Center for Activity Theory and Developmental Work Research

Miettinen, R., Lehenkari, J. & Tuunainen, J. (2008) Learning and network collaboration in product development: How things work for human use. Management Learning, 39, 2, 203-219.

This paper studies the learning and capability formation of a biotechnology firm by analysing its development path composed of successive product development and innovation processes. In collaborative product development work, network collaboration as well as the acquisition of new competences and learning evolve simultaneously and interactively. Searching for and encountering partners having complementary knowledge and resources plays an important role in the emergence of new product development processes. To improve the understanding of this path formation, the paper draws on cultural-historical activity theory, science and technology studies and the epistemology of things and effects. These all underline the significance of material artifacts for learning and activity. The epistemology of things and effects addresses the knowledge of how things work in experimental systems and products. Enzymes, proteins and instruments are put to work in a stabilized way as parts of new products. The effects so mastered entail the functional qualities that make the products competitive in the marketplace.