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This paper aims to present an interview with Professor Ron Adner, author of The Wide Lens.

The paper presents an interview with Professor Ron Adner, author of The Wide Lens to ask about his structured approach to uncovering the hidden sources of dependence in innovation ecosystems that undermine collaboration efforts. Adner describes how to use the tools he has developed to assess, map and analyse innovation ecosystems. Adner explains that when delivering value depends on the combined efforts of multiple innovation partners – both within and across firms – executing brilliantly does not prevent failure if the other partners stumble. Numerous case studies are reported and a new set of analysis tools is introduced.

Adner reveals that success in new product/service ecosystems requires innovation partners that are both able and willing to participate in a novel solution.

The paper notes that seeing innovation as ecosystem management produces many new insights about effective implementation.

There is a growing need for measures assessing technological changes in systemic contexts as business ecosystems replace standalone products. In these ecosystem contexts, organizations are required to manage their innovation processes in increasingly networked and complex environments. In this paper, we introduce the technology and ecosystem clockspeed measures that can be used to assess the temporal nature of technological changes in a business ecosystem. We analyze systemic changes in the personal computer (PC) ecosystem, explicitly focusing on subindustries central to the delivery of PC gaming value to the end user. Our results show that the time-based intensity of technological competition in intertwined subindustries of a business ecosystem may follow various trajectories during the evolution of the ecosystem. Hence, the technology and ecosystem clockspeed measures are able to pinpoint alternating dynamics in technological changes among the subindustries in the business ecosystem. We subsequently discuss organizational considerations and theoretical implications of the proposed measures.

This article considers real options approaches through the lens of firm's resource reallocation processes. It explores some potential drivers and consequences of mismatches between initial resource allocation logics and subsequent reallocation realities, highlighting a process of rational escalation in the presence of sunk costs. It also presents a new perspective on the traditional stage-gate process, and considers some recent empirical evidence on the efficiency of resource reallocation processes in organizations.

This article considers the relationship between consumers’ valuation of performance improvements and technology development over the technology life cycle. Presenting a demand-based perspective, it explores how the character of life cycle maturity, the nature of competitive threats, and firms’ innovation incentives all change when consumer demand for performance matures in advance of a technology’s performance trajectories. It characterizes demand maturity by introducing the idea of a demand S curve as a complement to the traditional technology S curve. In doing so, it offers a new lens for assessing firms’ prospects of achieving superior performance through the commercialization of new technologies.