What is convergence? What kind of challenges does it present?
What will be an ideal response?
The digital revolution is causing dramatic changes in industry structures. Convergence is a term used to refer to the coming together of previously separate industries and product categories. New technologies affect the business sector(s) in which a company competes. For example, Sony was a consumer electronics company best known for innovative products such as transistor radios, Trinitron televisions, VCRs and other stereo components, and the Walkman line of personal music players. Then, Sony entered new businesses, acquiring a record company and a motion picture studio. These acquisitions did not represent convergence because they occurred in the early days of the digital revolution. Motion pictures, recorded music, and consumer electronics were still separate industries. Today, however, Sony is in the "bits" business: its core businesses incorporate digital technology and involve digitizing and distributing sound, images, and data. Companies are faced with challenges of changing, acquiring, and moving on with technologies. If not, companies like Kodak and Motorola did not converge, and they are finding it hard to come up with a competitive model.
You might also like to view...
Why are industry standards so important in high-tech markets?
a. They restrict customer options, enhancing the odds that a firm will gain sales. b. Standards reduce customer fear, uncertainty, and doubt, and thus, can help to grow the market, which is particularly important for products with network externalities. c. The availability of complementary products is large determined by the number of competitors in an industry. d. Because intellectual property rights are difficult to enforce. e. All of the above.
Answer the following statements true (T) or false (F)
1. The free rider problem is mainly an issue in union shops where employees often choose not to pay union dues even though the union is required to represent them. 2. A union is required by law to fairly represent any worker in the bargaining unit, including those that are not union members or those who pay only a partial fee. 3. The union's duty of fair representation stems from a clause in the collective bargaining contract that requires the union to give each employee equal treatment. 4. Because unions have a duty of fair representation, they must treat every grievance or complaint the same and purse each all the way to arbitration, if necessary. 5. If management wants to retain the right to make unilateral decisions about various aspects of the workplace such as work assignments or the ability to introduce new technology, they are required to state this in the contract.
A document that shows when the manager plans to produce each product and in what quantities is called a:
a. materials resource plan b. PERT diagram c. enterprise resource production plan d. master production schedule e. mass production schedule
Even though some service providers would like to reduce customer participation in the service delivery, it cannot be done.
Answer the following statement true (T) or false (F)