Shifting the IMAPS Value Paradigm!
Consider some recent value shifts in the market place. Example one, just a few years ago only registered stock brokers had access to real-time stock quotes and could execute trades, which put them essentially in control of the markets. In less than a decade, we progressed through discount brokers to low cost, real-time quotes to on-line trading! In the next year or two, if Mr. Hambricht (of Hambricht & Quist fame) succeeds, on-line IPOs sidestepping the investment bankers will provide IPO stock access to people outside the large institutions and pension funds where insiders generally grab all of the profits during an initial IPO. Will stock brokers and investment bankers go the way of the dinosaur? Don’t bet on it; their value remains in their knowledge and insight, not in the mundane execution of trades - it still takes time to understand the value of each opportunity, and most investors don’t have the time to do this thoroughly.
Example two lies in the real estate market. Real estate listings, in the traditional MLS (Multiple Listing Services), long represented the most valued asset of real estate sales agents and brokers, but now sellers list their homes on-line, or even in the traditional MLS through special service brokers. Agents and brokers now must shift their income streams from monopolistic listing and commission fees to transaction support and after-sale service referrals. Here, we encounter the pre-qualified customer gambit where the real estate agent sells information on house buyers to local businesses, such as landscaping services, insurance brokers, moving companies and interior decorators.
My favorite example hits the automobile industry. Credit unions and a few other lenders offer new cars for just a few hundred dollars over dealer cost, but what happens when an auto insurance company sells you a car at, or even a little below, cost on the condition that you insure the vehicle through them for a period of, say, three years? They don’t care about the distribution channel for the car and neither does the manufacturer because they both still capture their revenue and profits. The affected party? The network of local car dealers who likely still think their competition comes from other local dealers! Local dealers become mere showrooms, storage depots and service centers for the buyers. Local dealers must change their value paradigm or they’ll soon be out of business. They can no longer rely on buying and selling cars to make a profit, but rather they must sell display and storage services to the manufacturers. Dealer service centers now must compete with independent shops and large service chains, meaning that they better keep the customer happy because the customer is no longer captive.
So how do these value paradigm shifts relate to IMAPS? Although the IMAPS mission continues to emphasize education, information sharing and networking as core values for our members, the specific expectations and needs continuously migrate in new directions. Changes in technology, market dynamics and business model complexities create new demands (as well as opportunities) for increased value in membership benefits and opportunities for technical societies such as IMAPS just as they do in the industrial world. We must aggressively strive to maximize the value provided to our members through all IMAPS activities including events, education offerings, leadership development and networking through local, national and international support systems.
In order to accomplish this in 2002 IMAPS plans to introduce new offerings in three areas; undergraduate education, engineering certification and strategic intersociety activities. Encouraged by George Harman of NIST, the Sydney J. Stein Educational Foundation adds undergraduate research grants to its portfolio of support for specific IMAPS related research. These grants intend to develop and nurture interest in microelectronics at the undergraduate level by creating early opportunities for student exposure to our industry and the fascinating challenges to be found in the microelectronics arena.
Initiated by Jim Cook and currently under the leadership of Roger Cadenhead, IMAPS will institute an accredited Packaging Engineering certification program in the coming year. The certification program adds further credibility and value in the job market for our members as well as ongoing education credit in the form of Continuing Education Units (CEUs). And it also helps diversify society revenue sources in a minor way! However the most important contribution lies in enhancing the ability of both the society and the members to contribute to the conversion of the vast amount of data and knowledge available into useful information and the understanding to apply that information to the benefit of all people.
Although I mention our increasing intersociety focus in each of my columns, the value added to IMAPS membership and our cooperation specifically with SMTA and ACerS continues to broaden both the technical scope and business impact of IMAPS in the industry. The upcoming ATW on Printed Organic Electronics demonstrates our commitment to advanced technologies while the Telecom Hardware Solutions Event co-sponsored with SMTA expands our opportunities into the applications arena, specifically that market segment serving as the growth engine, both technically and financially, for the electronics industry in this first decade of the 21st century.
Clearly the IMAPS value paradigm incessantly shifts and dances to the music played by our membership. Our continued existence depends on our ability to both anticipate and proactively respond to these changing needs and expectations. Be sure to keep us informed of important new directions you see coming down the turnpike so that we can do our best to serve your needs.
In closing, IMAPS lost a valued founder on the final day of 2001. Harold Brown Bell, who served as the Southwest Regional Director for several years, passed away on 31 December. A personal friend and valued advisor, Harold recently accepted the position as Treasurer of the Phoenix Chapter in support of a rejuvenation of that chapter and will be sorely missed. Harold worked at Motorola, taught in the Motorola University and was a Fellow of the American Society of Chemical Engineers. He participated in the creation of our current IMAPS strategic plan as supporting and helping to direct many of the activities and directions outlined in this column. Our hearts go out to his family and friends throughout the world.
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