Competition, Competitive Strategy, and Industrial Change: The Case of Electronic Components

Innovation, Time, and Territory: Space and the Business Organization of Dell Computer

“…Others have studied the firm and its impact on the geography of economic activity within the context of broader organizational forms, such as the production network or commodity chain (Porter 1985;Gereffi and Korzeniwicz 1994;Castells 1996;Sturgeon 2002;Gereffi, Humphrey, and Sturgeon 2005). Perhaps most common is the approach that positions firms within industries (Schoenberger 1986;Angel 1994;Angel and Engstrom 1995;Harvey 1975Harvey , 1982Storper and Walker 1989;Scott 2005). In these representations, what is decisive in driving the process of spatial formation and differentiation are historical, cultural, economic, and organizational forces that act upon and operate outside the business enterprise.…”

“…2-82201-fields 1 Markusen (2003) argued forcefully how in much of the economic geography literature, "abstract processes are the principal actors" and how our understanding of spatial change has been compromised by a move away from real actors that are involved in transforming economies, primarily firms and workers. 2 Following Schoenberger (1991), the study used interviews with procurement and logistics managers at Dell, some of whom allowed me to use their names, and interviews with logistics managers at three of Dell's key suppliers, none of whom allowed me to use their names or company. Dell is extremely guarded about its business practices and, as a rule, does not partici-By focusing on Dell to trace this route from the enterprise to territory, this study draws upon the catalytic role of "communications revolutions"-new communications technologies and their systems of use-as a starting point for the innovative impulse of firms (John 1994;Albion 1932).…”

“…In implementing its time-driven routines, Dell, in effect, confronted a challenge that firms have faced throughout periods of capitalist development. Dell was compelled to reshape the landscape to access the benefits of a shift in the temporal dimensions of producing and selling, a tendency that is often referred to as "spatial fix" (Harvey 1982;Schoenberger 2004). In what is a sharp rebuke to the idea of Internet technology simply collapsing time and space, the case of Dell reveals how the Internet, far from providing the PC maker with the capabilities to escape the frictions of geography, made it more dependent than ever on proximity between key nodes in its network.…”

Plant Closure and Market Dynamics: Competitive Strategy and Rationalization

“…This may take the form of more intensive use of capital or labor. Investment in automation may permit even high labor cost regions to compete with low-priced imports in some industries (Schoenberger 1986). The alternative is to intensify the use of labor, relocate production to lower-cost plants, or contract out the most labor-intensive processes to lower-cost businesses.…”

New Firm Formation in the Semiconductor Industry: Elements of a Flexible Manufacturing System

“…By this account, the flexible manufacturing abilities of small specialized producers constitute an emerging alternative to currently hegemonic forms of mass production. There is now a growing case study literature examining flexible and post-Fordist production systems within the United States and Western Europe (BRUSCO, 1982(BRUSCO, , 1986CAMAGNI and RABELLOTTI, 1986;GORDON and KIMBALL, 1987;SCHOENBERGER, 1986;SCOTT, 1988b;STORPER, 1989).…”