Search

The increasingly important role that technologies play in today's business success is well known. To ensure proper selection and development of the key technologies, a deliberate technology plan is needed. In this paper, a strategic technology planning framework is proposed. A hierarchical decision model and its sensitivity analysis are presented as two major steps of the framework to provide effective technology assessment and to generate technology scenarios. The hierarchical model links an organization's competitive goals and strategies in evaluating the technology alternatives' overall contributions to business success; the sensitivity analysis helps to forecast and implement possible future changes in the economic environment, industry policies, and organization strategies. With the proposed framework, organizations can start to implement their technology plans synoptically and follow up with incremental adaptations as necessary. A case study on Taiwan's semiconductor foundry industry is presented to demonstrate the model in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examine the direct and moderating effects of the chief executive officer's (CEO) decision horizon and the board governance on a firm's entry into new technological fields, respectively. In a sample of 1727 firm-year observations for 156 Taiwanese firms in the semiconductor and optoelectronics industries for the period of 2003–2014, we found that the longer the CEO decision horizon, the more eager the focal firm is to enter new technological fields. Such a relationship is also strengthened by board power characterized by boards dominated by more outside directors, but weakened by board homogeneity of industry background. The configurational analysis further reveals that board homogeneity outweighs board power in reducing the positive influence of the CEO decision horizon on technological entry. This study not only contributes to the behavioral agency theory by infusing and testing CEO decision horizon to enhance predictions of the incidence of entering into new technological fields, but also reveals the contextual influences of board governance on executive risk taking. In addition, this study cautions against drawing a simple governance solution in support of a firm's technological entry. We point out different governance arrangements in which the CEO decision horizon will encourage more active technological entries in an environment of incessant changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study of literature addressing the semiconductor industries of Japan and the United States. Role of policies, protectionism, support of research consortia and the use of other industrial policies in the development of the Japanese industry; Question as to the consequences of the apparent technological discontinuities represented by the replacement of traditional apparatus with transistors and integrated circuits; Role of industrial structure in the US and Japan in competitiveness; Conclusions.

Explores relationships between types of innovative capabilities of firms in the semiconductor industry, the amount and nature of technical alliance usage, and the extent and types of associated problems. Results which show that firms need radical and/or incremental product and process innovation capabilities to compete successfully; Conclusion that firms have more problems acquiring product innovation capabilities through alliances meant for new technology development than they do acquiring process innovation capabilities.

Presents information on a study which dealt with the adoption of concurrent engineering approach that focuses on coordination and integration among engineering, production and marketing functions. How the added complexity of the product development path in semiconductor manufacturing in the United States may impede integration; Factions of engineers in a manufacturing firm; Examination of product development at semiconductor plants.

Examines the use of participative methods in semiconductor wafer fabrication and how those methods impact performance. Overview of the semiconductor industry in the United States; Details on Lawler's theory of participative management; Correlation of participative management with manufacturing quality and quantity.

Describes a procedure for using machine-learning classification technique coupled with an expert system to increase profitability and improve throughput in a semiconductor manufacturing environment. Identification of relationships between work-in process data and potential integrated circuit yield; Expert systems using encoded engineering expertise.