CASE STUDY: “INTEL INSIDE….

AND FAR AWAY”

Located in Halifa on the Mediterranean coast, Intel’s Israel Development Center was
established in 1974 as the company’s first development center outside the United States. As the
world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer, Intel’s components are used in more than 80% of
the world’s desktop and notebook computers and computer servers. Its technological capabilities
are known the world over. For instance, a Russian bus manufacturer shortened vehicle
development cycles and boosted product quality using Intel-based servers. Telecommunications
provider Telefonica used Intel processors to launch its cloud services. And footwear company
Adidas turned to Intel to help it create a virtual footwear wall. The Israeli team of engineers has
been instrumental in developing many of the company’s most successful innovations. This
group, which has a strong culture, is not afraid to confront and debate ideas. However, a major
challenge for this design group has been the geographical distance from it and other Intel design
groups. Yet, Intel’s managers have found ways to keep the teams connected and the innovations
flowing.
As one of Intel’s premier research and development labs, the Israel Development Center
(IDC) has employed engineers for almost 40 years. The technology behind the highly successful
Centrino chips for laptops came out of this lab, as have processors for servers, PCs, and laptops.
The group atmosphere at IDC, although quite confrontational, actually helped Centrino get off
the ground and become a marketplace and financial success for Intel. Getting there, however,
wasn’t easy.
During the initial design stages of Centrino, the focus, as always, was on processor chip
speed. But the reality is that fast chips consume more power and shorten battery life. And when
designing a product for use in wireless computers, that’s not a good thing. An engineer at IDC
came to the team leader and suggested that by giving up half the chip speed that power
consumption could also be cut by half as well. Such a suggestion probably wouldn’t have
survived long at the home office because it involved challenging everything that the company
stood for. However, here in a location where the group wasn’t bound by such cultural
constraints, it led to the development of a winning product.
Another benefit of having design groups thousands of miles away from headquarters in
Santa Clara, California (some 28% of the company’s R&D employees are located in more than
20 countries outside the United States), is that these off-site locations don’t suffer from
bureaucratic inertia associated with constant meetings and committees.
However, the challenge for Intel’s geographically dispersed teams is that when team
members live and work in different countries, time zones, diverse cultures, and dissimilar
languages make it more difficult to be a more successful team. One thing that has worked for
Intel is the virtual retrospective.
A retrospective is “a formal method for evaluating project performance, extracting
lessons learned, and making recommendations for the future.” Because Intel’s design teams are
geographically dispersed, they collaborate virtually over an audio or video connection. Such
retrospectives allow Intel’s teams to connect and collaborate. The major problems, though, are
simple things like finding a common time to meet. For instance, setting up a virtual retrospective
between IDC and an Intel team in Hillsboro, Oregon, involved a 10-hour time difference.
However, they resolved it as the Israeli team members agreed to shift their work day and start the
retrospective at 5PM Halifa time, which was 7AM Hillsboro time. Another challenge is that
these virtual meetings usually last longer than normal simply because the teams usually have
numerous issues to discuss. Also, team leaders need to take into account cultural differences
(speaking styles, family commitments), safety (establishing an environment where all
participants feel free to express observations and opinions), and fairness (locations with a large
number of participants can predominate the discussion and limit input from sites with fewer
participants).
Despite the challenges, Intel’s project managers have found that having a way for their
geographically dispersed teams to collaborate and connect is vital and valuable.
CASE STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Describe the teamwork approach used by Intel’s Israel Development Center, being sure
to assess the team type, and team network approach. (2 marks)
2. Critically assess the team culture at Intel’s Israel Development Center and the challenges
managers can face in connecting their geographically dispersed teams. (4 marks)
3. Would a “confrontational” atmosphere be appropriate in all team situations? Explain,
while evaluating how the Center dealt with the challenges that emerged with their
geographically dispersed teams. (5 marks)
4. Discuss how roles, norms, status, group size and cohesiveness might affect the
geographically dispersed teams. (5 marks)
5. Compare the team characteristics described in the case against the characteristics of
effective teams. Which characteristics does the team have? Which areas should the team
work on? Make your assessments with the use of appropriate examples. (4 marks)