Jeffrey T. Macher

Transaction Cost Economics: An Assessment of Empirical Research in the Social Sciences

This paper provides a comprehensive review of the empirical literature in transaction cost economics (TCE) across multiple social science disciplines and business fields. We show how TCE has branched out from its economic roots to examine empirical phenomena in several other areas. We find TCE is increasingly being applied not only to business-related fields such as accounting, finance, marketing, and organizational theory, but also to areas outside of business including political science, law, public policy, and agriculture and health. With few exceptions, however, the use of TCE reasoning to inform empirical research in these areas is piecemeal. We find that there is considerable support of many of the central tenets of TCE, but we also observe a number of lingering theoretical and empirical issues that need to be addressed. We conclude by discussing the implications of these issues and outlining directions for future theoretical and empirical work.

Technological Development and the Boundaries of the Firm: A Knowledge-Based Examination in Semiconductor Manufacturing

This paper examines how the knowledge-based view (KBV) can be applied to firm boundary decisions and the performance implications of those decisions. At the center of the paper is a theoretical and empirical examination of how firms most efficiently organize to solve different types of problems related to technological development, using the semiconductor industry as the empirical setting. Measures that capture important dimensions of performance support the proposition that organization affects performance in problem solving related to knowledge development. Integrated firms realize performance advantages when problem solving in technological development is ill structured and complex, while the same is true for specialized firms when problem solving in technological development is well structured and simple. Performance differences also arise from the presence of scale economies and scope economies.

Measuring Dynamic Capabilities: Practices and Performance in Semiconductor Manufacturing

Research on dynamic capabilities emphasizes the importance and role of organizational routines in explaining interfirm differences in performance. While performance differences are well documented, few empirical analyses explore the processes inside organizations that lead to dynamic capabilities or attempt to define and measure their performance effects. This paper examines one type of dynamic capability the development and introduction of new process technologies in semiconductor manufacturing. This dynamic capability is an important source of competitiveness in the semiconductor industry, given the short product lifecycles, rapid price declines, and rapid technological advances that define the industry. Because much of the knowledge that underpins semiconductor manufacturing is idiosyncratic, firm-level R&D organization and information technology practices that facilitate problem solving and learning-based improvement provide important and enduring advantages. We derive models of the rate of improvement in manufacturing yield (i.e. the quality of production) and cycle time (i.e. the speed of production) following the development and introduction of new process technologies in manufacturing facilities, and test the empirical specifications of these models. The ways in which semiconductor manufacturers accumulate experience and articulate and codify knowledge within the manufacturing environment build new process development and introduction dynamic capabilities that improve performance.

VERTICAL SPECIALIZATION AND INDUSTRY STRUCTURE IN HIGH TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRIES

We examine the evolution of vertical specialization in three industries: chemicals, computers, and semiconductors. Vertical specialization is the restructuring of industry-wide value chains, such that different stages are controlled by different firms, rather than being vertically integrated within the boundaries of individual firms. In some cases, vertical specialization may span international boundaries and is associated with complex international production networks. After decades of vertical specialization, firms in the chemical industry are re-integrating stages of the value chain. By contrast, the semiconductor and computer industries have experienced significant vertical specialization during the past ten years. We examine how and why these contrasting trends in vertical specialization have co-evolved with industry maturation and decline, and underscore the importance and role of both industry factors and business strategies necessary for industries to become more specialized. We also consider the effects of vertical specialization on the sources of innovation and the geographic redistribution of production and other activities. We conclude that the evolution of vertical specialization in these three industries has both reflected and influenced the strategies of leading firms, while also displays industry-specific characteristics that are rooted in different technological and market characteristics.

ORGANISATIONAL RESPONSES TO DISCONTINUOUS INNOVATION: A CASE STUDY APPROACH

Research that examines entrant-incumbent dynamics often points to the organisational limitations that constrain incumbents from successfully pursuing new technologies or fending off new entrants. Some incumbents are nevertheless able to successfully implement organisational structures and develop routines that overcome these institutional constraints. We provide a case-study analysis of how three firms — Motorola, IBM and Kodak — responded to “discontinuous” innovations and the associated structural and organisational limitations that are typical to incumbent organisations. Each firm was able to capture gains from new technologies and develop profitable products in emerging markets, although their abilities to sustain these gains varied due to subsequent organisational changes. Drawing from these case studies, we synthesise how firms can institute organisational strategies to continue to capture gains from disruptive innovations. A schema suggests that particular organisational strategies are comparatively optimal for corresponding points along an innovation lifecycle.

e-Business and Disintegration of the Semiconductor Industry Value Chain

This paper examines the influence of Internet-based e-Business applications on the vertical separation of design, manufacture, equipment production and process development in the global semiconductor industry. Vertical specialization has contributed to the rapid growth of semiconductor manufacturing capacity in Southeast Asia and the creation of new forms of international production networks linking design and manufacturing specialists. Although these trends began before the development of Internet-related e-Business applications, the Internet is facilitating these trends and their effects on the geographic distribution of manufacturing capacity. At the same time, however, many of the opportunities created by e-Business applications for vertically specialized firms should prove equally advantageous to integrated device manufacturers. Obstacles to e-Business applications in the global semiconductor industry include standardsrelated issues, data-security concerns, and the needs for far-reaching internal reorganization of business processes, especially by smaller firms. All of these obstacles suggest that the adoption of e-Business and the realization of its productivity benefits or cost efficiencies are likely to occur slowly.

