| Description |
1 online resource |
| Contents |
List of tables -- List of figures -- Prologue -- Acknowledgements -- Historiography -- Scope, scale, concentric diversification and the black box -- RCA and the electronic data processing business -- Consolidation phase : third generation computing and the second big push -- General Electric and the commercial data processing market -- Electrical and musical industries -- English electric -- Strategies and organisations of ibm and ict -- IBM's other competitors -- Conclusions : concentric diversification versus market specialisation and the problem of resource allocation |
| Summary |
A comprehensive guide to why major companies with a heritage in electronics failed to establish themselves as leaders in the computer industry. The author uses case studies to analyze the efforts of GE, RCA, English Electric, EMI and Ferranti to compete with business machine firms in the early mainframe computer market, primarily focusing on the USA's IBM and the UK's ICT. These cases cover many important themes in enterprise organization and capabilities, and how the heritage from which these firms came was important to the performance of the corporation in a new and innovative market place. It critiques the value of economies of scope in productive and technical capabilities unless matched to equal competencies in customer understanding and market reach, and provides a guide to both the business strategies and the technologies, which were fundamental to building our current information society |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 336-341) and index |
| Subject |
Computer industry -- History
|
|
Information technology industries.
|
|
History of specific companies -- corporate history.
|
|
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS -- Industries -- Computer Industry.
|
|
Media Studies.
|
|
Computer industry
|
| Genre/Form |
History
|
| Form |
Electronic book
|
| ISBN |
9780230389113 |
|
0230389112 |
|
9781283946896 |
|
1283946890 |
|
