Knowledge transfer and the limits to profitability: an empirical study of problem-solving practices in the semiconductor industry

Author

Weber, Charles ; Von Hippel, Eric

Author_Institution

Sloan Sch. of Manage., MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA

Volume

1

fYear

2001

fDate

2001

Abstract

A broadly based empirical study of problem-solving practices in the semiconductor industry has been conducted. The study consists of 69 cases of solved yield, process and equipment problems from all functional areas of integrated circuit fabrication, which have been provided by 37 industry experts in one-on-one interviews. The cases span the last quarter of the 20^th Century and cover semiconductor processes at all levels of maturity. The cases contain a random sample of 398 nontrivial instances of user-supplier interaction (or noninteraction) involving 35 technology user firms and 23 technology supplier firms. The instances come from all stages of the problem-solving process. The problem owner, who is the technology user in 97.1% and the chipmaker in 98.6% of all cases, chooses the actor and the locus of problem-solving activity in each instance

Keywords

electronics industry; integrated circuit manufacture; management; problem solving; technology transfer; integrated circuit fabrication; knowledge transfer; problem solving practices; profitability; semiconductor industry; semiconductor processes; Collaboration; Electronics industry; Fabrication; Integrated circuit technology; Integrated circuit yield; Knowledge transfer; Problem-solving; Profitability; Semiconductor device manufacture; Textile industry;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Management of Engineering and Technology, 2001. PICMET '01. Portland International Conference on

Conference_Location

Portland, OR

Print_ISBN

1-890843-06-7

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PICMET.2001.951802

Filename

951802