From Silicon Valley to Singapore

Momentous developments in the global economy over the last two decades have dramatically increased the availability of industrial investment sites and lowered the cost of relocating core activities to new countries. But how should these developments be exploited for competitive advantage? Firms face competing pressures: scale economies and the advantages of proximity push them to concentrate activities in one or only a few locations, while low wages and new markets invite dispersal across several countries. This book examines how location decisions have contributed to the global dominance of U.S. firms in the hard disk drive industry. In analyzing the industry since its beginnings some forty years ago, the book explains how American leadership in disk drives has rested on the formation of two complementary industrial clusters. Fundamental research and product development has been located almost entirely in the United States, principally California. Manufacturing has been concentrated in Southeast Asia (initially in Singapore and later in Thailand and Malaysia as well). This duality has proven key to the successful competitive position of the U.S. disk drive industry.

ISBN 0804741832   Pages 366 ISBN13 9780804741835 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher Stanford University Press   Weight (grammes) 500 Imprint Stanford University Press   Published in Palo Alto Format Paperback   Series title Stanford Business Books Publication date 31 Mar 2001   Height (mm) 228 Library of Congress 00058338   Width (mm) 152 DEWEY 338.47004   Spine width (mm) 24 DEWEY edition DC21   Academic level Undergraduate, Postgraduate, Professional / Scholarly

		List of Figures
		List of Tables
		List of Disk Drive Related Abbreviations
		Acknowledgments
Pt. 1		Introduction
1		Why Location Matters		3
2		Industry Background: Technology, Competition, and Geographic Reach		16
Pt. 2		Location and Competitive Advantage
3		A Theory of Industry Evolution, Location, and Competitive Advantage		37
4		Alternative Explanations for Industry Advantage		66
5		Global Shift and Competitiveness in Hard Disk Drives		87
6		Leveraging Locations: American Industry and Its Southeast Asian Production System		119
Pt. 3		Case Studies
7		Singapore		155
8		Thailand		184
9		Malaysia		204
Pt. 4		Implications
10		Policy, Politics, and Location in Developing Countries		227
11		Globalization and Industrial Leadership		253
App. A		Industry Origins and Technological Evaluation		275
App. B		An Innovator's Dilemma?		283
		Notes		289
		References		317
		Index		341

"Offers rich new insights into the dynamics of one of Silicon Valley's least understood but most innovative sectors. Policy makers and business leaders will learn much about technology, geography, and globalization from this sophisticated analysis."--AnnaLee Saxenian, author of "Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128"

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