It includes concepts of Technology Management along with key concepts associated with Technology Management like technology forecasting, technology strategy, technology acquisition, technology audit, technology diffusion, technovation etc.

1. Key Concepts of
Technology Management
Mr. Roshan Bhattarai
Kathmandu, Nepal

2. TECHNOLOGY: DEFINITIONS
• Oxford dictionary defines the
word “Technology” as: “The application of scientific
knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry”.
• Collins Dictionary : “Technology” refers to “methods,
systems and devices which are the result of scientific
knowledge being used for practical purposes”.

3. How has technology changed our
lives?
• Improved Communication (Eg: Mobile Technology,
video/audio conferencing etc)
• Improved Information Access/Storage
• Improved Entertainment
• Improved Efficiency and Productivity
• Convenience of Travelling (Eg: google map, online
bookings etc)
• Improved Research (Eg: online survey, global reach etc)
• Encouraged Innovation and Creativity (Eg: Financial ,
Non-Financial rewards)
• Improved Lifestyle (Sophistication) etc.

4. Technology Management
In enterprise level, Technology Management is a field of
study that deals with
– development,
– planning,
– implementation and
– assessment of technological capabilities to shape and
accomplish the strategic and operational objectives of an
organization

5. • It is the integrated
– Planning
– Design
– Optimization
– Operation and
– Control
of technological products, processes and services in order
to use technology for organizational advantage
• It is a set of management disciplines that
– allows organizations to manage its technological
fundamentals to create competitive advantage.

6. Why Technology Management?
• Technology Creation/Development
• How can Technology be used to create business
opportunities?/ Roles of technology in today’s business world
• How to select better technological opportunities?
• How to integrate Technology strategy with business strategy?
• Issues related to Technology in organizations
• Understand organizational challenges that prevent
technologies from being successful

7. Key Concepts of TM
• Technology forecasting
• Technology strategy
• Technology portfolio
• Technology absorption
• Technology diffusion
• Technology acquisition
• Technovation
• Technology audit

8. 1. Technology Forecasting
• Prediction of future characteristics of useful
technological machines, procedures or techniques –
Martino
• Intensity and timing of changes in technology –
Porter
• Group of techniques that predict the direction, rate,
implication and impact of technological advances –
Vanston

9. Objectives of
Technology Forecasting
• Anticipating emerging technological changes
• Projections of the rates at which new technologies will
replace old technologies
• Evaluation of present value of technology
• Identification and evaluation of new products or
processes that may present the organization with new
opportunities and threats
• Analysis of new technologies that might change
organizational strategies or operations
• Assistance in the management of technical R&D

10. Technology forecasting methods
• Expert Opinions
– Use of Delphi method to converge the common focus
• Trend Analysis
– Trace the time series data and identify the evolutionary
pattern and the driving forces
• Modeling
– Articulate a forecasting function composed of several
critical influencers (Eg: Regression Model)
• Scenario Analysis
– Preview possible events and evolution patterns

11. 2. Technology Strategy
Technology Strategy
– is the way/plan of attaining technological goals and
technological changes
– consists of objectives, principles and tactics relating to
use of technologies within a particular organization
– includes the formal vision that guide the acquisition,
allocation, and management of IT resources so it can
help fulfill the organizational objectives.

12. Factors influencing Technology
Strategy
• Sustainability of technological lead
– Can be sustained only if competitors cannot copy it
• First mover advantages
– Increased reputation, early profits, new sales, prevent
competition etc
• First mover disadvantages
– Cost of regulatory approvals, cost of educating buyers,
demand uncertainty, low cost imitation by
competitors, risk of technological discontinuities etc.

13. 3. Technology Portfolio
• Technologies used in a business have a life that must be
actively managed and carefully monitored to track their
versions and lifecycle
• Detail information on underlying technologies about
versions and lifecycle is the Technology Portfolio
• Timeline view of the Technology Portfolio can be used to
track their dates and thereafter create a demand to
upgrade or retire them

14. • If lifecycle stages are not tracked,
– there are risks where the vendor may not support them
any longer and
– the business applications that run on these technologies
are at risk
• Creating an inventory of all technologies used in the
enterprise helps to:
– Track the versions of the software and manufacturer
support dates for the software
– Set an internal lifecycle guidance for the software
– Assess risk in using outdated software
– Plan to retire them just like the applications they support,
at a definite date
– Support upgrade processes

15. 4. Technology Acquisition
• By Acquisition we mean :The purchase of one
corporation by another, through either the purchase of
its shares, or the purchase of its assets
• Technology Acquisition : Purchase of one corporation’s
technology and knowledge by another.
• The reasons behind technology acquisition
– Limited resources
– Time pressure
– Complementary assets
– Protecting image
– Diversification
– Supporting internal technologies
– Avoid development risks

16. 5. Technology Absorption
• Technology absorption refers to the
– acquisition,
– development,
– assimilation/integration, and
– utilization of technological knowledge and capability by a firm
from an external source.
• The transaction occurs between transferring and
receiving organizations.

17. 6. Technological diffusion
• process by which innovations (be they new products,
new processes or new management methods) spread
throughout large-scale and heterogeneous societies
• new technologies are adopted for use across individual
firms or households in a given market
• Whether diffusion occurs and the rate at which it occurs
is dependent on several factors including
– Relative advantages over existing technology,
– the nature and quality of the innovation,
– how information about the innovation is communicated,
and
– the characteristics of the population into which it is
introduced. Eg: ease of understanding/applying

18. • Standard measures to achieve diffusion are:
– Awareness building
– Technical assistance and consultancy
– Training
– Research of market and population etc.

19. Technology Audit
• an official examination of technology infrastructure of an
organization
• Evaluation of whether technologies are
– safeguarding organizational assets,
– maintaining data integrity, and
– operating effectively to achieve the organization's goals or
objectives
• also adds an evaluation to suggest improvements
• reviews may be performed in conjunction with a financial
statement audit or internal audit

20. Technovation
• Short for "technology and innovation”
• a radical new approach, process or product from
a technological sphere or dimension
• may be driven by
– a new technology (How can we use this?) or
– by needs (What technology might we apply to improve
this?)
• At its best,
– technovation creates valuable products and services or
– creates "disruptive" change

21. • In a global perspective three forms of innovation can
be distinguished
– local improvements based on the adoption of
technologies/ technology adoption
– innovation materializes in the building up of competitive
activities with some adaptation made to existing
technologies/ technology adaptation
– design and production of technologies of a worldwide
significance/ technology creation