How to Appraise Your Organization's Capabilities and Disabilities

According to Chapter 8, what are the three classes of factors that affect what an organization can and cannot do?

In the RPV framework, what are 'processes' defined as?

What does the chapter identify as a key characteristic of an organization's 'values'?

According to the RPV framework, why did leading firms in the disk drive industry consistently succeed with sustaining technologies?

What was the success rate of established firms in developing and adopting the 111 sustaining technology innovations identified in the disk drive industry's history?

What was the 'batting average' for the leading disk drive companies when it came to the five major disruptive innovations?

How does the location of an organization's capabilities typically migrate as it matures?

In the case study of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), why were its established processes a disability for succeeding in the personal computer business?

What was the minimum gross margin that Digital Equipment Corporation's (DEC) values dictated for a product to be considered worthwhile?

Which of the following is NOT one of the three options presented in the chapter for managers to create new organizational capabilities?

When acquiring a company, what does the RPV model suggest a manager should do if the acquired company's primary value lies in its processes and values?

What company's acquisition strategy is cited as a successful example of buying companies primarily for their resources and plugging them into the parent's well-defined processes?

What type of team does the chapter suggest is necessary for creating new capabilities and processes internally within an established organization?

What is the primary reason given for why creating capabilities through a 'spin-out organization' is often necessary for disruptive innovations?

According to the framework in Figure 8.1, what organizational structure is appropriate for an innovation that has a poor fit with the company's values but a good fit with its existing processes?

In Figure 8.1's framework, what does Region C represent?

How does the chapter explain the idea that innovation is a 'theory of relativity'?

What does the chapter claim is the single most important requirement for a spin-out organization to succeed?

In the summary, what does the author state is the most crucial step in solving the problems of innovation?

Why are processes, which define a capability in one context, often difficult to change?

In the case of the DaimlerChrysler merger, what did the RPV model suggest was the primary source of Chrysler's value in the 1990s?

What type of organizational team, according to Figure 8.1, is best suited for an innovation in Region B (strong fit with values, customary processes)?

Which factor is most easily transferable across organizational boundaries?

What happened to IBM's acquisition of Rolm, and why?

Why do the values of successful firms tend to evolve in a predictable fashion?

In the context of the RPV framework, why do large companies often 'surrender emerging growth markets'?

According to the author, when does an organization's change become 'extraordinarily difficult'?

What does Region D in the Figure 8.1 framework typify?

Which company's project to develop its Internet browser is cited as an example of a Region A innovation?

What is the very first question managers confronting change must ask, according to the chapter's summary?

According to the chapter, why is it dangerous to assume that an organization can succeed at a task just because you've found the right people for it?

In the case of Cisco's acquisitions, why did it make sense to integrate the acquired companies?

What is described as one of the 'most serious disabilities' in coping with change that resides in typically inflexible background processes?

Which company's decision to split itself in two is described as being rooted in its recognition of the problem of differing values and processes?

What is the primary characteristic of an organization's 'culture' as defined within the chapter?

Why do managers who face the need to change or innovate need to do more than just assign the right resources to the problem?

In the start-up stages of an organization, where does much of its capability reside?

What company is cited as an example of a 'flame out' because it was grounded in its resources (founding engineers) but failed to create processes to create a sequence of hot products?

The chapter argues that Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) had the resources to succeed in personal computers. What did it lack?

What option for creating new capabilities has a 'spotty track record,' according to the chapter?

What example does the chapter use to illustrate how an innovation can be sustaining for one company (Dell) and powerfully disruptive for another (Compaq)?

The framework in Figure 8.1 uses two axes to map an innovation. What do these two axes represent?

The success of Toyota in the U.S. auto market in the 1970s and 1980s is attributed to its development of what kind of new capabilities?

What was General Motors's response to Toyota's process innovations, and why was it ineffective?

For a disruptive technology project housed in a spin-out organization, why does the chapter say it's difficult for the organization to be profitable at small scale?

What does the author suggest is a better strategy than full integration when an acquiring firm's primary rationale for an acquisition was the target's resources?

Which of these is NOT listed as a 'resource' in the RPV framework?

What does the chapter say about the role of the founder's methods in a maturing company?

When is it particularly dangerous for managers to assume an organization will be capable of succeeding at a task?

Why must an organization's values necessarily reflect its cost structure?