Critical Analysis of Aerospace Innovation Systems (MGT7174)

This essay provides a critical investigation and analysis of contemporary innovation within the aerospace industry, as per the MGT7174 Global Innovation Management module. The essay explores the innovative trends in the aerospace industry through Sectoral and Technological Innovation Systems, discussing their role in driving technological advancements and diffusion. It examines the profile of the aerospace industry, highlighting current innovative trends such as zero-fuel aircraft, smart automation, and 3D printing, along with key issues like reducing flight costs and emissions. The analysis covers Sectoral Innovation Systems (SSI), detailing its building blocks, evolutionary processes, and the impact of path dependence. It also delves into Technological Innovation Systems (TIS), outlining its structural components, system functions, and the S-curve model of innovation. Furthermore, the essay discusses the globalization of research and development innovation centers in the aerospace industry, including drivers, modes of R&D offshoring, and associated risks. The essay uses real-world examples, such as NASA's adoption of aeronautical engineering and Airbus's CIMON robot, to illustrate the concepts. The study is based on the material covered in Block 3 of the module including material from Weeks 8-10 topics.

MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Profile of selected industry with innovative trends....................................................................2
a. Innovation system...............................................................................................................3
Globalisation of research and development innovation centres.................................................9
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10
References................................................................................................................................11

Introduction
The essay brings out a discussion on aerospace industry, which involves manufacturing,
research, development of flight vehicles, heavier than aircraft, lights aircraft, and missiles in
its operations. The theme of this essay identifies the innovative trends in aerospace industry
through Sectoral and technological Innovation Systems. Innovation systems include
interaction between systems in creating number of technological innovations, which diffuses
one or more technological innovation in the industry.
The theme of the essay is to study new innovative systems and other changes based on the
procedure of technological change in the aerospace industry. It has been seen that traditional
approach of innovative systems focus on the structure of the innovative systems, which is not
sufficient. For the analysis, the theme of essay brings out themes on sectoral and
technological innovation systems. This is because both approaches can provide them
integrated, dynamic, and multidimensional view of aerospace industry. Furthermore, it
facilitates diffusion and application of how technology has upgraded the chosen sector.
Profile of selected industry with innovative trends
With the changes in the dynamic environment, Aerospace industry employs advanced
technology that includes six aerospace technologies such as Zero-fuel aircraft, structural
health monitoring, advance space technologies, smart automation, blockchain, and 3D
printing (Ismagilova et al., 2017). Current contemporary innovative trends and issues state
that flight costs and emissions have reduced by embedding hybrid and electric engines.
Single pilot needs high degree of cockpit design and automation. For example- Additive
manufacturing is a key innovative trend in the aerospace sector, which consolidate materials
to cut overall assembly costs of aerospace industry (Binz, and Truffer, 2017). It gives
members of industry freedom to produce parts on demand, which can make supply chain

more efficient. Topmost issues for aerospace is the use of AS 9100 on horizon even when
ISO 9001 has published, diversifying commercial aerospace from defence sector, which leads
to decline in revenue. Defence contractors can re-examine and enhance interface with
suppliers to eliminate inefficiencies (Tarraço et al., 2019).
Here are some of the trends of the industry in relation to different nations, which are ranked
according to the exporting of Aerospace products such as US with Aerospace exporter of
$139.1 billion, second France with export of $51.8 billion, and Germany at third with $41.4
billion (Proponent, 2018). With the contextual to sectoral innovation system and technology,
it comes up with exotic expertise employees who have appropriate knowledge for critical
components of flight (Northwest Aerospace Alliance, 2017).
a. Innovation system
Sectoral Innovation Systems
The aerospace industry is significantly concerned with three building blocks, which includes
extensiveness depending of knowledge and technology through domestic sources. Second
building block comes up with drastic changes in knowledge to consider both domestic and
foreign sources (Ismagilova, Gileva, and Glukhov, 2017). The third phase includes shift in
the demand of public sector enterprise for fast growth. SSI framework identifies main
elements such as leading actors in sector, highlighting the domain of knowledge,
development, and forecasting demand (Science Tech, 2019). To forecast the demand,
aerospace companies estimate customer preferences by identifying external factors.
knowledge determines precision machines parts that will withstand in varied conditions,
which is utilised in helicopter, satellites, rockets, and NASA space flights (Thurner, and
Zaichenko, 2016).

