In October 2004, SpaceShipOne exploded in space, earning $ 10 million Ansari X PRIZE. This competition for the first privately funded manned space flight was organized by the X PRIZE Foundation, and attracted 26 competitors, who had spent more than $ 100 million in pursuit of the prize. The success of SpaceShipOne created intense media and public interest. Many competitors for the Ansari X PRIZE was also planned to continue its efforts to develop commercial spaceflight companies. After this success, Peter Diamandis, founder and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation considers the future of the foundation. He saw three options: stop, continue with an emphasis on space, or the creation of an “Institute of World prices using the model of price incentives to solve the challenges of today.” He chose the third option with the development vision of 10-15 competitions. The foundation has chosen to work in the fields, including space, medicine and genomics, energy and transport, education and other social problems. Describe lessons learned in price competition through the Ansari X PRIZE program. Discusses issues in the creation and operation of a successful competition, and the benefits of using incentive prizes, including a new thought to influence the difficult problems and pay only when an important goal is complete ( pay for results, not effort). There are several problems facing the Foundation as it begins to focus on areas outside the space: price competition could work in areas that do not focus on the technology (such as poverty), the organization could evolve to support as much as 10 – 15 competitions, and what areas should focus foundation. Finally, can the pricing model to revolutionize philanthropy by using economic incentives to encourage investment in key areas and leverage philanthropic dollars paying only for results?
by
David W. Hoyt,
James A. Phills
Source: Stanford Graduate School of Business
31 pages.
Release Date: February 6, 2007. Prod #: si90-PDF-ENG
X PRIZE Foundation: Revolution Through Competition Solution
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