What is Technology?
Technology Management
Dominant Design
Bibliography
According to the definition, technology is "The purposeful application of information in the design, production, and utilization of goods and services, and in the organization of human activities." (Business Dictionary)
It is used very widely in almost every field. We use technology in science, household work, and almost in every task in our everyday lives.
Technology can be of numerous types. From making a piece of fabric to propelling a space rocket off the Earth's surface, there is the application of technology. It can be simple or complex. Mechanical technology allows things to turn, move in one particular direction, or perform any other kind of motion. This includes the use of levers, wheels, engines, etc.
The technology with which we are most acquainted with is the electronic technology. Electric circuits are used to perform a particular task in this type of technology. It is a complex technology. Some examples of electronics are TV, computer, washing machine, dryer, etc. Any object that runs on electricity is called electronic.
Some technologies are categorized according to the purpose they fulfil. There are Industrial and Manufacturing technologies, Communication technologies, and Medical technologies to name a few. The production of a product on a colossal scale, or performing a vast scale function in the absence of the customers is done in Industrial and Manufacturing technology. For example, mechanical robots are used to make cars, etc.
The function of recognizing, treating, or the prevention of a disease is performed with the help of Medical technologies. Images of the inside parts of the human body are captured with the aid of a MRI Scanner, ventilators are used to provide support for respiration to the patients, or just the medicines and drugs which are taken to get better are some examples of Medical technologies. Almost all the businesses in our modern world use technology to remain competitive. With the help of technology, they create new and useful services and products.
In a world where the needs and wants of people are ever growing, the demand for changing technology also keeps increasing. Therefore, technology continues to upgrade. It is dynamic.
"During the industrial age, companies with large sums of capital had the potential of employing expensive technological tools to gain competitive advantage; small businesses had less potential because they could not afford exp ensive manufacturing or processing technical tools. But, the advancement in technology has created a new economic environment which depends on information, and that is what I call ‘'INFORMATION AGE'', the information age provides a different work environment, and this has helped small businesses gain position in highly competitive markets." (Ramey, 2013).
To frame and attain the strategic and operational objectives of an organization, development, planning, devising, and assessment is needed. All this comes under the process of Technology Management. Integrated planning, optimization, design, control, and operation of technological processes, products, and services are also part of technology management. It consists of managing technology for human purposes.
Technology management is defined as "a process linking engineering, science, and management disciplines to plan, develop, and implement technological capabilities to shape and accomplish the strategic and operational objectives of an organization" (National Research Council, 1987).
It increases the competitive advantage of an organisation based on knowledge and technical know-how. Some essential concepts that are used in technology management are technology forecasting, technology strategy, mapping the technologies to the needs of the market and the business, technology project portfolio containing all the projects that are being worked upon, and the technology portfolio comprising the present technologies that are in use.
Technology management has two levels, namely, National level, and Enterprise level. At the National level, the primary objective of Technology management is to reassure that the nation and all the business organisations that are present in it gain sustainable technological competitiveness in the international markets and on a long-term basis they are able to maintain a very high position in the international business.
The domain of technology management at the National level is vast. It includes forecasting the technological changes, developing appropriate technological strategy for the nation, checking whether a new technology is appropriate or not, sustainable economic growth, developing sustainable technologies, national technology portfolio planning, managing technology absorption, managing technology diffusion, the creation, setting up, and protection of national technological knowledge base, technology, health and societal management, technology and environment management, new technology and management of its performance, managing foreign technology acquisitions, etc.
The primary objective of technology management at the enterprise level is to reassure that the organisation gains and retains a very high position in its foundational technologies which are compatible with its product and market relationship and that these technologies back the organisation's competitive strategies.
The domain of technology management at the enterprise level includes forecasting the technology, developing a plan for technology, technological innovation, managing the technology portfolio of the organisation, creation, setting up, protection, and transferring the technical knowledge that is particular to the group, implementing a new technology along with its integration with existing system, structure, and workforce. It also consists of managing the change in the techniques, transfer of technology, absorption of technology, integration of the technologies for products and processes, integration of management and research & development for successful commercialization, the advancement of technology, measuring the performance of new technology, management of technology at the organisation's bounds, and environmental sustainability and technology.
"Technology management focuses on the intersection of technology and business, encompassing not only technology creation but also its application, dissemination, and impact. Michael Bigwood suggests that New Technology Exploitation (NTE) lies somewhere between R&D and New Product Development, with characteristics of the cyclical learning process of scientific discovery and the more defined and linear process of product development." (Carayannis & Alexander).
A technology manager is appointed to take care of all the functions and processes that are to be performed in the field of technology management of an organisation.
There are various phases in a technology management system. These are the creation of technology, monitoring the technology, the assessment of technology, transfer of technology, the acceptance of technology, utilization of technology, technology maturity, and the decline of technology. In the technology creation phase, new technologies are created and generated. This step involves invention, creativity, and innovation. Everyone in the senior management is dedicated to the generation and the creation of new technology. For the promotion of technology creation and production, there is the development of requisite and supportive corporate culture. In the technology monitoring phase, before implementing new technologies, the changes and trends of technology are monitored. Various activities are undertaken in this period such as the installation and development of information systems so that the changes and the trends can be observed, supplier and customer interfaces are created so that the variations in the market and technology can be understood, to understand what the existing and prospective technologies contribute towards the competitiveness of the organisation, a competitive analysis is done, and also to understand the market trends and technological changes, the links between the people who are external or internal to the organisation are known.
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