Strategy, structure and performance issues of pre-competitive R&D consortia: insights and lessons learned from SEMATECH

This paper utilizes documentary and primary source research to examine the change in the role of SEMATECH in supporting the competitiveness of U.S. semiconductor industry between the late 1980s and the late 1990s. This change has broad implications for future relations between SEMATECH and the semiconductor industry as a whole and the government and university research systems. Some of these implications are explored by detailing recent strategic developments at SEMATECH and the emergence of other semiconductor research efforts involving government, university and industry collaboration. An analysis is conducted to link the requirements for sustaining the current global competitive position the U.S. semiconductor industry; the new strategic role of SEMATECH within the industry; and the expectations for existing and future governmentuniversity-industry (CUI) partnerships focused on semiconductor technology research and development. This analysis is then extended to explore the implications for CUI partnerships in supporting U.S. global competitiveness in other high-technology industries which share particular salient characteristics with the semiconductor industry.