The Organization and Architecture of Innovation

147 Pages·2006·32.5 MB·English

by  Allen, Thomas J;Henn, Gunter

The Organization
and Architecture
of Innovation
Managing the Flow of Technology
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
The Organization
and Architecture
of Innovation
Managing the Flow of Technology
THOMAS J. ALLEN
Massachusetts Institute of Technology • Cambridge,Massachusetts, USA
GUNTER W. HENN
Butterworth–Heinemann and Architectural Press are imprints of Elsevier
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Contents
Acknowledgments vii
About the Authors ix
INTRODUCTION 1
1 ORGANIZATION AND ARCHITECTURE 7
2 THE PROCESS OF INNOVATION 27
Types of Communication 27
The Evolution of Organizational Structure 30
The Trumpet Model of the Product Development Process and Physical Space 44
3 THE FLOW OF COMMUNICATION IN SPACE 51
The Role Played by Physical Space 62
The Configuration of Physical Space May Hinder Interaction 71
The Steelcase Example 74
The Corning Example 80
4 INCREASING AWARENESS 85
Centers of Gravity and Awareness 88
Influencing Centers of Gravity 90
Skoda Assembly Plant—Awareness of Quality 94
Technical University of Munich—Awareness of Learning 100
5 TWO MANAGEMENT TOOLS EMPLOYED TOGETHER 109
The BMW Projekthaus in Munich 114
Reflecting Back 126
References 129
Index 131
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Acknowledgments
W
e must confess at the outset that listing
only the names of two authors on the cover is unfair.
To produce a book of this nature requires many collab-
orators and a few “tolerators” as well. Among the principal toler-
ators are the families of the two authors, especially Tom Allen’s
wife, Joan, who put up with the many long hours of work that
were required to analyze the data upon which much of the book is
based. Also among the tolerators are Allen’s and Henn’s students,
who often had to tolerate a distracted teacher or advisor and who
were very kind in not complaining. Finally, there are Allen’s grand-
children, who don’t realize it but who missed out on the greater
attention they might have received from their “Pop.”
The collaborators are even more numerous. The management
of the many companies from which data were collected, especially
BMW, Skoda, and Steelcase. Special thanks go to Jost Schulte-Wrede
and Gerald Weber for their help and support and especially their
thoughts throughout the project. We also owe thanks to the manage-
ment of the Skoda assembly plant where we conducted interviews
and to the faculty of the Technical University of Munich. At MIT,
deep thanks go to colleagues (the four “old warhorses”) Ralph Katz,
Ed Roberts, Jim Utterback, and Eric von Hippel, whose help and
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viii THE ORGANIZATION AND ARCHITECTURE OF INNOVATION
support have had a powerful impact on Tom Allen’s thinking over the
years, as well as to the support staff, especially Kathleen Connolly,
who worked on innumerable early chapter drafts, many of which
arrived on her desk by fax from Ireland. Then there are the dozens
of MIT graduate students who gathered and analyzed the data upon
which so much of the book is based. They deserve our special grati-
tude. The software used in analyzing the network data was developed
by Varghese George and an army of MIT undergraduate students,
along with Jake Wetzel, another graduate student. In Ireland, we had
much needed help from Ann Naughton, who provided, in addition to
logistics, greatly valued and appreciated psychological support and
encouragement, and from Liz Knight and Gillian Brown, who always
managed to find space for our many meetings.
The design studio of Henn Architekten worked with great enthu-
siasm to transform organizational considerations into physical space.
Especially deserving of mention are Gerhard Ziriakus for the Skoda
factory, Joachim Bath for the Technical University of Munich, and
Christian Bechtle for the BMW Projekthaus.
Finally, there was the indomitable team of Christine Kohlert and
Scott Cooper, without whom this book would have never happened.
Christine is an architect and assistant at the Technical University
in Dresden. She coordinated the meetings between the authors,
prepared the illustrations, and worked on the text. Scott is a profes-
sional writer and is truly professional in the best meaning of that
term. His understanding of both German and English made the task
so much easier and actually enjoyable. This included even a last-
minute reshuffling of the chapters, which he handled with aplomb.
Thomas J. Allen
Gunter W. Henn
Cambridge, Massachusetts, March 
About the Authors
Thomas J. Allen is Howard W.
Johnson Professor of Management
at the Sloan School of Management,
Massachusetts Institute of Tech-
nology and Professor of Engineering
Systems in MIT’s Systems Engi-
neering Division. He is currently Co-Director of the Leaders for Manu-
facturing and Systems Design and Management Programs at MIT.
Specializing in technology and innovation management, Tom Allen
explores the relationship between organizational structure and behavior.
He discovered the role of technological gatekeepers in technology
transfer, and has been able to quantify how a building’s layout influ-
ences communication. He is also an expert on international technology
transfer, reward systems for technical professionals, and how organiza-
tional structure affects project performance. He has been engaged in
long-term research on project management in several industries.
Prof. Allen’s first book, Managing the Flow of Technology (MIT
Press, 1984), is the pioneering work in how people in technical
organizations communicate. His work is widely cited in both the
academic and general literature.
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