System on a Chip 2008: Global Unichip Corp.

Willy C.  Shih; Chintay  Shih; Chen-Fu  Chien; Yuan-Chieh  Chang

Case | HBS Case Collection | June 2008

System on a Chip 2008: Global Unichip Corp.

by Willy C. Shih, Chintay Shih, Chen-Fu Chien and Yuan-Chieh Chang

Abstract

Though much of the semiconductor industry has shifted to a horizontal model, complexity driven by technological evolution is driving a shift in the perceived boundaries in the value chain. Global Unichip sees itself as a "virtual integrated device manufacturer," a throwback to the vertically integrated model that fell out of favor for most chips. The case offers an opportunity to examine a highly modular industry and the impact of technology shifts on those boundaries, with significant implications for the incumbents.

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Boundaries; Semiconductor Industry;

Format: Print

9 pages

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Citation:

Shih, Willy C., Chintay Shih, Chen-Fu Chien, and Yuan-Chieh Chang. "System on a Chip 2008: Global Unichip Corp." Harvard Business School Case 608-159, June 2008.

This case looks at United Airlines when it is facing a decision on whether to shift its aircraft routing to more "out-and-back" routing in order to try to improve its on-time performance. As one of the world's largest airlines, United had a very large fleet and hub-and-spoke network that provided passengers with a wide range of destination choices, but as with any complex system unless everything ran perfectly all the time, it inevitably faced cascading delays and missed passenger connection problems. While out-and-back routing tended to isolate operational issues, more traditional linear routings tended to offer high equipment utilization. The case offers students an opportunity to examine the effects of variability on different routing strategies.

Case | HBS Case Collection | May 2016 (Revised April 2018)

Building the Digital Manufacturing Enterprise of the Future at Siemens

Willy Shih

This case describes the motivation for and the development of Siemens' digital manufacturing enterprise vision, which became the foundation for its implementation of Industrie 4.0. While the effort started with a purely defensive move by Anton Huber, head of the Digital Factory Division, to protect his core programmable logic controller business from the migration of value to software from hardware, the scope expanded radically as the company completed the acquisition of UGS. It was then able to articulate a complete roadmap from computer-aided product inception and design through simulation and automation system design all the way to the factory floor. The initial implementation at the Electronics Works Amberg became widely cited as the prototype for Industrie 4.0.
The central question of the case is the importance of vertical integration to the delivery of the vision, in the face of pressure for open standards that will expose large parts of the system to competition and price pressure. How will Siemens earn a reasonable rate of return?

Keywords: big data; Internet of Things; internet of everything; Industrie 4.0; digital factory; digital enterprise; digital manufacturing; manufacturing; Production management; Production Planning; Computer software; Germany; German manufacturing; Machinery and Machining; Information Technology; Technology Platform; Technological Innovation; Production; Supply Chain; Life Cycle; Software; Technology Networks; Manufacturing Industry; Germany;

Citation:

Shih, Willy. "Building the Digital Manufacturing Enterprise of the Future at Siemens." Harvard Business School Case 616-060, May 2016. (Revised April 2018.) View Details

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When Dalian Wanda Group of China announced its plan to acquire the AMC Entertainment theatrical exhibition chain in the United States, many people in the U.S. were mystified. Unlike China where theatrical exhibition was experiencing rapid growth, the U.S. market was viewed as mature, and rapidly changing technology was giving consumers a widening range of choices for movie viewing. AMC was owned by a group of private equity firms, and their pessimistic view of the industry influenced their strategies and investment decisions. AMC's management team had yet a different view on the prospects of the industry. Thus three present or potential stakeholders, all looking at the same data, had distinctly different views of future prospects. How could this be? The (B) case looks at AMC's performance in the year after the acquisition.

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System on a Chip 2008: Global Unichip Corp.

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