“Managing” Learning by Doing: An Empirical Study in Semiconductor Manufacturing

This article examines the contributions of human resource and organizational practices to the development and supply chain management interface. It addresses this issue in the context of the semiconductor industry by highlighting the importance of these practices for learning-based improvement in manufacturing. One of the most important factors for competitiveness in the semiconductor industry is the ability to manufacture new process technologies with high yields and low cycle times. The more effective management of new process technologies within the manufacturing facility aids firms in managing production costs, volumes, and inventories. Efficient management of new process development and introduction translates into enhanced internal supply chain management performance by improving the design of internal workflows, manufacturing performance, and the acquisition and installation of new manufacturing processes. Because much of the knowledge that underpins semiconductor manufacturing is idiosyncratic, however, firm-level differences in human resource and organizational practices are likely to have consequences for performance. The article derives learning curve models of the rate of improvement in manufacturing yield (i.e., the rate of learning) and cycle time (i.e., the speed of production) following the introduction of a new process technology in a manufacturing facility. It then tests the influence of the use by semiconductor manufacturers of teams for problem solving and intrafirm knowledge transfer, the level of internal adoption of information technology (IT), and more extensive and effective workflow and production scheduling systems on manufacturing performance. It finds that the manners in which semiconductor manufacturers allocate engineering resources to problem-solving activities, utilize information technology in the manufacturing facility, schedule production, and control the “shop floor” influence the levels and rates of improvement in both manufacturing performance measures. The article makes several contributions to the literature on product and process development and, accordingly, to research on the product development/supply chain interface. In particular, the model of organizational-based learning provides a better understanding of the determinants of learning-based performance improvement. In particular, better manufacturing performance results not strictly from greater cumulative volume but also from the actions of managers that affect the organization of establishment-level problem-solving activities and information exchange. The article also demonstrates that human resource and organizational practices in both the development and the adoption of new process technologies improve manufacturing performance by accelerating new product introduction, improving workflow, and enhancing the efficiency of manufacturing processes.

Reversal of Fortune? The Recovery of the U.S. Semiconductor Industry

For most of the semiconductor industrys history, U.S. producers were undisputed leaders in market share, product introduction, and process technology advance. After losing this dominant position and enduring significant market share losses during the early 1980s, U.S. semiconductor firms and the federal government took corrective actions on several fronts. A concerted effort in improving product quality and manufacturing process yields narrowed the gaps between U.S. and foreign competitors. U.S. firms also exited from product lines in which their historic skills at product innovation provided limited competitive advantage. Federal government initiatives, ranging from trade policy to financial support for university research and R&D consortia, also played a role of uncertain magnitude in the industrys revival. The resurgence of the industry is an impressive feat, but the unexpected nature of this revival, its complex causes, and the fragility of its foundation suggest that U.S. semiconductor firm strength cannot be taken for granted.

The Non-Globalization of Innovation in the Semiconductor Industry

The global semiconductor industry is undergoing several forms of structural change simultaneously. The structure of market demand is shifting from one dominated by personal computers to a more diverse array of heterogeneous niches, largely resulting from global diffusion of the Internet and wireless communications applications. The structure of manufacturing activities is shifting from one dominated by integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) that both design and manufacture semiconductor components to one characterized by vertical specialization, where many firms specialize in either design and marketing (fabless firms) or manufacturing (foundries). Finally, market demand and technical expertise are growing in geographic regions (e.g., Malaysia, Singapore, the Peoples Republic of China, etc.) that formerly were much less prominent actors in the global industry. We examine the influence of these three overlapping trends on the geographic structure of R&D in this industry, using data on patenting and offshore investment by firms in development fabs from 1994 to 2004.

Regulator Heterogeneity and Endogenous Efforts to Close the Information Asymmetry Gap

The now standard principal-agent model of regulator-firm interactions typically assumes the presence of a single regulator and an exogenously determined information asymmetry between the principal and the agent. In this paper we draw upon a unique data set of regulatory inspections conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to explore the consistency of these assumptions with the actual practice of regulators. We find that the canonical assumptions of the agency paradigm are strained by, if not altogether inconsistent with, the key practical realities of regulation by the FDA. Our analysis uncovers several dimensions along which regulators actively and endogenously seek to close the information asymmetry gap. We also find considerable regulator heterogeneity, which in turn depends in part upon the specific training and experience of individual regulators.