TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT

Haroon Karim
 What is
•Technology
“The application ?
of scientific knowledge for
practical purposes, especially in industry” – Oxford
Dictionary

• “Technology is the making, modification, usage, and

knowledge of tools, machines, techniques… in
order to solve a problem … achieve a goal …
perform a specific function.

• “The purposeful application of the information in the

design, production, and utilization of goods and services,
and in the organization of human activities.” –
Business Dictionary
Types of
technology
• Generic, Basic, Key
• Embodied and Disembodied
• System and Infra
• Hybrid and Emerging
Technology Portfolio(Passenger car)
• Steel Making
• Metal Body forming
• Electrical Engineering
• Electronic Engineering
• Rubber & Plastic
• Paint
• Metal Cutting & welding
• Mechanical
• Glass and etc.
 Technology Life Cycle
A predictable pattern followed by a technological innovation, from
its
inception and development to market saturation and replacement.
 The four phases of the technology
life- cycle
• The research and development (R&D){Bleeding Edge}
• The ascent phase {leading edge}
• The maturity phase
• The decline {decay phase}
What is Technology Life
Cycle?
Stage
•
/ Technological Features
Phase Stage /
No Phase
I Technology Basic Technology
Development
II Technolog Technology + Applications
y
Application
III Application Launch Technology + Applications + Product
Launch
IV Application Growth Technology + Applications + Rise in
product sales
V Technological Technology + Applications + Fall in
Maturity product sales
VI Degraded Minimal Product sales + Loss of
Technolog application + Alternative Technology
y
 What is Technology Management ?
• The Association of Technology, Management, and Applied
Engineering define Technology Management as the field concerned
with the supervision of personnel across the technical spectrum and
a wide variety of complex technological systems.

• Technology Management programs typically include instruction in

production and operations management, project management,
computer applications, quality control, safety and health issues,
statistics, and general management principles.

• Typical concepts used in technology management are technology

strategy, technology forecasting, technology road-mapping
(mapping technologies to business and market needs), technology
project portfolio (a set of projects under development), and
technology portfolio (a set of technologies in use).
What is Technology Management?

Technology Management (MoT) is mainly carried out at two

levels:
• At National Level
• At Enterprise Level
What is Technology Management?

Technology Management (MoT) At National Level:

Main objective of is to assure that the nation and its business

firms gain sustainable technological competitiveness in the
international markets and maintain strong position in the
international business on long-term basis.
What is Technology Management?

At national level, the domain of technology management

includes the following areas:
• Developing appropriate technology strategy for the nation
(e.g. internalization vs. externalization strategy of the nation)
• Technology forecasting (i.e. forecasting the technological
changes)
• Justification / appropriateness of new technology
(including justification for technology adoption )
• Sustainable technologies; development of renewable energy
technologies
• Sustainable economic growth
• Planning national technology portfolio
What is Technology Management?

Knowledge management (i.e. creation, deployment, and

protection of national technological knowledge base)
• Managing external technology acquisitions viz guidelines for
foreign technology collaborations
• Managing technology absorption
• Managing technology diffusion
• Performance measurement of new technology
• Technology and environment management (Green accounting,
Environment Protection Act, 1986, etc)
• Technology and health & societal management
What is Technology Management?

Technology Management (MoT) At Enterprise Level

• The main objective is to assure that the firm gains & maintains
a strong position in its core technologies which are relevant to
its product-market relationship and that these technologies
support the firm’s competitive strategies.
What is Technology Management?
Overview of Technology Management (MoT) At
Enterprise Level ----
What is Technology Management?
Evolution of Technology Management (MoT) at Enterprise Level ----
What is Technology Management?
At enterprise level, MOT includes following areas:

• Developing technology strategy (e.g. leader versus follower strategy)

• Technology forecasting
• Managing enterprise’s technology portfolio
• Tec-novation (technology innovation)
• Knowledge management (e.g. creation, deployment, transfer and
protection of firm specific technological knowledge viz through patent
etc)
• Implementation of new technology (including its integration with the
existing structure, systems and workforce).
What is Technology Management?
Contd…

• Technology transfer (including problems & management issues),

Technology absorption (including problems & management issues)

• Managing technology change (including organizational issues viz

productivity and quality of work life)

• Integration of engineering (R&D) and management (of new project)

leading to successful implementation / commercialization

• Integration of product and process technology ( for delivering the

objects)
What is Technology Management?
contd…
• Technology advancement (e.g. learning and process improvement)

• Managing technology at the boundary / border of the firm (e.g.

