Introduction
Morison’s (2004) essay, “Gunfire at Sea: A Case Study in Innovation”, is a commentary on the social implications of technological change that surrounded the introduction of continuous-aim firing in both the British and American navies. Morison discusses (1) conditions that foster technological innovation, (2) reactions to the changes produced by innovation, and (3) the elements of an adaptive society. The Cogan and Burgelman (2004) case, “Intel Corporation: The DRAM Decision”, paired with the aforementioned reading, recounts Intel’s encounter with technological change and how they came to exemplify the idea of an adaptive society.
Discussion
DRAM Decision
Throughout its history, Intel has centered its strategy on the tenets of technological leadership and innovation (Burgelman, 1994). Intel established its reputation for taking calculated risks early on in 1969 by pioneering the metal-oxide semiconductor (MOS) processing technology. This new process technology enabled Intel to increase the number of circuits while simultaneously being able to reduce the cost-per-bit by tenfold. In 1970, Intel once again led the way with the introduction of the world’s first DRAM. While other companies had designed functioning DRAMs, they had failed to develop a process technology that would allow manufacturing of the devices to be commercially viable. By 1972, unit sales for the 1103, Intel’s original DRAM, had accounted for over 90% of the company’s $23.4 million revenue (Cogan & Burgelman, 2004).
By 1984, a combination of factors had contributed to lowering the profitability of the DRAM industry. As the DRAM industry matured, DRAMs began to take on the characteristics of a commodity product (Burgelman, 1994; Burgelman & Grove, 2004). Competitors had closed the gap on Intel’s lead in technology development causing the basis of competition to shift towards manufacturing capacity. Gaining market share in an industries where product features had become standardized required companies to agressively pursue capacity expansion, while engaging simultaneously in cutthroat price competition. Also, with each successive DRAM generation, companies wishing to keep pace with the demand for increasing production yields were forced to commit increasingly large capital investments to retrofit their fabrication facilities. Figure 1 contains a snapshot of the DRAM industry between the periods of 1974 through 1984. The important thing to note is that Intel begins to fall behind the competition beginning with the 16K generation and is virtually non-existent in any of the future generations (Burgelman, 1994).
NVE Corp. has patents on advanced MRAM designs which include vertical transport MRAM, magnetothermal MRAM, and spin-momentum transfer MRAM. These advanced designs are aimed to resolve the current hindrances of MRAM technology; mainly, lowering manufacturing costs while increasing memory density. Due to MRAM’s more expensive production costs and larger relative size than DRAM and Flash RAM, they are slowly being integrated into electronics devices.
The Hefty Hardware case study presents multiple critical issues that will impact both short-term and long-term growth and development of the company. The first issue is the communication gap and lack of integration between stakeholders in business and the Information Technology division. The second critical issue is the lack of shared knowledge and each department working on projects in essentially silos. The third critical issue is internal company politics driving the executive-level decision making process. Solutions to the above issues will need to be addressed with utmost urgency to ensure Hefty Hardware’s foothold in the marketplace.
Anthony Heard StudentIDHE63071797 MGT245 Assignment 1 1. Briefly summarize Jewkes’s findings regarding the importance of the following factors in stimulating high-impact innovation: a. Individuals working alone vs. working in teams (minimum response: 200 words) According to Jewkes on the article, ‘Source of Invention’ individuals have played an important role in bringing about many innovations in technology. On the other hand, Jewkes also credits different small and large firms and groups who made it possible to have some vital inventions.
The ubiquity of silicon chips has been primarily driven by the breadth, and rate of innovation in the semiconductor field over the past fifty years. Every realm of human life has benefited from these advancements, and it is gratifying to know that each of us in the field has played a part, however infinitesimal. However, disruptive innovation in the next ten years will surpass all that we have accomplished in the last fifty years.
In an attempt to increase the market share with in the digital memory division (DMD) of Hewlett-Packard, management decided to analyze the potential profitability of developing a 1.3” drive that would surpass the current technology within this continually growing market. Teams comprised of the best and brightest employees, within the organization, were tasked with developing this new product from the ground up. After successfully delivering on their goals, the new drive was ready for the customer. Initial sales were one tenth of the prescribed figures and the 1.3” drive was scraped, even though it was a far superior product to the current technology available at the time of introduction. Throughout this case study I will outline the reasons this project ultimately failed and discuss how some of the mistakes that lead to the drives demise were actually rational decisions.
