The semiconductor silicon industry roadmap: Epochs driven by the dynamics between disruptive technologies and core competencies

The resource-based perspective has done much to identify idiosyncratic firm attributes that may be a principal source of competitive advantages. Unfortunately, there has been little systematic industry evidence to support the strategic importance of core competence, nor has there been much work on the temporal or cumulative nature of core capabilities within an industrial setting. Further, little or no research has been performed demonstrating how the advent of technological discontinuities or disruptive technologies plays a part in creating epochs in technology competency development and the roadmap of an industry. In this study, we analyze the evolutionary and cumulative nature of core capabilities and their interactions with technological discontinuities from a market-driven perspective. We have studied the evolution of 167 firms through the 50-year history of the semiconductor silicon industry. Over time, there were several structural shifts in the necessary competencies through the advent of disruptive technologies. In the last 30 years, however, the change in the required competencies has been more cumulative in nature. We summarize this in a roadmap detailing the epochs in the semiconductor silicon industry.     

Appropriation Of Returns From Technological Assets And The Values Of Patents And R&D In Japanese High-Tech Firms †

This paper investigates the extent that technological assets contribute to the value of the firm, using the sample of 90 Japanese firms in pharmaceutical, chemical, and electrical equipment industries. We use the firm's R&D expenditures and the number of patents (in stock) as the measures of its technological assets and show that the relative usefulness of these two measures varies across industries. Particularly, Tobin's q is positively related to the technological assets most strongly in the pharmaceutical industry. It is also most sensitive in this industry to the level of patent stock, coinciding with the view that drug patents are more effective than other patents as a means of appropriating returns from innovation. The communications equipment industry is also characterized by its q's dependence on patent stock. In addition, this industry's q is particularly sensitive to the level of net R&D investment in the most recent year, presumably because of the rapid technological progress in this industry.     

Strategic change in the forest industry towards the biorefining business

The aim of the study was to explore the current forest industry's change features, necessary resources and management for the biorefining business in Scandinavia and North America. A total of 23 representatives from the forest, bioenergy and bioproducts sectors participated in themed interviews in the last round of a three-phase Delphi study. In both Scandinavian and North American forest industries, a conservative organizational culture and lack of financial resources create barriers to change. The role of the forest industry in the forest biorefinery consortium is largely seen to be that of a biomass provider. The scope of change depends on context-specific features, such as biorefinery location and raw material availability. Operating a commercial-scale biorefinery facility requires both new managerial and operational-level skills. Readiness for change needs to be embedded in the organizational culture — and the key to attaining this is open-minded organizational management. It is believed that there are innovative personnel in forest industry companies, yet the current culture does not encourage such people to submit their ideas. Success in the biorefinery business cannot be achieved without collaboration. However, sharing of profits among partners in the consortium will be challenging.     

The emergence of the outsourcing market and product technological performance

This study is a novel empirical endeavor to analyze the impact of market demand and product technological performance on the growth of industry's outsourcing activities. Using the laptop computer industry as an example, this study examines the connection between the growth of outsourcing activities and product technological performance as well as market demand. The results suggest that, in addition to the relative efficiency assumed from transaction cost economies, the products' technological performance and market demand might also influence the growth of industry's outsourcing activities.     

Marxism,Neoclassical Economics and the Length of the Working Day

Real business cycle models purport to explain the business cycle as the result of technological change. This paper shows that the commonly used measure of technological change, the Solow residual, does not capture changes in the technology of the production function. The model used in this paper is within the framework of models described in Hansen & Sargent (1990, 1991). Technological change is modeled as a change in the value of one of the 'deep' technology parameters in the production function. The Solow residual is incapable of capturing the effects of this sort of technological change. There is no consistent relationship between the direction and size of a technological change and the sign and size of the Solow residual. The Solow residual often moves in the wrong direction, e.g. a negative technological shock causes a positive residual. Even when the Solow residual has the right sign, its size is not consistent with the size of the technological shock, e.g. a larger positive change in technology does not necessarily cause a larger positive Solow residual.     

