Abstract
Although many studies have assigned a key role to “technological paradigms” in the development and diffusion of new technologies, which are often pioneered and led by small businesses, the nature of this term has remained somewhat unclear. This paper uses concepts from modern theories of “chaos,” information theory and “dissipative structures,” to describe the process through which new technological paradigms form and how the evolve. This analysis shows that the development of a new and innovative product or production methods drive existing as well as new firms to search for innovations. The interaction of all firms that are affected by this explorative behavior generates escalating waves of change and thereby creates “chaos,” which is the source of the materials from which new technological structures emerge. These new structures are arrangements of production tasks and activities that link an extended, interindustry group of firms into an interdependent system. This structure constitutes a technological paradigm when it serves as a matrix, or template, through which all firms in the system engage in innovative activity.
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Jenner, R.A. Technological paradigms, innovative behavior and the formation of dissipative enterprises. Small Bus Econ 3, 297–305 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01840611
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01840611