From Followers to Leaders

This book centres on the ways in which ordinary firms can improve technology management. It provides a welcome alternative to the existing literature that focuses almost exclusively on leading edge firms such as IBM or Microsoft. The authors argue that succeeding as a follower-firm requires learning from many experiences and avoiding simplistic 'how-to' approaches that prescribe one best practice. They assert that there are many 'leading edges' and that they appear in the most unlikely places. The book contains major case studies of firms from industries as diverse as pharmaceuticals, software, garments, beer and steel, drawn from twelve different countries. From a follower perspective, individual chapters cover: *the role of innovation on the shop-floor *the importance of mixing process and product innovation *the challenges involved in building an innovation culture *the special role of research and development, and of design. These topics ensure a deeper understanding of strategy in follower-firms, simultaneously providing insight for public policy in building local technological capacity.