Case Study - Intel This is a strategic management case

Continuous innovation: As a technology company and from the experience of DRAM, it is necessary to continuously innovate to uphold the leadership position in the industry. Intel was left behind after 1103 DRAM in innovation.

Another way of achieving the profit of the added value is investment in software development to leverage the advantage of the high performance processors. And that was achieved by development of complementors, although Intel had a relationship with Microsoft, but it was enough, since it required Microsoft years to develop the software, were Intel is moving faster, by adopting the strategy of complementors, Intel build its capital. Intel strategy was to invest in companies that fit strategically into Intel’s business strategy as well as offered a financial return.

This case traces the strategic decisions of Intel Corporation which defined its evolution from being a start-up developer of semiconductor memory chips in 1968 to being the industry leader of microprocessors in 1997 when it ranked amongst the top five American companies and had stock market valuation of USD 113 billion.

This report discusses the case study ‘Intel Research: Exploring the Future [1], published in 2005 by the Harvard Business School. The discussion is divided into three different sections: overview, analysis and conclusion.

Known as Intel Corporation (Intel) is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. Intel's revenue base is one of the world's largest and most valuable semiconductor chip makers. Intel chipsets also the motherboard, network interface controllers and integrated circuits, flash memory, graphic chips, embedded processors and other devices related to communications and computing it. Semiconductor pioneers Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore established it on July 18, 1968, and widely associated with the executive leadership and vision of Andrew Grove, Intel's advanced chip design capability with a leading-edge manufacturing combines capacity.

Jobber and Chadwick (2013) discussed that the main two sources of gaining an advantage over competitors are by offering different benefits of the product or deliver it at lower cost than the competition.

On the 1st of June, 2015, Intel announced that they acquired Altera, another chip maker in the high technology industry who is particularly professional in producing programmable chips, by $16.7 billion as well as about $54 per share for Altera shareholders, which was the largest acquisition that Intel ever made (Nusca, 2015). The price is quite close to which was proposed by Intel, but in fact, just two months before Intel approved the acquisition, Altera rejected the price that Intel proposed. In the last few years, Intel suffered from the declining sales of personal computers, of which has been the main profitability source, and has been dominated by Intel for a long time, as consumers switch their preference from laptops and personal computers to tablets and other mobile devices (Huddleston, 2015). As a result, away from PCs, Intel has to work harder to get

America was not buying into that claim and 90% of computers used are Intel based. (Lai, E. (2007) Vista, Mac Use Both Increase. Retrieved January 9, 2008, from PCWorld Web site http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,140422-page,1/article.html).

Intel uses a differentiation strategy that builds competitive advantage through product quality, customer service, and brand image management. Intel invests heavily in the innovation of their products including their cutting edge microprocessors and other technological products, so they can ensure leadership within the market. One way to succeed in product differentiation is to continuously innovate and develop new or enhanced products that cannot be easily matched by competitors.

Intel actively searches for new opportunities in different (chip) markets, and when these new markets after a while are getting more and more established, Intel protects its market share by significantly reducing the chip’s prices (Lumpkin & Dess, 2001).

First, Apple introduced a new OS in 2001. Second, Apple shifted to Intel chips and by the following year all Macintosh line ran on Intel making laptops run faster for less power. The third strategy was the development of proprietary set of applications. The fourth strategy in becoming the “digital hub” was to come up with a new distribution strategy: the Apple retail store, where customers can have a direct use and experience of Apple’s product and software.

Since 1998, Intel has developed and used an e-business strategy to maintain relationships with its customers, employees and suppliers. The company's goal is to become a 100% ‘e-business enabled' corporation. In terms of the value chain concept, Intel has reaped tangible benefits in the volume of business it does on the Web, as well as created savings of time and money for both itself and its customers.

The marketplace has been dynamic and competition between companies in the same industry has been increasingly intense (Ranchhod, 2004). Having dynamic capabilities contributes to a company’s “long-term survival or competitive advantage” (Johnson et al., 2008: 84). This is especially essential

The team shall lead a class discussion for Intel Corporation 2010, with an analysis of Intel’s profitability. In addition to the presentation, a written report will be submitted onto Blackboard by May 2, 2011. The report shall contain the answers to the questions in the project handout.

Intel excels at top-down innovation, where highly differentiated components and electronics command a high gross margin relative to competitors, enabling faster design wins with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and development partners. This top-down innovation flow within Intel is so dominant, that the product design teams are significantly more productive than even the most advanced business process management teams (Segerstrom, 2007). Microprocessors and the follow-on Internet, networking, security and integrated motherboard products are all predicated on this top-down innovation cycle that leads to product line proliferation in Intel (Zimmerman, 2010). DRAMS were undifferentiated in structure, lacked industry standards that could create differentiated performance or compatibility based on adherence or alignment to standards or customer requirements (Nicholson, 1997). Intel chose to compete on the only other area of their core strength as a company, which is quality management and yield levels (Clark, Walz, Turner, Miszuk, 1993). Getting the yields for DRAMS to 60%, which for a brief period of time lead the global industry, only served to accelerate a very high level of commoditization in the industry (Voss, 1998).