What is innovation in ship design? Is it a capability that is inherent in all naval architects? Is it the result of the application of a certain set of tools, or of operation within a certain organizational structure? Can innovation be taught? Innovation is a creative act that results in a new and game-changing product. The emergence of an innovative product creates an asymmetric market. The emergence of an innovative weapon creates an asymmetric battlefield. It is clearly in the economic and military interest of the United States to be able to develop and deploy innovative products, including innovative ships. But the process of ship design is usually one of incremental development and slow evolution. Engineers are taught to develop their product by paying close attention to previous developments. This approach is viewed by some people as anti-innovative. And yet the author has made a career of innovation in ship design. How has this been possible? This dissertation will answer the four questions posed above. It will show what innovation in ship design is, and where innovative naval architecture lies in the taxonomy of human creative endeavor. It will then describe those human attributes which have been found to be essential to successful innovation. It will also describe some of the many tools that innovators use. Some of those tools are used unconsciously. Some of those tools are formal products supported by research institutes and teaching academies. Finally, given the fact that innovation in ship design is a component of engineering – which is a subject taught in Universities – and that it is facilitated by the use of tools – and tool use can be taught – the author will conclude that innovation itself can be taught. Whether it can be mastered will depend upon the individual, just as with most other creative skills.

Technology entrepreneurs and managers aim to navigate emerging technology ventures and innovations towards successful commercialisation and business development, often over long periods of time. However, this is challenging due to high uncertainties associated with planning and navigating relevant market and business drivers, technological resources and capabilities, and applications. Failure to understand and manage these uncertainties appropriately can lead to undesired consequences and poor outcomes in the realisation of value creation and capture. This research firstly built a knowledge base of technology ventures by conducting a literature review, enabling the development of a conceptual retrospective roadmapping framework as the basis for characterising the emergence of technology ventures. This leads to an analysis of 13 case studies, characterising phases, transitions, patterns, enablers and barriers associated with the emergence of technology ventures. A conceptual model, the so-called ‘emergence archetypes’, was then developed by conducting an in-depth analysis with a further 19 case studies. The concept provides practical insights regarding how emerging technology ventures can be exposed to different levels of technological and market uncertainties along the journey of technology commercialisation and business development. Finally, a strategy visualisation tool and process have been designed based on the research outputs, and a focus group was then conducted with industrial practitioners to review and evaluate the research outputs for practical use in industry. In total, 32 case studies and a focus group have been conducted in the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Japan, Australia and the United States. Overall, this research demonstrates that characterising technology venture emergence, by applying roadmapping principles, provides significant implications for both researchers and practitioners of strategy and innovation. Success or failure of emerging technology ventures, in terms of value creation and capture, is not only directly related to products or services, but more broadly to the innovation systems in which the technology ventures operate. By demonstrating the characterisation of technology venture emergence, the conceptualisation of emergence archetypes and the strategy visualisation tool and process development, this research shows that applying roadmapping is an appropriate method to characterise and improve emerging technology venturing practices, supporting value creation and capture.