TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT - A PROCESS APPROACH

This paper proposes a framework for the management of technology based on process thinking. Technology management has traditionally focused on product-oriented research and development (R&D) and assumed a linea r model of innovation, starting with science and progressing through t echnology and design to production. it is now increasingly recognized that this linear approach is only one of many and that production as w ell as product development can be a powerful and protectable source of competitive advantage. The management of production operations has im proved significantly over recent years. Manufacturing companies have b egun to replace conventional functional and hierarchical organizations with process approaches to operational activity and management decisi on making. Such approaches can lend structure and transparency to busi ness operations, link activities more clearly to customer requirements and allow wider involvement of staff and collaborators. It is argued here that the explicit management of product and production technologi es, using process thinking, can yield similar benefits. The paper link s traditional views of technology management including R&D management, innovation and new product introduction with competence ideas from st rategy and a resource perspective from economics. A preliminary 'proce ss framework' for technology management is proposed, covering the rang e of activities from identification to protection. The framework is de monstrated, and its potential benefits explored, in the context of a p ilot study of manufacturers in the measuring equipment and domestic ap pliance industries in Europe, the United States and Japan.