Technology & Innovation Management

The word “Technology” comes from two Greek words: téchnē -the
skill or craft needed to make something, and loges- discussion or
knowledge of a discipline. So it is the knowledge of how something is
made.
Technology Embodied in: 1. Machines and 2. Skills (Know how-
Know why, Process, Design-drawing, Property rights, Training-
Information).
According to a technologist cum economist: technology is a “game”
for the rich, a “dream” for the poor and a “key” for the wise.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary offers a definition of the term:
“the practical application of knowledge especially in a
particular area” and “a capability given by the practical
application of knowledge”.
Bernard Stiegler, in Technics and Time, defines technology in
two ways: as “the pursuit of life by means other than life”,
and as “organized inorganic matter”.
Technology as an application of knowledge that leads to
production and marketing of goods and services.
The distinction between science, engineering and technology is not
always clear. Science is the reasoned investigation or study of
phenomena, aimed at discovering enduring principles among elements
of the phenomenal world by employing formal techniques such as the
scientific method.

Technologies are not usually exclusively products of science, because

they have to satisfy requirements such as utility, usability and safety.

Engineering is the goal-oriented process of designing and making tools

and systems to exploit natural phenomena for practical human
means, often (but not always) using results and techniques from
science.
1. Paleolithic (2.5 million – 10,000 BC) –
Stone tools (Human ancestors have been using stone and other tools since long
before the emergence of Homo sapiens approximately 200,000 years ago)
Fire (domestication of fire occurred before 1,000,000 BC)
Clothing and shelter (as early as 380,000 BC, humans were constructing
temporary wood huts, Clothing, adapted from the fur and hides of hunted animals,
helped humanity expand into colder regions; humans began to migrate out of Africa
by 200,000 BC)
2. Neolithic through Classical Antiquity (10,000BC – 300AD) (“New stone
age”)
Metal tools (copper was probably used from near the beginning of Neolithic times
8000BC,The first uses of iron alloys such as steel dates to around 1400 BC)
Energy and Transport (the wheel was invented around 4000 B.C)
3. Modern history (300 AD —) IPR era
Simple machines (such as the lever, the screw, and the pulley)
More complex machines (such as the clock, the engine, the
electric generator and the electric motor, the computer, radio, and
the Space Station, among many others)
•Atomic energy, World War II, Satellites, Man on moon,
Mobile, e-governance etc.
•Industrialization
•Agriculture
•IT
•Knowledge era (inventions, IPR.)
 Technology Management

Technology Management is set of management disciplines that allows

organization to manage its technological fundamentals to create
competitive advantage.

Technology Management can also be defined as the integrated

planning, design, optimization, operation and control of technological
products, processes and services, a better definition would be the
management of the use of technology for human advantage.
Typical concepts used in technology management are;

Technology strategy: a logic or role of technology in organization

Technology mapping: identification of possible relevant technologies

for the organization

Technology road mapping: a limited set of technologies suitable for

business

Technology project portfolio: a set of projects under development

Technology portfolio: a set of technologies in use

 Terms associated with TECHNOLOGY
•R&D
•Invention
•Innovation
•Tech. Development
•Tech .Strategies
•Tech. Adsorption and Adaptation
•Tech. Transfer
•Tech. Forecast
•Tech. Assessment
•Tech. Planning
•Tech. Information
•Industrial Property
•Tech. Management
Technology and Its Environmental Interactions

Political Technical
Environment Competitive Environment

The Institution

Management

The
Technical
Resources and
Facilities
Social Economic
Environment Environment

Ecological
Environment
Scope of Technological Management
KNOWLEDGE

Technology Forecasting, Generation

Development, Transfer, Absorption,
Evaluation and Assessment and Diffusion
TRANSFORMATION CORE/KEY ELEMENTS PRODUCT/SERVICE
 How to Create IP…???

ORIGINALITY
INGUINTY
IDEA

IMAGINATION
OPPORTUNITY INVENTION

VISION
CONCEPTION

NECISSITY
CREATIVITY
Innovation is the implementation of creative ideas in order generate
value, usually through reduced operational costs, increased income
or both.

Innovation = Invention + Commercialization

 Nature of Technological Change

Freeman has categorized TC into the following 4 categories;

1. Incremental Innovation: These are small and marginal improvements

brought about by individual units and firms out of the experience of working
with the specific process or product.

These generally give rise to productivity improvements or better products /

process resulting in lower costs.

Ex: Developments in auto industry, Value analysis etc. (high or low)

2. Radical Innovations: These are major changes in the process or the
product generally brought about by formal R&D efforts.

RI are disjointed events, difficult to predict and have a substantial effect on

productivity, cost and the quality of the product.

They act as catalyst for growth of new markets

Ex: “Jumbo” passenger aircraft, or one with supersonic speed

3. New Technological Systems: Some of the RI in course of time,
end up developing an entire cluster of many radical innovations
interconnected with each other both technologically and
economically, thus creating an entire new industry.

Ex: The cluster of petrochemical innovations finally created a petrochemical

industry.

