Bringing large technology systems to economic maturity

For long periods after their introductions, all bi g technologies have failed to create the kinds of productivity improvements that they would deliver in the long run. Many large technology systems today show the kinds of weaknesses found in the immature periods of earlier technologies such as those apparent in 18th Century steam-driven factories and early 20th Century factories where electric motors we re added to steam-based systems. Users of today's systems often spend significant amounts of time struggling with functions and interfaces that work poorly. Ye t today a fe w large systems do work with the kind of smooth reliability and comprehensiveness of function that supported economic takeoffs when comparable functionality was reached in the past. (The systems of Amazon.com and of some big box retailers seem to be examples.) This paper argues that such systems emerge through processes that are: 1) ve ry long-term. They require multiple decades. 2) organization-wide. Rather than being dominated by a core technology group, they involve technical innovation throughout the organization driven by a chief executive's aspirations. 3) visionary customer-driven. Th e innovations were achieved by implementing a theory of what the customer would need well in the future.