Technology Management Assignment: Page 1 of 9

Technology management assignment
Technology management assignment:
Q #1: What technology road mapping is of the strategy importance to technology importance? Ans: Many managers are aware of the strategic importance of technology in delivering valueand competitive advantage to their companies and the industrial networks in which they operate. These issues are becoming more critical as the cost, complexity and rate of technology change increases, and competition and sources of technology globalize. Technology roadmaps have great potential for supporting the development and implementation of integrated strategic business, product and technology plans, providing companies have the information, process and tools to produce them. Roadmaps and the road mapping process can provide a means for enhancing an organizations radar, in terms of extending planning horizons, together with Identifying and assessing possible threats and opportunities in the business environment.Example: Roadmaps can be used as a means for assessing the impact of potentially disruptive technologies and markets on business plans and system.
Q #2: Explain why technology road mapping is a flexible approach? Technology road mapping is a flexible technique that is widely used within industry to support strategic and long-range planning. The approach provides a structured (and often graphical) means for exploring and communicating the relationships between evolving and developing markets, products and technologies over time. It is proposed that the road mapping technique can help companies survive in turbulent environments by providing a focus for scanning the environment and a means of tracking the performance of individual, including potentially disruptive, technologies. Technology roadmaps are deceptively simple in terms of format, but their development poses significant challenges. In particular the scope is generally broad, covering a number of complex conceptual and human interactions. Road mapping is a very flexible approach, and the various aims that it can support are reviewed, together with the different formats that roadmaps take. Also important is the process that is required to develop a good roadmap.
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Q #3: Differentiate between hard and soft aspects of technology?Hard aspects of technology: The key characteristic of technology that distinguishes it from more general knowledge types is that it is applied, focusing on the know-how of the organization. While technology is usually associated with science and engineering (hard technology). Soft aspects of technology: The processes that enable its effective application are also important. Example: New product development and innovation processes, together with organizational structures and supporting knowledge networks (soft aspects of technology). Q#4: Identify some of the features of tacit technological knowledge? Ans: Features of tacit technological knowledge: It cannot be easily articulated. It relies on training and experience (such as welding or design skills). Q#5: Identify and explain themes given by the definition of technology management? Ans: Two important technology management themes: 1. Establishing and maintaining the linkages between technological resources and company Objectives is of vital importance and represents a continuing challenge for many firms. This re quire s effective communication ion and knowledge management, supported by Appropriate tools and processes. Of particular importance is the dialogue and under-standing that needs to be established between the commercial and technological functions in the business.
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2. Effective technology management requires a number of management processes and the EITIM definition includes the five processes proposed by Gregory [11]: identification, selection, acquisition, exploitation and protection of technology. These processes are not always very visible in firms, and are typically distributed within other business processes, such as strategy, innovation and operations.
Q#6: How technology is effectively integrated into business planning? Ans: Technology in business planning: The effective integration of technological considerations into business strategy is an important aspect of business planning. A key premise is that a technology strategy should not be developed independently from the business strategy, but rather that technological resources should be considered as an integral part of business planning. Business strategy is concerned with aligning the activities of the firm in such a way as to generate a sustainable competitive position in the market place. This requires a sound understanding of both the nature of the changing business environment in the medium to long term and the capabilities of the firm. Indeed, Prahalad and Hamel suggest that it is only by envisioning markets that do not yet exist that management will fully realize the potential that core competencies create. Technological considerations include both external factors, such as the nature of techno-logical change and competitor activity, and internal factors such as technological capabilities.
Q#7:explain the concept of technology S-curve? An S-curve represents technical performance as a function of time or research effort and its shape is influenced by market demand, scientific knowledge and level of investment or innovation. Incremental and radical technological change can be understood in terms of technology S-curves. When technology matures:
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substantial improvements in performance become impossible, owing to economic or technical constraints. When technology is at top: its S-curve potential technologies compete, resulting in a turbulent environment until a new dominant design emerges. This is a technological discontinuityas almost by definition, the S-curves of different technologies are not linked. . . and to manage the transition is a difficult and delicate task
Q#8:identify the dynamics of socio technological change in terms of three associated layers? Dynamics of socio technological comes in terms of layers: Work on technology transitions as evolutionary reconfiguration processesraises the level of analysis wider than a single company. This view the dynamics of sociotechnical change in three layers: _ Macro: evolving sociotechnical landscapes _ Meso: a patchwork of regimes _ Micro: novel configurations. Together, this tripart view of technology transitions, at company and societal levels, suggests a highly dynamic vision of the future, which is the backdrop to any technological and business planning situation. Q#9:what is schematic technology roadmap? Roadmap approach is adopted:
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by organizations to support many different types of strategic aims technology road mapping is referd to: many related techniques and approaches. Schematic technology roadmap is defined Schematic technology roadmap, showing how technology can be aligned to product and service developments, business strategy, and market opportunities.
