Transformative direction of R&D– lessons from Amazon's endeavor

Amazon jumped up to the world's top Research and Development (R&D) firm in 2017. Such a rapid and notable increase in R&D investment has raised the question of a new R&D definition in the digital economy, which Amazon insists includes both “routine or periodic alterations” (traditio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inTechnovation Vol. 88; p. 102081
Main Authors Watanabe, Chihiro, Tou, Yuji
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2019
Subjects
Amazon
Business model
R&D
Transformation
User-driven innovation
R&D
User-driven innovation
Transformation
Business model
Amazon
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Summary:Amazon jumped up to the world's top Research and Development (R&D) firm in 2017. Such a rapid and notable increase in R&D investment has raised the question of a new R&D definition in the digital economy, which Amazon insists includes both “routine or periodic alterations” (traditionally classified as non-R&D) and “significant improvement” (classified as R&D), as Amazon transforms the former into the latter during its R&D process. A convincing answer to this question will give rise to insightful suggestions regarding a new concept of R&D in the digital economy. •Amazon's R&D model as a system was empirically analyzed.•Dynamism in transforming content into technology was elucidated.•Sources leading Amazon a rapid and notable R&D investment increase were identified.•A new concept of R&D in the digital economy was suggested.
ISSN:0166-4972
1879-2383
DOI:10.1016/j.technovation.2019.05.007