collaboration and coordination with supply chain partners and
customers) and Technology diffusion (from firm to suppliers and
customers)

• Performance measurement of new technology (e.g. technology

assessment, technology audit and feedback)

• Technology and environmental sustainability (e.g. environmental

impact assessment, environmental audit, discharge of environmental
responsibility, green marketing.
Technology adoption
lifecycle
• innovators – had larger farms, were more educated,
more prosperous and more risk-oriented
• early adopters – younger, more educated, tended to be
community leaders, less prosperous
• early majority – more conservative but open to new
ideas, active in community and influence to neighbors
• late majority – older, less educated, fairly conservative
and less socially active
• laggards – very conservative, had small farms and
capital, oldest and least educated
KRA’s at enterprise
level
• Tech Planning like declining technology strategy,
Selecting appropriate techniques
• R&D management
• Innovation Management
• SMOT
SMOT
Importance
Strategic Management of Technology (SMOT) means that the
product, service or process technologies of an organization /
enterprise are managed from a long range perspective, as these
technologies have wide-ranging effects on all levels and functions in
the organization.
• Improvement in quality(high quality)
• Increased in machine utilization rate by removing
bottlenecks
• Reduction in work process.
• Flexibility in design and manufacturing options.
• Earning through technology agreement transfer.
Contd.
• Increased ability to enter in new markets quickly, faster
introduction of new products.
• Shortened delivery time for customer.
• Monopoly and high prices for hi-tech products in the
international market.
• Reduction in overall cycle time
STMS
Strategic Technology Management System is a systems life
cycle approach for strategic management of technology that
includes eight phases
Technology Creation
This phase involves creation & generation of new
technologies. This phase involves following activities

• Creativity and Invention

• Innovation
• Senior management commitment to technology creation and
generation
• Developing requisite and supportive corporate culture for
promoting technology creation and generation.
 Technology Monitoring
This phase calls for monitoring technology trends and
changes before implementing new technology. It involves
following activities :

• Installing and developing IS to monitor trends and

changes.
• Competitive analysis to understand competitiveness
provides by existing and prospective technologies.
• Customer and supplier interfaces to understand
market and technological Changes
• People Links (viz. internal staff, research bodies etc.)
to understand market trends and technological
changes
Technology Assessment
• Understanding direction of market in terms of technology
• Integration of technology and business planning
• Customer interfaces to assess the commercial feasibility
of prospective technologies
• Assessing contribution of technology projects to
business
strategy.
Technology Transfer
This phase leads to transfer of technology from external
source to own Research and Development (R&D); and
internally from R&D to production. This phase involves
following activities :

• Entering strategic alliances to develop or acquire

potential technologies
• Using product design teams for reaping benefits of
planned technological change
• Reducing functional barriers to technology transfer
• Utilizing people links for successful technology
transfer
i.e. involving people across the organization.
Technology acceptance
This phase calls for acceptance of technology as a
beneficial change and involves following activities :

• Supportive organizational design and structures

• Supportive corporate culture
• Senior management commitment
• Assessment of impacts of technological changes on
organization, enhancing benefits, reduction
adverse effects, smoothing barriers/hurdles in the
change.
Technology Utilization
• Effective project management to seek maximum
utilization.
• Process tech. to support and facilitate maximum
utilization.
• Supportive marketing strategies, efforts and utilization
feedback for improvement.

This phase leads to technology growth as reflected by

increase in sales.
Technology Maturity
This phase involves analyzing maturity of existing technology
and its related products / services / processes through study
of following indicators:

• Efficiency vs effectiveness contributed by the current

technologies in attaining organizational goals.
• Market stability in terms of volumes/sales
• Rise of substitutes in the marketplace
• Lessened (ROI) returns on investment
• Start Declining market share
• Loss of competitiveness in the marketplace.
Technology Decline
This is the last phase. During this phase a technology and its
related products / services / processes/ applications show
substantial / sharp decline in usage/ applications / sales.
Technology and its associated products or services become
ordinary commodity.

Technology degrades and becomes obsolete.

• This phase calls for movement to new technological

opportunities.
• Thereafter the cycle re-starts by the creation of a new
technology / movement towards a new technology.

All the above steps are repeated ..

Technology Transfer
• Technology transfer is a process by which technology is
disseminated.
• It involves Communication of relevant knowledge by the
transferor to the recipient.

