Document Type

Closed Project

Publication Date

Fall 2006

Instructor

Dundar Kocaoglu

Course Title

Management of Engineering and Technology

Course Number

EMGT 520/620

Subjects

Traffic safety -- Technological innovations, Autonomous vehicles, Technology -- Management, DaimlerChrysler -- Management

Abstract

In today’s global environment the life cycle of products are noticeably shortened. These short life cycles put forth the importance of new ideas that can turn into innovations. It is also a known fact that not every really brilliant idea turns into an innovation. There are numerous reasons for this, including the environment, timing, and budget.

When Nicolas Hayek founded SWATCH, he aimed to form a business had its own style, own way of business, and which was going to be the leader of all innovations in the watch industry. This motivation led to the development of this famous SWATCH Company. Today, SWATCH is known by consumers for its chic and stylish watches. On the other hand, competitors know it as a company which is creating continuous innovations in the watch industry, and a company that is changing the way business is done. However, being successful in one sector and having the capability to create ideas does not mean a company is going to create innovations in another industry. An example of this is seen in Hayek’s second big idea-smart. smart

smart aimed to be an innovative car that would change the nature of the automotive business. It was a product of joint venture formed between SWATCH and famous Mercedes-Benz Car Company. However, there have been many changes in this project since its conception. SWATCH left the joint venture; Daimler-Benz, which was the parent company of Mercedes merged with another famous car company CHRYSLER; and SWATCH experienced big losses since it has been launched. All these aspects make this case a very important one which is worth to be examined from technology management perspective.

Note: The presentation associated with this project is included here as a supplemental file.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Comments

This project is only available to students, staff, and faculty of Portland State University



Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/23142

Additional Files
2006-F-520-03-2.pdf (720 kB)
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