Business type,industry value chain,and R&D performance: Evidence from high-tech firms in an emerging market

This study focuses on how the business type and technological learning mode, which a high-tech firm chooses based on its core competence, influence the firm's R&D strategies, which in turn affect firm performance. This study also explores how the interaction between a firm's business type and industry value chain stage affects the relationship between R&D investments and operating performance. We suggest that the linkage of R&D investments and operating performance will increase gradually, when firms move from contract manufacturing to own brand business. R&D investments can contribute more to performance when firms adopt the hybrid business type. Furthermore, R&D investments generate more significant benefits for the own brand companies than the contract manufacturers at the same stage of the industry value chain. R&D investments of the downstream contract manufacturers have a negative impact on firm performance. Regardless of business type, firms in the upstream (midstream) stage of the industry value chain outperform downstream stage firms in deriving benefits from R&D activities. Finally, the lagged effects of R&D investments on operating performance are affected by the interaction between business type and industry value chain.     

How corporate cultures coevolve with the business environment: The case of firm growth crises and industry evolution

This paper shows how cognitive human dispositions that take effect at the level of an individual firm's corporate culture have repercussions on an industry's evolution. In our theory, the latter is attributable to evolving corporate cultures coupled with changes in a firm's business environment. With the help of a formal model of evolving corporate cultures, we demonstrate how firms can establish a cooperative cultural regime that yields competitive advantages in an innovative, fast changing environment. Depending on within-firm social learning processes and cognitive constraints of human agents, organizations then reach a critical cognitive firm size in their development beyond which the level of cooperation deteriorates rapidly—they systematically face a growth crisis. Organizations successful in such an environment and reaching a critical technological size may, however, reap economies of scale in a later, mature and stable business environment with altered corporate culture. Furthermore, we relate these findings to empirical evidence on firm survival and performance in different industries, the evolution of organizational structures, and technological advancements in production technologies, and we identify some determinants of market structures.     

Challenging the dominant logic in the healthcare industry: the case of precision medicine

The study on the impact of precision medicine (PM) in its surrounding political and business milieu has burgeoned in recent years. Recent advances in biomedical sciences suggest that PM has the potential to fundamentally alter the existing business logic in the healthcare landscape and the relationship between how medical care is delivered and organised. While barriers and policy challenges to the introduction of pharmacogenomics into healthcare system are widely noted, relatively little is known about whether and to what extent PM alters or even destroys the dominant logics of the pharmaceuticals and diagnostics industry, which constitute the core segment of the PM. In this paper, the shifting nature of dominant logic in the field of PM is studied by means of qualitative analysis. Several dimensions are identified to help develop a better understanding of changing business models and collaborative network structures.     

Sources of output change in China: 1987-1997: application of a structural decomposition analysis

Since the beginning of the economic reforms implemented in the industrial sectors of China, the economy has grown and changed rapidly. The high GDP growth rates recorded since 1985 have stimulated unprecedented changes in the economic structure of this developing economy. The major causes of the changes are: the increase in consumption and investment, production technological change and trade. The objective was to analyse this type of structural change, and to explore the sources of economic growth during the period 1987–1997, by using the method of structural decomposition analysis (SDA). The chosen SDA method, based on the comparison between two input-output tables, allowed us to decompose each sector's and industry's output growth; it enabled the relative impact of final demand and technological change of each industry on overall growthto be measured.     

The competitiveness of the UK aerospace industry

Porter's five competitive forces model provides an analytical framework for assessing the UK aerospace industry's competitiveness in this article. Various statistical indicators are used to measure competitiveness, based on published data at the industry and firm level, supplemented with information from company interviews. The indicators include productivity, output, firm size, development time-scales, labour hoarding, exports and profitability. The empirical results of this article suggest that, over the period 1980 to 2000, the UK aerospace industry improved its competitiveness compared with the USA and the EU.     

Disruptive technologies: a business model perspective on cloud computing

A viable business model is crucial for the successful commercialisation of disruptive technologies. The cloud computing industry provides an ideal example for exploring how various elements of a business model contribute to a product's success (or failure). We examine how Amazon.com, Salesforce.com and Siebel responded to the disruptive power of the cloud computing technology. Our findings suggest disruptive technology per se is not the reason for the collapse of large corporations, but rather the failure to adapt or create new business models to incorporate novel technology. Our findings have direct implications for strategic managers and entrepreneurs seeking to leverage disruptive technologies through the right business model.     

