UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

School of Business Administration

OE 570: Strategic Management of Innovation and Technology

 

Instructor: Emer Dooley

Office: Lewis 219, Phone: 616-8682

Email: emer@u.washington.edu

Homepage: http://faculty.washington.edu/emer/

 

Class Hours: Monday and Wednesday 8:30-10:20, BLM 417

Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday 10:30-12:20 , Lewis 219.

Outside these hours, you’re welcome to drop by anytime if you want to take your chances. (Send me email and set up a time if you want to make sure I’ll be there)

You should also make every effort to attend the Hi-tech Entrepreneurship Speaker Series

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A course packet will be available at the Balmer Copy Center

Course Objectives

The course covers five questions that are of concern to managers in technology-driven industries:

  1. How can rapid technological change alter the basis of competition in an industry and what are the implications for competitive strategy?
  2. What is or what should be the link between competitive strategy and technology investment decisions?
  3. What is the best way of fostering innovation in the enterprise?
  4. What’s the best way of managing the development process to achieve strategic goals?
  5. What’s the best competitive strategy for establishing a product in the market place?

 

Teaching Method

The course is a mix of cases, readings, lectures and a group project. Emphasis will be on case analysis and the project. Cases are on technology companies such as Intel, Monsanto, 3M, Quantum, Applied Materials; the industries span the gamut from a gricultural biotechnology to video games. Since case studies concentrate on large (i.e. in this context, abstract) corporations, you will be required to work with a local high tech company on a real problem to add some balance, as detailed below.

 

Report

Student teams will develop a case on a local high-tech company. This will involve

  1. An assessment of the market the company is competing in (Size & trends; who is the customer; what is the compelling reason to buy; how do you reach the customer (dist. system); who are the competitors; barriers to entry; state of the technology, d evelopment cycle etc.)
  2. Identify a critical problem the company is trying to solve. (Here you will have to talk to company executives and work to identify a strategic issue: e.g. new product launch decision, outsourcing decision, alliance decision)
  3. Propose a course of action.

 

Grading

Course grade will be assigned as follows:


Group project
  • Oral presentation 15%
  • Written report 25%
    Case study analysis: 30%
    Class participation. 30%

     

     

    Class Schedule

     

    Part I: Competition in technology driven industries

     

    Due: End of the week of September 29th: A copy of an up to date resume.

     

    Monday, September 29th

    Lecture: Innovation, competition and competitive advantage

     

    Wednesday, October 1st

    Cases: Power Play [A]: Nintendo in 8-bit video games

    Power Play [B]: Sega in 16-bit video games

    Power Play [C]: 3DO in 32-bit video games

    Reading: Richard Foster. Innovation: The Attackers Advantage.

    Short lecture: Videogame market in 1997

     

    Due: End of the week of October 6th: Preliminary analysis of the company and market you’ll be working with.

     

    Monday, October 6th

    No class: Use the two class hours (and lots more!) to research the company and the market you’ll be working in. I’ll be in my office all morning to answer questions, add my two cents worth, help etc.

     

    Part II: Technology Strategy

    Wednesday, October 1st

    Cases: Intel [C]: Strategy for the 1990’s

    Intel [D]: Microprocessor at the crossroads

    Short lecture: PC Market in 1997

     

    Deadline: End of the week of October 13th: First meeting with your company executive. Problem identified.

     

    Monday, October 13th

    Case: Monsanto’s march into biotechnology [A]

    Short lecture: Biotechnology industry in 1997

     

     

    Wednesday, October 15th

    Lecture: Technology Strategy

    Readings: 1. Kim Clark. What strategy can do for technology. HBR 1989

    2. Wheelwright and Clark. Creating Project plans to focus product development. HBR 1992

    3. Kodama. Technology Fusion and the new R&D. HBR 1992

     

    Monday, October 20th

     

    Lecture: Technology Strategy

     

     

     

    Part III: Fostering Innovation

     

    Wednesday, October 22nd

    Case: 3M Profile of an innovating company

    Reading: James Brian Quinn. Managing Innovation: Controlled Chaos

     

    Monday, October 27th

    Case: New Product Development at Canon

    Reading: Injuro Nonaka. The Knowledge Creating Company

     

     

     

    Part IV Managing the New Product Development Process

    Wednesday October 29th

    Case: Ceramic Process Systems

    Reading: Edward Roberts. Managing Invention and Innovation

     

     

    Monday, November 3rd

    Case: Quantum Corporation

    Reading: Clark and Fujimoto. The Power of Product Integrity

     

    Wednesday November 5th

    Case: Applied Materials

     

    Monday, November 10th

    Lecture: Managing the New Product Development Process

     

    Wednesday November 12th

    Lecture: Managing the New Product Development Process

    Readings: Hauser and Clausing. The House of Quality

    House and Price. The Return Map

    Monday, November 17th

    Managing Complexity in the development Process

    Guest: Rob Short, Microsoft

    Reading: Excerpt from Show-Stopper! : The Breakneck Race to Create Windows NT and the Next Generation at Microsoft .G. Pascal Zachary

    (To be handed out in advance)

     

    Wednesday November 19th

    Putting product support in the development equation

    Guest: TBD

     

    Part V: Competitive Strategy and New Product Introductions

     

    Monday, November 24th

    Cases: EMI and the CT Scanner [A]

    EMI and the CT Scanner [B]

     

     

    Wednesday November 26th

    Cases: Philips Compact Disc Introduction [A]

    Philips Compact Disc Introduction [B]

    Philips Compact Disc Introduction [C]

     

    Monday, December 1st

    Case: Philips and Sony: The Digital Compact Cassette vs. the Mini Disc

    Lecture: Competitive Strategy

    Readings: Hill, Charles. Competitive Strategy in Winner Take All Industries. Academy of Management Executive

     

     

    Wednesday December 3rd

    Group Presentations

     

    Monday, December 8th

    Group Presentations

     

    Wednesday December 10th

    Wrap up

     

     

    Companies and Contacts

     

    InterNAP. CEO: Tony Naughtin

    ICat. CFO and VP Operations: Jamie Miller

    RTIME, Internet Gaming Company. CEO Chip Overstreet

    Zombie . CEO: Mark Long

    Wall Data President: John Wall

    Microsoft & TCO: Rob Short