From Confrontation to Coopetition in the Globalized Semiconductor Industry

The silicon chip is not only a symbol of marvellous technologies that are transforming industrial production and leisure time in society, but also of trade and technology conflicts while at the same time offering the potential for cooperation.The purpose of this paper is to show that the semiconductor industry has moved from being highly confrontational to being much more cooperative as is evidenced by the emergence of cross-national strategic alliances between companies, spanning R&D, product development, production and distribution.Over the last 15 years the semiconductor industry has experienced startling reversals of competitive fortune in which the USA dominated in 1970s, then Japan entered in 1980s, and in 1986 surpassed the USA as the largest producer of semiconductors with most US firms abandoning DRAM production due to price competition.This reversal of market position has become known as the X-curve. Since the early 1990s the Americans are on top again but with the Koreans and the Taiwanese coming on fast.With China and perhaps India coming on line in the present decade or so, these reversals in competitiveness will continue to play themselves out in the market.Due to external economies and spillover effects for other industries, this industry is considered to be a strategic sector, not only in the USA, where the industry came into existence, but also in Japan and Europe.Observing the excessive returns earned initially in this industry in the USA, Japanese companies wanted to shift these profits, at least in part, to Japan, for which the Japanese government provided support.The closing of the Japanese market both to imports and foreign direct investment undermined the initial American competitive strength.In order to counteract the loss of competitiveness the US industry reacted, besides by restructuring, by creating, with government funding, the research consortium SEMATECH, while the American government responded by concluding since 1986 bilateral trade agreements with Japan in which Japan initially agreed to "voluntarily" restrict its exports of semiconductors and to "voluntarily" expand the imports of American chips.In the mid-1980s Europe was a marginal player in the global competitive battle and suffered dependence on the USA and Japan.This was a consequence of decisions taken by European firms but part also lies in the fragmentation of the European market and the policy pursued by

Technology Roadmapping for Commercializing Strategic Innovations

In the increasingly globalized world economies, a variety of drivers define the market and regulatory contexts for commercializing the strategic innovations that provide significant competitive advantage in the near-term and long-term future. In this study we examine how technological roadmapping integrates these strategic contextual factors with the organizational capabilities and resources of the firm to commercialize strategic innovations. This is done by first examining four roadmapping case-studies: (1) at Motorola, (2) at Sandia National laboratories, (3) the National and International Roadmaps for Semiconductors, and (3) nanotechnologies. A five stage process is proposed for commercializing strategic innovations. Finally, managerial implications and potential future research are discussed.En las crecientes economías del mundo globalizado, una variedad de factores definen al mercado y el contexto regulatorio para la comercialización de innovaciones estratégicas que proveen ventajas competitivas significantes a corto y largo plazo. En éste estudio se examinan como la generación de mapas tecnológicos integran estos factores contextuales con las capacidades organizacionales y los recursos de la compañía para comercializar las innovaciones estratégicas. El estudio se realizó examinando 4 casos de mapas tecnológicos: (1) Motorota, (2) Laboratorios Nacionales Sandia, (3) Los mapas Internacionales para Semiconductores y (4) Nanotecnologías. Un procedimiento consistente en 5 etapas es propuesto para la comercialización de innovaciones estratégicas. Finalmente se discuten, las implicaciones de gestión y el desarrollo de un futuro tema de investigación.In the increasingly globalized world economies, a variety of drivers define the market and regulatory contexts for commercializing the strategic innovations that provide significant competitive advantage in the near-term and long-term future. In this study we examine how technological roadmapping integrates these strategic contextual factors with the organizational capabilities and resources of the firm to commercialize strategic innovations. This is done by first examining four roadmapping case-studies: (1) at Motorola, (2) at Sandia National laboratories, (3) the National and International Roadmaps for Semiconductors, and (3) nanotechnologies. A five stage process is proposed for commercializing strategic innovations. Finally, managerial implications and potential future research are discussed

Forecasting mix-sensitive semiconductor fabrication tool set requirements under demand uncertainty

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2001.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-75).by Alison L. Page.S.M.M.B.A

Performance evaluation of the photovoltaic system

The various renewable energy source technologies, Photovoltaics (PV) transforming sunlight directly into electricity, have become standard practice worldwide, especially in countries with high solar radiation levels. PV systems have been developed rapidly over recent years, and many new technologies have emerged from different producers. For each type of PV module, manufacturers provide specific information on rated performance parameters, including power at maximum power point (MPP), efficiency and temperature factors, all under standard solar test conditions (STC) 1000 W/m2. Air. In addition, the mass (AM) of 1.5 and the cell's temperature was 25 ̊C. Unfortunately, this grouping of environmental conditions is infrequently found in outdoor conditions. Also, the data provided by the manufacturers are not sufficient to accurately predict the performance of photovoltaic systems in various climatic conditions. Therefore, monitoring and evaluating the performance of the off-site systems is necessary. This thesis aims to overview various photovoltaic technologies, ranging from crystalline silicon (c-SI) to thin-film CdTe and GiCs. The following are the main parameters for evaluating the external units' performance to describe the PV systems' operation and implementation. In addition, a review of the impacts of various environmental and operational factors, such as solar radiation, temperature, spectrum, and degradation

