Alfred O. Lewis

Technological convergence throughout the eras: Part 2 – Cellular and computers

Purpose – The development and proliferation of cellular/wireless technology has changed the competitive environment of traditional cooper based telephony. The complexity in the competitive environment coupled with advances in technology and innovation is requiring management to rethink strategy formulation and implementation. Convergence is discussed in the context of discontinuous competitive environment and possible management responses to changes.Design/methodology/approach – The findings of this paper are based on the analysis of the communications industry, a comprehensive review of trends in innovation and technology, strategic diagnosis and implication for management.Findings – The rate of change in innovation is leading to the creation of new industries and the disintegration of the industry classifications due to convergence of multiple needs previously served by different industry groupings. As such, firms have to upgrade their environmental scanning systems to detect competitive forces beyond t...

Technological convergence throughout the eras: Part 3 – Biotechnology

Purpose – It is widely acknowledged that the pace of change due to complexity in the competitive environment coupled with advances in technology and innovation is forcing management to rethink strategy formulation and implementation. The purpose of this paper is to discuss convergence in the context of discontinuous competitive environment and possible management responses to changes.Design/methodology/approach – The findings of this paper are based on the analysis of developments in the biotechnology environment. The disruption to pharmaceutical industry is examined from the context of need served.Findings – The rate of change in innovation is leading to the creation of new industries and the disintegration of the industry classifications due to convergence of multiple needs previously served by different industry groupings. As such, firms have to upgrade their environmental scanning systems to detect competitive forces beyond the traditional industrial competitive boundaries.Practical implications – The...

Technological convergence throughout the eras: Part 1 – Cars

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the history and development of the automobile industry Furthermore the paper discusses convergence in the context of discontinuous competitive environment and possible management responses to changes.Design/methodology/approach – The findings of this paper are based on the analysis of the auto industry and the changes triggered by advances in related industries and socio‐economic forces.Findings – The rate of change in innovation is leading to the creation of new industries and the disintegration of the industry classifications due to convergence of multiple needs previously served by different industry groupings. As such, firms have to upgrade their environmental scanning systems to detect competitive forces beyond the industrial competitive boundaries.Practical implications – The paper provides a comprehensive review of convergence and disruptive technologies and the resulting implications for the automobile industry.Originality/value – The paper highlig...

Extending Ansoff’s Strategic Diagnosis Model

Given the complex and disruptive open-ended dynamics in the current dynamic global environment, senior management recognizes the need for a formalized, consistent, and comprehensive framework to analyze the firm’s strategic posture. Modern assessment tools, such as H. Igor Ansoff’s seminal contributions to strategic diagnosis, primarily focused on identifying and enhancing the firm’s strategic performance potential through the analysis of the industry’s environmental turbulence level relative to the firm’s aggressiveness and responsiveness of capability. Other epistemic modeling techniques envisage Porter’s generic strategic positions, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT), and Resource-Based View as useful methodologies to aid in the planning process. All are complex and involve multiple managerial perspectives. Over the last two decades, attempts have been made to comprehensively classify the firm’s future competitive position. Most of these proposals utilized matrices to depict the position, such as the Boston Consulting Group, point positioning, and dispersed positioning. The GE/McKinsey later enhanced this typology by expanding to 3 × 3, contributing to management’s deeper understanding of the firm’s position. Both types of assessments, Ansoff’s strategic diagnosis and positional matrices, are invaluable strategic tools for firms. However, it could be argued that these positional analyses singularly reflect a blind spot in modeling the firm’s future strategic performance potential, as neither considers the interactions of the other. This article is conceptual and takes a different approach from earlier methodologies. Although conceptual, the article aims to present a robust model combining Ansoff’s strategic diagnosis with elements of the performance matrices to provide the management with an enriched capability to evaluate the firm’s current and future performance position.