The early computer industry : limitations of scale and scope / Anthony Gandy, IFS School of Finance, UK.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gandy, Anthony.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Computer industry--History.

Computer industry.

History.

Physical Description:

xvii, 348 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire : Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.

Summary:

A comprehensive guide to why major companies with a heritage in electronics failed to establish themselves as leaders in the computer industry. The author uses case studies to analyse the efforts of GE, RCA, English Electric, EMI and Ferranti to compete with business machine firms in the early mainframe computer market, primarily focusing on the US's IBM and the UK's ICT. These cases cover many important themes in enterprise organisation and capabilities and explore how the heritage from these firms became important to the performance of the corporation in a new and innovative market place. It critiques the value of economies of scope in productive and technical capabilities unless matched to equal competencies in customer understanding and market reach. It provides a guide to both the business strategies and the technologies, which were fundamental to building the current information society. Book jacket.

Contents:

List of tables

List of figures

Prologue

Acknowledgements

Historiography

Scope, scale, concentric diversification and the black box

RCA and the electronic data processing business

Consolidation phase : third generation computing and the second big push

General Electric and the commercial data processing market

Electrical and musical industries

English electric

Strategies and organisations of ibm and ict

IBM's other competitors

Conclusions : concentric diversification versus market specialisation and the problem of resource allocation.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780230389106

0230389104

OCLC:

798059569