The High Tech sector comprises several industries, including computer hardware and equipment, software, IT services, semiconductors, scientific and technical instruments, and electronics. These industries share unique challenges as their business environment is in a constant state of high flux. Change is driven by five general forces:

• Innovation – this takes the form of continuous technological advancements, process improvements, new computing platforms, leading edge applications, innovative combinations of technology, and ultimately new products. The resulting effect on the industry is one of increased complexity.
  


• Cycle time compression – companies are driven to move at increasingly faster speed in order to stay ahead of change. They do so to get to market faster, keep in closer alignment with evolving consumer demand, focusing on flexibility and responsiveness, and in so doing, building competitive time advantage. The net effect is once again one of increased industry complexity.
  


• Globalization – new firms are entering the global field from emerging economies, particularly India and China. Low-cost/high capability competitors are expanding into the world’s market by arbitraging low-labor cost. Others adopt aggregation strategies: i.e. building global volume off a common platform to derive economies of scale worldwide. These conditions cause important large geographical shifts for Western industries. As a result, companies need to adapt to a new form of change and higher levels of competitiveness.
  


• Network-Based Competition - in the context of limited resources, globalization, the speed of competitive moves and technological advances, firms forge alliance networks: intricate business relationships among corporations to leverage each other’s resources through joint efforts. The temporary nature of collaboration from alliance networks makes for maximum strategic flexibility. However, alliance networks lead to inherent instability and inevitable change.
  


• Commoditization – while new technologies push the industry boundaries to the leading edge, older technologies eventually progress to maturity in their life-cycle spectrum. This condition gives rise to well-known forms of industry behavior and classic axes of competition. These are incremental product improvement, customer micro-segmentation, increased competitor concentration, fierce price competition and further geographical market outreach.
  

Successful high-tech companies stay ahead by creating change. By so doing, they define new rules of competition. Other companies, either caught in the middle or behind, have no choice but to cope with change just to remain competitive.

We help companies at all stages of the life-cycle spectrum. We assist clients in their aim to create change or adapt to it, whichever their case may be. Through our work, we help anticipate transformational industry forces early on, determine appropriate strategies in response, and assist with effective implementation programs to see the strategy through to execution.