Innovate or Perish: Managing the Enduring Technology Company in the Global Market

The SAILS Methodology

The proposed methodology identifies five different types of disruptive contributors commonly observed at the subsystem level, those due to:

• Changes in industry Standards

• Changes in Architectures

• Various forms of Integration and disintegration of elements

• Linkages between various elements across the super-system

• Substitutions within the subsystem

The contributors are summarized schematically in Exhibit 8.2 and developed more fully below. Needless to say, there can be strong interactions among the various elements. Activity in any of these areas can provide an early indicator of a potential disruption.

Exhibit 8.2. Five Components of the SAILS Methodology

Sails Contributor	Before	What Occurs	After
STANDARDS		New performance within, but outside performance still essentially the same
ARCHITECTURES		New arrangement of elements, with possibly some of the same elements
INTEGRATION		A and B integrated into new product, C
		C divided into two products, A and B
LINKAGES