Types of Technology transfer:-

 ScientificKnowledge transfer
 Direct Technology Transfer
 Spin-Off Technology Transfer
Scientific Knowledge
Transfer
•Transfer Trough basic Research and development
activities.
Direct Technology Transfer

• Occurs through formal agreement

• Enterprise Elements
• Enterprise to Enterprise
• Government to Enterprise
• Government to Government
Spin off Technology Transfer
• A spinoff is the creation of an independent company through the sale or
distribution of new shares of an existing business or division of a parent
company.

• NASA spinoffs are technologies, products, and processes developed with

NASA technology, funding and/or expertise.
Informal and Formal Technology
Transfer
Informal Technology Transfer
• The process involves few decisions to keep in mind

• Timing
• Location
• Multi-functional team
• Communication Methods and procedure
Barriers to Internal Technology
Transfer
• Specially to the Production dept.
Overcoming the
barriers
• Top management support
• Effective Communication
• Adaptability
External Technology Transfer

• Control on technical usage / Ownership, licensing

agreements

• Transfer mechanisms:
• Cooperative and collaborative ventures/ Strategic
Alliances.
• Licensing agreements
• Enterprise Acquisition
• Technical exchanges
• Cross-licensing Agreements
• Co-Production agreement between parties
• Marketing Agreement between parties
• Joint ventures with equity ownership
Factors/reason necessitating
external technology transfer

• Technology already developed saves time and effort

• Lack of risk taking ability for innovations
• Lack of internal resources(physical/human) for innovation.
• Need to keep up with competitors
• Need to keep up with the acceleration of technological
change.
Barriers to External Technology
Transfer
 Associated cost
 Lack of mutual trust
 Risk of loss of control over technology
 Transferee may turn a potential competitor in future
 Different organization cultures may create difficult in
transfer.
 Lack of effective communication
Overcoming
Barriers

• Proper and well defined agreement should be signed

• A proper assessment/evaluation of appropriateness of

technology

• Cross-cultural training may be helpful

 39

Technology Absorption
• Using technology requires
• Information about the method
• Means of carrying out the method
• Some understanding of the method.
• Technology can be
• Acquired,
• Assimilated,
• Used,
• Changed, or
• Created.
 Technology Acquisition
Two terms technology transfer and technology Acquisition are
normally used interchangeably.

The verb “Acquire” means

• To come into possesion of; get as one’s own
• To gain for one-self through one’s actions or efforts

• Technology Acquisition is the process of acquiring a new

technology, new product, process or service ; by efforts of
an individual or an enterprise or any other macro entity.
• This process can be conducted either internally or
externally to the enterprise.
 42

Technology-Acquisition
Steps (Not Always Sequential)

1. Assess local constraints and available technologies

2. Evaluate costs and benefits and windows opened by
each technology
3. Acquire
4. Integrate
5. Use
6. Adapt
7. Change
8. Create
 43

Factors In Technology
Acquisition
• Seller differences
• European suppliers are more generous on basic industry technology.
• US suppliers are more generous on consumer goods technology.

• Buyer participation in transfer process, even turn-key project,

is crucial.
• Technology not on open shelf, but protected by secrecy and
patents.
• Technology involves tacit knowledge, understood only in use, not from
recipe.
• Some technology elements may be non-tradable.
Key terms related to technology
transfer
Intellectual Property

Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as

inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names
and images used in commerce.

 Invention and patents

 Trade marks
 Trade secrets
 Copyrights
 Licensing
Internal Technology acquisition
• Grabbing tacit knowledge, taking advantage of available
in house knowledge.
• Promoting internal R&D.
Methods for technology Acquisition by a
Nation
• Attracting MNCs (Multi national Companies)
Through direct measures viz. making a positive list of
industries open to FDI (Foreign Direct Investment).
 Through indirect measures viz by offering incentives
and subsidies.
 Attracting MNCs into natural resource processing and
including greater value addition
 Offering incentives to existing investors to increase R&D
base.
Joint Venture(JV) and Wholly Owned Subsidiaries
(WOS) Abroad

• Contractual Agreement
• Specific Limited Purpose and Duration
• Joint Property Interest
• Common Financial and Intangible Goals and
Objectives
• Shared Profits, Losses, Management, and Control
Reasons for Forming a Joint
Venture
• Risk Sharing
• Economies of Scale
• Market Access
• Geographical Constraints
• Funding Constraints
• Acquisition Barriers
Absorption
• Acquisition, Development, Assimilation and utilization
of tech knowledge by a firm.
Adoptio Adaptation
n
• Technology absorbed • Tech absorbed by
without changing the changing certain
parameters of acquired parameters of acquired
technology. technology
Diffusion
• Spreading out the application/usage of a new technology
and its related product, services and processes.
Thank you