Emergent Technologies and Issues.

few paragraphs needed

​All sources must be cited. But if the source is the textbook, class discussion, or your own work experience, feel free to cite them that way, e.g. “(textbook)”, “(class discussion)”, or “(work experience)”. No need to go find a specific article or page number from the text.​

1.        Thinking about the notion of disruptive technologies,

a.        what technologies and other companies may potentially serve as disruptors to Microsoft’s legacy core revenue sources (operating systems, office software)?

b.        How do Microsoft’s steps into mobile, games, devices, and services allow it to counter and/or mitigate the risks of those disruptors? (2 paragraphs minimum)

2.        Thinking about the market for all-electric and hybrid electric vehicles, the Toyota Prius is the first big-name brand to be really successful in that space (there are others, of course – the Nissan Leaf, Honda Insight, Chevy Volt, etc.).

a.        What characteristics of Toyota made such a market entry possible?

b.        What core competencies did they bring to the market?

c.        Given that they only made gasoline cars before the Prius, what core competencies did they need to develop? (2 paragraphs minimum)

3.        Consider the entry of Tesla Motors (maker of all-electric vehicles), . Clearly not a classic disruptor (it’s entering the market from the high end), it’s still aiming to move into the mid-priced car market, and will have some impact on the Toyotas, Hondas, and other traditional car makers.

a.        What challenges does Tesla continue to face in breaking into and capturing market share in the mid-priced market? (2 paragraphs minimum)

4.        Toyota has licensed its Synergy Drive (the transmission structure that connects both a gasoline engine and electric motor to power the wheels) to Ford, among others.

a.        What strategic advantage does that provide to Toyota?

b.        What risks did they take by making that licensing agreement? (2 paragraphs minimum)

5.        Consider the market impact of a substitute for vehicle ownership – such as Uber, the non-taxi taxi service. While Google is famously developing a self-driving vehicle, and owns part of Uber, Google is proposing to compete directly with Uber, and Uber is (still) proposing to get into the autonomous vehicle business (ref http://tech.slashdot.org/story/15/02/03/0144232/google-to-compete-with-uber-uber-to-explore-autonomous-transportation); Lyft has just signed a deal with a major automaker to try self-driving “cabs” in a limited area. A somewhat complicated story, so let’s focus on just a piece of it – given that Uber (and Lyft) is in the car scheduling business,

a.        what core competencies do they bring to the process of autonomous vehicle development?

b.        What will they need to acquire?

c.        How might a strategic partnership help make that possible?

d.        what’s the business value to Uber and Lyft of getting real drivers out of their business models?

(2 paragraphs minimum)

6.        Thinking about innovations like the Internet of Things (where everything is connected in one way or another),

a.        what three or four everyday devices do you currently use that would be much more useful or valuable to you if they could be connected to the Internet and accessible from wherever you are? (2 paragraphs minimum)

7.        Mallard Prosthetics was a leader in the prosthetic arm market and profits from its prosthetics were very high.  Mallard developed a computerized prosthetic arm and is trying to decide when to introduce it to the market. 

a.        What options does it have? (2 paragraphs minimum)