Chapter 13: Leadership or Luck?: The System Dynamics of Intel’s Shift to Microprocessors in the 1970s and 1980s

In the 1970s and 1980s, the Intel Corporation transformed itself from a memory chip company into a microprocessor company. The case has been well documented and described in the context of corporate strategy and development. This paper examines the dynamics at work at Intel during this period as an example of how leadership, as considered in a complex systems context, and dynamic capabilities interact in organizations to enable adaptation independent of strategy making. The analysis uses complexity science concepts and system dynamics simulation techniques to shed light on Intel’s successful transformation. The findings suggest that when complex systems leadership mechanisms are at work, successful transformation can occur provided certain structural antecedents are present as well. The findings also suggest that change cannot occur without certain leadership mechanisms. These leadership mechanisms—dynamic patterns of communication and action among individuals that produce effects not inherent in the individual acts—and the structural antecedents that enable change are described, and their implications are discussed.