Recent Work

The Personal Computing Industry Center (PCIC) is a key source of knowledge, objective data, independent thought and networking about the rapidly changing PC industry. It brings together industry executives and researchers to discuss industry issues and new research findings. The center conducts basic and applied research and is an ongoing industry resource for understanding industry trends, analyzing emerging markets and technologies, and providing insights about new developments. Participants include industry executives and university faculty and graduate students from UC Irvine, as well as other universities for specific projects (Fudan University, Manchester Business School, MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC San Diego, University of Illinois, Chicago, and University of Washington). The Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine has established the PCIC with a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation of New York, with matching funds from industry, the university and the U.S. National Science Foundation.The PCIC is one of 22 Industry Centers currently supported by the prestigious Sloan Foundation. It is engaged in collaborative research with other Sloan Centers and affiliates in semiconductors, data storage, flat panels, product-level electronics, software, and venture capital,creating a network of researchers whose expertise spans the PC and broader computer industry. Access to this research network is an additional advantage of the Center.

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Administrative reform and information technology in the digital society

Kraemer, Kenneth L.

(2017)

Who captures value from science-based innovation? The distribution of benefits from GMR in the hard disk drive industry

(2015)

Offshoring of Software Development: Patterns and Recession Effects

(2011)

Global Sourcing Choice and Firm Performance: Impacts of Firm Characteristics, Nature of the Activity and Strategic Motivation

(2011)

Offshore sourcing of IT development has grown rapidly in the past decade. Yet some firms are much more active than others in offshore sourcing, and some report greater success in offshore performance. This raises two questions. First, how can we explain differences in firm sourcing choices, even among firms operating in the same industry? Second, what factors influence the impact of offshore sourcing on firm performance?

We use data from a 2010 survey of U.S. software companies to analyze the factors that influence global sourcing decisions and the impacts of offshore sourcing on firm performance. We first examine the factors that shape sourcing choices for all firms, those that offshore and those that do not. We then focus on only those firms that offshore, examining both the determinants of offshoring and the performance outcomes of offshoring for firms with different strategies.

The most important contribution of this analysis is the finding that there are two types of offshoring strategic motivation, as identified through factor analysis. One is operational improvement and the other is international market expansion. These differences in strategy are significantly associated with the choice of sourcing options, and with the cost savings achieved from offshoring. It appears that firms motivated by cost reduction are more likely to use the outsourcing option rather than setting up their own captive development centers, while those motivated by market expansion are more likely to use captive development. Firms that go offshore for operations reasons report greater cost reduction than those that go for market access.

Value Capture in the Global Wind Energy Industry

(2011)

In order to understand the potential for creating economic value from alternative energy, there is a need for detailed empirical research on the global structure of those industries. As one step in this direction, we have conducted research aimed at answering the question: Who captures value in the global wind energy industry supply chain? There are a number of potential measures of value that are important to firms, countries, workers, shareholders and others. These include jobs, wages and profits. In this case, we focus on financial value in the form of profits to firms.