Systemic innovation capability: A source of competitive advantage of early technological followers

An early technological follower can develop technologically advanced products but not necessarily have to face the ever-rising costs and risks of developing cutting-edge technologies. Also, an early technological follower relies on fewer research & development resources and capabilities, including proprietary technologies. In order to remain competitive an early technological follower must develop better target products while making optimum use of research & development resources and capabilities. Collaborative research & development is a frequent strategy followed by an early technological follower to leverage limited resources and increase their new product development effectiveness. A challenge is how to effectively integrate knowledge and technology from various sources into high value products. This paper discusses the concept of systemic innovation capability as an enabler of new product development effectiveness and therefore a source of competitive advantage for an early technological follower. The organization of the paper is as follows: 1) An introduction with contextual information surrounding the topic of the paper; 2) a relevant literature review; 3) the concept of systemic innovative capacity; 4) contextualization of the concept-case study; and 5) limitations and recommendations for future research.