As far as path development and evolution is concerned, where (EEG) evolutionary economic
geography can sweep up the wave of path dependent thinking (Chen, Yin, and Mei, 2018).
Prominence and dominance of evolutionary concept not only includes economic geography
with a range of organisational, managerial, social science, and technological science. In
Aerospace industry, Qantas and JetBlue has gained choice that gave then chance to decide
technologies embedded in their machinery, product design, organisational assets, which have
started getting patent for special competencies (Jenson et al., 2016). Path dependent
economic conditions is dependent on regional settings where many of processes are placed as
dependent and do not affect SSI approach as a whole (Thurner, and Zaichenko, 2016). This
evaluation will help path dependence, which will allow pattern to develop not in approaching
and but also reaching at the equilibrium state. Qantas provides training to its employees to
acquire skills and influence subsequent choice of tool, practise, and design the method, which
is prominently known as path dependence that is the road map where established will lead
more easily to one way as majority of aerospace companies deal at both national as well as
international level. Regional disparities, lock-in if regions in particular to economic
specialisation, re-invention of local industrial configuration, self-reinforcing growth of high
technology enabled clusters to use SSI feature, DUI, and STI as a mode of innovation
(Thurner, and Zaichenko, 2016).
Furthermore, evolutionary mechanism are better suited to environment surviving and then
reproducing most successfully. The advantage of robustness in aerospace industry produce
good optimal set of solution even when it suffer from problems with complex and huge
design spaces (Aerospace & Defence Industry, 2019). These companies have started
generating multiple trade off solution by associating higher computational time in dealing
with diverse paradigms. A novel solution will includes gradient-based optimisation tool,
which strive to design that have variation. On the other hand, there is a difference between

traits of the same industry. Further, traits can be improved when the ability of survive
increases (Binz, and Truffer, 2017). The aviation space industry is generally pacemaker to
improve and innovate new material framework and advances in creation. Key driving for
aerospace materials improvements. There is a strong relationship between path dependence
and SNA approach system, which are featured by qualitative in information. SNA approach
will examine the demand of tourists by quantifying the association between actors. For the
destination preformation, initial conditions that is evident in different areas of life outside
structure that can be cognitive, political, and functional level. Path dependence approach
brings out focus on initial conditions matter, which pay attention for success and failure of
economic industry (Abbott, Tarp, and Wu, 2017). With the spatial industry, there are various
locations depending on the environment. Furthermore, irreversible and other dynamic
procedure of economic novelty can emerge from micro- behavioural of agents such as
organisations and individuals (Tarraço et al., 2019).
Technological Innovation Systems
Technological system act in specialised technological area, which describes four elements
economic organisation’s competencies, institutions that act as signposts, develop blocks, alter
strengths, and create potential developments, which can induce innovation by various ways.
The SSI concept comes up with three building blocks that have knowledge, technological
domain, actors, and institutions (Chen, Yin, and Mei, 2018). Optimal design is an aerospace
industry that is not multi-disciplinary such as acoustic, economics, and structures. The
process of the engineering procedure due to which dominant role, which increase in demand
for optimal and robusting designs driving economic and environmental constraints along with
increasing computing power that have improved role of computational from analytical tools
becoming designing through organisational tools. Traditional optimisation tools with

advantages such as robustness, multiple environment constraints with computing power that
has enhanced computational simulations (Binz, and Truffer, 2017).
(Source: Industry Information, 2019)
Technological innovation system (TIS) can process innovation success, which is related to
proper interaction between wide ranges of actors included in generation, utilising and them
diffusing of particular technology complied with an analytical procedure by creating
knowledge, involving actions, creating new knowledge regarding technology and diffusing
the actors, and market formation. Further, it will lead to investment mobilisation, which
would include technology legitimation where activities embed technology, create, and
growing markets. The advantage is related to robustness, multiple solutions per run, and easy
to parallelise (Thurner, and Zaichenko, 2016). Technological usage has led to the
development of aerospace industry, which is analysed through S curve model as per the
innovative trends. For example- NASA has adopted aeronautical engineering, which helps

