TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY IN DEFENSE INDUSTRY ACQUISITIONS - A COMPARATIVE-ASSESSMENT OF 2 GIANTS

Acquisitions and mergers are rapidly changing the character of the glo bal defence-aerospace industry. This paper examines those phenomena by tracing the actions of two of the largest US aerospace giants from th e perspectives of technology strategy. Following each of the acquisiti on efforts over the past few years by Raytheon and Lockheed-Martin, th e paper probes the companies' motivations and rationale behind their a cquisitions, the impact upon the firms' portfolios of technical compet encies, potential penetration of new markets and access to new technol ogies influenced by the acquisitions, organizational issues posed by t he technology transfer problems, and other subsequent effects upon cor e research and development.