The Social Shaping of Industrial Innovations

Abstract

In this paper, the `social shaping' of new technologies within industrial research laboratories is investigated in detail. Industrial research laboratories are the sites where new products and processes are created. Two case studies of industrial innovation are presented and analyzed in terms of a conceptual framework, the essence of which is that the outcomes of industrial innovative processes are determined by negotiations between actors about dominant problem definitions. The resulting research lines are characterized by `niches' in which problem definitions are stable, and `decision points' where a change in dominant problem definition has occurred. The potential of this model both for enriching the analysis of industrial research processes, and for enhancing social influence over industrial research, is discussed.