Technological Change and Industrial Transformation: Analysing Transformation and Technical Change

Industrial transformation is a research and teaching field with a focus on the phenomenon and mechanisms of industrial development and renewal. It concerns changes in economic activities caused by innovation, competition and collaboration, and has a rich heritage of evolutionary economics, institutional economics, industrial dynamics, technology history and innovation studies. It borrows concepts and models from the social sciences (sociology, history, political sciences, business/management, economics, behavioural sciences) and from technology and engineering studies also.

In this book, the authors present the key theories, frameworks and concepts of industrial transformation and use empirical cases to describe and explain the causes, processes and outcomes of transformation in the context of digitalisation and sustainability. They stress that industrial transformation consists both of Darwinian "survival of the fittest" selection, and of intentional pursuits of innovation and of industrial capabilities creation. The work argues that managing the global trends of transformation is not only about new technology and innovation; existing institutional settings, as well as dynamic interactions between technological change, organisational adaptation and economic activities, also have a profound impact on future trajectories.

The areas under investigation are of great relevance for strategic management decisions and for industrial and technology policies, and for understanding the mechanisms underlying transformation and sustainable growth.