Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1997

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

O'Sullivan, John

Abstract

For three decades a handful of giant American Corporations dominated the world computer industry. In the late 1980s a host of relatively small firms seized industry leadership. Many saw in this astounding reversal of fortune the birth of an open, progressive, highly competitive and democratic computer industry. This thesis contends instead that the fall of the great computer companies, and the rise to leadership of firms that were undercapitalized and shortsighted, threatened the long-term competitive strength of the American computer industry. The historical record shows that multi-billion investments by the great computer companies built the technological foundation for the "age of the desktop." As the great companies faltered, new firms entering the industry simply did not take up the slack in research and investment. With investment falling in the U.S., and soaring in the Pacific-Rim countries, continued American leadership of this vital industry became an open question. Insights gained from studying this almost incredible episode have profound implications for all technology intensive industries.

Extent

130 p.

Comments

FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1997.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Identifier

FADT15375

Format

pdf

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