Chapter1 - Technology Management
Chapter1 - Technology Management
Contents
Chapter 1 - Technology Management............................................................................................. 1
Introduction................................................................................................................................. 2
Classification of Technology ...................................................................................................... 3
Roles Relative to Technology..................................................................................................... 4
Technological Change ................................................................................................................ 4
Measurement of Technological Change ..................................................................................... 5
Rate of Improvement of Technology...................................................................................... 5
Rate of Substitution of Technology ........................................................................................ 5
Rate of Diffusion of Technology ............................................................................................ 5
Technological Change Theories ................................................................................................. 5
Neo-Classical Theory.............................................................................................................. 5
Marxist Theory........................................................................................................................ 6
Schumpeter‘s theory ............................................................................................................... 6
Evolutionary Theory ............................................................................................................... 7
Market-Pull Theory................................................................................................................. 7
Technology-Push theory ......................................................................................................... 8
Technology Management............................................................................................................ 8
Types of Technology Management ............................................................................................ 9
Technological Innovation ......................................................................................................... 11
Innovation Management ........................................................................................................... 13
Technology Management Framework ...................................................................................... 13
Technology Management Capabilities ..................................................................................... 15
The role of technology in fostering economic growth of nations and enhancing their
industrial competitiveness has been widely recognized, through its domineering
influence over industrial productivity. Further, technology has emerged as the most
important resource that contributes directly to socio-economic development. Hence,
technology is viewed from various perspectives: as an ‗engine for economic
development‘, as a ‗strategic resource‘, and as a ‗competitive weapon‘.
The word ‗technology‘ has a wider connotation and refers to the collection of
production possibilities, techniques, methods and processes by which resources are
actually transformed by humans to meet their wants. For example, Ferré (1988) has
defined technology as ―practical implementations of intelligence‖. However,
Gendron (1977) has provided a more comprehensive definition: ―A technology is
any systematized practical knowledge, based on experimentation and/or scientific
theory, which is embodied in productive skills, organization, or machinery‖.
Technology can also mean skills to apply proper techniques (Hakkarainen, 2006) or
practical application of knowledge (Webster 2010). ‗Technology‘ is also defined by
(Steele, 1989) as ‗knowledge of how to do things‘, or ‗capabilities that an enterprise
needs in order to provide its customers with the goods and services it proposes to
offer, both now and in the future‘. (Burgelman, 2001) defines technology as
―technology refers to theoretical and practical knowledge, skills and artifacts that can
be used to develop products and services as well their production and delivery
systems. (Floyd 1997; Steele 1989;Whipp 1991) describe the technology as applied
knowledge focusing on the ―know-how‖ of the organization. In many different
bodies, one can recognize technology such as equipment, human resources, raw
materials, as well as cognitive and physical processes.
Classification of Technology
New technology: A technology which is newly introduced which can have its
influence on the products of an organization.
Low technology: the technologies that have permeated large segments of human
society. Low technologies are utilized by a wide variety of industries having the
following characteristics:
They employ people with relatively low levels of education or skill.
They use manual or semiautomatic operations.
They have low levels of research expenditure.
The technology base is stable with little change.
The products produced are mostly of the type that satisfies basic human
needs such as food, shelter, clothing and basic human services.
Technological Change
Technological change has been broadly defined as: ―the process by which economies
change over time in respect of the products and services they produce and the
processes used to produce them‖. More specifically, it has been termed as:
―Alteration in physical processes, materials, machinery or equipment, which has
impact on the way work is performed or on the efficiency or effectiveness of the
enterprise‖. Technological change may involve a change in the output, raw materials,
work organization or management techniques - but in all cases it affects the
relationship between labor, capital and other factors of production. While the
policies to stimulate technological progress and productivity growth - at both
national and firm levels - must be formulated in a broad socio-economic context,
their focus ought to be on the internal dynamics of technological change. It has been
suggested that the knowledge pertaining to technological change in the less
developed countries would be a crucial input to the understanding of the
phenomenon in industrialized nations.
Neo-Classical Theory
The basic tool for the study of technological change is the notion of a production
function which specifies a quantitative relation between inputs and outputs. The most
common inputs are capital and labor, which are called factors of production. The
production function can be represented as a series of isoquants - curves
corresponding to the constant output obtainable by the infinite number of available
According to this theory technological change takes place in the form of shifts of the
production function towards the origin.
• Only labor and capital are incorporated as factors of production. The inclusion
of more factors, however, makes the application of the production function
analytically more complicated.
