One is deregulation of several industries during the 1980s. Another is economic liberalization around the world and the move by U.S. companies to globalize their sales and operations. Kodak, for example, recently moved their number-two executive to Hong Kong. It creates new industries and mutes business cycles by shortening lead times and balancing demand more evenly. And it has the power to turn laggard nations into pacesetters.
Technology is one growth spur that is hard to imagine won t be a force for years to come.
Several factors influenced this surge, including more intense global competition, record-high corporate profits for an extended period, and enhanced cash flows. The difference today is that this research is driven largely by business needs rather than curiosity. While this is good news, it also presents several challenges for technology leaders in industrial firms. This vision depends on its existing competencies and its capability of developing new competencies. Technology leaders must continuously assess, carefully and systematically, the competencies of their own scientists and engineers, as well as the intellectual property of their company in the form of patents, trade secrets, and know how.