The chapter notes there are key differences between economies of scale and learning effects. Let us put that into practice with a brief example. A company such as Intel has a complex design and manufacturing process. For instance, one fabrication line for semiconductors typically costs more than $1.5 billion to build. Yet the industry also has high human costs for research and development (R&D) departments. Semiconductor firms spend an average of 17 percent of revenues on R&D. For comparison the automobile industry spends a mere 3 percent of sales on R&D.44 Thus Intel’s management must be concerned with both scale of production and learning curves. When do you think managers should be more concerned with large-scale production runs, and when do you think they should be most concerned with practices that would foster or hinder the hiring, training, and retention of key employees?

By Strategic Management: Concepts 3rd Edition, by Frank Rothaermel.