This thesis examines how raw materials manufacturers can meet the needs of the Semiconductor Industry for immediate support and continuing innovation, while maintaining service to their customers in other industries like petrol-chemical, steel and other non-high tech industries. It documents research on the possibility of leveraging E-business to help these industrial organizations. Based on the challenge briefly alluded to, the core research questions are whether raw material companies in the semiconductor industry use E-business as leverage for corporate strategy and to what extent this is successful. / The industrial raw (core) materials production companies traditionally have been serving mainly the petrochemical, steel, wood, and other base material industries. With the proliferation of technologies, the semiconductor industry prospers and requires more sophisticated materials from these raw materials producers. As semiconductor devices become more sophisticated, the manufacturing process consumes huge amounts of specialty gases, other chemicals and many other core materials. And this Semiconductor Industry applies technologies that are in many ways the most advanced of any sector. Semiconductor Industry product requirements and service expectations are completely different from those of the conventional customers these raw materials producing companies used largely to serve. The areas emphasized are quality, speed, innovation, culture, follow-up procedures and style of business approaches and processes. / The primary nature of knowledge within this research paradigm rests on the subjective, perceptions, experiences and reflections of a large number of people intimately involved in the global Semiconductor Industry as leaders and managers, all of whom have considerable inside knowledge. The work of theoretical researches like Michael E. Porter (on corporate and competitive strategy) and Jay R. Galbraith (on organizational structure) were also reviewed to help obtain research objectivity and form a basis for the research process. / An important finding of the research from the sixty-three industry professionals surveyed is that only those with entrepreneurial strategy and controlled decentralized structured organizations adopted E-business strategies. And most multinational organizations producing raw materials do not use such strategies and structure, being more traditional in their thought process - they are more likely to practice a well-planned strategy and are usually centralized controlled. There are synergies between corporate strategy and structure on the one hand and E-business strategies on the other. A business model paradigm leveraging E-business is developed for multinational industrial organization and recommendation is provided to incorporate this paradigm so that they can serve the semiconductor industry more effectively. / The thesis argues that mapping strategy and structure should be a continuous process and that to incorporate E-business strategies would help the raw materials manufacturers serving the Semiconductor Industry. It considers the future of many established businesses: non-traditional competitors, armed with new technology and skills, traverse industry, geographical and cultural borders to solicit their customers with alternative products and service offerings. Such is the phenomenon that is beginning to occur as a result of innovations in technology, greater accessibility to information and more sophisticated consumers. Thus, for companies to gain competitiveness, a new approach of encompassing E-business is needed to plan strategically in rapidly changing environments. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2004.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/267534 |
| Creators | Ang, Guan Hoe Andrew. |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | copyright under review |
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