Masters in Business Administration-MBA Semester IV

OM0009 – Technology Management – 2 Credits

Book ID: B0893
Assignment Set-1 (30 Marks)
Note: Each question carries 10 Marks. Answer all the questions.

11. Discuss various Technology Acquisition alternatives. List

the important points to be kept in mind while managing an
acquisition of technology.

12. What are the ten tenets? Discuss. With the help of
examples, show how we have become /are becoming servants
of technology.

13. Explain the five stages of innovation process which is based

on the pioneering work of Edward B. Roberts. What are the
steps involved in measuring innovative performance?
Fall 2010

PERSPECTIVES ON INNOVATION
The process of innovation takes into account ali steps leading to the
generation and initial utilization of a new or improved invention. In
the
biomedical area an "invention" might relate to a product, a manufacutring
process, or a clinical practice. Innovation requires invention plus
exploitation,
which comprises such activities as the evaluation of the technology;
the focusing of technological development efforts toward particular
objectives; the transfer of research results; and the eventual broad-
based
utilization, dissemination, and diffusion of research outcomes. All of
these
activities are potential areas of managerial or policy concern for
enhancing
the rate of outcomes derived from technological innovation. This chapter
summarizes the existing empirical literature on the factors influencing
successful innovation and extrapolates where possible to the biomedical
field.
Innovations can be classified into the following overlapping set of
typologies:
Products vs. processes vs. practices
Radical developments vs. incremental changes
New items vs. modifications of existing items
Industrial goods vs. consumer goods
Services
The typologies are a potentially useful approach for analyzing the
influences
on innovation. But unfortunately, most empirical work on innovation is
outside
the biomedical arena, on technologies that have been developed in other
fields. Historical investigator bias has led to little research being
carried out on the processes that affect the development of biomedical
tech-
2-
no I og i ; I. T'he (Comro - 1il)l); ( 1977) ; lldy in the r: t )' c lr(li ()l ogy :nd ptiIl --
monary advances is a welcome exception to this pattern, embodying major
and substantive empirical work on biomedical development processes. (The
TRACES study (IITRI, 1968) contains some relevant cases as well, but
consists
of a biased self-serving sample, thereby lacking objective outcomes.)
Consequently
, to focus on successful biomedical innovation demands the combination
of empiricism largely from nonbiomedical fields with speculation on
the transferability of ideas across to the biomedical area.
Unfortunately,
this lack of systematic empirical understanding restricts the basis on
which either biomedical research programs or policy formation relating
to
biomedical research and technology can be advanced.
For example, different factors must affect product innovation--such as
in clinical devices or drug entities--than innovation in clinical
practice--
for example, surgical technique or diagnostic approach or therapeutic
regimen.
Yet the latter area has not received even cursory attention from
empirical
researchers. Studies of technological developments in nonbiomedical
areas
indicate that incremental changes rather than radical innovations
dominate.
Nevertheless, other than the Comroe-Dripps study, the few innovation
studies
in the biomedical area have generally taken anecdotal evidence from
radical
developments and have attempted to draw broad-based policy conclusions
about
the handling of technology development overall(IITRI, 1968; Battelle,
1973).
Such a practice contributes to an erroneous impression that productive
biomedical
innovation needs to be the same as making a major breakthrough or
winning a Nobel prize.
Studies of technological developments in nonbiomedical areas indicate
that incremental rather than radical innovations dominate research and
developmental
outcomes. Research has also been carried out on technological
-3-
efforts resulting in new items or new practices versus
modifications and
improvements of old practices. Again, modification and upgrading
activities
seem to dominate most fields of endeavor in contrast with the
creation of
new entities. Differences in innovation patterns also have been
found between
industrial and consumer goods. Medical devices and prescription
drugs
fall into the general category of being called "industrial
goods"--products
that are turned over to professionals for further use rather than
being sold
over-the-counter directly to the consumer. Finally, few
meaningful empirical
studies of innovation activities have been conducted in the area
of service
delivery, generally, and none specifically of medical services.
Thus, an
attempt to understand what influences the development of
technology-based
innovation, with empirical evidence as the basis, suffers great
weaknesses
from lack of data, especially in regard to biomedical technology.

