Abstract
Technological strategy shift management for smooth transition from the current technology to a new one has become more important than ever for modern businesses. Many foregoing studies on this subject have, however, been concentrated on unsuccessful cases of failure and analyzed causes of the failure: few studies have given detailed analysis of successful technology transition. This paper presents a detailed case study on the strategy shift by Matsushita Electric for the new plasma television business. New propositions are presented on three subjects: (1) who (the top or middle management) starts the process of strategy shift and how; (2) how the relationship of divisions concerned with the new technology in relation to those for conventional technology (boundary management) when development projects based on the two kinds of technology proceed in parallel; and (3) how the old technology is abandoned to complete the shift.
