NETW 583 Week 3 Case Study; Case Study Zeta Energy and “The Holy Grail” of Batteries

NETW583 Strategic Management of Technology Case Study: Zeta Energy and “The Holy Grail” of Batteries Professor M. BulejeKeller Graduate School of Management Mario Smith What are the pros and cons of Zeta Energy collaborating with another organization? There are several pros of collaborating with other organizations. The first of which is acquiring capabilities and resources more quickly. While it is certainly not unusual for a company to lack the resources and/or capabilities to transform technological knowledge into a commercial product. A company may be able to gain rapid access to important complementary assets by entering into strategic alliances or licensing arrangements. Another pro that results from collaboration is increased flexibility. Obtaining necessary capabilities or resources from a partner rather than building them in-house can help an organization reduce its asset commitment and enhance its flexibility. This can be particularly important in markets characterized by rapid technological change. High-speed technological change causes product markets to rapidly transform. Product life cycles shorten, and innovation becomes the primary driver of competition. When technology is progressing rapidly, firms may seek to avoid committing themselves to fixed assets that may rapidly become obsolete. They may choose to become more narrowly specialized and to use linkages with other specialized firms to access resources they do not possess in-house. The next pro is learning from partners. Collaboration with partners can be an important source of learning for the firm. Close contact with other firms can facilitate both the transfer of knowledge between firms and the creation of new knowledge that individual firms could not have created alone. Pooling their technological resources and capabilities, firms may be able to expand their knowledge bases and do so more quickly than they could without collaboration. Resource and Risk Pooling is yet another pro resulting from collaboration. A primary reason firms collaborate on a development project is to share the costs and risks of the project. This can be particularly important when a project is very expensive or its outcome highly uncertain. Alternatively, collaboration has its disadvantages as well such as less control over product development, shared rewards of innovation and risk of wrong doing by partner(s). What type of potential partner offers the most “resource fit” for Zeta Energy? What type of potential partner offers the most “strategic fit” for Zeta Energy? Is there a collaboration partner you would recommend? The success of collaborations is dependent in large part on the partners chosen. Several