| This dissertation extends the focus of organizational learning to product innovation and product portfolio design, two aspects of strategy that may have more relevance to firm performance in high-tech industries than do manufacturing capabilities. Using the hard disk drive industry as the research setting, I address the following questions: How do firms learn during the product innovation process? What are the implications of firms' learning activities for innovation performance, especially when the innovation involves multi-generation technologies? How do firms manage their innovation processes and design their product portfolios in order to better adapt to environmental changes? The central argument is that during the product innovation process, high-tech firms learn from multiple knowledge sources in search of the balance between exploitation and exploration. The degree of the balance, reflected by firms' product portfolio design, affects firms' survival and financial performance in mixed ways. |
