The management of disruptive technologies-cycles of innovation

The coupling of knowledge of the marketplace with that of the capability of current technology may spark an innovative concept. This is but the start of a journey that will hopefully lead to the realisation of a new product offering enabled by a new technological capability. A number of identifiable and manageable stages are usually encountered en route and there may also be valuable by-products. This paper seeks to capture this journey in a ´cycle of innovation´ that provides a guide to understanding the influences that affect the final result. Each stage brings with it differing management challenges that are discussed. As one cycle is completed a new capability emerges into a changed marketplace. This may spark the start of a new cycle. A real example of such a journey, based on work at Nortel Networks Harlow Laboratories, is used to illustrate the completion of one such cycle and the start of the next.