Improving the management of technology development through mediation

Abstract

Recent policy in New Zealand (NZ) has privatised extension services and emphasised relevance to end-users as criteria for setting research priorities. This paper discusses some possibilities for improving the way organisations work together to develop technologies in this new operating environment. A recently developed model of professional practice is introduced and compared with a popular knowledge based model of technology. This comparative investigation is empirically based and presented in two parts (this article and Part B in the next edition) using three case studies of technology development in the NZ dairy industry. Each case study was selected for the attributes of the technology and the types of organisations involved in the development work. These studies identified the factors responsible for the formation of ‘clubs’ of professionals that enabled diverse disciplines to work on common development problems. Early involvement of users in the development programme avoided subsequent constraints to development. Learning by trial and error was a typical feature of these case studies where previous experiences were often inadequate for solving contemporary development problems. Mediating activities were identified as a particularly vital role in development programmes. This mediation work was traditionally the domain of extension agents and systems researchers who have now become rare breeds of workers in the re-structured science system of NZ.