Technology Management Literature Research Articles

When to commit more to a technological entry: Evidence of the follow-up patenting action of bearings manufacturers

While consistently making forays into new domains is common practice, a follow-up action represents a greater realization of the value of a prior entry. Subsequent to technological entries into new domains, why and when to follow up, in terms of a follow-up patenting action in the newly entered domain, is relatively sidelined in the technology management literature. This paper departs from the knowledge-based view on follow-up patenting action to the moderating roles of competitive intensity and learning speed in order to explore persistent innovation behavior under uncertainty. In a sample of 474 technological entries of fifteen top bearings manufacturers during 1990-2004, the study serves as a multilevel account of the interplay between patent, firm and field. Our results show not only the contrasting influences of a firm's knowledge depth and breadth on its propensity to follow up on prior entries but also the boundary conditions of such causal relationships. As a response to the recent call for more empirical inquiry into the dynamics of R&D investment, our evidence identifies the theoretical sensitivity of the knowledge-based view to contextual factors and sheds new light on the complex nature of follow-up patenting, particularly when firms are subject to external uncertainty caused by competitive rivalry and internal uncertainty due to learning speed.

The scientific openness decision model: “Gaming” the technological and scientific outcomes

Abstract Open innovation has been examined a great deal in the last few years in the technology management and innovation literature, but its critical aspect – scientific openness – has been debated for centuries. The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the arguments for and against scientific openness. Using concepts from game theory, we develop the Scientific Openness Decision Model linking the strategic decision for openness/secrecy and the resultant business environment. We then empirically test that model using data from 118 companies across 54 industries. Openness, measured by scientific publications, is found to be a strong predictor of both positive technological and scientific outcomes for firms. These findings are examined to determine the relative merits of a strategy of scientific openness versus secrecy, and future research possibilities are discussed.

The Impact of Strategic R&D Investments on the Commercialization of Emerging Technological Regimes

The study explores how incumbents respond to emerging technological regimes and focuses on the impact of their upstream strategic R&D investments on downstream commercialization. It departs from the typical emphasis in the technology management literature on incumbents’ internal R&D investments to also consider a broad array of adaptive responses that entail external research contracting, research collaborations and acquisitions. We argue that the different modes of investments represent varying degrees of how the pursuit of the emerging technology is decoupled from the existing organizational context, and the value of this decoupling varies whether the technology regime reinforces the incumbent’s business model (sustaining) or not (disruptive). We test these arguments in the context of the global biopharmaceutical industry from 1991 to 2008, a period during which it witnessed the emergence of two revolutionary therapeutic approaches based on genetic engineering - Monoclonal Antibodies (MAbs ) and Gene Th...

Mapping the Intellectual Structure of Contemporary Technology Management Research

To map the intellectual structure of Technology Management research in this century, this study identified the most important publications and the most influential scholars as well as the correlations among these scholar’s publications. In this study, bibliometric and social network analysis techniques are used to investigate the intellectual pillars of the Technology Management literature. By analyzing 10,061 citations of 482 articles published in SSCI journals in Technology Management area between 2002 and 2006, this study maps an invisible network of knowledge of Technology Management studies. The results of the mapping can help identify the research direction of Technology Management research and provide a valuable tool for researchers to access the literature in this area.

Antecedents and consequences of team sensemaking capability in product development projects

With the increasing popularity of organizational sensemaking in the literature, sensemaking capability of firms attracts many researchers and practitioners from different fields. Nevertheless, sensemaking capability is rarely addressed in the new product development (NPD) project teams in the technology and innovation management literature. Specifically, we know little about what team sensemaking capability is, its ingredients and benefits, and how it works in NPD projects (e.g., its antecedents and consequences). By investigating 92 NPD project teams, we found that (1) team sensemaking capability, which is composed of internal and external communication, information gathering, information classification, building shared mental models, and taking experimental actions, has a positive impact on the information implementation and speed‐to‐market; (2) information implementation and speed‐to‐market mediate the relationship between team sensemaking capability and new product success; and (3) team sensemaking capability mediates the relationship between team processes and information implementation and partially mediates the relationship between team processes and speed‐to‐market. We also found that team autonomy, interpersonal trust among team members, and open‐mindedness of team members positively influence the development of team sensemaking capability. Theoretical and managerial implications of the study findings are discussed.

