Technology Management - Basic Concepts

Basic concepts  It

is an evolutionary process and has to be managed.  Plan develops as the technology manager learns more about the plan and process.  Planning work shop is the laboratory for developing the appropriate technique

Basic concepts  Initial

action includes writing down on paper what was learned from literature and seminars.  Development of sound methods on basic principles.  Plans are analyzed, drafted and then reviewed by the R&D staff.  It is appropriate to involve non R&D staff also.

Technology Transfer  It

is an art rather than scientific discipline.  No yardstick to gauge the successful transfer of Technology.  Time management is an important element in this effort.  Careful selection of new technology and tools can substantially reduce its product development cycle.

Technology Transfer  Many

companies have pooled resources to support research consortia.  A consortia avoids needless duplication of efforts in isolated companies.  Technology transfer can be improved by the company’s conscious and integrated commitment.

Technology Transfer - Stages  Acknowledgment

on the recipients awareness, interest, and tracking of technology.  Transportation and delivery of the originator’s technology to the recipients lab.  Confirmation of the recipients expertise in and understanding of the originators technology.

Technology Transfer - Stages  The

recipients evaluation of the technology’s suitability for eventual application by product development or manufacturing.  The recipient’s modification and hardening of the technology to meet anticipated needs of product development and manufacturing.  Demonstration and sales of the version of the technology to a client.

Technology Transfer - Stages  Adoption

of technology by an end user, who furnishes specific requirements.  The technology support group’s maintenance and modification of the recipients product in respond to the end user’s ongoing needs.

Technology Forecasting  Deals

with the characteristics of technology, such as levels of technical performance  Examples like speed of a military aircraft, the power in watts of a particular future engine, the accuracy or precision of a measuring instrument, the number of transistors in a chip in the year 2015, etc.  The forecast does not have to state how these characteristics will be achieved.

Technology Forcasting  Deals

with only useful machines, procedures or techniques.  This is to exclude from the domain of technological forecasting those commodities, services or techniques intended for luxury or amusement’

Technology Forecasting       

Rational Method Explicit Method Delphi Method Forecast by Analogy Growth Curves Extrapolation Normative Methods • Relevance Trees • Morphological Models • Mission Flow Diagrams

Rational Method  They

can be taught and learned  They can be described and explained  They provide a procedure followable by anyone who has absorbed the necessary training, and in some cases  These methods are even guaranteed to produce the same forecast regardless of who uses them

Explicit Method  The

virtue of the use of explicit methods is that they can be reviewed by others  It can be checked for consistency  Furthermore, the forecast can be reviewed at any subsequent time

Delphi Method  

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It is a method for obtaining forecasts from a panel of independent experts over two or more rounds Experts are asked to predict quantities. After each round, an administrator provides an anonymous summary of the experts’ forecasts and their reasons for them When experts’ forecasts have changed little between rounds, the process is stopped and the final round forecasts are combined by averaging. Delphi is based on well-researched principles and provides forecasts that are more accurate than those from unstructured groups The technique can be adapted for use in face-to-face meetings, and is then called mini-Delphi or Estimate-TalkEstimate (ETE) Delphi has been widely used in business.