Distinguished Lecture Series : Adversity Breeds Opportunity by Dr. Walden C. Rhines

ABSTRACT: Loss to competitors Intel Corp. and Motorola Inc. in the race to become a microprocessor powerhouse contributed to TI’s steady decline from the number one semiconductor market share in the 1970s to number five in the 1980s. The hopelessness of TI’s situation left a small group in Houston with the freedom to look beyond the next few years to develop game-changing, application specific processors including the first successful single-chip digital signal processor. The speaker, who managed TI’s microprocessor business at that time, will relate the history of how TI used defeat as an opportunity to spring back to rapid growth and leadership in the industry. The lessons learned from this difficult period of innovation remain relevant in today’s high technology product development environment.