(BQ) Part 2 book "The management of technology and innovation" has contents: Obtaining technology - planning; obtaining technology - implementation; obtaining technology - evaluation and control; building capabilities for MTI success; organizational learning and knowledge management. | PART 3 Obtaining Technology: External Strategy • Acer Group: A Family of Brands • Chapter 6 Obtaining Technology: Planning • Chapter 7 Obtaining Technology: Implementation • Chapter 8 Obtaining Technology: Evaluation and Control • Appendix 3 Managing Platforms and Portfolios of Technology 199 Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. 200 PART 3 • Obtaining Technology: External Strategy ACER GROUP: A FAMILY OF BRANDS Part Two of the text examined how firms develop technology through internal innovation processes. Firms can also obtain innovative capability and new technologies externally through strategic processes such as alliances, joint ventures, and mergers/acquisitions. These processes have the benefit of being much quicker than internal development, but the drawbacks include issues such as integration of the different businesses in mergers/ acquisitions or managing the relationship between firms in an alliance. Thus, just as with the internal innovation strategy, a firm must evaluate the pros and cons of the different strategic choices involved in obtaining technology externally and then decide what is best for the business in its given context and environment. Acer Group is a relatively young company, established in 1976. The Acer Group is a family of four brands—Acer, Gateway, Packard Bell, and eMachines. The multi-brand strategy of Acer allows each brand to target different customer needs in the worldwide personal computer market. Acer has grown to be the third-largest maker of personal computers (second largest in notebooks) and in 2008 had revenues exceeding $16 billion. This Taiwanese firm has established itself as a global player in the PC market. How it got there is through innovative use of alliances and acquisitions. Acer Group: The Firm’s History Acer was founded in 1976 as Multitech. The focus of Multitech was on trade and product design. Just three years later, .
