联想集团技术创新外文翻译.docVIP

外文翻译 原文 Lenovo Group Technology Innovation Material Source: RD Management34，4，2004 Author: Wei Xie and Steven White Lenovo’s development experience suggests several hypotheses regarding the relationship among a new firm’s competitive strategy, learning and capabilities on one hand, and its performance in a particular competitive and institutional environment on the other. First, the case clearly illustrates the evolutionary and path-dependent nature of capability development. Rather than being a constraint, however, Lenovo’s case shows that an initial set of resources and capabilities can support the development of additional complementary ones. In Lenovo’s case, the founders benefited in the early days from the spin-off’s external legitimacy based on its parent’s reputation. In addition, its personnel had technical expertise that could generate revenues from downstream activities – distribution, sales and service; these did not require scarce capital requirements. Changes in the institutional environment also allowed the founders to undertake such activities, although it also created constraints on its efforts for undertaking others (i.e., manufacturing). Given Lenovo’s initial resources and capabilities, however, it is doubtful whether it could have become a competitive PC manufacturer any earlier than it did. The case also suggests that the motivation to learn and develop new capabilities may be related to the background, expertise and values of the founding members. While Lenovo’s founders initially established a sales and service firm, they themselves were researchers and engineers and always had the ultimate objective of moving upstream into manufacturing and RD. Such motivation may be just as critical a factor for a firm to develop new capabilities as having the opportunity and resources (financial and technical) to do so. Lenovo’s case also illustrates how the nature and direction of learning evolves in relationship to changing environmental features and th