them to create effective aircrafts, which focus on recent innovation known as Spanwise
Adaptive Wing. It results in superior fuel efficiency for the betterment of flight speed, which
can led to faster supersonic speeds (Thurner, and Zaichenko, 2016). Trend has been changed
with the private organisations such as Blue Origin and SpaceX (Industry Information, 2019).
Technologies such as reusable spaces crafts are used. On the other hand, challenges in form
of high amount of heat system through re-entry, radiation protection, navigations, safe
environment for the astronauts. Another famous instance come up with Airbus, which
announce (Crew Interactive Mobile Companion) CIMON, which have accomplished first
phase space testing. The robot, it uses looks like flying sphere with a display with size larger
than soccer ball, where weight is near to 5 Km. Robot has 3D printing where machine has
been equipped with the help of artificial intelligence (Haddad, and Maldonado, 2017).
The S curve model of innovation will highlight product, industry, and business model, which
has been evolved over the time where it has to offer new things to the industry to rise under
the maturity stage. These new products are being upgraded with related version of the
products approaching the maturity stages. When organisation position to determine the
relative rapid of that particular moment (Haddad, and Maldonado, 2017).

(Source: Ideagenius, 2018)
Level of invention, performance, and profit comes up with common ways to incorporate
service into the airline competition, which is based on S-curve that equals the market shares
as determined by frequency shares. Number of invention includes competition battle between
Boeing and Airbus as the growing since 1980s. S-shaped curve describes the growth level in
competition of specific companies (Issu, 2019). S curve model was not applied as one species
can interfere with the growth rate (Aerospace & Defence Industry, 2019). Industrial
application of S shaped growth pattern for the application of business. The growth graph
shows the level of growth for both the organisation where the second S curve is not at all
settled regarding the prescriptive competition model for the first phase.

(Source: Enalls, 2017)
Weak motor maintain structural development of technological innovation system (TIS),
which will negatively affect new Austrian actors when they are not attracted to enter TIS.
Without any strong actor base, political networks cannot be formed as international partners,
which are attracted to join knowledge network with exception of clients to get backup
technology (Binz, and Truffer, 2017). Difference in strengths act as an analytical tool to study
the fluctuations in business dynamics (Aerospace & Defence Industry, 2019). It is important
to have the understanding of individual actor, which forms technological innovation system
as a challenge to examine “what is exactly required as transformative capacity” for individual
for the ability to influence them making of TIS (Issu, 2019). Furthermore, it is difficult to
assess limits of capacity. If it limits to individual`s system for builders, where public policy
can make and specify time as a need to step to address the system, which are beyond the
sphere of influence (Chen, Yin, and Mei, 2018).
b. Globalisation of research and development innovation centres
Drivers of R&D globalisation of aerospace industry includes degree of liberalisation, which
could occur in Chinese market of increasing capital productivity, greater financial
globalisation, and production improvements for the technological exchange. This has given

rise to economic value to $37 trillion, which can be achieved by 2040 (Diaconu, 2019). The
five main areas consider globalisation of financial markets, investment in aerospace industry,
flow of innovation and technology. Main area R &D innovation centre is US where the
technological department delegates technology to aerospace industry all over the world.
Modes of R&D offshoring includes issues n supply chain with three risk such as capacity
risks, supply risks, and demand risks (Jin and McKelvey, 2019). Due to technological up
gradation and high variability timing, result in demand and capacity can lead to long-term
business, which is difficult to recover. For example- Airbus repeatedly delay technological
risks, which have modification its real world challenges by managing the flaws and resolving
issues (Diaconu, 2019). Models for R&D networks come up with economic indicators by
developing ICT technologies and other scientific publications. EU has outperformed
aerospace industry by intensifying R&D department and sales. Below is the scoreboard of
R&D, sales for US companies differing from sector to sector from 2007 to 2016-
(Source: Coluccia et al., 2019)

Conclusion
From the above discussion, it is seen that the essay has been. Amongst four innovative
systems, the essay analyses aerospace industry based on sectoral and technological system. It
has used many models. The main idea was to analyse innovative systems as an important
detrimental component to change. This system is the set of interdependent entities, which
form integration with a set of institutions, which jointly interact in specific technology fields
and then contributing to the generating, utilisation, and diffusion of the several of new
technology. This structure of TIS will involve four structural procedures, which will include
formation of networks, accumulation of knowledge, and institutional alignment. The core
phase is related to creating the structure development of TIS, which was not assessed with the
rate of diffusion of new technology but at the same time the extent to which the system is
formed is prepared.