MI0040 Technology Management Q.1 Define the term technology. Write a short note on evolution and growth of technology.

Ans. Technology is derived from a Greek word technologia in which techne means craft and logia means saying. The term 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. Management refers to the process of planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling the activities in an organization. Types of technology Teaching technology- defined as the technology related to systematically designed approaches. Instructional technology it includes certain type of instructions that have to be carried out in a systematic way to achieve the objectives of the particular task. Assistive technology this technology is for assisting people who want to work within a particular environment. Medical technology it refers to the technology including the inventions in the medical field. Information technology it can be defined as the technology that helps in accessing the knowledge and resources on a wide range of topics. Evolution and growth of technology The history of technology dates back to the time when humans were able to prepare some simple tools with easily available natural resources. Advancement in technology had a major leap with the invention of the wheel. The technology in all the fields has grown to a large extent and now we can see the technology involved in almost all the things we use in our daily life. Technology management in India:- The government of India is mainly focusing on the development of science and technology in the present world. There are many Indian companies which are able to develop and produce the internationally competitive products. The companies which use different kinds of technologies and are excelling

today in India are Punjab tractors, Tata automobiles, Amul food and certain drug and chemical industries. The productivity of Indian industries largely depends on the technologies that are imported. These days companies are paying more attention on technology in order to be more competitive in the business market. It is not only the large scale industries that require the technology management; even the small scale industries also need a technology management to face the competitive world of today.

Q.2. Citing an example, state and explain the reasons that compel a company to go for the new technology. Ans. Technology acquisition is the process that requires the strategic planning, and is more time consuming and complicated. Acquiring technology involves the purchase of external technology and knowledge without getting cooperation from the sources. E.g. An ABC co. wants to acquire technology, which involves introduction of technology for its development. This involved a decision that has to be made for whether to develop the technology internally or buy the technology from the external resources. The analysis of methods was carried out and an algorithm was developed to select both priorities of technologies. Reasons compelling a company for obtaining a new technology The use of new technologies plays an important role in the industry. Whenever a company wants to adapt the new technologies, it has to make decisions related to the technology. The acquisition of technology becomes critical when the market lead time and competition is more. Following are various reasons that compel the company for technology acquisition: Technology acquisition helps to bridge the gap in technology in the developing countries like India. Acquiring the technology from outside company is more costly than acquiring technology from the R&D of the same company. Technology acquisition depends on the policy environment. Sometimes the economic policies do not allow the foreign countries to sell their goods and services in the domestic market, in such times the foreign companies can get the financial returns only through the collaboration and selling the raw materials and components.

 Technology acquisition is the process by which a company acquires the rights to use and exploit a technology for the purpose of improving or renewing processes, products or services. It is mainly designed for business-to-business technology acquisition. In few cases, technology comes from a university or research organization. The origin of the technology can take place in any area but it has to be tested, proven and ready to use. Technology acquisition helps for enhancing the productivity of an organization. The company planning for technology acquisition has to make the agreement between the two companies and even the details of the costs are also present as part of the application. Q.3. Describe the characteristics of technology forecasting. Explain in brief about six phases in technology forecasting process. Ans. The term forecasting refers to the prediction of future on the basis of available information. The technology forecasting is done by considering the parameters, attributes and capabilities of technology. Characteristics of the technology forecasting Following characteristics are associated with the technology forecasting: A technology forecast relates to certain characteristics such as levels of technical performance, rate of technological advances. A technological forecast also relates to useful machines, procedures, or techniques. A technology forecast can be for short-term, medium-term or long-term.

Technology Forecasting Process The forecasting process involves three elements that are as follows:-

Inputs Assumptions Data Insight Judgment

Forecasting techniques Exploratory Normative

Outputs Qualitative Quantitative Time Probability

Following are the six phases of technology forecasting: Identification of needs after identifying the expected outputs and the objectives of the future, a thorough analysis is done in order to make sure the relevance of technology forecasting. Prepare project In this phase the forecasting activities that are planned and resources are allocated. There are three human resources, clients, core team and external participants Define objectives This phase once again goes through the objectives that are defined in the first and second phases. This includes both normative and exploratory forecast. Perform analysis and develop Technology Forecast (TF) This is the central part of the present research. In this phase we start with defining the boundaries of the technological system that has to be forecasted. After completing the definition of the boundaries, we get a shape of problem and also the contradiction network. The next step in the analysis and develop TF is the analysis of limitation of resources. This helps to find the resources that are less and causes problems on the map. The next step in the analysis and develop TF involves; build the time diagram. This uses the results that we get after the problem mapping. Validate results this includes the customer satisfaction with the results of TF. There are different processes that are associated with the evaluation of the results of the forecast. Application of TF This depends mainly on the needs and the formulated objectives. This helps mainly in all the projects.

