Management Issues in EDA

The Electronic Design Automation (EDA) industry has grown to around $2.5 billion in a span of about 10 years. The dynamics of this industry impacts firms involved in any form of electronic design. Effective management of the design automation function leads to significant competitive advantage. Yet, there has been very little published study in this area. This paper presents a unified framework which captures the essence of the EDA industry . We identify and describe the main forces driving the industry. We present management issues viewed from both the end-users and the EDA companies´ perspectives and we use two models to explain these issues. We also show that superior technology is not the only criteria for success in these markets. In this context, we present a socio-cognitive model which addresses the connection between the end-user´s perceived need and the criticality of correctly timing the introduction of new products.