Master of Business Administration - Semester 4 OM0018 – Technology Management Assignment Set 1 Q1. Define the term technology. Write a short note on evolution and growth of technology. Technology refers to knowledge, processes or products of technological activities, according to the context in which it is used, and the term management refers to the act of getting people together to achieve a specific goal. Technology is derived from the greek word “technologia”in which “techne” means craft and “logia” means saying The history of technology dates back to the time when humans were able to prepare some simple tools with easily available natural resources. History indicates that the advancement in technology had a major leap with the invention of the wheel. From the invention of the wheel, much usage of the technology has started. The technology in all the fields has gtown to
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Master of Business Administration - Semester 4
OM0018 – Technology Management
Assignment
Set 1
Q1. Define the term technology. Write a short note on evolution
and growth of technology.
Technology refers to knowledge, processes or products of technological
activities, according to the context in which it is used, and the term
management refers to the act of getting people together to achieve a
specific goal.
Technology is derived from the greek word “technologia”in which
“techne” means craft and “logia” means saying
The history of technology dates back to the time when humans were able
to prepare some simple tools with easily available natural resources.
History indicates that the advancement in technology had a major leap
with the invention of the wheel. From the invention of the wheel, much
usage of the technology has started. The technology in all the fields has
gtown to larger extent and now we can see the technology involved in
almost all the things we use in our daily life.
Evolution and Growth of Technology
In the previous section, we learnt about the concept and meaning of
technology. Now, we willdiscuss about the evolution of technology, before
going to the other topics about technology. The history of technology
dates back to the time when humans were able to prepare some simple
tools with easily available natural resources. History indicates that the
advancement in technology had a major leap with the invention of the
wheel. From the invention of the wheel, much usage of the technology has
started. The technology in all the fields has grown to a larger extent and
now we cansee the technology involved in almost all the things we use in
our daily life.We know that there are some advanced technologies at
present which include the printing press,telephone and Internet which
have helped us to communicate all over the globe.Till now we have mainly
concentrated on technology management in general. Now let us
learnabout technology management in India.
Technology management in India
The Government of India is mainly focussing on the development of
science and technology in thepresent world. The Indian industries are
operating under the controlled and regulated economy.The technology
management is generally lacking at the enterprise level except a few
enterprises.There are many Indian companies which are able to develop
and produce the internationallycompetitive products. The companies
which use different kinds of technologies, and are excellingtoday, in India
are the Punjab tractors, tata automobiles, amul food and certain drug and
chemicalindustries. In the same way, there are many Research and
Development (R&D) institutions which have developed and
commercialised the technologies in the areas of drugs, chemicals,
foodtechnology, and computer software.The productivity of the Indian
industries largely depends on the technologies that are imported.Most of
the technologies that are used in the Indian industries are cost effective .
Development. Discuss the importance Technology Generation and
Development.
Technology Generation
Technology generation and development is often identical with the term
"Research and Development (R&D)". However, technology generation
involves R&D efforts, while technology development involves further
stages of translating R&D efforts into marketable products, processes and
services. Basically, we can consider the R&D process as having four
distinct stages as shown in figure 1.
As per the figure 1, the recognition of a need for innovation is one of the
inspirations for R&D. A “Research" on existing knowledge for satisfying
identified need helps in idea generation-this is the” need push” which is
shown in the figure 1. The other primary motivation for R&D is to find
potential applications for advances in knowledge. “Research" on existing
activity for introducing new knowledge also helps in idea generation-this is
the “technology push” as shown in the figure 1. The “development"
includes creation, design and production and marketing of the generated
idea. Through the entire process, its ideas and knowledge which are being
followed, and the process is not complete, until the new idea is converted
into a marketable product or service, which can be a hardware or software
intensive technology.
Let us understand the objectives of Corporate R & D and R&D Projects.
Corporate research and development is the principal corporate asset for
long-term technological competitiveness. We can classify corporate
research activities by the purpose of the research:
To support current businesses.
To provide new business enterprise.
To explore possible new technology basis.
The R&D projects tend to go through the following stages:
Basic research and invention.
Applied research and functional prototype.
Engineering prototype and testing.
Production prototype and pilot production.
Product testing and modification.
Initial production and sales.
The first three stages are usually called "research", while stages four to
six are called "development’; hence, the term "research and development
(R&D)". Each stage of innovating a new product is expensive, with the
expense increasing by an order of magnitude at each stage. The
management decisions to continue from research to development are
therefore very important. Overall, the expenses of modern industry for
R&D were considerable. The major purpose of research is to reduce
technical risk before production-scale investment is committed. It is
generally reported that at each stage, the cost rises by orders of
magnitudes in the ratio 1:10. It is precisely this reason, that technology
generation and development is costlier than basic R&D, and hence all
countries or all enterprises are not able to pursue these activities at
similar levels.
Technology Development
In-house R&D: Technology development activities are generally carried
out through setting up of separate in-house R&D units within the business,
managed and headed by a well-qualified and experienced chief, directly
reporting to the top management. However, this unit has close
interactions with other departments within the company and there could
even be exchange of personnel among different departments. The
strength and facilities in the in-house R&D unit would depend upon the
technology policy of the company and the nature of the business. In large
companies, there are sometime R&D labs for each department and a
central R&D lab for major R&D projects. Industrial R&D is mostly product
or process oriented with specific objectives and time schedule; and not
basic research. Incremental developmental efforts or import substitution
efforts are generally common in most of the industries in developing
countries including India, while emphasis is on new technologies or new
applications of technologies in advanced countries.