The cluster of synthetic materials innovations similarly gave birth to the

synthetic materials industry
4. Technological Revolution: These are technological changes that are all-
pervasive and effect many (or even all) branches of economy through product
innovations, process innovations as well as organizational innovations.

They have also been described as changes of techno-economic paradigms as

they effect the techno-economic viability of existing product and process
design.

They have capability of changing the ‘best practice’ set of rules and customs
for designers, engineers, entrepreneurs and managers from previously
paradigm.

Ex: Development of semiconductors and micro-chips (the internet era)

 Emerging Technologies and the Value Pyramid
S.No Sector
1. Automobiles
2. Auto components
3. Aviation
4. Biotechnology
5. Chemicals
6. Construction
7. Defense manufacturing
8. Electrical machinery
9. Electronic system design and manufacturing
 Emerging Technologies and the Value Pyramid
10. Food processing
11. IT and BPM
12. Leather
13. Media and entertainment
14. Mining
15. Oil and gas
16. Pharmaceuticals
17. Ports
 Emerging Technologies and the Value Pyramid

18. Railways
19. Renewable energy
20. Roads and highways
21. Space
22. Textiles
23. Thermal power
24. Tourism & Hospitality
25. Wellness
 Strategic Issues in Managing Technology and Innovation

• Role of Management
• Innovation
• Management of technology

– Encourage new product development

• 33 - 60 percent of new products fail to make a profit
– Ensure that technology is being used most effectively with the consumer
in mind.

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Role of Management
• Encourage new product development
• Ensure that technology is being used most effectively with the consumer in
mind.

Environmental Scanning
⚫ External Scanning
⚫ New developments in technology

Impact of Stakeholders on Innovation

⚫ Lead Users
⚫ Lay the foundation
⚫ Determine the trends
⚫ Identify lead users
⚫ Develop the breakthrough
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Impact of Stakeholders (continued)
⚫ Marketresearch
⚫ New product experimentation

Internal Scanning
⚫ Has the company developed the resources needed to try new ideas?
⚫ Do the managers allow experimentation with new products or
services?
⚫ Does the corporation encourage risk taking and tolerate mistakes?
⚫ Are people more concerned with new ideas or with defending their
turf?
⚫ Is it easy to form autonomous project teams?
Resource Allocation Issues
• R&D Intensity
• Spending on R&D as a percentage of sales revenue
• Principle means of gaining market share

Time to Market Issues

⚫ Time from inception to profitability
⚫ Cycle is short — 4 years

Strategy Formulation
⚫ R&D Strategy
⚫ Leader or follower in terms of technology and market entry
⚫ Source of technology
⚫ Develop
⚫ Purchase

Product vs. Process R&D

⚫ Product innovations
⚫ Process innovations 24
Technology Sourcing
• Make or buy decision
• Strategic alliances

Outsourcing Technology
⚫ Technology is of low significance to competitive advantage
⚫ Supplier has proprietary technology
⚫ Supplier’s technology better/cheaper—easy to integrate
⚫ Strategy not based on development and manufacturing
⚫ Technology development process requires special expertise
⚫ Technology development process requires new resources
Technological Competence
• Absorptive capacity
• A firm’s ability to value, assimilate, and utilize new external knowledge.

Product Portfolio
⚫ Product/market evolution matrix
⚫ Competitive positions
⚫ Stages of product/market evolution

Innovative, Entrepreneurial Culture

⚫ Positive attitude toward change
⚫ Decentralized decision making
⚫ Complexity
⚫ Informal structure
⚫ Interconnectedness
⚫ Organizational slack
⚫ Large size
⚫ System openness
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 Technological Leadership & Challenges

A technological leader fosters technological innovation, and

understands the technology life cycle. Such a leader initiates
and steers commercialization of technological advances, links
business and technology strategies, manages technology R&D
and understands technological revolutions.
 Technological Leadership & Challenges

• Technology Leadership
• Technology Management Components
• Technology Assessment
• Technology Forecasting
• Technology Transfer
• Technology Management Process
• Technology Life Cycle
• Managing Innovation and Commercialization
 Who Is a Technology Leader?
• Technology developers
Those who specify and
• Technology commercializers build the systems
• Technology stewards
Those who figure out how
to make a profit

Those who get the systems

built and employed

USE
Project Process Product
 Who Is a Technology Leader?

•Technology stewards
• User management
• Project managers & clients
• Process managers
• Product owners

USE
Project Process Product
 Who Is a Technology Leader?
• Three components
• Assessment
• Forecasting
• Transfer
• A technological leader fosters technological innovation, and
understands the technology life cycle.
• Such a leader initiates and steers commercialization of
technological advances, links business and technology
strategies, manages technology R&D and understands
technological revolutions.
 Technology Management Components

• Technology Assessment
• Evaluating technologies as they are created
• To make wise investments, understand the true costs, improve
existing technologies, and develop ways of employing technologies
• Technology Forecasting
• Predicting what technologies are going to be available
• To strategize technology use, second-guess the competition, stay on
top of the technology wave
 Technology Management Components