Masters in Business Administration-MBA Semester IV

OM0009 – Technology Management – 2 Credits
Book ID: B0893
Assignment Set-2 (30 Marks)
Note: Each question carries 10 Marks. Answer all the questions.

11. What is Technology Strategy and what is its importance at the

corporate level? What are the steps involved in planning Technology
Strategies?

A Technology strategy (e.g. as in Information technology (IT)) is a particular generation

of an organization's overall objective(s), principles and tactics relating to the technologies
that the organization uses. Such strategies primarily focus on the technologies themselves
and in some cases the people who directly manage those technologies. The strategy can
be implied from the organization's behaviors towards technology decisions, and may be
written down in a document. Potts in FruITion (novel) conveys through the book's
characters that an IT strategy needs to be focused on creating and measuring business
value from the business investment in IT, and not as traditionally done which is starting
with IT and figuring out how to deliver business value.[1]

Other generations of technology-related strategies primarily focus on: the efficiency of

the company's spending on technology; how people, for example the organization's
customers and employees, exploit technologies in ways that create value for the
organization; on the full integration of technology-related decisions with the company's
strategies and operating plans, such that no separate technology strategy exists other than
the de facto strategic principle that the organization does not need or have a discreet
'technology strategy'.

A technology strategy has traditionally been expressed in a document that explains how
technology should be utilized as part of an organization's overall corporate strategy and
each business strategy. In the case of IT, the strategy is usually formulated by a group of
representatives from both the business and from IT[2]. Often the Information Technology
Strategy is led by an organization's Chief Technology Officer (CTO) or equivalent.
Accountability varies for an organization's strategies for other classes of technology.
Although many companies write an overall business plan each year, a technology
strategy may cover developments somewhere between three and 5 years into the future.

Developing an Accessible Technology Plan

Although each organization is unique and has unique requirements, common steps are
involved in developing a good accessible technology plan. Following is a proven five-step
plan used in many technology development plans that has simply been applied to
accessible technology. Many of the themes described here are based on the steps in
Susan Conway's and Char Sligar's book Unlocking Knowledge Assets. (Conway, Sligar
2002).

Thinking through your strategy and requirements will reduce costs and increase efficiency
—reducing false-starts, ensuring compatibility with existing technology, and accurately
addressing your organization's unique situation and needs.

The five steps are:

1. Define the accessible technology strategy. In this critical first step, you
define how accessible technology fits into your business by identifying a vision and
objectives that set the groundwork for the next steps.
2. Identify requirements. In this step, you develop a comprehensive set of
requirements by describing the scope of the accessibility needs of your organization
and evaluating the current technology being used.
3. Design, develop, and purchase technology. This next step involves the
design and development of technology based on the requirements outlined in Step 2.
This step might also include purchasing accessible technology and assistive
technology products and identifying internal technology systems that need to be
updated to increase accessibility.
 4. Implement and Train. Once the accessible technology is in place, including new
technology, it is rolled out to the organization. This step also involves increasing
awareness among employees about the availability of accessible technology and
training employees on how to use the accessibility features.

5. Maintain technology and continue learning. In the last step, you increase
awareness of the accessible technology vision in your organization, support
employees in their use of technology, and evaluate success and opportunities for
improvement.

12. What is Technology Forecasting? Explain its role at national and

enterprise level. What purpose does a technology forecast serve?

Technological Forecasting can be used to decide if the market is really ready for an
innovative new product (technology). The tools can be used to see how close an existing
technology may be to the end of its life, identify competing new technologies still in their
infancy, provide insights into possible adoption rates of the new technology (forecast
sales), and for many other purposes. This page identifies a few sources that can be used to
learn more about technology forecasting tools and processes.

Technology Forecasting is one of several ways of "customer validation"- determining if

customers will really buy an innovative new product or not. Prospective customer
identification, interviews, prototypes, field testing, focus groups, test marketing, internet
polls and many other tools can be used in conjunction with Technology Forecasting to
gain confidence in the market. Technology Forecasting should not be used alone to
"prove the market", but when used in conjunction with other tools, a greater
understanding of the market can be realized. Technological Forecasting is just another
blade of the market research pocket knife. The more blades you use, the higher your
probability of reaching a correct decision.

13. How does technology affect business plan of an organization? Explain with
examples. Do you agree that technology and technology management are part of
the total business activity or business plan of an enterprise?