Management of Technology, Innovations and

Change (MTIC)
(PG22) 
PGDM BATCH: 2018-20
TERM: IV

Dr. Akhilesh Kumar Mishra

 Unit 1

Technology Management
 Session 1
Introduction to Technology Management

Course content
• Introduction to Technology Management

• Understanding Technology and its Relationship with Wealth of

Nations and Firms Specific Knowledge
• Technology Life Cycles
Introduction to Technology Management
 To understand Management of Technology, it is necessary to
clarify what we mean by management and what we mean by
technology and then explain management of technology.
 A few of the major definitions of technology include:

 The processes used to change inputs into outputs.

 The application of knowledge to perform work.
 The theoretical and practical knowledge, skills, and artifacts that
can be used to develop products as well as their production and
delivery system.
 The technical means people use to improve their surroundings
 The application of science, especially to industrial or commercial
objectives; the entire body of methods and materials used to
achieve such objectives
 The discussion is further complicated by the fact that
technology can be viewed in many different ways.
 As an example, technology can be viewed as a

 Tool
 Physical manifestation
 Knowledge
 Applied science
 Academic discipline
 We view technology as a tool. It is a means for accomplishing some end.
 Viewing technology as an applied science limits the scope and essentially
focuses on the issues engaged by engineers and scientists.
 As an academic discipline could provide a benefit at some future point in
time when academia becomes oriented toward intensive multidisciplinary
research that possesses some appearance of relevance and is directed
toward problem solving and problem finding.
 The physical manifestation of technology surfaces in all our lives 24 hours
a day.
Meaning of Technology
The term technology has been given various definitions by
different scholars. According to Kumar et. al (1999) technology
consists of two primary components:
1) A Physical component which comprises of items such as
products, tooling, equipments, blueprints, techniques, and
processes
2) The Informational component which consists of know-how
in management, marketing, production, quality control,
reliability, skilled labor and functional areas.
 Technology is always connected with obtaining certain
result, resolving certain problems, completing certain tasks
using particular skills, employing knowledge and exploiting
assets (Lan and Young, 1996).

 The concept of technology does not only relate to the

technology that embodies in the product but it is also
associated with the knowledge of it use, application and the
process in developing the product (Lovell, 1998; Bozeman,
2000).
 David Sarnoff professor of management of technology at Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, suggested that the failures of the automotive,
office equipment, and electronics industries were not a result of
trade, economic, or political policies but from the inability of
industry to implement programs in technology management.
He emphasized the need for:-
 Integrating technology into the firm's strategic objectives
 Taking a proactive stand in introducing new technologies, new
products, and new processes with a greater emphasis on cycle time.
 Increasing the productivity and performance of the firm's technical
community.
 Understanding the interdisciplinary needs in project management.
 Analyzing the resources and infrastructure to effectively select the
technical scope of the work effort.
Management
Process of:
 Planning
 Organizing
 Coordination & Leading and
 Controlling

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Definition of Management of Technology

– Management of technology is defined as

“The management of technology is the linking of different

disciplines to plan, develop, implement, monitor, and control
technological capabilities to shape and accomplish the strategic
objectives of an organization.”
WHAT IS MANAGEMENT OF TECHNOLOGY ?

• MoT is an interdisciplinary field that integrates science,

engineering, and management knowledge and practice.
[MOT, Tarek M. Khalil p.7]

• Management of technology refers to the design and use of

the means needed within organizations achieve economic
and social objectives through technological innovation.

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 Management of Technology (MOT)

– An interdisciplinary field
 THE IMPORTANCE OF MANAGING TECHNOLOGY

The Technology specific reasons individuals and organizations

should be concerned about the management of technology.
These reasons are as follows:
1) The rapid pace of technological change demands a cross-
discipline approach if economic development is to occur in an
effective and efficient manner to take advantage of
technological opportunities.
2) The rapid pace of technological development and the
increasing sophistication of consumers have shortened
product life cycles. The result of these factors is a need for
organizations to be more proactive in the management of
technology.
• There is a need to cut product development
times as well as to develop more flexibility
in organizations. The lead-time from idea
to market is being reduced by the
emergence of new or altered technologies.

• Increasing international competition demands

that organizations must maximize
competitiveness by effectively using new
technologies.
The Roles of MOT
 MOT field helps nation and firms to answer the
following question:
 How technologies is created?
 How it can be exploited to create business opportunity?
 How to integrated technology with business strategy?
 How to use technology gain competitive advantage?
 How can technology improve the flexibility of
manufacturing and service systems?
 When to enter and abandon technology?