Business cycles and research investment

This paper examines the impact of uncertainty and the business cycle on US high-tech manufacturing firms’ research investment. Although the reliance on internal financing suggests firms will consider uncertainty and the business cycle when determining their research budget, little is known about how the business cycle and uncertainty influence research investment. Using firm-level data on sales, cash flow, and industry-level indicators of the business cycle, this paper finds that the firm's response to the business depends on the firm's industry and the industry's current location in the business cycle. The data also shows that the business cycle also depresses the firm's reaction to changes in sales and cash flow. Uncertainty clearly reduces research efforts, although non-linearly.     

颠覆性双元创新对数字产业技术融合的影响研究——市场与技术的联动效应

颠覆性创新是数字产业突破在位企业封锁,掌握技术主导权的核心动力。多维度的颠覆性创新政策能否真正促进数字产业技术融合度的提升,行业中其他企业又扮演何种角色？本文围绕技术与市场两个维度,基于数字产业中具有代表性智能制造业的研究数据,运用双元创新理论,探讨探索与利用两种颠覆性技术创新政策影响数字产业技术融合的异同,以及技术距离在其中的作用机制;并比较颠覆性技术双元和颠覆性市场双元之间不同的联动效应。采用逐步回归进行实证检验,研究发现：(1)颠覆性技术探索对技术融合度有显著的正向影响,且技术距离正向调节颠覆性技术探索与技术融合度间关系;(2)颠覆性技术利用与技术融合度呈倒U型关系,且技术距离正向调节颠覆性技术利用与技术融合度间关系;(3)不同的颠覆性技术创新和颠覆性市场创新联动关系对企业技术融合有着截然不同的影响,具体来说,在企业选定颠覆性技术探索战略的情境下,颠覆性市场双元对数字产业技术融合度不会产生明显的促进或抑制作用;在企业选定颠覆性技术利用战略的情境下,颠覆性市场探索对数字产业技术融合度表现出更为明显的促进作用。     

Technological change and industry structure: A case study of the petroleum industry

This paper is a case study of the impact of an exogenous improvement of a process technology on the structure of the petroleum industry. The paper examines the role of three-dimensional seismology in bringing about the 1990s oil industry consolidation. This proposition is examined in the context of evolutionary economics and in a non-cooperative game theory, concluding with a reference to Steindl's theory of industry dynamics. The significance of this contribution lies chiefly in highlighting the fact that exogenous technological change can, under appropriate conditions, play a significant role in industry dynamics. This reference to the exogenous change in technology is a departure from the traditional consideration of endogenity of industry structure in relation to technological development and, therefore, a novelty. Secondly, the documentation of 3D seismology as a significant process technology of the petroleum industry is significant.     

Copyright reform and business model innovation: Regulatory propaganda at German music industry conferences

Inspired by new digital technologies, diverse actors in cultural and creative industries propagate conflicting visions of how to adequately innovate – or rather preserve and strictly enforce – copyright-related business models, which has resulted in substantial amounts of regulatory uncertainty. Looking at a decade of regulatory discourse at industry events in the popular music industry in Germany, we investigate how these actors make sense of and strategically shape this uncertainty in the process of industry transformation. Our longitudinal argumentative discourse analysis reveals cycles of regulatory propaganda of two discourse coalitions that do not engage in debate, but aim to find support for competing business models among regulators and the public. Organizing, canceling, and participating in industry events are discursive strategies used effectively to transport their claims by both industry lobbyists and challenging actors, but industry incumbents are failing to use these sites for testing out and introducing new business models. We conclude that regulatory struggles, not least at industry events, mediate between disruptive technologies and business model innovation.     

