Defying value-shift : how incumbents regain values in the industry with new technologies
Name
658861000-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
11.4 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
233b55490a7f1b85eb0fd449cfd294df
Author(s)
Kuramoto, Yukari
Advisor(s)
James M. Utterback.
Date Issued
2010
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Historically, incumbent assembly firms with unquestionable strong positions in such industries as the automobile, consumer electronics, computer and mobile phone industries, have lost power when new technology is introduced; at the same time, supplier firms have taken over the power and gained value in the industry. We characterize this phenomenon as value-shift. Many industry experts have intuitive understandings of this phenomenon but not many scholars have identified its mechanism with a full-fledged theory. This paper identifies a mechanism that causes value-shift within the TV set industry, suggesting its application to other industries. This thesis then proposes a clear spectrum of strategies for incumbent assembly firms to prevent value-shift. At the same time, it indicates a set of strategies for supplier firms to take over the industry leadership. The work firstly defines value-shift and presents evidences that it exists in various industries by calculating the transition of value-added. By quantifying the impact of the value shift with this calculation, the thesis urges incumbent firms to take immediate actions to defy the value-shift. Then the thesis closely examines recent technology transition from the Cathode Ray Tube to the Liquid Crystal Display and describes how the value-shift took place in the TV set industry. From this industry analysis, the thesis describes the mechanism of the value-shift and discussed the possible strategies that incumbent firms could use to maintain their power over the industry. Finally, the thesis suggests the generalized mechanism of value-shift as an evolution in four stages using the modularity theory. The thesis implies the proposed mechanism is generally applicable by citing examples from other industries and suggests possible actions for both parties: for the incumbent firms to defy the value-shift and for the supplier firms to obtain industry leadership.
Description
Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2010.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 92-94).
Subjects
Sloan School of Management.
MIT Department
Sloan School of Management
Terms of Use
M.I.T. theses are protected by
copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but
reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written
permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.
copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but
reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written
permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.
Persistent DSpace Link
