Why some technical decisions are too important to leave to engineers

Dr Kamal Munir

In the 1970s, the instant camera company Polaroid was riding high with a reputation for innovative, cutting-edge products. It was in that decade, however, that it made a decision to launch a new, highly ingenious fully integrated instant camera and film system called the SX-70, a decision that would have dramatic and devastating consequences for the company. Dr Kamal Munir of Cambridge Judge Business School shows in this research how a seemingly innocuous technical decision to develop a new innovation can have unforeseen consequences on a company's production system, supply chain, vendor networks and the financial markets.