Leading Strategy Change Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Leading Strategy Change - Case Study Example This again proved, most changes are not physical but in the mental state of men and women. 1968 - Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore found Intel. (Intel Corp, 2006). Intel has seen rapid progress from that date till today, nearly four decades later. Intel has been known for its innovation. As a chip maker, they started doing RAM chips. In 1969, they launched 3101 Bipolar RAM. Soon they followed it up with innumerable number of inventions starting from the 4 bit microprocessors, EPROM chips, Microcontrollers, 8 bit microprocessors, chips for supercomputers, DRAMs and many other innovative products. It is the largest semiconductor manufacturer in the world. It makes the number one chip that is on more than 85% of the Desktop computers. Intel Corp., has grown from a small start up firm that wanted to innovate to a large mega corporation that was to be emulated. The point of change that is to be looked at today is when Intel launched its all new Pentium Processor with much fanfare. We will take a close look at the sequence of events that headed for a change in the management doctrine in Intel. 1. Year 1993, Intel realized that their processors were predominantly employed, more than 90%, in making of the personal computers. They wanted to have the public know that it is their processor inside. Though most people talk of the Intel chip that goes into the processor and that the processor is the heart of the computer. Intel rolled out what they called as the Intel Inside logo. 1993 saw the launch of the campaign across the world in all countries. In China, they even had the cycle reflectors with Intel Inside logo for awareness. (Andrew S Grove, 1996). 2. Pentium was launched after much research in 1994. During the course of the testing exercise, it was found that Pentium had a floating point problem that occurred once every nine billion divisions. If this has to occur on a spreadsheet, it has to be used for nearly 27000 years. With this in mind, Intel went on to release the processor into the market. 3. Pentium evoked good response from the market. IBM adopted Pentium and so did others. But one response from a professor who did math calculations said that he found that there was a calculation error when multiple divisions were done. This escalated and the problem on the Pentium was blown into the media glare. 4. November, 1994 - media was fully on the Pentium FPU (Function Point Unit) calculation error. Every magazine, techie or otherwise, reported the event. CNN covered the whole episode. The net result was that the people suddenly and over night declined to accept the chips. By December, 1994, IBM stopped shipping PCs with Pentium Chips. 5. In order to restore confidence with the people, Intel corrected the chip and replaced every one of the bad chips already sold to all those who asked for a replacement. This meant replacing millions of chips costing over $475 million. Managing the Change - Loss and Later The change that happened in Intel needs to be closely studied. Intel CEO, Mr Andrew S Grove, calls the change that shook Intel out of its perceived safety as Strategic Inflection Point. This changes the course of a company either takes it to the next level