John R. Hauser, Gerhard J.
Tellis, & Abbie Griffin talk with
ScienceWatch.com and answer a few questions about
this month's Fast Breaking Paper in the field of Economics
& Business.
Article Title: Research on innovation: A review and
agenda for Marketing Science Authors:
Hauser, J;Tellis,
GJ;Griffin, A
Journal: MARKET SCI, Volume: 25, Issue: 6, Page: 687-717,
Year: NOV-DEC 2006
* MIT, Alfred P Sloan Sch Management, 38 Mem Dr, Cambridge,
MA 02142 USA.
* MIT, Alfred P Sloan Sch Management, Cambridge, MA 02142
USA.
* Univ So Calif, Marshall Sch Business, Los Angeles, CA
90089 USA.
* Univ Illinois, Champaign, IL 61820 USA.
Why do you think your paper is highly
cited?
For over 40 years, research on innovation and product development has been
one of the fundamental challenges in marketing science. Innovation is
critical to success in many areas of business and in economies around the
world. Marketing researchers are interested in the phenomena of innovation,
in methods to identify new opportunities for innovations, and in methods to
develop successful products.
Does it describe a new discovery, methodology, or
synthesis of knowledge?
Coauthor
Gerhard J. Tellis
Coauthor
Abbie Griffin
The paper synthesizes research on innovation from the perspective of
marketing science. The synthesis identifies unsolved problems and
recommends areas of productive inquiry.
Would you summarize the significance of your paper in
layman's terms?
There are five basic research challenges in studying innovation (from a
marketing science perspective):
Consumer response to innovation, including measures of consumer
innovativeness, models to project new product growth, and the
impact of buzz.
Organizations to address the complexity of innovation with methods
that are effective but demanding.
Market entry strategies; including technology revolution, strategic
entry, and portfolio management.
Product development processes to address global pressures,
increasingly accurate customer input, and web-based communication
for dispersed and global product design, complexity over time and
across product lines.
Defending against market entry and capturing the rewards of
innovating.
How did you become involved in this research, and were
there any problems along the way?
The Marketing Science Institute, a partnership of industry and academia,
highlighted innovation as one of their most important challenges. We were
invited to pull together research on the topic, so that we synthesize
research streams with the goal of encouraging rigorous and relevant
research.
Where do you see your research leading in the
future?
We have been involved in research on innovation for most of our careers.
The topic remains important to both the science and the application of
marketing. There are many new challenges which are linked to both business
practices and our increased understanding of the consumer. We hope to
continue in this exciting arena.
Do you foresee any social or political implications for
your research?
There is no doubt that innovation is one of the engines that drives
economic success and improvement in the quality of life. Those firms and
those countries which are most adept at innovation are likely to be the
firms and countries that lead us out of difficult economic times and help
cement our future.
John R. Hauser
Kirin Professor of Marketing
MIT Sloan School of Management Web
Gerhard J. Tellis
Professor of Marketing
Neely Chair of American Enterprise
and Director of the Center for Global Innovation
Marshall School of Business
University of SC Web
Abbie Griffin
Royal L. Garff Presidential Chair in Marketing
Department of Marketing
David Eccles School of Business
University of Utah Web