INTEL CORPORATE SUCCESS

Intel Corporate Success

Intel Corporate Success

INTRODUCTION

The companies selected for the purpose of this assignment are as follows:

Intel

IBM

KEY DRIVERS

What drove Intel? Craig Barrett, appointed executive vice president in January 1990, believes that "the world changes and the centre of gravity shifts. We need to shift with it." . Intel recognises the need for continually analysing and reviewing its strategies in order to meet the changes and challenges that come from the external environments so as to meet the stakeholders' expectations. Intel strives for business renewal and revitalisation as a way of dealing effectively with the impact of the information society on today's dynamic industry. Therefore, Intel is an innovation-driven organization that strongly believes that competitive advantage can be achieved by choosing the right option at the right time so as to create value to Intel's key stakeholders: its customers. To achieve this Intel uses the following key drivers:

*Market leadership and Innovation

*Research and Development

*Strategic Alliances

*Good Human Resource Management

*Benchmarking

*Branding

COMPETITIVE STRENTGHS

Due to its successful early days into the semiconductor industry, Intel established itself as one of the leading brands in the hi-tech sector. Intel managed to create and develop such an established and well recognised brand by being able to launch new products as well as being able to reinvent itself (e.g. moving from semiconductor memories to microprocessors).

In other words, management created a dynamic internal environment where people were encouraged to accept 'change' as part of Intel's corporate culture. This was achieved through designing a matrix structure that favoured and facilitated the flow of information and knowledge across the organisation. Intel managed to create an internal environment that requires employees to deal with challenging corporate goals (i.e. result orientated) and beliefs (i.e. attention to details/quality, professionalism, etc) in a team-based and open-minded workplace.

Given the dynamic industry Intel is operating in, innovation can be obtained through investing heavily in Research and Development (R&D).

All the above-mentioned strengths may only feature in an organisation that has great managerial vision; in other words, Intel's management was able to analyse the changing patterns of the industry, make choices (see the "buying options") and implement them quickly (i.e. strategic flexibility) in order to achieve competitiveness. Finally, another major strength may be identified: Intel believes that listening to its customers and working close with its business partners is a pivotal factor in the search for competitive advantage and, indeed, corporate success.

CORPORATE CULTURE

Culture was of great importance to Intel. The 2-in-a-box management philosophy enabled top management to form a complementary and well-balanced team by combining philosophical and pragmatic skills. The 2-in-a-box philosophy reflects Intel's culture: it requires both strong personalities (egos) and teamwork (a philosophical dichotomy). Intel's culture is focused on being aggressive and direct, as suggested by Bob Noyce (1988) "people get respected or get ahead because of their abilities, not their position.

FUTURE CHALLENGES

Intel began its core business in memory, Intel then moved from semiconductors to the microprocessor business. The company was able to change its core business but not without difficulties (the so-called "semiconductor ...