With many of the most important new military systems of the past decade produced by small firms that won competitive government contracts, defense-industry consultant James Hasik argues in "Arms and Innovation" that small firms have a number of advantages relative to their bigger competitors. Such firms are marked by an entrepreneurial spirit and fewer bureaucratic obstacles, and thus can both be more responsive to changes in the environment and more strategic in their planning. This is demonstrated, Hasik shows, by such innovation in military technologies as those that protect troops from roadside bombs in Iraq and the Predator drones that fly over active war zones and that are crucial to the war on terror.For all their advantages, small firms also face significant challenges in access to capital and customers. To overcome such problems, they can form alliances either with each other or with larger companies. Hasik traces the trade-offs of such alliances and provides crucial insight into their promises and pitfalls.This groundbreaking study is a significant contribution to the understanding of both entrepreneurship and alliances, two crucial factors in business generally.
It will be of interest to readers in the defense sector as well as the wider business community.
- ISBN10 6611957103
- ISBN13 9786611957100
- Publish Date 15 September 2008 (first published 1 January 2008)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 2 October 2012
- Publish Country US
- Imprint University of Chicago Press
- Format eBook
- Pages 198
- Language English