management: A case study comparing Canon, Inc. and Apple Computer, Inc.
Ikujiro Nonaka
Institute of Business Research, Hitotsuhashi University, Kunitachi, Tokyo, Japan

Martin Kenney
Department of Applied Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA

Abstract
This paper argues that innovation can be best understood as an information process which is then concretized as a product that meets demand. Two very different firms, Canon Inc. and Apple Computer Inc., are used as case study illustrations. Innovation does not proceed through logical deduction, but rather is furthered by the use of metaphors and analogies. The bureaucratic and staid structures of the firm can be challenged and broken up to provide the space for innovations to emerge. The leader’s role in the innovating firm is as a catalyst and facilitator, not as an allknowing despot. The importance of innovations is not merely in the new product, but also the “ripple” effects of innovations which can propel the firm into a self-renewal process. Keywords: Innovation management, High-technology, Case study.

1. Introduction Increasingly, corporate competitive success is hinging upon the effective management of innovation. Innovation has been the object of considerable academic study from a variety of perspectives. However, innovations are usually considered as objects. We choose to look at innovation differently. For us, innovation is a process by which new information is created, and it is this information that is embodied in the product. To understand this process we conceptualize human beings not merely as information processors (Galbraith, 1973), but more importantly as information creators. Inherently, innovation is the process by which new information emerges and is concretized in a product that meets human needs1. The healthy firm is a negative-entropy system

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