Session3

Question 1

What are the 10 most innovative companies in 2024?

Answer 1

1. Alphabet
2. Apple
3. Microsoft
4. IBM
5. Salesforce
6. Oracle
7. Verizon Communications
8. Amazon
9. Nike
10. Dell Technologies
Dominance of IT and technology companies

Question 2

What are the 10 most profitable companies in 2024?

Answer 2

1. Walmart
2. Saudi Aramco
3. State Grid
4. Amazon
5. China Petroleum
6. Sinopec Group
7. Exxon Mobil
8. Apple
9. Shell
10. UnitedHealth Group
Oil and gas corporations strike back!

Question 3

Is there a correlation between the most innovative and the most profitable companies?

Answer 3

• Some companies are both highly innovative and highly profitable
• The most profitable companies are oil and gas corporations
• The majority of highly innovative companies are not highly profitable

Question 4

What are the learning objectives of this session?

context missing, tbd delete!

Answer 4

• Appropriability regimes, complementary assets
• Industry evolution and structural changes
• Explain and assess the factors behind sources and distribution of profits from innovation

Question 5

What are the required readings?

to be deleted

Answer 5

• Teece, D. J. (1986): Profiting from technological innovation
• Pisano, G. P., & Teece, D. J. (2007): How to capture value from innovation

Question 6

How is Chat-GPT protected?

Answer 6

• No patents, relies on tacit knowledge
• Training data kept secret
• GPT-3 is hard to reverse-engineer, unlike GPT-2

Question 7

What determines the performance of Chat-GPT?

Answer 7

1. Technology protection: Not patented, relies on tacit knowledge
2. Emerging or mature: Still emerging
3. Complementary assets: Requires significant computational power provided by Microsoft

Question 8

What are complementary assets?

Answer 8

• Generic: Standard resources (e.g., cloud computing infrastructure)
• Specialized: Tailored but not exclusive (e.g., customized APIs)
• Co-specialized: Integrated with the innovation (e.g., unique datasets)

Question 9

What example illustrates complementary assets in Apple’s iPad?

Answer 9

• Generic: Production and assembly
• Specialized: Strong brand, in-house DRM, tacit technical capabilities
• Co-specialized: Apps and iTunes Stores enhance user experience and Apple ecosystem

Question 10

What does Teece (1986) say about profiting from innovation?

Answer 10

• Appropriability regime: Strong vs weak
• Life cycle phase: Pre vs post dominant design
• Complementary assets: Generic vs specific