UNVEILING TM PRACTICES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

The management literature acknowledges the dominance of the US-based theories in management research across the globe. This general dominance is not studied for different sub-disciplines of management at the empirical level, with few exceptions such as a study carried out for organizational studies (Usdiken and Pasadeos, 1995). Such a lack is also observed for the technology management (TM) literature even though the TM discipline has a history of almost 50 years. There are a number of intellectual reasons why this is an interesting research theme. Understanding the dominance of developed country-based theory might help researchers to discover the conditions and the dynamics involved in the transfer of theoretical orientations and most importantly the implications of the dominance at the practical level. If literature is dominated with the US-based theory, what are its implications for researchers around the world? Is there really convergence of theories due to their being universal observations of capitalist economical and industrial infrastructures in developing and developed countries? If they converge, this might not necessarily mean that all economies, different cultures, countries resemble each other, however. The similarity might be because theoretical outlets such as management journals might not accept out-of-the-norm papers in this field, limiting the development of distinct technology management literature arising from the actual needs of developing country managers. If they do not converge, it is of great importance to understand the in theory and practice of these theories in different country contexts. Cross-cultural researchers believe that there is no such thing as a universal theory of management. Meta-theoretical assumptions supporting US-based management theories and practices have not been questioned, particularly in regards to their deployment in non-Western contexts. In addition, the emphasis of research on differences imply separation, which would also conceal other social and cultural formations established through global relationships. These arguments remain subjective as long as there are not enough data comparatively investigating the developments in the literature. Although research has made important contributions towards the understanding of TM practices in developing countries, both theoretical and empirical research is required in order to develop a better understanding. That is why this special issue is focused on TM in developing countries.

Antecedents and Contingent Effects of Organizational Adaptive Capability on Firm Product Innovativeness

Organizational adaptive capability is a broad term and was studied from different perspectives, such as market, technology, and management system, in the management literature. However, the simultaneous effects of these different perspectives and their related adaptive capability constructs on a firm's product innovativeness have yet to be addressed. Additionally, an empirical study of the influence of informal structural dimensions, such as loose coupling, multiplexity, and redundancy, on the organizational adaptive capability, as antecedents, is also missing in the technology and innovation management (TIM) literature. By studying 153 firms, we found that (1) market‐, technology‐, and management system‐related adaptive capability constructs simultaneously and positively impact firm product innovativeness; (2) under the loose coupling construct, autonomous behaviors of departments positively impact technology and management system adaptive capability, loose management style influences market and management system adaptive capability, and uneven/slow information travel in organizations negatively affects technology and management system adaptive capability; (3) multiplexity positively influences all organizational adaptive capability constructs; and (4) under the redundancy construct, information distribution redundancy has an “∩” shape relationship with technology adaptive capability. We also demonstrated that the impact of informal structural constructs on adaptive capability is contingent upon environmental turbulence, e.g., rapid or unanticipated changes in market and technology. We found that the influence of loose management style on technology adaptive capability decreases with increased rate of market turbulence, and the effect of resource slack, as a part of the redundancy construct, on technology adaptive capability changes quadratically, an “∩” shaped curve, with an increased rate of market turbulence. We further found that the effect of the autonomous behaviors of departments on market adaptive capability increases with an increased level of technology turbulence. The role of resource slack on the market adaptive capability was also found to change quadratically, an “∩” shaped curve, with an increased rate of technology turbulence. Interestingly, the impact of the information distribution redundancy on market adaptive capability changes nonlinearly, a “U” shaped curve, with an increased rate of technology turbulence. Further, we showed that the influence of organizational technology adaptive capability on product innovativeness increases with increased level of technology turbulence. This study concludes with several theoretical and managerial implications.

