The Response of Old Technology Incumbents to Technological Competition Does the Sailing Ship Effect Exist?

John Howells, 2002, J Management Studies, Vol 39, 7, pp.887-906 DOI: 10.1111/1467-6486.00316

44 Pages Posted: 6 Nov 2007 Last revised: 20 Mar 2023

Date Written: 2000

Abstract

This article investigates whether firms react to a radical technological substitution threat by a deliberate acceleration of innovation in their existing technology - the 'sailing ship effect'. There have been repeated claims that the effect has been significant as a source of innovation (Rosenberg 1976, Rothwell and Zegveld 1985, Foster 1988, Utterback 1996). Detailed reexamination of two cases thought to be exemplars of the effect, sail versus steam in ships and the Solvay versus Leblanc methods for alkali manufacture, reveals that it existed in neither. It is suggested that the characteristics of historical, technological substitution processes prompt misinterpretation based on superficial knowledge. Brief review of three other cases further supports this position. It is argued that if the phenomenon occurs, it is likely to be rare.

Keywords: Solvay, Leblanc, sailing ship effect, creative destruction, technological substitution

JEL Classification: O31, O32, O33, O34

Suggested Citation

Howells, John, The Response of Old Technology Incumbents to Technological Competition Does the Sailing Ship Effect Exist? (2000). John Howells, 2002, J Management Studies, Vol 39, 7, pp.887-906 DOI: 10.1111/1467-6486.00316, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1027883 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1027883

John Howells (Contact Author)

UCL ( email )

Faculty of Laws
London, WC1E 7HB
United Kingdom

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