Mechanisms for Long-Term Innovation: Technology and Business Development of Reverse Osmosis Membranes

Preface
Acknowledgments
Contents
About the Authors
1 Introduction: The Objectives and Research Questions of This Book
1.1 The Research Questions of This Book
1.2 Resolution of Social Problems and Innovation
1.3 Perspective of Analysis
1.3.1 The Four Types of Uncertainty
1.3.2 Four Analytical Perspectives: Factors that Influence the Formation of Expectation
1.4 Research Methods
1.4.1 Single Case Study
1.4.2 Focus on RO Membrane Technology
1.4.3 Analytical Advantages of RO Membranes
1.4.4 Analysis Method
1.5 The Structure of This Book
References
Part I Overview
2 The Increasing Demand for Water Treatment and Reverse Osmosis
2.1 The Growing Demand for Water Treatment
2.2 Widespread Use of the Reverse Osmosis Method
2.2.1 From the Evaporation Method to the Reverse Osmosis Method
2.2.2 Development of Various Applications
2.3 Industry Structure and Competition
2.3.1 Basic Structure of the Water Treatment Industry by the Membrane Method
2.3.2 Market Share Trends
2.3.3 Price Competition
2.4 Summary
References
3 Technical Overview of the RO Membrane
3.1 Reverse Osmosis Phenomenon
3.2 Material, Structure, and Shape
3.2.1 Material
3.2.2 Structure: The Choice of Asymmetric or Composite Membranes
3.2.3 Shape: Tubular, Hollow Fiber, and Flat Sheet Membranes
3.2.4 Convergence of Technological Focuses by Firms
3.3 Differences in Element Shape
3.3.1 Elements, Modules, and Trains
3.3.2 Switching Costs
3.4 Challenges in Technological Development and Their Recent Changes
3.4.1 Fundamental Challenges in RO Membrane Development
3.4.2 Changes in Technical Issues
3.4.3 Changes in Desalination Systems
References
Part II The Development of RO Membranes in the United States
4 The Beginnings of Research in the Public Sector
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Development in Universities
4.2.1 The Beginning of Research at UCLA
4.2.2 Development of Cellulose Acetate Membranes at the University of Florida
4.2.3 Development of the L-S Membrane at UCLA
4.3 Massive Government Support
4.3.1 Enactment of the Saline Water Conversion Act and Establishment of the OSW
4.3.2 Expansion of Support
4.3.3 Support for Overseas Plants and Downsizing of Public Support
4.4 North Star's Contributions
4.4.1 Development of Composite Membranes
4.4.2 Development of Non-Cellulosic Composite Membranes
4.5 Summary
References
5 Development for Commercialization by Private Companies
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Development in the San Diego Area
5.2.1 The Beginning of Development at ROGA
5.2.2 Development and Commercialization of Composite Membranes by ROGA
5.2.3 Entering of Diverse Companies
5.3 Development in the Minneapolis Area
5.3.1 Establishment of FilmTec and Emergence of Breakthrough Technology
5.3.2 Development by Dow Chemical Co.
5.4 Market Development by DuPont
5.4.1 The Dawn of Development
5.4.2 Development of Polyamide Hollow Fiber Membranes
5.4.3 Expansion to the Middle East
5.5 Summary
References
Part III The Development of RO Membranes in Japan
6 The Rise of Japanese Companies
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Market Entry by Japanese Companies
