TM-CH 1

Technology Management
Introduction : A framework for Understanding

TM activities and Tools
• Technology can present a major source of competitive advantage and growth.
• Integrating technological is a complex task
• Technical Marketing
• Finance and Human resources
• Challenges Associated with management of Technology are:
• Increasing cost
• Complexity and pace of technology advancement
• Diversity of technology sources
• Globalization of competition and alliances and the impact of IT
• To compete successfully, must assess their TM strategy and practice and address
how they :
• Recognize technological opportunities and threats and convert them into sales and profit.
• Exploit existing technology by the effective translation of strategy into operational
performance.
• Differentiate products using cost-effective technological product and process solution.
• Identify and evaluate alternative and emerging technologies in the light of company policy
and strategy and their impact on the business and society.
• Reduce the risks inherent in new or unfamiliar technologies.
• Harness technology that supports improvement in processes, information and other
systems
• Decrease the time to market of new products and services through effective identification
and exploitation of technologies that provide competitive advantage
• Protect and exploit Intellectual Property
• Six key questions must be answered if the full potential of technology
investment if to be realized:
• How do we exploit our technology assets ?
• How do we identify technology that will have a future impact on our business ?
• Hoe do we select technology for business benefit ?
• How should we acquire new technology ?
• How can we protect our technology assets
• How can we learn from our experience to improve our ability to develop and exploit the
value of technology ?
Definition
• The definition of TM includes planning, directing, control and coordination of the
development and implementation of Technological capabilities so that firms can
shape and accomplish their strategic and operational objectives (NRC 1987).
• It does not make an explicit distinction between the technical and managerial
issues associated with TM
• An appropriate paradigm on understanding TM cold be the dynamic capabilities
theory.
• Capability implies an ability to do something and is constituted both by strategies

and operational activities.
• Dynamic capabilities are the ability to reconfigure, redirect, transform and

appropriately shape and integrate existing core competencies with external
resources and strategic and complementary assets to meet the challenges of a
time pressure, rapidly changing world of competition and limitation.
• Three main reasons explain why the dynamic-capabilities theory could enhance
the understanding of TM
• It is not specific ethnological innovations but rather the capability to generate a stream of
product, service and process changes that matter for long-term firm performance (Rush et
al….2007)
• It is possible to observe the dynamics taking place in the organization of firms, since the
unit of analysis is the capabilities (Best, 2001)
• Dynamic-capabilities theory considers the market or the product as objects of strategic

reconstruction and thus emphasizes the key role of strategic management in appropriately
adapting, integrating and reconfiguring internal and external organizational skills, resources
and functional competencies towards a changing environment (Teece, 2014)
• Capabilities might be dynamic or operational
• Dynamic capabilities build, intergrade or reconfigure operational capabilities
• High level routine ( or collection of routines) that, together with its implementing input
flows confers upon an organization's management a set of decision portions for producing
significant outputs of a particular type.
• A routine describe a repetitive pattern of activity. Similarly, competencies refer to

activities to be performed by assembling firm specific assets/resources.
Difference between TM and innovation
Management
• The central idea behind open innovation is that in a world of widely distributed
knowledge, companies cannot afford to rely entirely in their own research.
• In simple terms, innovation is doing something new such as a product, process or

service, including newness in the firm.
• Although implicit in this definition, the critical issue is the fact that innovation is
not limited to technology.
• Oslo Manual (OECD, 1995) lists the four main innovation types as follows:
• A product innovation is the introduction of a good or service that is new of significantly
improved with respect to its characteristics or intended uses.
• A process innovation is the implementation of a new or significantly improved production,

service or delivery method.
• A marketing innovation ranges from a new marketing method involving significant changes
in product design or packaging, product placement, product promotion to pricing.
• An organizational innovation is the implementation of a new organizational method in the

firm’s business practices, workplace organization or external relations.
The TM framework to set the context
• TM studies offer new universally accepted conceptual models or framework to
understand and communicate structures and relationships within a TM system.
• TM activities are bases in technological capabilities
• Due to the complex nature of firms and industries, it is difficult to describe where
exactly firm exercise these activities.
• TM activities- Acquisition, exploitation, identification, learning, protection and

selection- are typically linked to or embedded within three core business process:
strategy, innovation and operations.
• Key aspects of the framework include:
• The linkage between technological and commercial perspectives in the firm.
• The knowledge flows (and other mechanisms) that support this linkage.
• The core business processes of strategy, innovation (including new product
development) and operations.
• The TM processes: identification, selection, acquisition, exploitation, protection
and learning.
• The organizational and environment context in which the firm operates (the
‘system’), which includes additional internal elements of the system, such as staff
and other business processes and sub-system, together with external elements
such as customers, compatriots, partners, government, etc.
• Time (change, trend, evolution and synchronization)
• The proposed TM framework offers many advantages.
• It allows us to conceive that TM activities might operate in any business process,
department or business level for example project, corporate and strategic business units in
the firm.
• The framework does not differentiate with respect to the sector in which firms operate.
• It is valid for service firms as mush as it is valid for firms in manufacturing.
• The framework also indicates that the specific TM issues faced by firm depend on the
context (internal and external)
• In Term of Organizational structure
• System infrastructure
• Culture and structure
• Particular business environment
• An advantage of the TM framework is its applicability to all firms regardless of
their size in contrast to the framework/model that implicitly assume firms with
leadership status.
• The framework consider technology as a resource.
• The framework emphasizes the dynamic nature of the knowledge flows that must
occur between the commercial and technological functions in the firm, linking to
the strategy, innovation and operational processes.
• An appropriate balance must be struck between market “pull” ( Requirement)

