Regional AdvantageWhy is it that business in California's Silicon Valley flourished while along Route 128 in Massachusetts declined in the 90s? The answer, Saxenian suggests, has to do with the fact that despite similar histories and technologies, Silicon Valley developed a decentralized but cooperative industrial system while Route 128 came to be dominated by independent, self-sufficient corporations. The result of more than one hundred interviews, this compelling analysis highlights the importance of local sources of competitive advantage in a volatile world economy. |
Contents
Local Industrial Systems | 1 |
Universities Military Spending and Entrepreneurs | 11 |
Competition and Community | 29 |
Independence and Hierarchy | 59 |
4 Betting on a Product | 83 |
5 Running with Technology | 105 |
Blurring Firms Boundaries | 133 |
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autarkic Boston chip Chips and Technologies collaboration companies competitive competitors components computer systems Corp corporate costs created culture customers Data DEC's decentralized devices Digital Equipment Digital Equipment Corporation disk drives East Coast Electronic Business employees engineers entrepreneurs established executive Fairchild Flextronics Hewlett-Packard high technology industrial system infrastructure innovation institutions Intel internal interview by author investment Japanese Ken Olsen labs LSI Logic MasPar Massachusetts microprocessor million minicomputer MIPS Computer Systems networks nology Noyce Olsen organization organizational Palo Alto percent personal computers production proprietary Raytheon regional economy relationships RISC Robert Noyce Route 128 region San Jose sector semiconductor firms semiconductor industry share Silicon Graphics Silicon Valley Silicon Valley firms social Stanford strategies structure Sun Microsystems suppliers systems firms tech technical tion traditional University Valley and Route Valley's vendors venture capital venture capitalists vertical integration Vice President Weitek workstations