Mapping the intellectual structure of modern technology management

The paper explores and maps the intellectual structure of technology management studies from 1987 to 2006 by analysing 22,336 cited references of 1328 articles in the SSCI and SCI databases. Bibliometrics and social network analysis techniques are used to research the intellectual structure of the technology management literature. Six threads emerged in this study: (1) core competence and competitive advantage, (2) information system planning and changes, (3) the management of innovation and organisations, (4) technology management approaches, (5) technology strategy and (6) organisational learning and knowledge management. This study provides a systematic and objective means of determining the knowledge nodes in the development of technology management research.

A conceptual framework for misfit technology commercialization

The emerging literature on outbound open innovation has highlighted innovation processes, which presuppose active outward technology transfer to increase firm profits. To contribute to this discourse, our paper goes beyond the emphasis on core-related technologies and knowledge that currently dominates the technology management literature and develops the novel concept of misfit technology. This concept captures technologies that are not aligned with a focal firm's current knowledge base and/or business model, but which may still be of great value to the firm if alternative commercialization options are considered. By developing a framework that acknowledges (1) Sources of misfit technology, (2) Environmental uncertainty, (3) Organizational slack, (4) Industry appropriability regime and (5) Technological complexity, we theorize on how different modes of commercialization relate to misfit technology commercialization success. The paper is conceptual and is presented with the purpose to spawn further research on this important topic, but simultaneously touches upon the issues of utmost relevance to R&D management practice.

No escape from the dominant theories: The analysis of intellectual pillars of technology management in developing countries

This paper aims to identify the intellectual bases of the technology management (TM) literature generated in developing countries using citation and co-citation analyses and answer the question of whether the intellectual bases of the TM literature created by authors in developing countries diverge from those of the global TM literature. Based on a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of ten technology-innovation management (TIM) specialty journals through the period of 1998–2007, this study produces three important findings. First, the TM literature generated in developing countries is dominated by the knowledge and theories created in developed countries. Second, among these knowledge sources some authors from developing countries and focusing on the specialties of developing countries, such as Kim and Lall, come into prominence; however these authors are not even mentioned in the previous bibliometric studies covering overall TM research. Finally the researchers in developing countries tackle with the issues or topics specific to their own context through combining three major bulks of literature. These are (i) resource-based view (RBV)/core competencies and organizational learning related research; (ii) literature dealing with the evolutionary theorizing on economic change and growth and (iii) literature related to technological capabilities, technology transfer and industrialization in developing countries.

Strategic planning for management of technology of China's high technology enterprises

PurposeThe objective of this paper is to explore, describe, and explicate the processes which are related to the strategic planning for technology management, and to provide beneficial suggestions for China's high technology enterprises to promote technology management capability.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, a model for strategic planning for management of technology is developed, which is expected to be used to provide effective processes of articulating strategic planning. The model involves several key points including defining the current situations of technology management, determining the objectives of managing technology, and designing the approaches for the promotion of technology management capability. Capability maturity model (CMM) and fitness landscape theory are applied in this model to construct useful analysis tools. The model is used to make the strategic planning for management of technology of China's high technology enterprises. A survey of 43 high technology companies in China is conducted. Technology management maturity model (TMMM) is employed to assess the technology management maturity level, and fitness landscape of technology management is developed to explore the routines of promoting technology management capability.FindingsThe authors find that there is still much room for China's high technology enterprises to improve their technology management capability, since the average technology management maturity is only in the managed level. And the maturity of quality management is lower than that of organization management and resource management, and so quality management should have more importance attached to it, promoting holistic technology management capability. All such findings imply that our research makes theoretical contributions to technology management and strategy related literature with significant managerial implications.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to technology management literature by constructing the model of strategic planning for technology management, viewing it as the roadmap of the development of technology management, explaining three interrelated points and illustrating three processes. Second, the paper uses fitness landscape and NK model to explore the routines of promoting technology management capability.

