lecture 15: technology – addendum. source: schmenner (1986)
TRANSCRIPT
Lecture 15: Technology – Addendum
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Source: Schmenner (2004)
DEPARTMENTAL TASKS AND TECHNOLOGIES
Mechanistic
Strategic Planning
• Imagine that you are the CEO of a company that manufactures solar PV modules.
• I will provide some information about the industry, and then either in groups or individually I will ask you to formulate a strategy for the company.
Solar Photovoltaic Value Chain
Engineering, Procurement and Construction
Operation and Maintenance
Source: First Solar (2010)
Some Expectations in 2010 about the Solar Photovoltaic Industry:
• There is likely to be an over-supply in the industry in 2010
• Module average selling prices (ASPs) were expected to fall by 20% or more in 2010
• Module manufacturers were expected to be hit hardest
• Downstream players (system integrators, project planners, installers, operators and those with access to credit) were expected to be more insulated
Questions
• If you are the CEO of a module manufacturer how might you respond?– What types of issues/factors do you need to
take into consideration?– How easy is it to assess – or analyse – those
factors?
Possible Factors to Consider (Task Variety in the sense may not have had to consider them before!)• Take-overs - which firms? How?
– Future interest rates? Future stock-market prices?• Organic growth – how? Employees? Time to grow
business?• Alliances?• Future demand – home and abroad, different market
segments– Regulations, subsidies, and WTO rulings
• Competitors’ responses• Investments in new facilities at home – where? How?
Employees• Investments abroad – where? How? Employees?
Question
• How would you change your strategy?
Solar PV Firms’ Responses
• Acquisitions (US SunPower) or establishment (German Q-Cells) of down-stream entities
• Establishment of production facilities in Malaysia, but greater role of home-country facilities for Q-Cells compared to SunPower
SunPower: A Leading US Firm
• 2006 acquisition of PowerLight, • then acquisitions in Italy and Australia
– substantially increased presence in Europe and Asia, and downstream presence in both commercial and utility-scale projects.
• 2010 acquisition of SunRay Renewable Energy,– downstream strategy across all segments and
geographies where solar is thriving. – Founded in 2007, SunRay is a developer of power
plants in Europe and the Middle East; it has operations across six countries, and is skilled in project finance, large-scale power plant development, permitting, and transmission.
Q-Cells: A Once Leading German Firm
Source: Q-Cells 2009 Annual Report
Technology and Interaction
• Technology can also be thought of as ways in which groups of individuals interact.
Interdependence and Co-ordination Mechanisms