Management of Innovation in Network Industries: The Mobile Internet in Japan and Europe

Motivation and Research Questions This work seeks to further our understanding on the management of innovations in network industries. Although the economics of network markets like telecommuni- tions, Internet, email, media, computer, and service operations in banking, legal and airline industries have become a major field of economic research; knowledge about how to manage innovation within these markets is less advanced et al. 2000: 793; 2003: 198). The goods and services of these industries regularly manifest themselves as complex system products, which are composed of multiple mutually dependent components and often supplied by different industries 1998: 691; TIDD 1995: 308). Innovation processes associated with complex systems products, therefore, display a systemic character and the issue of how to coordinate the diverse but nevertheless complementary inputs poses a major challenge for innovation management. The issue of how to organise complex innovation projects, however, is still open for debate: A broad range of organisational forms--e. g, vertical integration and TEECE (1996: 68), TEECE (1996: 205), and (2001: 227); decentralised networks--BRESNAHAN and (1999: 13-14); (1999: 162) and (1992: 310); proje- organisationsmHOBDAV (2000: 892) has not only been theoretically derived, but is reported as well in practical use.