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Innovation Studies and the History of Technology

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Innovation Studies and the History of Technology Trying to secure the past: innovation studies and the history of technology A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in the Faculty of Humanities Jonathan Aylen 2018 1 Contents page Listing of Publications 3 Abstract 4 Declaration 5 Copyright Statement 5 Jonathan Aylen, Statement of Eligibility 6 Introduction 1. Selection of a coherent set of papers 8 2. Historical methods in the study of technology 23 3. The nature of the innovation process 30 4. Lessons from innovation research 41 5. Bibliography 46 6. Corrections and updates 57 7. Impact of this research 59 Papers Blue Danube - Britain’s post-war atomic bomb 61 Stretch - how innovation continues once investment is made 62 Bloodhound - building the Ferranti Argus process control computer 63 Open versus closed innovation - development of the wide strip mill for steel 64 Construction of the Shotton wide strip mill 65 Development of computer applications in the iron and steel industry 66 2 “Trying to secure the past: innovation studies and the history of technology” "People work much in order to secure the future; I gave my mind much work and trouble, trying to secure the past" Isak Dinesen/also known as Karen von Blixen-Finecke (1885-1962), Shadows on the Grass, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1990, essay “Echoes from the Hills”, p.116 papers: 1. Jonathan Aylen, “First waltz: development and deployment of Blue Danube, Britain’s post-war atomic bomb”, The International Journal for the History of Engineering & Technology, vol. 85, no.1, January 2015, pp.31-59 2. Jonathan Aylen, “Stretch - how innovation continues once investment is made”, R&D Management, vol.43, no.3, June 2013, pp.271-287 3. Jonathan Aylen, “Bloodhound on my trail: building the Ferranti Argus process control computer”, The International Journal for the History of Engineering & Technology, vol. 82, no. 1, January 2012, pp.1–36 4. Jonathan Aylen, “Open versus closed innovation: development of the wide strip mill for steel in the USA during the 1920s”, R&D Management, vol.40, no.1, January 2010, pp.67-80 5. Jonathan Aylen, “Construction of the Shotton wide strip mill", Transactions of the Newcomen Society, vol.78, no.1, February 2008, pp. 57-85 6. Jonathan Aylen, "Megabytes for Metals – The development of computer applications in the iron and steel industry", Ironmaking and Steelmaking, vol. 31, no. 6, 2004, pp.465-478 80,000 words 3 Abstract These papers report untold and unfashionable stories in the history of technology. They focus on practical developments rather than science. Two papers (Stretch, Blue Danube) concentrate on practical issues of manufacture, maintenance and use. They show how solutions to technical problems emerge over time, often in unforeseen ways. Along with the paper on missile guidance systems, they highlight the impetus given by problem solving in the face of bottlenecks and “reverse salients” that obstruct progress on a technology. Innovation can be seen as a process of creative engineering to resolve a set of “problem sequences.” One paper on construction (Shotton) highlights the dilemmas faced when adopting technology from outside the firm: who should supply the new technology and what scale of plant should be built? Another paper (Open versus closed innovation) considers the best form of organisation suited to developing innovations in house. Here too, cooperation with partners turns out to be the best way forward. The paper on process control shows how mobility of technical labour and a strong product champion encouraged the spread of a rapidly evolving computer technology throughout South Wales. These papers are almost entirely based on primary sources, including company archives, oral history interviews, technical publications and correspondence with the innovators themselves. The strengths and shortcomings of this approach are explored, particularly in the defence sector. This approach of “history from below” is born of a conviction that even headline stories (such as the UK atom bomb) overlook the mundane nature of conventional engineering. In the case of atomic weapons, science was the heroic story - a myth which is still current. These papers show how technology actually develops and explore hitherto undocumented fields of technology. All of these papers show how knowledge coalesces from diverse sources to generate innovations in an evolutionary way. Even a top secret project like the atomic bomb draws know-how from a wide range of suppliers. The papers focus on the way in which this diverse knowledge comes to be incorporated in new technologies. Evolution is a broad analogy. Most technologies evolve through purposive selection rather than random chance exhibited by the natural world of living beings. History matters when technology is being developed. Firms accumulate expertise and learn within networks and generate a variety of solutions to a given problem. Reverse salients often produce radical changes or mutations in technology. A selection process operates