Green innovation in the steel industry: Analyzing FINEX technology development through Technology Innovation Systems and Strategic Niche Management

Soocheol Yi and Taehyun Jung

Energy, 2025, vol. 334, issue C

Abstract: This study examines the development and commercialization of FINEX technology at POSCO through the combined lenses of Technological Innovation Systems (TIS) and Strategic Niche Management (SNM). As a radical smelting reduction process developed by an incumbent in the steel industry, FINEX offers a rare case of breakthrough green innovation emerging from within a dominant regime. Through a qualitative case study, we trace the evolution of the FINEX innovation system across three stages, highlighting the roles of entrepreneurial leadership, shared culture, DUI (doing, using, interacting) learning, and organizational bricolage. These factors enabled POSCO to overcome technological and institutional barriers and foster niche stabilization. Rather than displacing the blast furnace regime, FINEX co-evolved with it—improving efficiency and resource use. We conceptualize this transition as ecological succession and propose extensions to TIS and SNM frameworks. The findings offer insights into incumbent-led sustainability transitions in capital-intensive industries.

Keywords: FINEX; Green innovation; Technology Innovation System; Strategic Niche Management; Steel industry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544225033328
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:334:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225033328

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.137690

Access Statistics for this article

Energy is currently edited by Henrik Lund and Mark J. Kaiser

More articles in Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().