Partnering with outsiders to speed innovation is increasingly the norm among high-tech companies. Then why are so many organizations still struggling to make such efforts work?
The answer, say MIT Sloan School professor of management Edward B. Roberts and Wenyun Kathy Liu, an associate at Salomon Smith Barney in New York, is that all too often companies choose collaborative strategies without first considering what stage in the technology life cycle a given technology has entered — and which type of partnership is suited best to that stage.
In the feature article of the Fall 2001 issue of the MIT Sloan Management Review, Roberts and Liu identify the four phases of the life-cycle of a technology and examine how those phases affect a technology leader's decision whether outsourcing or acquisition will best fuel innovation.
Anitesh Barua, Prabhudev Konana, Andrew B. Whinston and Fang Yin
Many models claiming to lead to e-business success have been too narrowly focused. A new research-backed model offers managers a comprehensive way of rethinking e-business operations.
Matthias Holweg and Frits K. Pil
Build-to-order manufacturing has been hailed as a boon to both companies and customers. But to be effective, companies and their suppliers must first understand what customers want.
Rakesh Khurana
Thanks to entrenched practices that are rarely questioned, boards often fail to choose the right CEO. Here are suggestions on how to avoid common pitfalls in CEO searches.
G. Richard Shell
Loose-lipped strangers can be a legal source for hot stock tips, but not if they expect to get something in return
Thomas W. Malone
Countless real-world experiments will drive e-business innovation during the next five years, and academic researchers will contribute to this process by accelerating the rate at which businesses learn from each other's experiments.
Arnaldo Camuffo, Pietro Romano and Andrea Vinelli
Benetton is rethinking its global network of suppliers and distributors and defying conventional wisdom in the process. Its efforts may prove to be a model for other companies with far-flung operations.
David B. Yoffie and Mary Kwak
Judo strategists avoid head-to-head struggles. Instead, by relying on speed, agility and creative thinking, they make it difficult for stronger rivals to compete — as Palm demonstrated in taking early control of the market for PDAs.
Michael Earl and Bushra Khan
The Internet is pushing companies and their IT departments to redefine technology's role in new business models. A recent survey shows long-accepted IT precepts falling by the wayside.
Morten T. Hansen and Michael S. Deimler
Business-to-employee management allows companies to cultivate employees the way they cultivate customers. In the process, they get a more satisfied, more productive work force — while enjoying major cost reductions.
Eric Lesser and Laurence Prusak
When employees walk out the door, they take valuable organizational knowledge with them. But managers who think creatively can keep it in-house.
To read on, please visit the MIT SMR home page at http://mitsloan.mit.edu/smr. Reprints of SMR articles are available.
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MIT Sloan founder Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. was dedicated to the innovation ethic. “Too often,” he said, “we fail to...pay tribute to the creative spirit.”
© 2013 MIT SLOAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT