Abstract
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 linear model of innovation, starting with science and progressing through technology and design to production. It is now increasingly recognized that this linear approach is only one of many and that production as well as product development can be a powerful and protectable source of competitive advantage.
The management of production operations has improved significantly over recent years. Manufacturing companies have begun to replace conventional functional and hierarchical organizations with process approaches to operational activity and management decision making. Such approaches can lend structure and transparency to business 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 technologies, using process thinking, can yield similar benefits.
The paper links traditional views of technology management including R&D management, innovation and new product introduction with competence ideas from strategy and a resource perspective from economics. A preliminary ‘process framework’ for technology management is proposed, covering the range of activities from identification to protection. The framework is demonstrated, and its potential benefits explored, in the context of a pilot study of manufacturers in the measuring equipment and domestic appliance industries in Europe, the United States and Japan.