Harnessing a network of experts for competitive advantage: technology scouting in the ICT industry

In order to identify discontinuous technological change and develop appropriate action, companies are increasingly building technology foresight (TF) practices. This paper explores how, using networks of experts, TF capabilities can be built. On the basis of three case studies and 43 interviews, it is shown that building foresight systems through networks of scouts yields several benefits, including the support for sourcing external technologies. Using insights from the three major telecommunication incumbents in Europe, the paper describes and discusses (1) what can be achieved by technology scouting, (2) how a process can be set up, (3) what is important in the design of a scouting network, and (4) the characteristics that should be aimed for when choosing technology scouts. The paper contributes to the methodological base of corporate foresight, to the technology management literature, and to the understanding of how companies can increase their open-innovation capabilities by extending the intertwinement with their environment.

Continued usage of technology versus situational factors: An empirical analysis

Mainstream technology management literature suggests that research on continued usage of technology is largely based on two perspectives, namely (i) a forward-looking perspective that underpins the technology acceptance model (TAM), and (ii) a retrospective perspective that is based on the expectation disconfirmation theory (EDT). We propose an extended framework to re-examine continued usage of technology by combining these two perspectives and incorporating individual, social and environmental factors as additional variables. Our study, in the context of users' continued usage of e-learning tools, reveals that in addition to user satisfaction and perceived usefulness, self-efficacy, system service support and social pressure are significant factors that affect continued usage of technology. Our findings enrich the theoretical framework of continued usage of technology, and provide e-learning developers with managerial insights on how to entice learners to continue using their e-learning tools.

Organizational emotional capability, product and process innovation, and firm performance: An empirical analysis

The concept of emotional capability is one of the competencies that a firm has which is vital for the daily life of the organization. However, the effect of emotional capability, involving the dynamics of encouragement, displaying freedom, playfulness, experiencing, reconciliation, and identification constructs on the firm innovativeness (i.e., product and process) is interestingly missing in the technology and innovation management (TIM) literature. In this study, by investigating 163 Turkish firms, the dynamics of encouragement and experiencing were found to have a positive association with both firm product and process innovativeness; and the dynamics of displaying freedom have a positive relationship with firm process innovativeness. We also demonstrate that the impact of emotional capability constructs on firm innovativeness is contingent upon environmental uncertainty. Specifically, we find that the influence of the dynamics of encouragement on firm product innovation increases with increased rate of environmental uncertainty. Interestingly, the relationship between the dynamics of experiencing and product innovation across low, medium, and high levels of environmental uncertainty is an ∩-shaped. And, the relationship between the dynamics of displaying freedom and product innovation across low, medium, and high levels of environmental uncertainty is a U-shaped. In addition, we show that a firm's emotional capability influences its financial and market performance via firm innovativeness. We discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of the study's findings.

Does technology management research diverge or converge in developing and developed countries?

The main purpose of this paper is to understand whether the research of developing and developed countries in the technology management (TM) field converge or diverge in terms of topics, approaches, research focus, and methods. International trends are explored based on the comparison of developed and developing countries’ academia, conducted through a content analysis of the main TM journals over the period of 1995–2005. The analysis of a random sample of 325 articles indicates a clear differentiation of major topics studied by developing and developed country academics. The paper ends with a call for future studies to focus more on the particularities of developing countries in order to enrich the TM literature by increasing our understanding of TM theory and its applications in developing countries.

