Introduction
This summary was created for the purpose of identifying real-life examples of “Technology Strategy”. Based on the reference book Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation by Burgelman, Christensen and Wheelwright, technology strategy is defined as an overall plan that relates to the use of technology for an organization. The plan will consist of objectives, guiding principles, long-term action plans and other tactical elements. Technology strategy focuses on the process and the people involved in the deployment of technology.
Real life examples presented herein are derived from web resources and are analysed by answering the following questions:
- Similarity of the definition described in the article to the definition presented in the reference material;
- Description of technology strategy as presented in the article’s details;
- An evaluation of the statements made by the author regarding technology strategy.
- Romer, P. (1993). Implementing a National Technology Strategy with Self-Organizing Industry Investment Boards. University of California, Berkeley National Bureau of Economic Research and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. Retrieved from http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/projects/bpea/1993%20micro%202/1993b_bpeamicro_romer.pdf
This article argues that economic markets have natural deficiencies and that the market’s way of allocating resources (i.e. through the fundamental demand and supply functions) is the most efficient way of doing so. The alternative structures that are dictated by political ideologies (i.e. socialism) simply do not work because of their deficiency with respect to the wide considerations required by all aspects of society. Thus, the main consideration for any economic policy making body is to determine what economic structure works best and then utilize the core strengths of that structure into pushing the improvements further. In addition, the article states that responsible parties charged with capitalizing on these economic strengths also looks at how rivals are performing and the lessons they learn. One of the lessons learned is the use of technology as a way of building on the economic strengths founded by sound economic structure. Technological strategy becomes a very wide consideration in light of where it has the most impact and where it is critically needed.
This article utilizes the term technology strategy in a very broad manner and is applied to government institutions that are principally charged with economic stewardship. In the highly economics-driven policy, the article argues that technological strategy is a critical input for sound economic policy framework. This broad definition follows the reference book’s definition of technology strategy in that the application of the strategy, in a public-sector setting, still focuses on the principles of and tactics used in implementing technology strategies. My opinion is that this article highlights the details of technology strategy and its overall relationship with economic principles, necessary for the public sector’s performance of its duties.
- Raghupathi, W. and Tan, J. (1999). Strategic Uses of Information Technology in Health Care: A State-Of-The-Art Survey. Graduate School of Business Administration, Fordham University, New York, NY, USA. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10539419
This article states that technology in the healthcare industry was decades behind the technological capacity of other critical industrial sectors, including finance and banking, airline, manufacturing, as well as other service industries when the article was published in 1999. Due to rising challenges in providing health care services, dwindling national budgets, narrowing of competitive advantages and the prevalence and occurrence of new health concerns, the health care industry took to the application of technology as one of the primary methods of improving performance. The article reports that the strategy entailed investment of up to US$ 14 billion per year for the health care industry in the US, focusing on records management, information sharing, remote diagnostics among others. The result was significant growth in the last decade for the entire health care industry but opens up new opportunities for other health-related technological strategies which are still being planned for implementation.
This article is very helpful because it demonstrates technological strategy for a specific industry and identifies the process by which technology is implemented in a logical, thorough and efficient manner. The definition of technology strategy that is described in the article follows the definition of technology strategy as defined in the reference book Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation by Burgelman, Christensen and Wheelwright. I agree with the definition of technology strategy and its application for the health care industry. This article highlights the ultimate advantage of using a logically determined technology strategy and the success of the health care industry is a great demonstration of the validity of technology strategy principles.
- Nambisan, S. (200). Complementary Product Integration by High-Technology New Ventures: The Role of Initial Technology Strategy. Management Science. Retrieved from http://mansci.journal.informs.org/content/48/3/382.abstract
This article examines the technology strategy in an industry that already employs a very high level of sophisticated technology. This article looks into the relationship between the existing technologies being used and the products that have to be integrated into the existing operating framework. What is very interesting in this article is that it points out how the users of technology demand seamless cross-product integration based on their understanding that the employment of the new technological strategy will be a critical factor in determining the success of their business model.
The article goes into the definitions of product integration, being value-added, add-on module and data interface. The article also states that a pro-active stance taken by the users of the technology in the early stage of technology strategy implementation provides the critical path for successful implementation of the organization’s technological strategy as a whole. The number of successful enterprises that have taken this position early on in the implementation of their technology strategy supports the author’s hypothesis that in adapting new technology strategy, early focus on product integration is essential.
This article follows the definition of technology strategy and highlights when in the strategy implementation it is critical for managers to fully get involved. In the case of high-technology industries, involvement is important at the start of the process but this does not mean involvement in the later stages is not as crucial. As managers, it is more important that the entire process be supervised professionally and effectively.References
Nambisan, S. (200). Complementary Product Integration by High-Technology New Ventures: The Role of Initial Technology Strategy. Management Science. Retrieved from http://mansci.journal.informs.org/content/48/3/382.abstract
Raghupathi, W. and Tan, J. (1999). Strategic Uses of Information Technology in Health Care: A State-Of-The-Art Survey. Graduate School of Business Administration, Fordham University, New York, NY, USA. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10539419
Romer, P. (1993). Implementing a National Technology Strategy with Self-Organizing Industry Investment Boards. University of California, Berkeley National Bureau of Economic Research and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. Retrieved from http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/projects/bpea/1993%20micro%202/1993b_bpeamicro_romer.pdf
