The case describes how five telecommunications equipment companies developed their innovative capabilities in order to address technological opportunities and competitive threats in the ""new economy"". Questions are raised as to how the growing importance of the stock market for firms in this industry has impacted on organizational learning and the development of innovative capabilities, in particular in relation to stock-based acquisitions and the use of stock options.

Data show that the top-selling drugs today are not the products of breakthrough science. That's why drug companies need to learn the lessons of marketing that consumer-goods manufacturers know so well.