• The presence of infinite techniques at a given level of technology is rather
unrealistic. Real life situations often imply a choice between a restricted
number of options.
• Only cost-reducing improvements can be described by the production function.
Improvements in performance or the appearance of new services find no place
in this theory.
Marxist Theory
Karl Marx perceived technology as not self generating, but as a process directed by
willful, conscious, active people and molded by historical forces. He held that
technological change - the development of the productive forces - was the prime
mover of history. The individual entrepreneur invests and innovates because it is
rational for profit maximization or necessary for survival. Marx seemed to be under
the spell that innovations simply must be labor-saving.
Schumpeter’s theory
This theory views innovation as the engine of economic development and as a
disequilibrium phenomenon. Innovation is defined as the carrying out of new
combinations of means of production, which include a wide variety of cases such as:
Evolutionary Theory
This suggests a biological analogy to explain technological change. The Darwinian
two-state process of mutation (invention) and selection (innovation) has been
employed to understand the evolution of technology. Biological evolution appears to
have a certain correspondence with the interpretation of technological changes in
industrial sectors - from a state of flux when product innovation prevails in the
search for a successful design, to a maturity phase where incremental process
innovation prevails.
Market-Pull Theory
Markets govern the innovation process. The market constitutes a communication
channel through which political, economic, social and ecological forces influence
buyers in their demand for technological products. Continuous changes in these
forces have an impact on the response provided by technology with respect to the
type, capabilities, performance, safeguards, solutions, etc. These messages are
transmitted and communicated through the market where buyer‘s requirements
(themselves influenced by external forces) are matched with technological changes
and where future demands can be detected by the producers of technology.
Technology Management
Fredmund Malik defines management as "the transformation of resources into
utility." Management can be an art and to some extent a technology. As a field, it has
a knowledge base and guiding principles which provide the means by which the
desired goals of an enterprise are achieved. It encompasses various functions,
including planning, organizing, staffing, motivating and controlling activities of the
organization. Now-a-days, majority of these functions are managed or performed
through technology.
In order to maintain technology and update the technology with the current changes,
there are certain activities (like Innovation, Protection, Identification, Selection,
Acquisition, Exploitation, Transfer, Learning including Diffusion & Absorption,)
and functions (like Planning and Forecasting, Decision Making, Organizing, and
Leading Technical People) that every organization has to understand. In addition the
technology management community has developed some tools for effective
technology management, like S–curve, Patent Analysis, Portfolio Management,
Roadmapping, and Value Analysis/Value Innovation. These activities, functions and
tools are the building blocks of Technology Management.
This linear model is overly simplified. In fact, the innovation process may be quite
non-linear, drawing repeatedly on basic knowledge, responding to newly perceived
needs, and modifying earlier concepts of the tool, device, or procedure that
eventually evolves (Tornatzky et al. 1990). Nevertheless, the progress of innovation
requires, first, understanding of the basic principles and processes that permit
manipulation of the physical environment, and then the interaction of often complex
social forces through which this understanding is to be put to use.
To get single product out of the door, most companies use a combination
of more than one of these environments.
Innovation Management
Innovation, although not sufficient, is a necessary prerequisite for the continued
survival and development of enterprises. The most direct way of business innovation
is through technological innovation, disruptive innovation or social innovation.
Management of innovation, however, plays a significant role in promoting
technological and institutional innovation.
The goal of innovation management within a company is to cultivate a suitable
environment to encourage innovation. The suitable environment would help the
firms get more cooperation projects, even ‗the take-off platform for business
ventures‘. Senior management's support is crucial to successful innovation; clear
direction, endorsement, and support are essential to innovation pursuits.
Innovation management allows the organization to respond to external or internal
opportunities, and use its creativity to introduce new ideas, processes or products. It
is not relegated to R&D; it involves workers at every level in contributing creatively
to a company's product development, manufacturing and marketing. It helps an
organization grasp an opportunity and use it to create and introduce new ideas,
processes, or products industriously. Creativity is the basis of innovation
management; the end goal is a change in services or business process. Hence, the
innovative management process can be viewed as an evolutionary integration of
organization, technology, and market, by iterating series of activities: search, select,
implement and capture.
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(Sarkis,J. 1995; Dey., 1996; Chan,S.L and Choi C.F, 1997; Lopes and Flavell,
1998; Haas and Kleingeld, 1999; Garshnek et al., 2000; Pretorius and Wet, 2000;
Sharratt and Choong, 2002;).