How star companies like Apple kill US high-tech culture
Large IT companies like Apple have traditionally been considered the engine of the industry, the main center of innovation. But not everyone shares this point of view. Professor of economics William Lazonick of the University of Massachusetts Lowell has a completely opposite opinion.
In scientific papers that are included in the project “ Political Economy of Distribution ” (“Political Economy of Distribution”), Lazonik explains his point of view on the example of Apple. For example, if you take a high-tech product like the iPhone, then you cannot say that it was created specifically at Apple. Such products are created as a result of the efforts of many people, many of whom do not work in the company. Some of these people worked on government contracts, receiving grants from the federal budget. The process takes several decades, so that the current development created by the work of past generations of engineers and researchers. The same iPhone uses touchscreen, GPS and other technologies created long before the release of this smartphone.
Professor Lazonic thinks it is abnormal that Apple and other companies are using the results of state scientific research, but they don’t think at all to compensate for the costs. All profits generated by private corporations spend solely on their own needs, without disdaining the use of fraudulent tax evasion schemes .
The economist says that the situation on the labor market changed dramatically in the 80s, around the time when Intel processors and computers on the IBM PC became popular. Along with the change of technology and the replacement of personnel in companies In place of the old experienced workers familiar with the old technology, began to recruit young people familiar with the technological innovations. There was a galaxy of new-minded startups that attract talented young people with millions of options. The management of companies has also evolved: they realized that they need to manage companies not for the sake of employees or product quality, but to appease shareholders.
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In the new system, the amount of remuneration began to depend on the stock price, which also influenced the outlook of managers.
William Lazonik thinks that because of these problems, a “crisis of innovation” has come to the United States, and other countries are beginning to overtake America. In his opinion, one of the reasons for this is that with the end of the Cold War, investment in the research industry has significantly decreased. But this is not the only and not the main reason. The global problem is the behavior of private corporations that are not interested in long-term projects. Unfortunately, current legislation encourages such a strategy.
In scientific papers that are included in the project “ Political Economy of Distribution ” (“Political Economy of Distribution”), Lazonik explains his point of view on the example of Apple. For example, if you take a high-tech product like the iPhone, then you cannot say that it was created specifically at Apple. Such products are created as a result of the efforts of many people, many of whom do not work in the company. Some of these people worked on government contracts, receiving grants from the federal budget. The process takes several decades, so that the current development created by the work of past generations of engineers and researchers. The same iPhone uses touchscreen, GPS and other technologies created long before the release of this smartphone.
Professor Lazonic thinks it is abnormal that Apple and other companies are using the results of state scientific research, but they don’t think at all to compensate for the costs. All profits generated by private corporations spend solely on their own needs, without disdaining the use of fraudulent tax evasion schemes .
The economist says that the situation on the labor market changed dramatically in the 80s, around the time when Intel processors and computers on the IBM PC became popular. Along with the change of technology and the replacement of personnel in companies In place of the old experienced workers familiar with the old technology, began to recruit young people familiar with the technological innovations. There was a galaxy of new-minded startups that attract talented young people with millions of options. The management of companies has also evolved: they realized that they need to manage companies not for the sake of employees or product quality, but to appease shareholders.
')
In the new system, the amount of remuneration began to depend on the stock price, which also influenced the outlook of managers.
William Lazonik thinks that because of these problems, a “crisis of innovation” has come to the United States, and other countries are beginning to overtake America. In his opinion, one of the reasons for this is that with the end of the Cold War, investment in the research industry has significantly decreased. But this is not the only and not the main reason. The global problem is the behavior of private corporations that are not interested in long-term projects. Unfortunately, current legislation encourages such a strategy.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/376099/
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