Fujitsu (A)

Abstract

Starting in 1935 as a small manufacturer of telephone equipment, Fujitsu grew phenomenally to become a world leader in computers. Its strategy of global reach, based on leveraging the firm's focal faculties (in high-speed information processing, large-scale integration, etc.) through carefully structured international operations, served to destabilize established competitors and benefit customers. In early 1991, Fujitsu's Executive Board had to decide on its future approach to "competing in computing" in the face of dramatic developments in this high-tech industry. Readers are welcome to send their responses on this case — diagnoses, prescriptions and generalizations — to Vikalpa office