The Development of an Enterprise Realignment Framework for Firms Entering Emerging Markets

Abstract

Pursuing markets which are highly dynamic may require not only innovation in terms of products or services but also business model changes. This is often the case for firms in fast moving sectors such as the media, telecoms and internet industries. This article reports on case study research where high technology firms at the early stage of a sector lifecycle were studied to gain insights into their innovation strategies, technology development approaches and their accompanying enterprise realignment. The framework developed identifies three levels for enterprise realignment: (1) industry position; (2) application provision; and (3) technology development. The case study firms that were examined supported the majority of the elements that were identified for each level as follows: (1) innovation value chain and technology leadership, (2) product attributes; optimisation; interconnectivity and embedded software systems (ESS) and (3) architecture and collaborative working.