• Technology Management
• Developing and using appropriate technologies
• To lead the technology, employ it in the best way, and to profit from
technology use.
• Technology Transfer
• Helping others learn the benefits and uses of appropriate
technologies
• Making technologies available to others
 Technology Assessment: Two examples

Evaluation Research Benchmarking

• Goal is to measure the • Goal is to compare your
effectiveness of particular product or system with the
technologies on particular best in the marketplace and
to determine what you must
desired outcomes and rule do to have the equivalent of
out other causes as the the best
source of the outcome. • Technique is to determine
• Technique is to measure desired outcomes, find best
baseline values, based on in class technology and
critical success factors, and characterize it, compare, and
measure over time move the quality horizon.
The Product Life Cycle
Product Life Cycle
 PLC – Stage 1: Introduction

• Occurs when product first enters marketplace

• Promoting consumer awareness
• Getting customers to try new product
• Millions of dollars spent to educate consumers
• Major task: getting product in the marketplace
 PLC – Stage 2: Growth

• More competitors enter the marketplace

• Adding distribution outlets
• Product improves:
• adding flavors, features, etc.
• Improved to stay competitive
• Sold in more locations
 PLC – Stage 3: Maturity

• Sales begin to slow down for the product

• Repeat customers stop buying the product
• Attracting new buyers is a challenge
• Product has reached its peak
 PLC – Stage 4: Decline

• Sales and profits drop

• Little to no marketing support
• Product may be dropped by company
• There is no longer a demand for the product
The Product Life Cycle Review

Introduction Growth

Decline Maturity
 Technology Life Cycle
The concept of the technology life cycle (TLC) was developed by Arthur
(1981) to measure technological changes. According to Arthur’s
definition, the characteristic of the emerging stage is a new technology
with low competitive impact and low integration in products or processes.
In the growth stage, there are pacing technologies with high competitive
impact that have not yet been integrated in new products or processes. In
the maturity stage, some pacing technologies turn into key technologies,
are integrated into products or processes, and maintain their high
competitive impact. As soon as a technology loses its competitive impact,
it becomes a base technology. It enters the saturation stage and might be
replaced by a new technology.
 Technology Life Cycle

•Technology life cycle

• A predictable pattern followed by a technological innovation,
from its inception and development to market saturation and
replacement.
The Technology Life Cycle
Technology Dissemination Pattern and Adopter Categories
Diffusion of Technological Innovations

Innovators

Early
Laggards
Adopters

Late Early
Majority Majority
 Diffusion of Technological Innovations

•An innovation will spread quickly if it

• Has a great advantage over its predecessor
• Is compatible with existing systems, procedures,
infrastructures, and ways of thinking
• Has less rather than greater complexity
• Can be tried and tested easily without significant cost or
commitment
• Can be observed and copied easily
Advantages and Disadvantages of Technology Leadership
 Technology Followership

• A manager’s decision on when to adopt new technology also

depends on the potential benefits of the new technology, as well
as the organization’s technology skills
• Following the technology leader can save development expense
Dynamic Forces of a Technology’s Competitive Impact
 Assessing Technology Needs

Technology audit
• Process of clarifying the key technologies on which an
organization depends
 Measuring Current Technologies

Emerging Technologies Pacing Technologies have

are still under development yet to prove their full value
and thus are unproved but have the potential to
alter the rules of
competition by providing
significant advantage
 Measuring Current Technologies

Key technologies have Base technologies are

proved effective, but those that are
they also provide a commonplace in the
strategic advantage industry; everyone must
because not everyone have them to be able to
uses them operate
 Assessing External Technological Trends

Benchmarking
• the process of comparing the organization’s practices and
technologies with those of other companies

Scanning
• focuses on what can be done and what is being developed
• places greater emphasis on identifying and monitoring the sources of
new technologies for an industry
 Key Factors to Consider in Technology Decisions

Anticipated Market Receptiveness

Technology Feasibility

Economic Viability

Anticipated Capability Development

Organizational Suitability
Framing Decisions about Technological Innovation
 Sourcing and Acquiring New Technologies
Make-or-buy Decision
• The question an organization asks itself about whether to
acquire new technology from an outside source or develop it
itself.
• Internal development • Technology trading
• Purchase • Research partnerships and
• Contracted development joint ventures
• Licensing • Acquisition of the owner
of the technology
 Sourcing and Acquiring New Technologies

Managers should ask the following basic questions;

1. Is it important (and possible) in terms of competitive

advantage that the technology remain proprietary?
2. Are the time, skills, and resources for internal development
available?
3. Is the technology readily available outside the company?
Technology Acquisition Options
 Technology and Managerial Roles

Chief Information Officer (CIO)

• executive in charge of information technology strategy and
development.
• coordinates the technological efforts of the various business
units
• identifies ways that technology can support the company’s
strategy
• supervises new-technology development
 Technology and Managerial Roles
Technical innovator
• A person who develops a new technology or has the key
skills to install and operate the technology
Product champion
• A person who promotes a new technology throughout the
organization in an effort to obtain acceptance of and support
for it.
Executive champion
• An executive who supports a new technology and protects
the product champion of the innovation.