Seymour Semiconductors Is a Major Global Player in the Semiconductor

Multiple Choice

Seymour Semiconductors is a major global player in the semiconductor and microchip industry. In the space that they compete in, there is tremendous technological uncertainty as disruptive innovations seemingly come out of nowhere to upend well-entrenched incumbents. These disruptions are often fast and are increasingly by companies that do not compete head-to-head with Seymour Semiconductors. In addition, market tastes for the end products that feature Seymour Semiconductors' components also change rapidly. The company was hurt financially when the market shifted away from personal computers (that accounted for a significant portion of Seymour Semiconductors' revenues) , first to tablets, and then to other mobile devices. The company's new CEO, Lisa Monroe, has decided that the company's basic approach to strategy should change. Toward this, she has mandated that, at any point in time, Seymour Semiconductors should be able to choose from several different strategic options instead of a fixed and planned course of action that the company has pursued since it beginning. One of her mandates called for the company's future manufacturing plants to be built with the ability to add capacity at low cost. In addition, she wants to lay off 1,000 of the company's employees and hire contract and temporary workers in their stead. Finally, Monroe wants the company to use the real options approach to manage the combination of technological and market uncertainties.
-To combat the uncertainty that Seymour Semiconductors faces,Lisa Monroe should direct the company to ________.

A) take small positions in alternative technologies and wait until technological uncertainty resolves,then invest
B) decide on a particular course of action,invest,and continue commitment
C) put several new offerings in buyers' hands to gauge their reactions,once their preferences are clear,invest
D) avoid fixing on a particular design or set of features early; fail fast,fail cheap; learn fast,and try again