Technological evolution and interdependence in China's emerging biofuel industry

This study uses the European Patent Office worldwide patent database and applies two-stage interactive data collection methods to reveal the evolving technological interdependence for China's emerging biofuel industry. Three findings are excerpted from our empirical results. First, due to dominant patterns of business ownership, China's biofuel technology is seen as largely based on the evolutionary strength of the foodstuff and chemical fields. Second, China's biofuel technology development has evolved in the mode of ‘forward engineering’, led by Chinese universities rather than initiated by the public research institutes as in the experience of other East Asian latecomers. Third, our patent map and technology trajectory analyses illustrate that China's biofuel technology tends to be application-oriented and highly intertwined with the pharmaceutical industry since the 2000s, which evidences the development of biofuel industry as reciprocally reinforcing China's innovation capability deriving from its prominent chemical sector. By examining endogenous technology capability embedded in the national innovation capacity, this study uncovers public implications for other technology latecomers attempting to build an emerging industry while facing technology uncertainty in a transitional society.     

Is Embodied Technology the Result of Upstream R&D? Industry-Level Evidence

This paper provides an exploratory analysis of whether data on the research and development (R&D) spending directed at particular technological/product fields can be used to measure industry-level capital-embodied technological change. Evidence from the patent literature suggests that the R&D directed at a product, as the main input into the “innovation” production function, is proportional to the value of the innovations in that product. I confirm this hypothesis by showing that the decline in the relative price of a good is positively correlated with the R&D directed at that product. The hypothesis implies that the technological change, or innovation, embodied in an industry's capital is proportional to the R&D that is done (“upstream”) by the economy as a whole on each of the capital goods that a (“downstream”) industry purchases. Using R&D data from the National Science Foundation, I construct measures of capital-embodied R&D. I find they have a strong effect on conventionally measured total-factor productivity growth, a phenomenon that seems to be due partly to the mismeasurement of quality change in the capital stock and partly to a positive correlation between embodied and disembodied technological change. Finally, I find the cross-industry variation in empirical estimates of embodied technological change accord with the cross-industry variation in embodied R&D. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Number: O3.     

The 1988 EC directive on biotechnological inventions and the UK biotechnology industry

The article, based on a recent survey of UK biotechnology companies, highlights the complex interaction between the organization of R&D and the patenting policy in the biotech industry. Some of the more interesting findings include: the limited extent of private investment in biotechnological R&D; the existence of two markedly different R&D strategies (product- vs. process-based); the distinction between first- and second-generation patents and their effects on market structure. The core of the article deals with the likely effects on patenting behaviour of changes in patent law - both as envisaged in the October 1988 Directive and as suggested by recent theoretical research on the economics of patents. The Directive in its current form is reported to have no discernible effect on the extent and organization of R&D, whereas the industry's response to a series of hypothetical changes suggests that any definition or patentability standards has far-reaching repercussions on: (1) the allocation of resources between research and development; (2) the conditions of entry into the industry; (3) the balance of bargaining power between firms of unequal size (or pursuing different R&D strategies); and ultimately (4) the allocation of technological surplus between consumers and producers.     

低端市场颠覆下后发企业商业模式创新路径研究

现有低端市场颠覆下后发企业商业模式创新研究多从要素创新和流程重塑视角,分析其在企业价值提升中的重要作用,而缺乏对商业模式创新路径的深层次思考,以及低端市场中后发企业如何凭借商业模式创新颠覆在位企业行业地位。为此,将颠覆式创新理论和商业模式创新理论相结合,基于低端市场研究背景,采用单案例探索性研究方法,以长城公司为案例样本,对低端市场颠覆下后发企业商业模式创新路径进行分析。结果发现,低端市场颠覆下的后发企业商业模式创新路径一般经历细分市场切入、价值网络重构、市场格局颠覆、竞争壁垒构建4个阶段。     

Measuring market power in multi-product oligopolies: the US meat industry

This paper develops and estimates an economic model for measuring market power in a quantity-setting oligopoly engaged in the joint production of demand-related goods. The model, which allows for firms' conjectures about both same and cross-market responses to own output variation, is applied to the US meat (beef and pork) industry. He hypothesis that the industry's equilibrium reflects price taking behaviour is rejected. The hypothesis of no cross effects cannot be rejected. Roughly, half of the farm-to-retail price spreads for beef and pork appear to be attributable to market power.