Q#10: Explain how technological road map can be executed in all practical scenarios .use diagram to defend your answer? A recent survey of 2000 UK manufacturing firms indicates that about 10% of Companies (mostly large) have applied the technology road mapping approach, with approximately 80% of those companies either using the technique more than once, or on an ongoing basis. However, application of the TRM approach presents considerable challenges to firms, As the roadmap itself, while fairly simple in structure and concept, represents the final distilled Outputs from a strategy and planning process. Key challenges reported by survey respondents
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Included keeping the road mapping process alive on an ongoing basis (50% of responding Companies), starting up the TRM process (30%), and developing a robust TRM process (20%). One of the reasons why companies struggle with the application of road mapping is that there are many specific forms of roadmaps, which often have to be tailored to the specific needs of the firm and its business context. In addition, there is little practical support Available and companies typically reinvent the process, although there have been some efforts to share experiences.
Q#11: How technology capabilities can be accessed from managerial perspective? Managerial skills are critical to an organization's technical performance. 1. Technological assets: these are the most immediately visible elements of the Technological base, the set of reproducible capabilities in product, process and
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Support areas. 2. Organizational assets: these are the resources that enable the business to develop And deploy the technological assets, specifically: the skill-profile of employees And managers, the procedures for getting things done, the organizational Structure, the strategies that guide action, and the culture that shapes shared Assumptions and values. 3. External assets: these are the relations that the firm establishes with current and potential allies, rivals, suppliers, customers, and political actors. n assessment of the business's technological base should include its external assets. Some of these assets can easily be identified when one thinks of all the direct linkages the business has created or could create: 4. Projects: these are the means by which technological, organizational and external assets are both deployed and transformed. They should be considered part of the technology base insofar as the organization's modus operandi in its projects is a learned behavioral pattern that can contribute to or detract from technological and business performance. Projects are the means by which the organization's internal and external assets are mobilized and transformed. An assessment of the technological assets generates a "state view of technical activity -- the balancesheet; assessing the projects gives a "process" view -- the profit-and-loss statement Q#12: Explain the linkage of culture with technology deployment? Culture: Culture is usually the most difficult organizational asset to evaluate. Two ways to define the linkage of culture with technology deployment: * Electro Corp. had a culture emphasizing technological leadership. It required a close tracking of all recent technological advancements. Its engineers were "hands on" each new technology, they read all the journals in their field. They traveled a lot and some of them had close contacts with colleagues in other industries. In combination, they had a strong commitment to rapid response to customer needs. This meant they spent considerable amount of time with their customers -- debugging new systems and agreeing upon new features, improvements or modifications. They lacked a total systems integration culture and the kind of
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quality and safety standards needed for missile systems. Their engineers were good at detecting and debugging local subsystems problems. Very few of them could see the whole system, let alone the complete battlefield in which the entire system would be used and cooperate with other systems. * Ammo Corp.'s culture was technologically conservative. Their values emphasized durable technologies, accuracy, and most of all reliability and safety. No one in this company was impressed with new technologies. They were always suspicious of gimmicks or shortcuts. They appreciated on the other hand a technology that was well tested and maintained for many years. Like in old wine, they only believed in well established and thoroughly thought-off experience. This culture was obviously too conservative to compete effectively in the faster-paced missile segment. There you may often need to adopt a new technology in a short time, replace previous technologies and modify your systems by building them modular and enabling often the replacement of subsystems. Q#13: Differentiate between upstream and downstream links in context external technological assets? Answer An assessment of the business's technological base should include its external assets. Some of these assets can easily be identified when one thinks of all the direct linkages the business has created or could create: * Downstream links to customers: How much effective access do you have to the decision makers? And since customers can provide precious new ideas, how well do you learn from users? * Upstream links to materials and component suppliers, equipment vendors and potentially relevant sources of scientific and technological knowledge: You should assess whether your organization has built appropriate links with the best people and whether those relations are sufficiently collaborative.
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Technology management assignment