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 Technology Management - Relevance
 Economic growth of firm by using innovative technology to
develop new products, services and business models –Key
Strategic Driver and Differentiator
 Create Competitive edge and new business value, vital
role with innovations
 Impact on personal and social life
 Increased competition while reducing trade barriers and
leading to globalization
 Business managers need good grasp of technology for
timely adoption and continuous adoption to stay ahead of
competition and proactively meet customer needs
 Hyper growth firms –Apple, Google, Pfizer, Walmart, TCS –
major source of growth is attributed to innovation,
technology to gain competitive advantage
The major questions, then, for the organization trying to
strategically manage its technology become:
1. Should we create our own new technology and
innovations internal to the firm?
2. Or should we acquire technology from others
through acquisitions or strategic alliances?

The answers are determined by the costs and the likely

outcomes as well as how the approach fits into the goals and
future direction of the firm.

 As noted financial analysis can be critical to this

evaluation.
 Drivers of Technology Management
• Agility of the organization: Ability to manage current business
while undertaking new technology changes and/or R&D.
Flexibility is the key –ability to realign People, Process,
Technology continuously as needs change
• Cohesiveness of the organization: Cooperation across the
organization with clear objective. Enhancements in organization
including employee motivation, career alignment, encourage
teamwork
• Entrepreneurial culture: Mindset of entrepreneur, business
ownership are key to success
• Active top management: Involvement and sponsorship from the
higher management – remove barriers, mind blocks, cooperation
amongst teams/departments
 Tools for Managing Technology
• Too often, managers of technology assume that, because the
technology is interesting or attractive to them, it will be demanded
by the consumer.
• However, for success, the manager does more than rely on his or
her own judgment about the viability of the product.
• The manager needs to do things such as:
 Analyze the industry structure both domestically and
internationally
 Understand the firm s capabilities and those of its
competitors
 Conduct a financial analysis of the product and
 firm Forecast future changes
 Classification of Technology
New technology:
 Robot assistants, Augmented and mixed reality,
Regenerative medicine, Reusable rockets, Cryptocurrency,
Quantum computing, Artificial intelligence and automation.
Emerging technology:
 Emerging technologies are technologies whose
development, practical applications, or both are still largely
unrealized, such that they are figuratively emerging into
prominence from a background of nonexistence or
obscurity.


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• High technology
• Low technology
• Medium technology
Technology and its Relationship with Wealth of Nations and
Firms Specific Knowledge
Technology and Wealth in a Society
Technology has always been intertwined with society’s progress and it has
been linked to improvements in standards of living:
‘The human aspiration for a better life increasingly depends upon
technology and its effects on all aspects of life’ (Khalil 2000, xix).
We propose to say that a principal relationship between technology and
wealth is that by inventing, developing technologies, by using them and by
advancing, improving them.
we can:
• Produce existing goods more efficiently
• Produce more goods
• Produce improved goods
• Produce new goods
• Save labor (though development, maintenance and
advancement of technology requires labor) and increase
leisure/spare time
• Make labor easier
• Make activities easier
• Enable new activities

The essential possibility of technology in relation to wealth. We can do all of the above
with technology.
Development, use and advancement of technologies can mean our greater dominance and
power over nature; it can mean our greater dominance and control of our material life
conditions.
Technological advancement can be crucial for the better quality of our lives. Technology
can empower people.
 Technology Life Cycles

The Technology Life-Cycle (TLC) describes the commercial gain of a

product through the expense of research and development phase, and the
financial return during its "vital life".
• Some technologies, such as steel, paper or cement
manufacturing, have a long lifespan (with minor variations in
technology incorporated with time)
• In other cases, such as electronic or pharmaceutical products, the
lifespan may be quite short.
• The technology life cycle is concerned with the time and cost of
developing the technology, the timeline of recovering cost, and
modes of making the technology yield a profit proportionate to the
costs and risks involved.
 The technology life cycle can be broken down into following distinct
phases/stages

Stage Technological Stage Features

I Technology Development Basic Technology

II Technology Application Technology + Application

III Application Launch Technology + Application + Product

Launch
IV Application Growth Technology + Application + Rise in Product
Sale
V Technological Maturity Technology + Application + Fall in Product
sales
VI Degraded Technology Minimal Product sales + Loss of
application + Alternative Technology
 Stage I: Basic technology is developed in the research & development
centre.

 Stage II: Various applications of new technology are explored & planned.

 Stage III: Products, services & processes based on these applications are
launched in the markets.
 At this point of time, usually they are not fully developed.
 A number of alternate products, services & process designs emerge
& compete with each other.

 Stage IV: Based on feedback & requirements of markets, market –oriented

applications are offered.
 This is the period of consolidation when the emphasis is on
standardization, manufacturing efficiencies & economies of scale
of mass production.
 This leads to rise in product sales.
 Stage V: Technology reaches its maturity stage & rate of innovation slows
down.
 While further development slows down. While further development
is affected by diminishing returns & rapid increase in development
costs, market become price competitive & growth begins to level
out.

 Stage VI: Many applications of the existing technology lose relevance due
to arrival of some alternative new technology.

 At this point of time, there are minimal sales of products/ services

based on remaining surviving applications considered somewhat
useful by the markets.