Technology Management

Lecture 6, 7 Management of Technology (MoT) Strategic Management of Technology (SMoT)

Management of Technology
Fast development of new and improved technology is quickening the pace of globalization for many businesses. New technologies have dramatically impacted: Product and Service attributes (Product Technology) Production and Service Creation Processes (Process Technology)

Management of Technology
Delivery Channels for consumer goods and services Structure of extended Supply Chains (through Information Technology)

Management of Technology
Technology Management (MOT) is concerned with the planning, development, implementation and assessment of technological capabilities to shape and accomplish the strategic and operational objectives of an organisation or central planning goals and priorities of a nation. MOT is mainly carried out at two levels: 1. At national level 2. At enterprise level

MoT at National Level

At the national level, the main objective of MOT is to assure that the nation, and its business firms, gain sustainable technological competitiveness in the international markets and maintain strong position in international business on a long-term basis.

MoT at National Level

At the national level, the domain of technology management includes the following areas: Developing appropriate technology strategy for the nation (e.g. internalization vs. externalization strategy) Technology Forecasting (i.e. forecasting the technological changes) Justification / Appropriateness of new technology (including justification for technology adoption)

MoT at National Level

Sustainable technologies e.g. development of renewable energy technologies Sustainable economic growth Planning national technology portfolio Knowledge Management (i.e. creation, deployment and protection of national technological knowledge base) Managing external technology acquisitions viz. guidelines for foreign technology collaborations

MoT at National Level

Managing Technology Absorption Managing Technology Diffusion Performance measurement of new technology Technology and Environment Management (viz. Green accounting, Environment Protection Act, 1986) Technology and Health and Societal Management

MoT at Enterprise Level

At enterprise / firm level, the main objective of MoT is to assure that the firm gains and maintains a strong position in its core technologies which are relevant to its product-market relationship and that these technologies support the firm's competitive strategies.

MoT at Enterprise Level

The domain of technology management often takes a multidisciplinary approach to examining the drivers of organizational and firm-level performance in a global marketplace impacted by rapidly changing technology. At enterprise level, MoT includes the following areas: Developing technology strategy (e.g. leader versus follower strategy) Technology Forecasting Managing Enterprise's Technology Portfolio

MoT at Enterprise Level

Knowledge management (e.g. creation, deployment, transfer and protection of firm specific technological knowledge viz. through patent etc) Implementation of new technology (including its integration with the existing structure, systems and workforce) Technology Transfer and Technology Absorption (including problems and management issues)

MoT at Enterprise Level

Managing Technology Change (including organizational issues viz. productivity and quality of work life) Integration of Engineering (R&D) and Management (of new project) leading to successful implementation / commercialization Integration of product and process technology (for delivering the objects) Technology Advancement (e.g. learning and process improvement)

MoT at Enterprise Level

Managing technology at the boundary / border of the firm (e.g. collaboration and coordination with supply chain partners and customers) and technology diffusion (from firm to suppliers and customers) Performance Measurement of new technology (e.g. Technology Assessment, Technology Audit and Feedback) Technology and Environmental Sustainability

Strategic Technology Management System (STMS)

Strategic Technology Management System (STMS) calls for adopting systems approach in the organisation on long-term basis i.e. STMS emphasizes systematic management of technology on long-term basis as the technology moves along its life cycle from birth to decline. STMS is a systems life cycle approach for strategic management of technology that includes eight phases.

STMS

Technology Creation
This phase involves creation and generation of new technologies. It involves the following activities: Creativity and invention Innovation Senior management commitment to technology creation and generation (Tata Nano) Developing requisite and supportive corporate culture for promoting technology creation and generation.

Technology Monitoring
This phase calls for monitoring technology trends and changes before implementing new technology. It involves the following activities: Installing and developing information systems for monitoring technological trends and changes Competitive analysis to understand competitiveness provided by existing and prospective technologies

Technology Monitoring
Customer and supplier interfaces to understand market and technological changes People links (viz. internal staff, research bodies etc) to understand market trends and technological changes These activities help the enterprise to understand market trends and technological changes.

Technology Assessment
This phase involves the following activities: Understanding directions of markets in terms of technology Integration of technology and business planning Customer interfaces to assess the commercial feasibility of prospective technologies Assessing contributions of technology projects to business strategy These activities enable the organisation to plan for the future

Technology Transfer
This phase leads to transfer of technology from external source to own Research and Development (R&D); and internally from R&D to production. It involves the following activities: Entering strategic alliances to develop or acquire potential technologies Using product design teams for reaping benefits of planned technological change

Technology Transfer
Reducing functional barriers to technology transfer Utilizing people links for successful technology transfer i.e. involving people across the organisation

Technology Acceptance
This phase calls for acceptance of technology as a beneficial change and involves the following activities: Supportive organizational design and structures Supportive corporate culture Senior management commitment Assessment of impacts of technological change on organization, enhancing benefits, reducing adverse effects, smoothening barriers/hurdles in

Technology Utilization
This phase involves the following activities: Effective project management for seeking maximum utilization Process technologies to support and facilitate maximum utilization Supportive marketing strategies, efforts and utilizing feedback for improvement. This phase leads to technology growth as reflected by increase in sales.

Technology Maturity
This phase involves analyzing the maturity of existing technology and its related products/services/processes through a study of the following indicators: Efficiency vs. Effectiveness contributed by the current technologies in attaining organizational goals Market stability in terms of volumes/sales Rise of substitutes in the marketplace Diminished returns on investment

Technology Maturity
Decline of market share Loss of competitiveness in the marketplace These indicators help in identifying the stage through which technology and its related products, services or processes are passing through. This stage shows some sort of stagnation, viz. slight decline in sales, some/slight decline in market share, increased competition from competitors, and slight decline in profits/returns on investment. Alarm bells for a tough future start ringing.

Technology Decline
This is the last phase in which a technology, and its related products / services / processes / applications, shows substantial / sharp decline in usage / applications / sales; they now become an ordinary commodity. The technology degrades and becomes obsolete. This phase calls for movement to new technological opportunities.

STMS
Thereafter, the cycle re-starts with the creation of a new technology / movement towards a new technology. All the above steps are repeated with the first stage followed by subsequent stages. Thus STMS helps a company to integrate all its systems and technology where they can be managed to control the future of the organisation/enterprise.