Technology Strategy
Course Number: 45872
The course Technology Strategy is about business strategy for technology-intensive industries. It is not only suitable for students who wish to concentrate in strategy but also in marketing, as I cover two of the 4 P's of marketing (Product and Price). Examples of technology-intensive industries are computer hardware and software, media and entertainment, telecommunications and e-commerce. Students explore the unique economic circumstances facing firms in these industries and identify strategies that enable firms to succeed given these circumstances. This course prepares students to make decisions that address pricing including versioning and bundling, product standardization, the product line, network effects and platform competition. This course is ideal for students who want to pursue a career as a product/product line manager for a technology company. This course helps students understand the unique economic characteristics seen in today's technology-intensive markets and how they impact the strategic interactions among firms and consumers. Students study, for example: Why firms in technology markets give away their best products for free. Why Apple taxes consumers for hardware but subsidizes music, movies, etc. while Amazon subsidizes their hardware but tax software (music, books, movies, etc). Why Sony won the Blu-Ray format war against HD-DVD which was sponsored by a whole array of companies. In order for students to understand how firms strategically interact in technology-intensive industries this course will use a combination of simple but rigorous analytical models, emerging theories, and formal case studies. (10/12- TD)
Degree: MBA
Concentrations: Business Technologies, Marketing, Strategy
Academic Year: 2023-2024
Semester(s): Mini 3, Mini 4
Required/Elective: Elective
Units: 6