How did
IBM build the PC in just 12 months, after being 7 years behind the rest of the world?
In 1980 IBM
realised it was missing out on the booming microcomputer market worth $1B/year and dominated by the likes of Apple Atari, Commodore and Radio Shack. At the time commentators predicted that "IBM
bringing out a personal computer would be like teaching an elephant to tap
dance".
Large and
tall organisations can be hard to get moving when they need to. Facebook’s Vice
President of Engineering spoke about how there can “be a lot of people that say
no, and a lot of policies, and the window in which you can do something tiny" (Warman, 2010). One option is to create a separate
project unit with its own culture, allowed to move more quickly and avoid the
two-speed friction that can occur with a dynamic project. IBM’s PC team was
separated from the main organization geographically and culturally to free them
from the usual bureaucratic processes that had prevented it from catching up
previously (Lambert, 2009). They used an independent business unit, a flat
structure, the smallest possible team (12 staff), off-the-shelf instead of
bespoke components, external suppliers, and had explicit permission to break
some traditional rules. The first prototype was thrown together by “half a
dozen engineers in less than 30 days” (Cringely, 1993, p. 181). In July 1980 they began work and by August 1981 they were
finished.
Have a look at the Spaceship One case study for similarities with the IBM PC project.
Simon Collyer
References
Cringely, R. X. (1993). Accidental Empires. New York: Harper Business.
Lambert, C. (2009, August 15th, 2009). The History of Computing Project - Philip Donald Estridge from <http://www.thocp.net/biographies/estridge_don.html>
Warman, M. (2010). Facebook's echo of Gekko: speed is good Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/facebooks-echo-of-gekko-speed-is-good-20101119-1808e.html
Have a look at the Spaceship One case study for similarities with the IBM PC project.
Simon Collyer
References
Cringely, R. X. (1993). Accidental Empires. New York: Harper Business.
Lambert, C. (2009, August 15th, 2009). The History of Computing Project - Philip Donald Estridge from <http://www.thocp.net/biographies/estridge_don.html>
Warman, M. (2010). Facebook's echo of Gekko: speed is good Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/facebooks-echo-of-gekko-speed-is-good-20101119-1808e.html
