Why promising technologies fail: the neglected role of user innovation during adoption

The paper analyses innovation histories of two agro-mechanical and two seed-based technologies with high and low technological complexity, introduced into simple and complex fanning systems in Asia. The main conclusion, which may be seen as a hypothesis for further testing, is that, as technology and system complexity increase so does the need for interaction between the originating R&D team and the key stakeholders (those who will directly gain and lose from the innovation) when the latter first replicate and use the new technology. This is because a successful technology represents a synthesis of the researcher and key stakeholder knowledge sets, and creating this synthesis requires more iteration and negotiation as complexity increases. Instead of assuming a new technology is 'finished' when it leaves the research institute, a more effective way of developing complex technologies is for the R&D team to release them as soon as the key stakeholders will adopt, and then nurture the technology's continued development in partnership with the key stakeholders. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.