HOLY ANGEL UNIVERSITY

Angeles City

School of Engineering and Architecture

Graduate School Program
Master of Science in Engineering Management

An Essay on shifting industrial boundaries (Special case: the

convergence between Silicon Valley and Detroit)

In partial fulfillment of the requirement in GSECOMAN – Managerial Economics

Rogelio Antonio M. Borlaza

MSEM

Dr. Carmelita Lao

GSECOMAN Professor

04 August 2018
 Silicon Valley is in San Francisco, California, USA along the East Coast facing the Pacific
Ocean while Detroit is in Michigan, USA near the west coast facing the Atlantic Ocean. Geographical
they are approximately 2,428 miles and 35 hours by car apart. Over the last 20 years, the technology

Figure 1: Courtesy of Google Map showing geographical location of Silicon Valley and Detroit

industry has become the most powerful industry in the world, boasting seven of the 20 most profitable
companies. By most measures, though not all, this power is concentrated in one specific region, the
Pacific Coast, and even more tightly centralized in the San Francisco Bay Area (Madrigal, 2017). Thus,
making it one of the most powerful region nowadays. Whereas according to Russell A.L. and Vinsel L.
(2017) the city of Detroit became a famous node of industrial capitalism thanks to the pioneers of the
automotive age. Men such as Henry Ford, Horace and John Dodge, and William Durant cultivated
Detroit’s image as a center of technical novelty in the early 20th century. And the very name “Detroit”
soon became a metonym for the industrial might of the American automotive industry and the source of
American military power.
Historically, the economies of Detroit and Silicon Valley couldn’t look more different: the Motor
City has long been known as a hub for manufacturing and the auto industry, while innovations in
technology have dominated Silicon Valley. Despite their differences, these cities are actually more
similar than most think (Katz, 2015). Nowadays the trend is shifting. Detroit, Michigan may be most
readily associated with the auto industry, but a spate of new startups is repositioning the Motor City as
a growing hub for tech jobs (Gelber, 2018). Just the same Silicon Valley is now more and more into
manufacturing. Thus moving forward these two (2) economic powerhouse can learn a lot from each
other’s experiences in order to provide a better living standard in the future.
In spite of that, the saddest part is that Silicon Valley is replicating the errors of Detroit. History
is repeating itself and we are not learning from our past. Silicon Valley’s moral decline has never been
clearer, and it now struggles to survive the toxic mess it has created (Russell A.L. and Vinsel L., 2017).
Waste Management and clogged Transportation is now an issue. In retrospect–and perhaps as a
cautionary tale for Silicon Valley–the moral decline of Detroit’s elite was evident long before its
economic decline (Russell A.L. and Vinsel L., 2017).

CONCLUSION
Regional boundaries in doing business is no longer an issue. Overseas and cross borders
dealings is now the trend. Thus if you are thinking that what you are doing now is the best it might not
be true tomorrow anymore. We must continuously adapt to changes and rethink the way do our
business. In our company we have a saying that if we continue to do the same as other players in the
industry is doing, it means that we are not doing enough.
Secondly, since the landscape of business is continuously changing. Without long range plan
and only focusing in short term gain, we might end up doing the same things and committing the same
mistakes over and over again. In spite of all these every business must bear in mind not just to gain
today but strive hard to protect our future.

References

Madrigal, A. C. (May 24, 2017) Silicon Valley's Big Three vs. Detroit's Golden-Age Big Three – What
Gives Our City the Tech Edge The Atlantic. Retrieved from:
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/05/silicon-valley-big-three/527838/
Blues Perspective (yyyy) Detroit vs. Silicon Valley – What Gives Our City the Tech Edge Retrieved
from: https://www.mibluesperspectives.com/2017/11/20/detroit-vs-silicon-valley-what-gives-our-
city-the-tech-edge/
Gelber, M. (2018) Is this city the next Silicon Valley?, Monster. Retrieved from:
https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/detroit-next-silicon-valley
Katz, B. (April 8, 2015) Why Detroit could be the next Silicon Valley (and vice versa) Retrieved from:
https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/why-detroit-could-be-the-next-silicon-valley-and-vice-versa/
Russell A.L. and Vinsel L. (March 13, 2017) Is Silicon Valley doomed to become the next Detroit?, Fast
Company. Retrieved from: https://www.fastcompany.com/90201098/is-silicon-valley-doomed-to-
become-the-next-detroit
Williams J. (March 13, 2017) Silicon Valley vs. Detroit: The Future of Car Ownership, Paste. Retrieved
from: https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/03/silicon-valley-vs-detroit-the-future-of-car-
owners.html