BENCHMARKING THE STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF TECHNOLOGY .1.

OVERVIEW: Extensive data collected from the largest R&D-performing com panies in the United States, Western Europe and Japan reveal that top management linkages and resource leverages are the keys to effective t echnology strategy. In terms of linkage, Japanese chief executive offi cers are more heavily involved in integrating technology with overall corporate strategy. Chief technology officers of Japanese companies ha ve stronger board-level participation and greater influence on overall company strategy U.S. firms are rapidly decentralizing control of R&D activities to their business units, while Japanese companies are movi ng in the opposite direction. In search of resource leverage, companie s worldwide are experiencing major shifts to acquiring technology from outside sources, relying increasingly on universities for research an d on joint ventures and alliances for development. These and other fin dings on strategic management of technology arise from a global benchm arking study of the 244 companies that account for approximately 80 pe rcent of the R&D expenditures in Europe, Japan and the United States.