Winning in High-Tech Markets: the Role of General Management: How Motorola, Corning, and General Electric Have Built Global Lead

Why have U.S. firms performed poorly in high-technology industries like consumer electronics and semiconductors? Why have they been outperformed in the fast-growing, dynamic, short-cycle-time industries that they themselves pioneered? More generally, why are some firms - foreign and domestic - better than others at competing through technology? And what can governments do to promote industrial competitiveness in high-tech markets? Joseph Morone argues that the answers to these questions can be found in the practices and behavior of general management.
Morone's investigation into the role of general management in building competitive advantage on the basis of technology focuses on three U.S. successes in high-tech markets: GE Medical Systems, Motorola Communications, and Corning. These three are among a small number of U.S. businesses that have built global leadership in precisely the kinds of high-tech markets where so many American firms have been outperformed by their Japanese counterparts.
Morone explores the managerial strategies, practices, and philosophies behind these successful companies, and how these influenced, and were influenced by technology development. His conclusion that successful firms are often those whose corporate strategies are shaped by technology opportunities is striking in its divergence from the conventional wisdom about American managerial practice and the role that government can play in promoting high-technology strength.
Winning in High-Tech Markets will be of interest to all managers in technology-intensive firms, to general readers concerned with issues of U.S. competitiveness, and to policy makers and analysts.

Joseph G. Morone is Anderson Consulting Professor of Management and Director of the Center for Science and Technology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.