Clockspeed: Winning Industry Control in the Age of Temporary Advantage

In propounding a ""theory of business genetics,"" Fine, a professor of management at MIT, analyzes factors that determine corporate evolution, then outlines approaches to aid strategic decision making. For Fine, industries change at different rates, or ""clockspeeds,"" depending on differing opportunities for innovation and competition, as is the case in the animal kingdom. Changing relationships and their causes often seem more apparent, he notes, in fast-clockspeed scenarios such as the current computer industry. However, ""all advantage is temporary,"" Fine continues, ""and the faster the clockspeed, the more temporary the advantage."" Against that background, his main thesis is that design of the supply chain is ""the ultimate core competency"" for maintaining advantage in business. Fine advocates diligently and continuously studying its dynamics from the standpoints of organization, technology and capability. Citing the case of IBM as a cautionary tale, Fine notes the company's flawed decision to outsource its PC's microprocessor and operating system, with the result that customers are more concerned with the label ""Intel Inside"" than the actual makeup of their computer. Oriented primarily to specialists (and prospective clients) in the computer industry, Fine's theorizing suffers somewhat from management jargon yet is impressively well tuned. (Oct.)