Executive forum
From science to technology to products and profits
Superconductivity at General Electric and Intermagnetics
General (1960±1990)
Pier A. Abetti*
Lally School of Management and Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 110 8th Street,
Troy, NY 12180-3590, USA
Received 1 September 1999; received in revised form 14 September 1999; accepted 1 November 1999
Abstract
We follow the evolution of superconductivity from empirical discovery to theory development, to
proof of the theory by General Electric (GE)laboratory experiments by Nobel laureate Ivar Giaever, to
the development, design and manufacture of superconducting materials and magnets, to the creation of
new venture (Intermagnetics General, IGC), to application to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI),
which resulted in GE's world leadership. We highlight the role of R&D management in encouraging
creativity, transferring technology to operations and achieving leadership through technology. We also
discuss implications for R&D managers and entrepreneurs in established companies who wish to start
an internal venture, and for technological entrepreneurs who are planning a spin-off. D 2001 Elsevier
Science Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Superconductivity; General Electric; Intermagnetics General; Corporate internal venturing; Spin-off;
Internal entrepreneurship
1. Executive summary
To illustrate and analyze the complex links between science and technology, between
technology and entrepreneurship, and between products and profits, we discuss the evolution
of superconductivity Ð the absence of electric resistance in certain materials at very low
temperatures Ð from its empirical discovery in 1908 to its commercial application in medical
* Tel.: +1-518-276-6834; fax: +1-518-276-8661.
0883-9026/00/$ ± see front matter D 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0883-9026(00)00049-5
Journal of Business Venturing 17 (2002)83±98