Technological Diversification, Coherence and Performance of Firms

Technological diversification at the level of the firm, i.e. the expansion of a firm's technology base into a wide range of technology fields, is found to be a prevailing phenomenon in all three major industrialized regions: US, Europe and Japan, prompting the term multi-technology corporation. Whereas previous studies have provided insights into the composition of technology portfolios of multi-technology firms, little is known about the link between technological diversification and firms' technological performance. Against a backdrop of the technology and innovation management literature, this article investigates the relationship between technological diversification and technological performance, taking into account the moderating role of technological coherence in firms' technology portfolios. Hereby, technological coherence is defined as the degree to which technologies in a technology portfolio are technologically related. In order to measure the technological coherence of portfolios, a measure of technological relatedness of technology fields is constructed based on patent citation patterns found in 450,000 EPO patent grants. Two hypotheses are presented in this article: (1) Technological diversification has an inverted U-shaped relationship with technological performance; and (2) Technological coherence moderates the relationship between technological diversification and technological performance positively. These hypotheses are tested empirically using a panel dataset (1995-2003) on patent portfolios pertaining to 184 US, European, and Japanese firms. The firms selected are the largest R&D actors in five industries: Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology, Chemicals, Engineering & General Machinery, IT Hardware (computers and communication equipment), and Electronics & Electrical Machinery. Empirical results, obtained by fixed-effects negative binomial regressions, support both hypotheses in this article. Technological diversification has an inverted U-shaped relationship with technological performance. While technological diversification offers opportunities for cross-fertilization and technology fusion, high levels of diversification may yield few marginal benefits as firms risk lacking sufficient levels of scale to benefit from wide-ranging technological capabilities, and firms may encounter high levels of coordination and integration costs. Further, the results show that the net benefits of technological diversification are higher in technologically coherent technology portfolios. If firms build up a technologically coherent diversified portfolio, the presence of sufficient levels of scale is ensured and coordination costs are limited. This article clearly identifies the important role of technological coherence and points out in the discussion session the relevance of future research on interface management practices directed to the realization of the benefits of technological diversification.

Strategic options‐based framework for management of dynamic capabilities in manufacturing firms

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to launch a dynamic strategic framework for a manufacturing firm for the digital age. The paper's dynamic capabilities‐ and strategic options‐based framework is comprised of the following key issues: how to sense the weak signals at the customer interface and how to formulate them as strategic options; how to exercise these options in the (often) intangible assets markets that are imperfect or even non‐existent; how to appropriate and/or share strategically relevant productive knowledge in order to obtain competitive advantage (CA) over the rivals, (iv) how to recognize the opportunities and threats of the underlying industrial structure, especially the economies of scale and scope and network externalities; and how to proactively reconfigure and reshape the existing knowledge base and capabilities in order to sustain the CA obtained.Design/methodology/approachThe paradigm of creating CA is opened up in the context of knowledge‐based engineering and digital manufacturing. The Porterian five forces model, the resource‐based view and especially its dynamized extension, the dynamic capability view, are used as theoretical starting points. The modern strategic technology management literature will be complemented by means of the concepts of strategic options and related flexibility issues. Some illustrative examples will be offered as well.FindingsIn the author's view, the primary sources of sustainable CA in the digital manufacturing can be captured from active asset selection (strategic investments in both tangible and intangible assets), and efficient orchestrating of the global value net in “thin” intangible assets markets. The main determinants of CA are: the competitive nature of external environments, supply and demand conditions of the industry (economies of scale and scope and network externalities), renewal capacity of the organization, the dependence on complementary co‐specialized resources and capabilities, and the strategic role of the appropriability regime.Originality/valueThis paper tries to capture the critical elements of creating sustainable CA in the context of digital manufacturing and it is considered to be useful for strategic decision‐makers. The modern technology strategy management literature is synthesized in our framework and it tries to make the issues more applicable to the strategic management of the companies.