6.3 Early RO Membrane Development by Three Major Companies
6.3.1 Toray Industries, Inc.
6.3.2 Toyobo
6.3.3 Nitto Denko Corporation
6.4 National Projects for Seawater Desalination
6.4.1 Efforts of the Government Chemical Industrial Research Institute, Tokyo
6.4.2 Demonstration at the Water Reuse Promotion Center
6.5 Market Expansion in Industrial Applications: Ultrapure Water Production Applications for Semiconductors
6.5.1 The Rise of the Market for Semiconductors
6.5.2 Search for New Solutions
6.5.3 Toyobo's Response
6.6 Development and Competition in Seawater Desalination Applications
6.7 Summary
References
7 Toray: Development Aimed at Seawater Desalination
7.1 The Beginning of Development
7.1.1 Toray Versus DuPont
7.1.2 Advanced Commercialization of Cellulose Acetate Membranes
7.1.3 The Search for New Materials: Launch of the PEC Group
7.1.4 Initial Development in Wastewater Treatment Applications
7.2 The Development of New Membranes and Struggles
7.2.1 Development of PEC-1000
7.2.2 The Rapid Expansion of Ultrapure Water Production Applications for Semiconductors
7.2.3 The Development and Abandonment of PEC-2000
7.3 Breakthrough with the Development of UTC-70
7.3.1 The Search for New Materials
7.3.2 Expanding into Seawater Desalination
7.3.3 Tackling New Technological Challenges
7.4 Business Expansion
7.4.1 Prioritized Business Development
7.4.2 Monetization in the Face of Competition
7.5 Summary
References
8 Toyobo: Focused Development in Cellulose Acetate Hollow Fiber Membranes
8.1 The Beginning of Development
8.1.1 Starting Out with Hollow Fiber Membranes
8.1.2 The Establishment of Production Technology
8.1.3 Feedback in the Demonstration Test
8.2 Commercialization
8.2.1 Initial Deployment
8.2.2 Expansion into Saudi Arabia
8.2.3 Orders for Large Projects and Stagnation
8.3 Repeated Struggles
8.3.1 Troubleshooting in Jeddah
8.3.2 The Search for New Materials
8.3.3 Struggles in Ultrapure Water Production for Semiconductors
8.4 Business Expansion
8.4.1 The Impact of Company-Wide Structural Reform
8.4.2 Expansion in the 2000s
8.4.3 Business Performance
8.5 Summary
References
9 Nitto Denko: Development Under Earnings Pressure
9.1 The Beginning of Development
9.1.1 Launch of Membrane Business
9.1.2 Top-Led Development
9.1.3 Development of the Spiral Module
9.2 Exploration of Applications and Development into the Ultrapure Water Market
9.2.1 The Search for Applications
9.2.2 “Sanshin Katsudo” (Three New Activities)
9.2.3 Capturing the Demand for Ultrapure Water
9.3 Progress in Commercialization
9.3.1 Acquisition of Hydranautics
9.3.2 NTR-759
9.3.3 Patent Disputes
9.4 The Road to Seawater Desalination
9.4.1 Harnessing Low Pressure Performance
9.4.2 Results in Okinawa and Fukuoka
9.4.3 The Full-Scale Development of Seawater Desalination
9.5 Performance of the Membrane Business
9.6 Summary
Appendix: Patent litigation concerning RO membranes (FilmTec vs. Hydranautics)