Co-operative R&D: A group of companies in a particular industrial sector promotes an R&D centre as a society or a non-profit making company. The R&D is funded by the participating companies and the government. This R&D centre undertakes R&D as per the requirements of the companies in their larger interest, and sets up expertise and facilities of common nature and which are usually expensive. A company can also support specific projects to this centre. Cooperative research facilities are normally utilised for the projects which are not of cautious nature from the business point of view. Otherwise, most important part of the R&D can be done at the centre and the remaining part involving finer details or critical technological aspects affecting the competitiveness is done at the in-house R&D division of the company.
Contract research: A company may contract components of technology
development to suitable R&D organisations, academic institutions, or
consultants or experts. The in-house R&D unit may coordinate the
progress of the activities, to develop the desired technologies. This
approach usually requires considerable internal technological and
managerial capabilities coupled with a strong Science and Technology
(S&T) information base.
R&D collaboration: A company may collaborate with another company in
areas of common interest, if costs of development are high. Such inter-
firm collaborative R&D efforts are becoming common in developed
countries mainly due to high costs and shorter technology life cycles. It is
found in areas such as micro-electronics, materials, information
technologies, bio-technologies, and so on. A firm may also collaborate
with the public funded or privately funded R&D institutions on case-to-
case basis, where R&D results are shared mutually, and so are the
expenses. A company in India may even collaborate with another
company or R&D institution abroad, on mutually agreed terms.
Q2. Explain the dimensions of technology transfer and features of
technology package.
Dimensions of Technology Transfer
The time and resources required to transfer a given technology depend
upon:
• What is actually transferred?
• The mode of transfer.
• The incorporation abilities of the receiving enterprise.
• The abilities and inspiration of the supplier enterprise.
The technology progress varies in character, that is, whether it is
transferring or diffusing. We transfer technology from an enterprise to an
individual, and diffuse the technology from an individual to an enterprise.
To understand the implication of the culture, you must praise the variation
between transfer and diffusion. The advancement of the technology
depends on the combined effect of transfer and diffusion.
From the above concept, we can say that the individual is the pivotal point
of technology movement, whether transfer or diffusion. It conveys you the
concept of cultural dimension.
Several years ago, a minibus manufacturing plant was closed in Pakistan.
A program of ten years for the transfer of built-up and market technology
had failed. The buses produced were identical with those successfully built
and marketed in foreign country. But in Pakistan, they could not maintain
the building-up quality. The sale of buses was dull, and required excessive
maintenance and repair. They could not find the solutions even after the
investigation of the problem. So, they left their program forgetting their
whole experience. Actually, the problem was with the bus and not with the
customers. Since the vehicle was designed as per the supervision and
administration of British manufacturing plant, distribution and marketing
organisation. It was designed to be driven in England or similar
environments where repair services and spare parts will be easily
available. As we find difficult to adjust with the foreign culture, technology
is also not culture free. Those creating and applying technology perform
within the context of their culture, and incorporate it into their work. the
manufactured product works with the culture from which it came. The
same is true for other technologies like, refineries, electric power stations,
mining machinery, computerised information systems, engineering,
education, and so on. So, either the technology must adapt different
culture or the people who use the technology must adapt to the culture
used in the technology for successful transfer. Usually, the combination of
both is required for the successful technology transfer. If it is transferred
without any adjustments can be referred to the result of blind luck. Most
recently developed technologies are embedded with “western” type
cultural qualities, including that available from developed countries. Most
of these qualities are considerably different or do not exist in other
cultures. However, they influence both the transfer and successful
application of the technology.
The qualities often include:
• The problem-solving method and logic.
• The decision making social authority structure.
• Taking initiative action for analysis value.
• The time management and plan as it relates to tasks and activity.
• The relationship between performance and incentives.
• The view and appreciation of pre-emptive action to prevent future
problems.
• The social suggestion including questionnaire, conflict and
confrontation.
• Source of personal status in the work place and society.
• The relationship of fatalism and self-determination.
• The vertical and horizontal orientation to organisational authority.
Features of Technology Package
In the previous section, we learnt about the dimensions of technology
transfer process. In this section, we will learn about the features of
technology packages.
You are now familiar with technology transfer, and you might be thinking
that what technology package is. So let us start with the definition of
technology package. Technology package is nothing but the technology
services, which include estimated market price, annual payments, and so
on.
The technology package consists of three principal elements, namely,
product design, production technique, and management systems.
• Product design may range from simple items to highly complex
(example, automotive) parts.
• The techniques related to production and the layout of the plant
comprises of photocopies and flowcharts, formulas, sheets for process,
instructions for fabrication, designs of tools and fixture, operational
procedures and material specifications.
• Management Systems comprises of different plans, blueprints and
technical control systems (along with relevant marketing and financial
controls). These covers design and blueprint of plant, quality control and
testing, acquirement of material, inventory control, techniques for
equipment maintenance and repair, and machine loading.
The three principal categories of technical information or know-how
inherent in technological systems are general knowledge, system-specific
and firmspecific knowledge. These various categories of knowledge may
be in the form of written fabricating or processing equipment.
General Knowledge refers to information common to industry such as
blueprint reading, tool and fixture design and fabrication, welding
techniques, and so on.
Since the technology is a package (or service) type that cannot be viewed,
it shows the feature attributes of packages, which includes:
• Indivisibility: Since there are few demanding parties, a lot of time and
effort is required to find out apparent customers, unlike product transfer.
In particular, industry is gaining good reputation corresponding to
company credit- rating and technology capability because of different
language, culture, and commercial practice that overseas customers
have.
• Consumer participation: Technology transfer activities together with