and technology “push” (capabilities)
TM activities behind technological capabilities
• The core set of generic TM activities can be customized by and organization
(manufacturing or services) and is applicable at any level, such as R&D unit.
• Knowing the main TM activities can reduce confusion between TM and other
management activities such as innovation management.
• Linear and limited perceptions on TM activities can be replaced with a dynamic

view that emphasized the links between activities.
• Managers as well as engineers and management student who want to purchase

careers in TM can conceive what skill and knowledge are necessary to manage
technology
Main TM activities
• Acquisition:
• Acquisition is how the company obtains the technologies valuable for its
business.
• Acquisition is bases on the buy-collaborate-make decision
• Technology might be developed internally, by some form of collaboration, or

acquired from external developers.
• The management of acquisition differs on the basis of their choice made.

Main TM activities
• Exploitation:
• Exploitation entails commercialization
• Expected benefits need to realized through effective implementation
• Technologies are assimilated through technology transfer either from R&D to

manufacturing
• Exploitation processes include incremental developments, process

improvements and marketing..
Main TM activities
• Identification:
• Identification is necessary for technologies at all stages of development
• This process includes market changes as well as technological developmetns
• Technologies are assimilated through technology transfer either from R&D to

manufacturing
• Exploitation processes include incremental developments, process

improvements and marketing..
Main TM activities
• Learning:
• Critical part of technological competency
• Involves reflections on technology projects and processes carried out
• Strong link between this process and the broader filed ok knowledge
management (KM).
Main TM activities
• Protection:
• Protect intellectual assets within a firm
• Including the knowledge and expertise embedded in products
• Selection:
• Selection takes account of company-level strategic issues
• Selection process aligns technology-related decisions with business strategy

• TM capabilities does not include the innovation capability for two main reasons
• First, the innovation capability is the ability to mould and manage multiple
capabilities. The ser of TM capabilities is a subset of capabilities that are
integrate within the innovation system.
• Second, each of the TM capabilities involves an innovating element in itself.
• For example : Acquisition capability is to a large degree a major innovating activity,

dealing with product, service, process and organizational innovation in a company.
Nonlinearity of TM activities
Activities supporting TM
• Project Management: refer to managerial activities associated with all types of
projects such as product development.
• KM: is a widely used term for managing the knowledge accumulated in a

company, including non-technology-based knowledge.
• Innovation Management: is involved with various innovations being financial,

organizational and technological, so it naturally shares common ground with TM
but it is a broader management exercise, covering the management of all sort of
innoations.
TM Tools
• Tools for external information analysis, such as technology forecast and
benchmarking.
• Tools for internal information analysis, such as skills and innovation audit.
• Tools to calculate workload and resources needed in projects, such as project
management and portfolio management.
• Tools to manage working together, such as interface management and
networking.
• Idea creation and problem-solving techniques, such as creativity and value
analysis
• Tools related to improving efficiency and flexibility, such as lean thinking and
continuous improvement.
TM tools and their applications
• Patent analysis
• Portfolio Management
• Road mapping
• S-Curve
• Stage-gate
• Value analysis
TM tools and their applications

TM-CH 1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

TM-CH 1

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

TM-CH 1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Technology Management

Introduction : A framework for Understanding

• Hoe do we select technology for business benefit ?

• How should we acquire new technology ?

• How can we protect our technology assets

• Capability implies an ability to do something and is constituted both by strategies

• Dynamic capabilities are the ability to reconfigure, redirect, transform and

• Dynamic-capabilities theory considers the market or the product as objects of strategic

• Dynamic capabilities build, intergrade or reconfigure operational capabilities

• A routine describe a repetitive pattern of activity. Similarly, competencies refer to

• In simple terms, innovation is doing something new such as a product, process or

• A process innovation is the implementation of a new or significantly improved production,

• An organizational innovation is the implementation of a new organizational method in the

• TM activities are bases in technological capabilities

• TM activities- Acquisition, exploitation, identification, learning, protection and

• The framework consider technology as a resource.

• An appropriate balance must be struck between market “pull” ( Requirement)

• Linear and limited perceptions on TM activities can be replaced with a dynamic

• Managers as well as engineers and management student who want to purchase

• Acquisition is bases on the buy-collaborate-make decision

• Technology might be developed internally, by some form of collaboration, or

• The management of acquisition differs on the basis of their choice made.

• Exploitation entails commercialization

• Expected benefits need to realized through effective implementation

• Technologies are assimilated through technology transfer either from R&D to

• Exploitation processes include incremental developments, process

• Identification is necessary for technologies at all stages of development

• This process includes market changes as well as technological developmetns

• Technologies are assimilated through technology transfer either from R&D to

• Exploitation processes include incremental developments, process

• Critical part of technological competency

• Involves reflections on technology projects and processes carried out

• Protect intellectual assets within a firm

• Including the knowledge and expertise embedded in products

• Selection takes account of company-level strategic issues

• Selection process aligns technology-related decisions with business strategy

• Second, each of the TM capabilities involves an innovating element in itself.

• For example : Acquisition capability is to a large degree a major innovating activity,

• KM: is a widely used term for managing the knowledge accumulated in a

• Innovation Management: is involved with various innovations being financial,

You might also like