In her work, “Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128,” Annalee Saxenian observes the economic development of two very distinct regions, as aforementioned in the title, Silicon Valley and Route 128. Although, much of domestic economic growth can be witnessed at the regional level; the course of economic development is as distinct as the regions themselves. It’s no secret that Silicon Valley turned out to be the more successful of the two. With the use of decades-worth of evidence, Saxenian answers the why and how of the Valley’s progression. Saxenian first draws a comparison between the two communities. Although the two communities were specialized hubs of two separate markets; with Silicon Valley and the
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The open character, as discussed earlier, is a driving force for innovation in the semiconductor industry. This innovation, in turn, not only allows firms to be more competitive, but also more attractive. The firms are main attractions, if you will, are consumers and venture capitalists. The openness of these networks is integral to innovation and a firm’s ability to compete in a market. This is best highlighted by the “memory race” during the 1980s between Japan and the United States. After a major innovation in circuitry, notably LSI to VSLI, innovation became far more capital intensive, because the projects were far more complex, and the labs built for these projects cost somewhere close to $50 million. Hence, American manufacturers decided to shift to focus to mass manufacturing, abandoning these beneficial networks in the process. The abandonment of these networks was extremely detrimental; Japanese manufacturers soon began to dominate and even monopolize the 256K DRAM market. American manufacturers, in a way, got a taste of their own medicine. American manufacturers blamed lower wages and domestic protection for their failure. However, the underlying cause for Japan’s surging success in the semiconductor industry was …show more content…
American semiconductors manufacturers could take advantage of their closeness with personal computer manufacturers as well as their local customer base. In addition, informal communication allowed firms to learn about new developments as well as fluctuating consumer demand. Furthermore, community has an impact on business culture such as instilling norms about mobility and failure. The fallout of Steve Jobs from Apple and the later success and acquisition of NeXT would be unimaginable in route 128. Finally, it is evident that communities and networks influence goals. For Silicon Valley, firms pursued innovation and openly shared their knowledge/technologies. In contrast, minicomputer firms in route 128 kept their technologies exclusive, focused on maximizing
The open character, as discussed earlier, is a driving force for innovation in the semiconductor industry. This innovation, in turn, not only allows firms to be more competitive, but also more attractive. The firms are main attractions, if you will, are consumers and venture capitalists. The openness of these networks is integral to innovation and a firm’s ability to compete in a market. This is best highlighted by the “memory race” during the 1980s between Japan and the United States. After a major innovation in circuitry, notably LSI to VSLI, innovation became far more capital intensive, because the projects were far more complex, and the labs built for these projects cost somewhere close to $50 million. Hence, American manufacturers decided to shift to focus to mass manufacturing, abandoning these beneficial networks in the process. The abandonment of these networks was extremely detrimental; Japanese manufacturers soon began to dominate and even monopolize the 256K DRAM market. American manufacturers, in a way, got a taste of their own medicine. American manufacturers blamed lower wages and domestic protection for their failure. However, the underlying cause for Japan’s surging success in the semiconductor industry was …show more content…
American semiconductors manufacturers could take advantage of their closeness with personal computer manufacturers as well as their local customer base. In addition, informal communication allowed firms to learn about new developments as well as fluctuating consumer demand. Furthermore, community has an impact on business culture such as instilling norms about mobility and failure. The fallout of Steve Jobs from Apple and the later success and acquisition of NeXT would be unimaginable in route 128. Finally, it is evident that communities and networks influence goals. For Silicon Valley, firms pursued innovation and openly shared their knowledge/technologies. In contrast, minicomputer firms in route 128 kept their technologies exclusive, focused on maximizing