“You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy, and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy, and you find men on the moon – not once, but several times – and safely home again,” states Sinclair. This statement shows the vast amount of technologies America possesses. Later in the same paragraph, Sinclair remarks about the fact that America did not even pursue its draft dodgers for the fact that they ran to Canada. This shows that America’s domestic problems are not as important as helping others around the world. America lays its scandals on the table for all to view. To speak more on the issue of technology, America is the largest producer of airplanes in the world. America does not boast about its technological advances, it merely allows other nations to share in its glory.
When going to a bar to have drinks your go voluntarily you take you own decision on and action on whether your drink. The employees that are in charge of serving alcohol are doing their job which is selling product and making drinks. The Dram shop liability laws makes accountable alcohol servers responsible for harm that drunk or underage people cause to other people or themselves. Well I personally believe servers should not be accountable le of other drunk people that cant drinking with out loosing their actions. First reason is , the servers never invited them to get drunk didn’t obligated the intoxicators to drink the servers just serve the drink. They don’t see if you drunk folks came with someone or came alone so, why make them accountable
Intel has a differentiation strategy based upon quality and innovation. This strategy has served the company well and should be continued. Differentiation strategy has worked for Intel in the past simply because they have continued to provide a product that the buyer needs and can use in a competitive technological market. As discussed earlier, one of the reasons they have been able to do this is the amount of money they have put into research and development. To gain an advantage over competitors the R&D department focuses on the product’s features and the way it is offered as the primary means. In order to stay as successful as Intel has been in the past with a differential strategy, they have to continue to stay ahead of the technological curve. However, as technology is changing, as well as what the customer desires, Intel will also require the adoption of several different strategies to continue to be a leader in their industry.
Onto today's news, it has been announced that Intel has joined hands with Rockchip in a strategic agreement for them to accelerate and increase the adoption of Intel chipsets (both architecture and communication solutions) for smartphones and tablets around the world. With this partnership Rockchip could further increase its presence in low-cost smar...
Forbes, N. & Wield, D. (2002). From Followers to Leaders: Managing Technology and Innovation in Newly Industrializing Countries. UK: Psychology Press.
According to the casing study, Intel’s “Rebates” and Other Ways It “Helped” Customers Intel paid customer huge pay. As the dominating company, they purposely paid other companies not to use ADM products. They paid Dell 6 billion dollars over a 5 year period (Velasquez, 2014). In addition, they knew ADM would not be able to compete with them: they took advantage of their size and used their rebate program to try and ADM from advancing in the x86 processor industry. In addition, Intel’s monolply-like behavior is displayed in the terms of quality. They did not care about customers wanting the reliable x86 processors, they wanted to monopolize the market with their product, and would pay a huge amount of money to achieve their
Silver Lake began to investigate the possibility of acquiring Seagate’s disk drive operations. Due to Seagate’s size, market capitalization and industry-leading position, the proposed buyout had the potential to become a landmark transaction. As part of a two-step deal, VERITAS will acquire Seagate, then sell Seagate 's operating assets for $1.9 billion to Seagate executives and a buyout firm (Silver Lake). For Seagate to "unlock" their value without incurring tax penalties, they will sell their 33% stake in VERITAS (128 million shares) back to VERITAS, who will then sell back fewer shares, instantly increasing earnings per share.
Technology is crucial in influencing society, therefore it is imperative to understand what influences technological development and how it changes society, such as social shaping and theories of technological determinism. Langdon Winner supports the social determination of technology through the findings of others and his theories of politically influenced technologies, thus Winner accounts for technological determinism through defining the theory in this context.
Kelley,T. (2005, Oct.). The 10 faces of innovation. Fast Company, 74-77. Retrieved 6th March’ 2014 from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=9&sid=1d6a17b7-c5f7-4f00-bea4 db1d84cbef55%40sessionmgr10&hid=28&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=bth&AN=18386009
The invention and innovation of small firearms spans throughout the world and throughout multiple centuries. The main inventions during the early phases of small arms development quickly gave way to the next innovation, although they were slow to be adapted to military use due to the cost of their production. As time went on these innovations became more and more stagnant to the point of there being no major innovations in the field for close to two hundred years. However, after this stagnant period, there began another period of advanced innovation in the area of small arms technology. The goal of this essay is to understand and dissect the innovations that occurred during these two periods of advanced innovation and the cultural and historical factors that lead to them.