Navigating the M-form: product scope review and the development of the General Electric computer department

Edwards, Roy and Gandy, Anthony (2014) Navigating the M-form: product scope review and the development of the General Electric computer department. Business History, 56 (8), 1361-1379. (doi:10.1080/00076791.2014.898631).

Record type: Article

Abstract

This article seeks to explore the process whereby General Electric (GE) entered the computer industry during the mid-late 1950s. We explore the articulation of an internally contested business model through the study of the Product Scope Review (PSR) meeting which took place in October 1957. The article provides evidence of the difficulties surrounding the management of complex high technology industry in a large multi-divisional firm with competing calls on resources, and where a fundamental new technology disrupts established product lines. GE's attempt to manage the M-Form highlights the contradictions between decentralisation and a desire to retain vertical and horizontal economies.

Text

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