Can British defense firms diversify? The Nanoquest case and the limits to dual-use theories
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15355/epsj.3.1.56Abstract
This article investigates the case of Nanoquest, a small diversification project that was tied to BAE Systems' earlier incarnation as British Aerospace (BAe). The article shows that British military firms can have success when diversifying into civilian markets, but the process can be sabotaged by managerial interference. The article also illustrates the limited utility of dual-use theories in explaining diversification outcomes. Success and failure are also shaped by power relationships rather than simply by technological similarities or limitations. The article shows why discourses about dual use, the relatedness of military and civilian technologies, networks, learning, and information exchange cannot fully explain how and whether diversification barriers are overcome. One key reason is that the degree of dual-use relationships, or the commonality between military and civilian markets, is based on an historical process of learning and resource acquisition over time. This learning and resource acquisition in turn is mediated by various power structures and struggles within the firm as identified by institutional economists and various management theorists.References
Alic, John A., Lewis M. Branscomb, Harvey Brooks, Ashton B. Carter, and Gerald L. Epstein. 1992. Beyond Spinoff: Military and Commercial Technologies in a Changing World. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
BAE Systems. 2007a. “Evolution of the Company.” http://www.bae-systems.com/facts/awards/evolution.htm and http://www.bae-systems.com/facts/awards/evolution3.htm [accessed 29 May 2007].
BAE Systems. 2007b. “About Us: Our Evolution.” http://www.bae-systems.com/aboutus/evolution.htm [accessed 2 September 2007].
Burns, Tom and G. M. Stalker. 1994. The Management of Innovation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Carter, Ashton. 1988. “Introductory Remarks at the Workshop on Dual-Use Technologies: International Perspectives.” Sponsored by the Dual-Use Technologies Project, Science, Technology and Public Policy Program, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, October 21-22. Reprinted as Science, Techology and Public Policy Program Discussion Paper 89-05.
Dumas, Lloyd J. 1986. The Overburdened Economy: Uncovering the Causes of Chronic Unemployment, Inflation, and National Decline. Berkeley, CA: The University of California Press.
Evans, Sir Richard and Colin Price. 1999. Vertical Take-Off: The Inside Story of British Aerospace’s Comeback from Crisis to World Class. London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing.
Feldman, Jonathan Michael. 1998. “The Conversion of Defence Engineers’ Skills: Explaining Success and Failure Through Customer-Based Learning, Teaming and Managerial Integration,” pp. 281-318 in Gerald I. Susman and Sean O'Keefe, eds. The Defense Industry in the Post-Cold War Era: Corporate Strategy and Public Policy Perspectives. Oxford: Elsevier Science.
Feldman, Jonathan Michael. 1999a. “Can Saab Diversify? Lessons from Civilian Spinoffs in the 1970s and 1989s.” Working Paper, Department of Technology and Social Change, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden, March.
Feldman, Jonathan Michael. 1999b. “Civilian Diversification, Learning and Institutional Change: Growth Through Knowledge and Power.” Environment and Planning A, Vol. 31, No. 10, pp. 1805-1824.
Feldman, Jonathan Michael. 2006. “Industrial Conversion: A Linchpin for Disarmament and Development,” pp. 193-217 in Gustaaf Geeraerts, Natalie Pauwels, and Éric Remacle, eds. Dimensions of Peace and Security: A Reader. Brussels: Peter Lang.
Fraser, Ian. 2000. Former Director, British Aerospace Enterprises. Interview with author, 25 February; communication with author, 4 April and 9 June.
Hooke, Richard. 2000. Former New Ventures Director, British Aerospace Enterprises. Phone interview with author, Surbiton, England, 7 April, and London, England, 18 April and 2 May.
Irving, Ian. 2000. Former Business Development Director, British Aerospace Enterprises. Interview with author, Stevenage, England, 6 March; email communications to author, 30 March and 19 April; phone interview with author, 17 April.
Johnson, Paul. 2000. Former Managing Director, Nanoquest. Interview with author, Leeds, England, 2 March; communication with author 2 March, 30 March, and 26 April.
Kelley, Maryellen R. and Todd A. Watkins. 1995. “The Myth of the Specialized Military Contractor.” Technology Review, Vol. 98, No. 3, pp. 52-58.
Labour Party. 1995. “Strategy for a Secure Future.” London: Labour Party.
Markusen, Ann. 1991. “The Military-Industrial Divide.” Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 391-416.
Melman, Seymour. 1983. Profits without Production. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Melman, Seymour. 2001. After Capitalism: From Managerialism to Workplace Democracy. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Molas-Gallart, Jordi. 2006. “Military Technology and Dual-use,” pp. 165-176 in Gustaaf Geeraerts, Natalie Pauwels and Éric Remacle, eds. Dimensions of Peace and Security: A Reader. Brussels: Peter Lang.
Schofield, Steven. 2007. “Oceans of Work: Arms Conversion Revisited.” London and Washington, DC: British American Security Information Council.
Spinardi, Graham. 2000. “Prospects for the Defence Diversification Agency: Technology Transfer and the U.K. Defence Research Establishments.” Science and Public Policy, Vol. 27, No. 2, pp. 123-135.
Te Kulve, Haico and Wim A. Smit. 2003. “Civilian-Military Co-operation Strategies in Developing New Technologies.” Research Policy, Vol. 32, No. 6, pp. 955-970.
Veblen, Thorstein. 1965. The Engineers and the Price System. New York: A. M. Kelly.
Webb, Tim. 1998. The Armour-Plated Ostrich: The Hidden Costs of Britain’s Addiction to the Arms Business. West Wickham, Kent: Comerford & Miller.
