Innovation as response to emissions legislation: revisiting the automotive catalytic converter at Johnson Matthey
Open accessAbstract
Can environmental legislation spur innovative response? This case describes the development of the automotive catalytic converter (ACC) at Johnson Matthey (JM), a precious metals company that entered the automotive industry as a component provider. The market was unfamiliar to JM and highly competitive, but in the 1970s the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) introduced standards for emissions control by automotive companies well ahead of current practice. JM responded to the prospect of market demand for a technology that could meet the regulations. The EPA policy of technology ‘forcing’ stimulated collaboration for innovation among companies from a variety of industries. Our case evidence shows that the key innovator, JM, achieved its breakthrough as a result of proactive R&D management by the product champion together with sustained corporate support at a high level and partnership strategies.
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New factory equipment can be very expensive to purchase and set up, so firms' cost-benefit calculations may dissuade them from retrofitting existing factories to run using low-carbon electricity or to save a few kilowatts.
“New factory equipment can be very expensive to purchase and set up, so firms' cost-benefit calculations may dissuade them from retrofitting existing factories to run using low-carbon electricity or to save a few kilowatts [288,633,778].”
From Tackling climate change with machine learning (2023) · cites this paper as [778]
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Cites
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Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Interview with Prof. Gary Acres, former Head of Catalyst Research Group, Johson Matthey (1974-1985), Jun 20 2007, Interviewed by Elizabeth Garnsey and Lan Tao, Centre for Technology Management, Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge.
- Monks, R., and Minow, N. (2004) Corporate Governance. 3rd ed., Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Oxford.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Tackling climate change with machine learning
Rolnick, D., Donti, P. L., Kaack, L. H., Kochanski, K., Lacoste, A., Sankaran, K., Ross, A. S., Milojevic-Dupont, N., Jaques, N., Waldman-Brown, A., et al. (2023) · ACM Computing Surveys · doi:10.1145/3485128 · Cited by 336 · see citing works
- Authors
- Tao, L., Garnsey, E., Probert, D., & Ridgman, T.
- Affiliations
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Tao, Lan
- Garnsey, Elizabeth
- Probert, David
- Ridgman, Tom
- Venue
- R&D Management
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2010-03
- Volume
- 40
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 154-168
- ISSN
- 0033-6807 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-9310
- OpenAlex
- W2149527989
- Cited by
- 27
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 9.50
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- R and D Management (publishedVersion)
- Cambridge University Engineering Department Publications Database (submittedVersion)
- Apollo (University of Cambridge) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Apollo
- Funders
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/C534239/1)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Environmental Sustainability in Business
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Innovation and Knowledge Management
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Firm Innovation and Growth
- Keywords
- catalytic converters, Johnson Matthey, environmental law, EPA regulations, industry partnerships, R&D management, product champions, business support, partnership strategy, precious metals industry
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