Chapter Eleven

Strategic Issues in
Managing Technology
and Innovation

Learning Objectives
List the differences between successful
and unsuccessful innovations
Understand the importance of lead users
and market research as sources of new
ideas
Assess the importance of product and
process R&D for success within an
industry

 Decide when to innovate internally and

when to use alliances
Propose an appropriate structure and
culture to support innovative ideas and
products
Apply appropriate techniques and
measures to manage new product
development

Environmental Scanning
1. External scanning
2. Internal Scanning
3. Resource Allocation Issues

External Scanning
1. Technological Development
2. Impact of Stakeholders on
Innovation
3. Lead Users
4. Market research

Internal Scanning
1. Has the company developed the
resources needed to try new idea ?
2. Do the managers allow experimentation
with new products or services ?
3. Does the corporation encourage risk
taking and tolerate mistakes ?
4. Are people more concerned with new
ideas or with defending their turf ?
5. Is it easy to form autonomous project
team ?

What must be done ?

1. Developing programs, budgets and
procedures
2. Achieving synergy
a. Shared know-how
b. Coordinated strategies
c. Shared tangible resources
d. Economies of scale or scope
e. Pooled negotiated power
f. New business creation

Strategic Formulation
1. Product vs process R & D
2. Technology sourcing
3. Importance of technological
competence
4. Product portfolio

Development an Innovative
Entrepreneurial Culture

Positive attitude toward change

Decentralized decision making
Complexity
Informal structure
Interconnectedness
Organizational slack (unused resource)
Large size
System openness