Attaining Knowledge Workforce Agility in a Product Life Cycle Environment using Real Options

The product life cycle (PLC) phenomenon has placed significant pressures on high-tech industries which rely heavily on the knowledge workforce in transferring cutting-edge technologies into products. This thesis examines systems where market changes and production technology advances happen frequently and unpredictably during the PLC, causing difficulties in predicting an appropriate demand on the knowledge workforce and in maintaining reliable performance. Knowledge workforce agility (KWA) is identified as a desirable means for addressing the difficulties, and yet previous work on KWA is incomplete. This thesis accomplishes several critical tasks for realizing the benefits of KWA in a representative PLC environment, semiconductor manufacturing. Real options (RO) is chosen as the approach towards exploiting KWA, since RO captures the essence of KWA-options in manipulating knowledge capacity, a human asset, or a self-cultivated organizational capability for pursuing interests associated with change. Accordingly, market demand change and workforce knowledge (WK) dynamics in adoption of technology advances are formulized as underlying stochastic processes during the PLC. This thesis models KWA as capacity options in a knowledge workforce and develops a RO approach of workforce training, either initial or continuous, for generating options. To quantify the elements of KWA that impact production, the role of the knowledge workforce in production and costs in obtaining KWA are characterized mathematically. It creates necessary RO valuation methods and techniques to optimize KWA. An analytical examination of the PLC models identifies that KWA has potential to reduce negative impacts and generate opportunities in an environment of volatile demand, and to compensate unreliable performance of knowledge workforce in adoption of technology advances. The benefits of KWA are especially important when confronting highly volatile demand, a low initial adoption level, shrinking PLCs, a growing market size, intense and frequent WK dynamics, insufficient learning capability of employees, or diminishing returns from investments in learning. The thesis further assesses RO, as an agility-driven approach, by comparing it to a chase-demand heuristic and to the Bass forecasting model under demand uncertainty. The assessment demonstrates that the KWA attained from the RO approach, termed RO-based KWA, leads to a stably higher yield, to a persistently larger net present value (NPV), and to a NPV distribution that is more robust to highly volatile demand. Subsequently, a quantitative evaluation of KWA value shows that the RO-based KWA creates a considerable profit growth, either with uncertainty in demand or in the WK dynamics. In evaluation, RO modeling and the RO valuation are identified to be useful in creation of KWA value especially in highly uncertain PLC environments. This thesis illustrates the effectiveness of the numerical methods used for solving the dynamic system problem. This research demonstrates an approach for optimizing KWA in PLC environments using RO. It provides an innovative solution for knowledge workforce planning in rapidly changing and highly unexpected environments. The work of this thesis is representative of studying KWA using quantitative techniques, where there is a dearth of quantitative studies in the literature

Semiconductors: NEC: Sustaining long-term advantage through information technology

The case begins by placing the Japanese semiconductor industry in global context and examining the governmental policies and subsequent growth of the domestic and international semiconductor markets. As Japan's leading semiconductor producer, NEC's evolution and current business strategies are an integral part of this development. At the same time, the study of NEC's organizational structure and product choice allows an understanding of the company's use of and demand for software. The case study concludes by examining the use of information technology as a tool to create competitive advantage

Changing corporate strategies in a period of crisis: high technology multinational corporations in Scotland

The dissertation proposes that the economics of the crisis of capital accumulation and the extraordinary pace of technological and market change have led to new corporate strategies and industry structures in the high tech electronics industry. The research, survey of management in fourteen leading computer and semiconductor multinationals, was designed to integrate and explore the usefulness of theories on industrial structure and labour markets. The product life cycle model cannot solve the problems of diversified and increasingly competitive global markets and their ever more sophisticated demand for customised products. Similarly rigid barriers between differentiated and non-competing labour markets in dual labour market theory cannot account for new associations of labour and technologies or for the new importance of non-wage differences in global labour supplies. The research demonstrated the necessity of linking both demand and supply conditions in explaining contemporary industrial structure. The data persuasively supports the view that the supply conditions in local labour markets not only are critical to the global distribution of capital, but more importantly shape those investments. Scotland provided the industry with an annual labour supply and appropriate skills and a training/education sector responsive to industry needs, offering unique ways for corporations to minimise the cost of reshaping and retaining their workforce. Combining with significant state support of capital investment, the region provided cost - and risk-minimising opportunities for using expensive advanced technologies, expanding and extending their effectiveness in rapidly changing markets. Further, gender was a major factor in the emergence structure of work and the speed of industry adjustment. Rising male unemployment, shrinking employment vacancies for men, and the support of the region's women worker led to the industry's hiring men as the new production workforce, allowing new job design, recruitment criteria, employment expectations and worker commitment, necessary to increase the productivity of new investments