Harvard Business Review on Managing High-Tech Industries (Harvard Business Review Paperback Series) [Paperback]

Marco Iansiti (Author), Jonathan West (Author), Henry Chedbrough (Author), David J. Teece (Author), Gary Pisano (Author), Steven Whellwright (Author), W. Brain Arthur (Author), Harvard Business Review (Author)

Book Description

Series: Harvard Business Review Paperback Series | Publication Date: August 25, 1999

This title offers leading minds and landmark ideas in an easily accessible format. From the preeminent thinkers whose work has defined an entire field to the rising stars who will redefine the way we think about business, "The Harvard Business Review Paperback Series" delivers the fundamental information today's professionals need to stay competitive in a fast-moving world. High-tech industries face a unique set of challenges in bringing their ideas to market. "Harvard Business Review on Managing High-Tech Industries" collects key ideas featured in the "Harvard Business Review" that will help high-tech executives stay competitive throughout the entire process of taking a cutting-edge concept from the drawing board to the marketplace. This is a "Harvard Business Review Paperback".

Editorial Reviews

Review

"....Harvard Business Review on Managing High-Tech Industries succeeds at bringing together the best articles on high-tech management from recent years of the Harvard Business Review. Though clearly targeted at senior managers, readers at all levels of the corporate hierarchy will gain valuable strategic insights into high-tech industries." -- Technology & Society, December 1999

About the Author

Since 1984, Harvard Business School Press has been dedicated to publishing the most contemporary management thinking, written by authors and practitioners who are leading the way. Whether readers are seeking big-picture strategic thinking or tactical problem solving, advice in managing global corporations or for developing personal careers, HBS Press helps fuel the fire of innovative thought. HBS Press has earned a reputation as the springboard of thought for both established and emerging business leaders.

Product Details

• Paperback: 241 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Business Press; 1 edition (August 25, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578511828
• ISBN-13: 978-1578511822
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,772,368 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 8 of the best high-tech reprints from the HBR magazine., October 8, 2003

By 

Harinath Thummalapalli (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Harvard Business Review on Managing High-Tech Industries (Harvard Business Review Paperback Series) (Paperback)

This book is a compilation of some of the best articles on the high-tech industries published in the 1990s. These articles can be read independently and there isn't a thread going through the book other than the fact that they are all related to managing high-tech industries connection.

The first article 'Technology Integration' is all about the role of selecting the right technologies in R&D efforts to ensure proper technology integration otherwise, the resulting products could be late in getting to market, hard to manufacture, or do not fulfill the envisioned purpose. This article is based on an ongoing study of R&D in various segments of the global computer industry by the authors.

The second article 'When is Virtual Virtuous?' is all about deciding when going virtual can be harmful to success from innovation and when it can be helpful. The authors present a framework to help managers decide when to go virtual, when to form alliances, and when to rely on internal development. This decision was extremely hard for managers during the Internet bubble years and billions of dollars were wasted by Fortune 500 companies that may have not applied a framework like this one.

In the third article 'The New Logic of High-Tech R&D', the authors present a compelling argument for why manufacturing shouldn't be outsourced completely and how it is necessary to excel at developing both new products and processes simultaneously.

In the fourth article 'Real-World R&D', the authors present a new R&D approach where a system focus and an integration team can incorporate new technologies into existing products and creates a continuity in generations of products saving the company hundreds of millions of dollars.

In the fifth article 'How Architecture Wins Technology Wars', the authors put forward a view that proprietary architecture is necessary to competitive success. I am not sure how successful this approach will prove in this era of open standards. This article was published in 1993. This is the only article in the book I had trouble accepting.

In the sixth article 'Increasing Returns and the New World of Business', the authors put forward the concept of 'increasing returns' which is similar to the old philosophy in real life 'the rich get richer and the poor get poorer'. The authors show how there is a tendency for products that are ahead to go on and lock in the market and the products that are behind to lose advantage. There is an interesting discussion of the anti-trust case against Microsoft towards the end of the article.

In the seventh article 'Building Effective R&D Capabilities Abroad', the authors put forward ideas on how to take a global approach to R&D. I do not have enough background in this area to make any further comment.

In the eighth and last article 'Defining Next-Generation Products', the authors present the results of their valuable research involving 28 next-generation products in 14 leading high-tech companies. These best practices are the best part of this book. These best practices presented revolve around the product definition phase of all these projects.

Overall, this is a good book to read just like the other books in this series. I especially recommend that you don't miss reading the last article in the book. Good luck!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dynamics of the High Tech Industry, October 30, 2001

By 

Munipella Kailashnath (Bangalore, Karnataka India) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harvard Business Review on Managing High-Tech Industries (Harvard Business Review Paperback Series) (Paperback)

The Harvard Business Review on Managing High Tech Industries is a collection of very interesting articles addressing the issues facing managers, engineers and all participants in the high tech industries of electronics and pharmaceuticals.

The core issues covered by these articles are:

* Building effective product development capabilities in the high tech industry to bring better products to the market faster.
*Building effective processes to translate R&D efforts into world class products.
*Economics of the High Tech Industry
*Ideas to transform High Tech companies to global organizations.

There are many examples from successful organizations who have developed a competetive advantage in the areas of product devlopment, manufacturing and management of global R&D networks. These can be adapted to one's own organization.

Overall a good book that helps a manager or an engineer to benchmark his or her company with the best and most sucessful companies (and ideas) in the high tech industry.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting only to a narrow set of 'high-tech' companies, July 30, 2004

By 

Lars Bergstrom "LarsBerg" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Harvard Business Review on Managing High-Tech Industries (Harvard Business Review Paperback Series) (Paperback)

The individual articles themselves are all of high quality; however, this is most interesting for companies that have a large manufacturing effort that is separate from their research & development effort. For software companies, these articles are a bit less interesting, with the exception of the relationship to any broad research arm your company might have. Even then, though, the articles focus more on how you structure the company organizationally and how you handle operations than how a manager could change day-to-day operations to increase collaborations across the divisions.