Technology and Innovation

Management
Technology is ... pervasive in ways that
we may not realize until we begin to
explore it in depth (p. 10)
White, Margaret A. and Garry D. Bruton; 2011; The Management of Technology
and Innovation: a strategic approach; 2n ed., Australia: South-Western,
CENGAGLE Learning
Meaning of technology
“ the practical implementation of learning and knowledge by
individuals and organizations to aid human endeavor

The knowledge, products, processes, tools, and systems used in the

creation of goods or in the provision of services, in the creation and
distribution of value …

Note that technology can be embedded in the products and

tools/equipment,….
Technologies in the value chain (
courtesy Bruton and White, 2007, p.57)
Operations managers are manage
• the physical aspects of operations,
• the technologies required to deal with the ever-growing torrent
(flooding) of information needed for those operations
•changes in technology
•the structures and systems of the organization where technology is
used
The goal of technology and innovation process it to add value to the
business

Businesses are not willing to invest in technology if the strategic and

performance benefits of the technology are not clear. The value
addition of the technology must be clear and based on sound analysis
and forecasts to justify the investment
Process to be managed – discovery to
application
 In 1960s 1970s 1980s

IT presence •Mainframe computers MRP: materials requirement planning Microcomputer with spreadsheet and word-processing capabilities
•Hard-wired terminals Also technological advancement in robotics, sensors and material –handling
•Card readers technologies
FMS: Flexible Manufacturing System
CAD: computer aided design
CAM: computer aided manufacturing
CAD-CAM
ERP : enterprise resource planning system (encompassing many business
processes)
Internet
Programs & important technologies deployed in customized Customized,
Operations

Business processes impacted by IT Payroll Many of a firm’s activities at the coordinative or business process level
Customer billings

Status of IT management Reports to Chief Finance Officer Chief Information Officer

New capabilities Computational capability Sharing resources of a mainframe or minicomputer with ‘virtual
operating system allowing a distributed group of users to interact
with the mainframe as if it were-dedicated to each of them alone
benefit More electronic use of IT
Many more people getting exposed to IT capabilities
Increased computing power available on microprocessors
Allowed managers to have their won personal machine, sometimes with the
possibility to network with the rest of their organization, share files and to run
shared program
With outside – ability to communicate with each other to coordinate deliveries
and place order
 Technology dynamics and your firm’s effort

Global technology
development
your innovation
effort
your company
technology
development

your innovation
effort
product market
demand
development
The S-curve of technological progress
White and Bruton, p.39
Scenario I

A new technology develops because the physical capacity of the old technology is inadequate. In this case, a
copper cable with 1, 000 copper lines could be replaced with a fiber-optic cable about the size of one copper
line, this led to much greater capacity for data and information transmission.
Scenario II

with sibling curves, the change in technology affects a range of products. If you are the developer of the new technology (in this
case, silicon chips), then you want to identify a range of product's that your new technology could improve.

White and Bruton, p. 66

White and Bruton, P. 66
1. What factors does a firm need to monitor for each type of scenario?
1. New technology
2. Sibling curves
2. How would you develop an audit tool to accomplish this?
3. What environmental factors would you analyze to transfer a
product from a business environment to the home and to the car?
What technologic breakthroughs moved the telephone from a
business tool to a personal, portable necessity? How would you
model those S-curves
Meaning of technology

“ the practical implementation of learning and knowledge by

individuals and organizations to aid human endeavor

“ the knowledge, products, processes, tools, and systems used in the

creation of goods or in the provision of services
After analyzing deferent definitions of technology, White and Bruton
identified the following as common to all such definitions:

• There is a process involved in technology

• Change is an outcome of technology
• Technology involves a systematic approach to deliver the desired
outcome (improvement, objectives, outputs)
Management of technology

“ the linking of different disciplines to plan, develop, implement,

monitor and control technological capabilities to shape and accomplish
the strategic objectives of an organization (p. 17)
Key decisions for managing technology:
1. What strategic posture does the fir wants to assume: does the firm
wants to be a leader or a follower in the industry?
2. Whether the firm wants to develop its own new technology or buy
the technology?
3. What will be the firm’s scope of products it wants to offer? How can
the firm leverage its technology and innovations to create a total
platform of products and processes
innovation
Innovation is part of technology,

It means … the first adoption of the technology within a particular

domain of reference

“ the process whereby new and improved products, processes,

materials, and services are developed and transferred to a plan and/or
market where they are appropriate (p. 19)
Management of innovation

“ a comprehensive approach to managerial problem solving and action

based on an integrative problem-solving framework, and an
understanding of the linkages among innovation system, organizational
teams, and organizational evolution.
“ it is about implementation – managing politics, control and individual
resistance to change
“ the manager is an architect/engineer, politician/network builder, and
artist/scientist
Cyclical innovation process model
Technologies in the value chain
A firm may primarily get its new technology from internal innovation or
acquire them from external sources
It may organize its own innovation system within the firm:

1. Basic research: pure research and development

2. Applied research: new product development
3. Systems integration: product development
Or acquire new technology through some strategic linkages

1. Joint ventures
2. Franchise agreements
3. Consortia
4. Licensing agreements
5. Subcontracts
6. Informal understandings
7. acquisition and merger
Technology and innovation management approach: