Authors: Espen Gressetvold
This is a conceptual paper that focuses technical development within the industrial networkapproach. Technical development is an integral part of the network, as it takes place bothwithin companies and in the relationships that connect them. As a point of departure,technology is identified as various types of connected abilities, knowledge, physical devicesand equipment, which are all resource items. This draws attention to elaborating on theresource concept to provide further insight into technical development. First of all, resourcesare elements that hold known use, which draw attention to their combining. Resourceheterogeneity further makes the value of resources dependent on how they are combined.And, through interaction, the resources are combined in various ways in the attempt toidentify new and appropriate ways of combining, that is, resource development. Interactionbetween four resource entities are presented as a framework for expressing resourcedevelopment on a network level. These four resource entities are: products, facilities,business units and relationships. The processes of interaction build the four resource entitiestogether and make them interdependent. Interaction between these four resource entitiesrepresents a framework for analyzing technical development. A technology can further beexpressed as the state of these four resource entities, where their patterns describe thedevelopment. By pointing at interaction as the heart of technical development, thisframework connects technology to its development and the single company to its network.
Journal: ( – )
Web Address:
Publish Year: 2001
Conference: Oslo, Norway (2001)