Q.4. Write a short note on technology strategy. Explain in brief about the Innovation management. Ans. Technology Strategy It can be defined as a planning document that explains how technology should be utilized as part of an organizations overall business strategy. The document is usually created by an organizations technology manager and should be designed to support the organizations overall business plan. There are many factors in competition and technology is only one factor among them. One important factor in the successful use of technology is the role general management in technology strategy. The central idea here is that a business can be developed around a long-term consistent focus on a core technological competency. It means to have a core corporate technical competency to lead both innovating new technology products and improving manufacturing quality and lowering cost of these products. With this, not only products can be improved in future generations of technology. Innovation management Innovation management is defined as the systematic processes that help organizations in developing new and improved products, services and business processes. This involves the use of creative ideas of an organizations employees that brings new innovations to the market place, quickly and efficiently. The innovation involves all the managers from different departments. This needs to be planned and managed as a core business covering all parts of a business. The activities of the innovation need to be driven by the strategy and current business imperatives. The successful innovation culture consists of all the aspects of a business and these aspects have to be managed effectively and efficiently like any other core business. Innovation is managed through some sort of platform or application. There are two types of innovation tools that are, an electronic suggestion scheme, and a management system controlling the innovation process. The management of the innovation system needs to be given to the senior management to control the overall system of innovation. Installing the innovation culture in any of the company has leaders and teams with ability and commitment. In order to create culture of continuous innovation, the organization requires leadership and commitment from the senior management team. The senior management needs to encourage the innovative ideas from the staff.

Q.5.What is the importance of technology diffusion? What are the benefits of technology absorption? Ans. The process of adopting the new technology by the customers who came to know about the technology by the customers who came to know about the technology from other customers is called as the technology diffusion. Diffusion involves special types of communication methods or system to help diffuse changes in practice as well as changes in knowledge or attitudes. Thus, we can say that diffusion is the process of closing the gap between what people do not know and what they can effectively put to use.

Importance of technology diffusion Technology diffusion plays a major role in most of the countries today. The barriers of technology diffusion help us to determine the magnitude of technology diffusion. Diffusion enlarges the set of available technologies and increases the productivity of the country. The technology diffusion plays more important role in the sector of goods that are not tradable than the sector with tradable goods. The free technology diffusion generates more gains compared to that of the free merchandise trade. A well managed technology diffusion system enables an organisation to plan its technology development projects in a more meaningful manner as well as transfer the technologies more successfully. Such an approach results in better returns for the investments made in R&D and technology development systems. Benefits of technology absorption Following are the benefits of technology absorption: Repeated collaborations for the same product/process are avoided. Acquisitions of further technologies become selective. Ability is developed to unpackage the technology. Savings can be affected in foreign exchange due to indigenization/use of indigenous alternatives. Effective utilization is made of available indigenous research expertise and facilities to achieve the desired results. Know-why and technology upgradation capabilities are build-up.

 Exports are increased. Technically competent groups of scientists and engineers trained in technology absorption get matured and strengthened. The base for technological self-reliance is enhanced. We gain the benefits of technology diffusion, ranging from R&D services to the large sales. Technology diffusion helps in sustaining the growth of the company through technical strength. While acquisition of technology is now easier, commensurate R&D efforts will simultaneously be needed to absorb and upgrade the acquired technology in order to become internationally competitive. Q. 6. Explain the implementation of new technology. Briefly describe the automation decisions. Ans. A variety of technologies has come into view in the technological convergence of diverse systems evolving similar objectives. Following are some new technologies that are likely to replace the existing technologies: Memristor: a groundbreaking new circuit USB (Universal Serial Bus) Windows 7 Streaming games OLED displays 4G technology

Implementation of new technology We know that planning is the key to success of a project. In the same manner, a sound planning is essential for the success of any technologys implementation. The failures that are likely to arise during the implementation process may be due to the poor planning or inadequate resources. We must keep in mind some vital preliminary considerations. These considerations are: Initial consideration: The whole implementation process involves the complete business process and/or academic practice, consumer services, communication with suppliers and a relationship among all other engrossed stakeholders.

 Planning and implementation: A thorough plan with efficient management is necessary for success and to work against the fear of high costs, extended time, losing key persons and common disappointment with the result. Go Live Consideration: Finally, it is essential that the go live day causes as tiny disturbances to the daily businesses. The various issues arising at this point of time will negatively affect the organizations status. Automation decisions Automation decisions are the decisions that are related to automation. The automation decisions are considered most suitable for coherent, evidently defined decisions situations. The automated decisions act like legal support systems that instantaneously solve the offer solutions to the recurring organisation problems. The automated decisions are basically dependent on business rules. One of the components of automation decision support is rules-engine. For the purpose of operational decision making, a rules-engine is used. The engine employs actionable analytics and business rules to make and deliver adapted alert. To handle a particular business situation, it produces alerts and messages which might contain the announcement, warnings and suggested solution to solve a problem. The rule engines are implanted in a number of software products where they are sometimes called intelligent agents. To fully exploit the advantage of the influence of a decision-making system, the analytics, suggestions and actions has to be linked and integrated with the overall business process. It can be achieved by means of business process automation (BPA).