restructuring

Spansion said Thursday that it is exploring a merger or sale, as the flash memory chip company delays interest payments on notes.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company announced that it has been "exploring strategic alternatives, including, but not limited to, opportunities to merge with or sell to similar U.S. or foreign businesses."

Spansion, one of the largest flash memory suppliers, was formed by the integration of Advanced Micro Devices' and Fujitsu's flash memory operations in 2003. The company has posted a long string of losses as it has struggled to turn a profit in the fickle … Read more

Advanced Micro Devices is shedding its cost-intensive chip-manufacturing operations in a bid to stay afloat financially.

On Tuesday, AMD and Advanced Technology Investment Co. announced a broad restructuring plan that centers on the creation of a new entity, temporarily titled The Foundry Company, that will take over the manufacture of processors for AMD. Early word of the restructuring came Monday night.

ATIC, which is based in Adu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, was formed this year. According to its Web site, ATIC is a tech investment company "wholly owned by the government of Abu Dhabi."

In addition, Abu Dhabi-based … Read more

Many technology industry executives are surprisingly inept when it comes to planning and executing reorganizations effectively.

One of the most evident signs of dysfunctional executive management is reorg-du-jour (reorganization of the day, for those who didn't take French in high school). Nothing is more disruptive or counterproductive to the effectiveness of an organization than frequent reorganizations.

Not to pick on Yahoo, but the frequency, if not the execution, of its notorious reorgs has almost certainly contributed to its talent exodus and loss of productivity at a time when it can scarcely afford it.

That said, reorganizations go hand-in-hand with changes in corporate and product objectives and strategy that are often implemented to meet an ever-changing competitive landscape. To that extent, they can be critical to business success, if done correctly.

When do reorganizations make sense and when are they frivolous and disruptive? How can they be executed to minimize productivity disruption and worker frustration? Here's an insider's perspective on organizational change in two parts. First we deal with "how," then we deal with "when" and "why."… Read more

Being fabless isn't so hip these days.

Rambus and MIPS Technologies are both chip companies that don't have their own chip fabrication facilities. Intel does. Perhaps not coincidentally, Rambus and MIPS are restructuring, while Intel's business is coasting on top of surging processor shipments.

Both Rambus and MIPS, which make a living off licensing intellectual property for chips, announced layoffs this week. Intel, meanwhile, is selling lots of its tiny Atom processors and seeing processor shipments surge overall.

Rambus said Thursday that it will reduce its workforce by approximately 90 positions and will take a restructuring charge … Read more

Sun's business model does not work and it hasn't worked for a long time. Moreover, open source, MySQL, StorageTek, and SaaS (software as a service) will not fix it. Here's why, but first, a little background.

My interest in Sun began in 1999 when I had dinner with Mel Friedman, then president of Sun's microelectronics group. He was looking for a marketing VP and I was looking for a job.

At the time, Sun had essentially one customer for its UltraSparc chips, and that was Sun. I assumed the company wanted to take its chips into the merchant market, thus the interest in me. That, as it turns out, was an erroneous assumption.… Read more