Dell’s Soul
Strategy-Business has a very interesting case study on Dell. During the internet bubble burst in the 90’s, even Dell suffered the kickbacks. Falling stock prices and lots of layoffs were damaging the company image. And that is when the strategists took charge. Redefining the very basic paradigms on which the institutional values and belief systems were based. And in the process they ended up in bringing a new metamorphosis to the Dell World … something that they call Dell’s Soul.
A very interesting read for anyone interested in strategy or general management reading.
Broadening IT - The Initiatives
Most of the technology initiatives’ goal is to dramatically broaden the spread of information technology to underdeveloped regions around the world. Companies and university researchers have launched a flurry of collaborative projects to design new computing and communications gadgets, some priced at $250 or less, to reach new users in India, China and other emerging economies.
The new brainstorming about the digital divide is partly inspired by technical breakthroughs in fields like wireless communications. But it also reflects a widening consensus that existing government and charitable efforts at technology transfer aren’t sufficient.
The efforts are based on a belief that technology developed for industrial countries doesn’t meet the needs of many poor regions, which grapple with problems such as power shortages and language differences.
Some commendable initiatives:
- UC, Berekeley’s ICT4B
- AMD’s 50×15 effort, which “takes its name from the goal of connecting 50% of the world’s population to the Internet by 2015, up from 10% today”
- Intel’s China Home Learning PC
- Raj Reddy’s PCtvt
- ITC’s e-Choupals
Another project of note is the Aqua news forum for the farmers, supported by India’s first wireless lan in a village at Vigyan Ashram, Pabal (near Pune), Maharastra.
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