The emergence of dominant design in the early automotive industry: an historical analysis of Ford’s technological experimentation from 1896 to 1906

Technological discontinuities and dominant design models are among the most heavily researched topics in the strategy and innovation literature. In this paper, we attempt to illuminate the process of technological progress in the automotive industry, one of the most important contemporary industries. Drawing from a unique and archival database, we offer a comprehensive historical analysis of Ford from 1896 to 1906. Specifically, our study shows that an important catalyst for the emergence of internal combustion engine (ICE) technology as the dominant design in the early automobile industry was Ford’s technological experimentation. Accordingly, we provide theoretical contributions to the dominant design literature.