References
Part IV Analysis
10 Policy Support and Spillover Effects: Initiation of Development in the United States and Japan
10.1 Two Questions
10.1.1 Why Did Development Start in Japan, a Country with Abundant Water Resources?
10.1.2 Why Was a Large Amount of Government Support Invested in the United States?
10.2 The Significance of Government Support
10.3 Why Did Development Start in Japan, a Country Rich in Water Resources?
10.3.1 Competitive Imitation by Japanese Firms
10.3.2 Exploitation of Accumulated Research in Public Institutions and Imitation
10.3.3 Independent Development in Industry and Academia
10.3.4 The WRPC as a Place for Learning
10.4 The Development with Support from the U.S. Government
10.4.1 Du Pont and Dow
10.4.2 The Conversion of Military Enterprises to Civilian Demand
10.4.3 Development Activities of U.S. Research Institutes
10.4.4 Spillovers to Japan
10.5 Why Has U.S. Public Support Been So Massive?
10.5.1 Combination of Policies
10.5.2 How Did the Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy Combine with Desalination Research?
10.6 Conclusion
References
11 Exploration of Initial Markets: Application of Unbalanced Performance Bundles
11.1 Difficulties in Continuing the Development of New Technologies and the Role of Markets
11.1.1 The Importance of the Initial Market
11.1.2 Potential Application Markets Indicated by Technology as a Bundle of Performances
11.1.3 Search Activities in Two Layers
11.2 Unbalanced Development of Performance Bundles and Application Expansion
11.2.1 Food and Beverage Concentrate Applications: Emphasis on Low Transformation Properties
11.2.2 Industrial Applications: Emphasis on TOC Rejection Performance
11.2.3 Expansion of Semiconductor Applications: Emphasis on Low-Pressure Permeability
11.3 Search for Applications by Three Japanese RO Membrane Companies
11.3.1 Changes in the Use of Raw Water and Produced Water
11.3.2 Initial Search Activities by Each Company
11.3.3 Search for Applications from the 1980s Onward
11.3.4 Move Toward Seawater Desalination
11.4 Value Exploration by Client Companies
11.4.1 Clients’ Wider Contacts
11.4.2 Kurita’s Exploration and Growth
11.4.3 Exploration of Organo
11.5 Conclusion
References
12 Emergence of Breakthrough Technologies and Convergence of Technological Approaches
12.1 Questions and Perspectives
12.2 The Convergence of Membrane Technologies
12.2.1 The Change and Convergence of Membrane Materials
12.2.2 The Convergence of Membrane Shapes
12.2.3 The Convergence of Membrane Manufacturing Methods
12.3 How Technological Approaches Converged: Focusing Through Breakthroughs
12.3.1 Increasing Interest in Cadotte
12.3.2 Innovativeness of the ‘344 Patent
12.3.3 The Impact made by the 344 patent’s innovativeness
12.3.4 Reaction of the Three Japanese Companies
12.4 What Did the Convergence of Technological Approaches Bring About?
12.4.1 Price Decline
12.4.2 Driving Incremental Innovation
12.4.3 Stimulating Downstream Innovation
12.5 Conclusion: The Mechanism of Dominant Design
Appendix: The standardization of membrane elements
References
13 Company-Specific Rationales
13.1 Company-Specific Factors
13.2 Toray
13.2.1 The Philosophy of Technological Superiority for Seawater Desalination
13.2.2 Persisting in Technological Perfection and Continuing to Try New Challenges
13.2.3 Shared Values with Top Management
13.3 Toyobo
13.3.1 Positioning Within the Company-Wide Strategy
13.3.2 Survival by Being Inconspicuous
13.4 Nitto Denko
13.4.1 The Role of the Management Mission
13.4.2 A Thorough Search for Applications
13.5 Unique Rationale of Each Company
13.5.1 Reasons for Business Survival: The Role of a Shared Mission and Shared Values
13.5.2 The Importance of Justification Efforts by Developers
Appendix: Differences in Development Areas Between Toray and Nitto Denko
Reference
14 Long-Term Development Mechanisms Under Uncertainty
14.1 An Integrated Model for Continuous Technology Development
14.1.1 Factors that Enabled the Continuation of Development
14.1.2 The Basic Model
14.1.3 Four Uncertainties
14.1.4 Virtuous and Vicious Cycles of Innovation
14.1.5 Changing Expectations Under Uncertainty
14.1.6 Mechanisms to Continue Development Activities Under Uncertainty
14.2 A Historical Interpretation of Continuous Development Under Uncertainty
14.2.1 The Impact of Early Policy Support in the United States
14.2.2 Early Development by Japanese Firms: U.S. Influence and Company-Specific Reasons
14.2.3 Development of Application Markets
14.2.4 The Convergence of Technological Approaches
14.3 Conclusion
References
15 Contributions and Future Research
15.1 Summary of this Book
15.1.1 Research Questions and Background
15.1.2 The Logic Beyond the Economic System
15.2 Contributions and Implications
15.2.1 Understanding the Innovation Process Through an In-Depth Case Study
15.2.2 Implications for Innovators in a Company
15.2.3 Implications for Corporate Strategy: The Dilemma of Industrial Development and Profit Acquisition
15.2.4 Implications for Policy Makers
15.3 Further Research Topics
15.3.1 Application as a Testing Field
15.3.2 The Influence of Development Reasons on Development Activities
15.3.3 The Dynamism of Industrial Development and Profit Acquisition
15.4 Conclusion
References
Appendix Procedure of the Patent Analysis
A.1 The Procedure of Constructing a Patent Dataset
A.1.1 F-Terms
A.1.2 Dataset A: The Procedure of Dataset Construction for Three Japanese Companies
A.1.3 Dataset B: Procedure for Constructing an Industry-Wide Dataset
A.2 Supplement for Chap. 11
A.2.1 F-Terms for Raw and Produced Water
A.2.2 Focus Areas of the Three Japanese Companies (Raw Water)
A.2.3 Focus Areas of the Three Japanese Companies (Production Water)
A.3 Supplement for Chap. 12
A.3.1 Distribution of Developed Materials
A.3.2 From Cellulose Acetate to Polyamide Flat Sheet Membranes
A.3.3 Procedure for Each Area in the Value Chain
Interview and Visit List
A Chronological Table of RO Membrane Development (1949–2014)
Bibliography