Identification of interrelationship of key customers’ needs based on structural model for services/capabilities provided by a Semiconductor-Intellectual-Property Mall

The semiconductor industry is shifting towards innovation and acquisition of intellectual property. Semiconductor-Intellectual-Property (SIP) design, a new industry, is also rapidly growing. This challenges both providers and users to develop infrastructure and standard interfaces. Establishing an SIP Mall to provide a full array of SIP business services is a new concept used to promote growth of the SIP industry. Many foundries and governments have been involved in setting up SIP Malls; however, the major services needed for an SIP Mall to attract SIP providers and SIP users must still be clarified. In this paper, the DEMATEL (DEcision MAking Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) method was used to discover and illustrate the key services needed to attract SIP users and SIP providers to an SIP Mall. Research enabled the derivation of the interrelated services and the structural interrelationship between them using the DEMATEL method. Overall, four key services were found to be vital for an SIP Mall to attract customers and to allocate resources efficiently.