at all levels to identify satisfactory solutions which work. This is not necessarily optimal and organisations may get locked in to a particular technology as it develops in a path dependent way. The dynamics of innovation may be unforeseen in advance, but they can be traced in retrospect. These case studies also offer lessons in the way technical development might be organised. Loose “communities of practice” drawing upon a range of skills and experience are often ideal at the development stage. Formal management is more appropriate to the production phase. Guided missile control at Wythenshawe developed in just such a loose way. Secrecy rules inhibited similar cooperation over the atomic bomb, but individuals were given remarkable freedom. The case of computer control highlights the role of product champions driving innovation at a senior level. Surprisingly, careful use of resources does not seem to inhibit innovation. Shotton, the atomic bomb and the wide strip mill were all developed in an atmosphere of parsimony. 4 Declaration All of the work submitted here is the author’s own contribution. The articles are all single authored. The help of very many respondents is warmly acknowledged, but the author remains responsible for all that is submitted here. All of the work submitted here was completed while the candidate was an employee of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology and its successor, the University of Manchester between 2001 and 2018. None of the work presented has been submitted in support of any application for any other degree or qualification of this or any other University or of any professional body. I confirm that this is a true statement and that, subject to any comments above, the submission is my own original work. Signed: ………………………………………………..……….. Date: . 21st November 2018 . Copyright Statement i. The author of this thesis (including any appendices and/or schedules to this thesis) owns certain copyright or related rights in it (the “Copyright”) and s/he has given The University of Manchester certain rights to use such Copyright, including for administrative purposes. ii. Copies of this thesis, either in full or in extracts and whether in hard or electronic copy, may be made only in accordance with the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) and regulations issued under it or, where appropriate, in accordance with licensing agreements which the University has from time to time. This page must form part of any such copies made. iii. The ownership of certain Copyright, patents, designs, trade marks and other intellectual property (the “Intellectual Property”) and any reproductions of copyright works in the thesis, for example graphs and tables (“Reproductions”), which may be described in this thesis, may not be owned by the author and may be owned by third parties. Such Intellectual Property and Reproductions cannot and must not be made available for use without the prior written permission of the owner(s) of the relevant Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions. iv. Further information on the conditions under which disclosure, publication and commercialisation of this thesis, the Copyright and any Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions described in it may take place is available in the University IP Policy (see http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuInfo.aspx?DocID=487), in any relevant Thesis restriction declarations deposited in the University Library, The University Library’s regulations (see http://www.manchester.ac.uk/library/aboutus/regulations) and in The University’s policy on Presentation of Theses 5 Jonathan Aylen Jonathan has enjoyed a varied career, as an economist and as an engineer, an innovation researcher and in environmental management. He now specialises in the history of technology. He is currently senior visiting research fellow in the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research within Alliance Manchester Business School at the University of Manchester where he was previously senior lecturer and a founder director of MIoIR. Jonathan Aylen was an Associate Editor of R&D Management from 2014 to 2016. He was Conference Chair for the R&D Management Conference in 2013. His recent research on history looks at Cold War technology and at how the world went digital in areas such as missile guidance, process plant control and railway management. A paper published in 2015 on the technology of nuclear weapon design contradicts received wisdom on the issue. The research continues with a recent paper in the Royal Airforce Historical Society Journal presented earlier at their AGM. His work on RAF nuclear weapons has been presented to meetings of the Charterhouse Group and to the Defence Electronics Society. He was the invited keynote speaker at the International LETTERPRESS nuclear disarmament exercise in October 2017 and spoke at the Royal Navy’s Conference on the Continuous at Sea Deterrent in 2018. Jonathan is currently Vice-President and future President of the Newcomen Society, the International Society for the Study of the History of Engineering and Technology.
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