Technological Diversification, Coherence, and Performance of Firms

Technological diversification at the firm level (i.e., the expansion of a firm's technology base into a wide range of technology fields) is found to be a prevailing phenomenon in all three major industrialized regions,—the United States, Europe, and Japan—prompting the term multitechnology corporation. Whereas previous studies have provided insights into the composition of technology portfolios of multitechnology firms, little is known about the relationship between technological diversification and firms' technological performance. Against a backdrop of the technology and innovation management literature, the present article investigates the relationship between technological diversification and technological performance, taking into account the moderating role of technological coherence in firms' technology portfolios. Hereby, technological coherence is defined as the degree to which technologies in a technology portfolio are technologically related. To measure the technological coherence of portfolios, a measure of technological relatedness of technology fields is constructed based on patent citation patterns found in 450,000 European Patent Office (EPO) patent grants. Two hypotheses are presented here: (1) Technological diversification has an inverted U‐shaped relationship with technological performance; and (2) technological coherence moderates the relationship between technological diversification and technological performance positively. These hypotheses are tested empirically using a panel data set (1995–2003) on patent portfolios pertaining to 184 U.S., European, and Japanese firms. The firms selected are the largest research and development (R&D) actors in five industries: pharmaceuticals and biotechnology; chemicals; engineering and general machinery; information technology (IT) hardware (i.e., computers and communication equipment); and electronics and electrical machinery. Empirical results, obtained by fixed‐effects negative binomial regressions, support both hypotheses in the present article. Technological diversification has an inverted U‐shaped relationship with technological performance. Technological diversification offers opportunities for cross‐fertilization and technology fusion, but high levels of diversification may yield few marginal benefits as firms risk lacking sufficient levels of scale to benefit from wide‐ranging technological diversification, and firms may encounter high levels of coordination and integration costs. Further, the results show that the net benefits of technological diversification are higher in technologically coherent technology portfolios. If firms build up a technologically coherent diversified portfolio, the presence of sufficient levels of scale is ensured and coordination costs are limited. At the same time, technologically coherent diversification puts firms in a better position to benefit form cross‐fertilization between technologies. The present article clearly identifies the important role of technological coherence in technology diversification strategies of firms.

The joint influence of technology uncertainty and interorganizational interaction on external technology integration success

This paper empirically examines the acquisition of a technology from a source outside the firm and its incorporation into a new or existing operational process. We refer to this key activity in process innovation as external technology integration. This paper develops a conceptual framework of external technology integration based on organizational information processing theory and technology management literature. The primary hypothesis underlying the conceptual framework is that external technology integration will be most successful when the level of interaction between the source of the technology and recipient of the technology is appropriately matched, or fit, to the characteristics of the technology to be integrated. The conceptual framework also develops other hypotheses relating to contextual factors that may also influence the success of external technology integration. A cross-sectional survey methodology is employed to test the four hypotheses of the conceptual framework, with the results indicating strong support for the fit hypothesis and general support for the contextual hypotheses. The paper closes with a discussion of the implications of this study for both theory and practice.

Systems Development Process Improvement: A Knowledge Integration Perspective

Although organizations have applied a variety of practices and tools to address information systems development (ISD) performance problems, most of these approaches have focused on controlling and improving predictability of the development process. There is growing recognition that ISD is a knowledge-intensive process that requires the integration of specialized stakeholder knowledge. We develop the perspective that integration of this specialized knowledge across knowledge boundaries in the ISD process drives ISD performance. We theorize that formal and informal organizational integrative practices influence ISD performance, because they facilitate the development of boundary objects that effectively span knowledge boundaries. Results from a field study of 110 firms provide considerable support for the proposed model. This paper makes three novel contributions to the technology management literature. First, it demonstrates that knowledge integration across knowledge boundaries through boundary objects improves ISD performance. Second, it shows how formal and informal organizational integrative practices enhance the integration of specialized knowledge within and across organizational subunits. Third, it shows that the positive influence of formal and informal organizational integrative practices on ISD performance is partially mediated by knowledge integration. For engineering and technology managers, the results highlight the centrality of knowledge integration for the management of technology development. Collectively, these findings offer a novel knowledge integration-based perspective that complements prior research on systems development and new product development