Management of "technology push" development projects

Discussion of market pull versus technology push approaches in the field of busi-ness innovation research has followed a certain trend. The empirical research under-taken until now has been concerned in particular with the question of how each of these approaches differently influence the subsequent success of the innovation. We do not wish to continue this discussion in our paper, rather we assume that both ap-proaches are justified depending upon the importance of the relevant innovation source, the desired degree of innovation and the respective characteristics of the industry in question. We concern ourselves with the characteristics that result in the technology push for the management of innovation projects and what implications can be derived from practical project management organization. In doing so, we concentrate upon all market-related activities, in particular the identification and verification of application areas for new technology. After contrasting the various characteristics of the technology push and market pull approaches, the market-related characteristics of technology push projects are outlined. In this context, current instruments and methods of qualitative market re-search are introduced and their usefulness discussed. In addition, organizational-structural aspects as well as strategic and operative aspects of technology push pro-ject management will be highlighted. -- Die Diskussion Market Pull versus Technology Push hat in der betriebswirtschaftlichen Innovationsforschung bereits eine gewisse Tradition. Die hierzu durchgeführten empirischen Untersuchungen sind insbesondere der Frage nachgegangen, welche der beiden Vorgehensweisen welchen Einfluss auf den späteren Innovationserfolg hat. Wir wollen mit unserem Beitrag diesen Aspekt der Diskussion nicht erneut aufnehmen, sondern gehen davon aus, dass grundsätzlich beide Innovationsansätze, je nach Bedeutung der relevanten Innovationsquelle, angestrebtem Innovationsgrad und den jeweils vorliegenden Charakteristika der betrachteten Industrie, ihre Berechtigung haben. Die Frage, die uns interessiert, ist vielmehr, welche Besonderheiten sich insbesondere bei dem Technology Push-Ansatz für das Management der Innovationsprojekte ergeben und welche Implikationen sich hieraus für die Gestaltung des konkreten Projektmanagements ableiten. Hierbei konzentrieren wir uns auf alle marktbezogenen Aktivitäten, insbesondere die Identifikation und Verifikation von Applikationsgebieten für neue Technologien. Nach einer Gegenüberstellung der Charakteristika von Technology Push und Market Pull werden zunächst die marktseitigen Besonderheiten bei technologie-getriebenen Entwicklungsprojekten skizziert. In diesem Zusammenhang werden aktuelle Instrumente und Methoden der qualitativen Marktforschung erläutert und im Hinblick auf ihre Nützlichkeit diskutiert. Darauf aufbauend werden strukturorganisatorische, strategische sowie gestaltungstechnische Aspekte des Managements technologie-getriebener Projekte herausgestellt. Technology Push ; MarketingTechnology Push,Marketing

How to use analogies for breakthrough innovations

Analogies can trigger breakthrough ideas in new product development. Numerous examples demonstrate that substantial innovations often result from transferring problem solutions from one industry or domain to another. For instance, the designers of the new running shoe generation of Nike, Nike SHOX, use the same suspension concept like the technologies applied for Formula 1 racing cars, or the biological Lotus-effect led to the development of various self-cleaning surfaces. Academic research on analogical thinking has been so far heavily influenced by general theoretical work from cognitive psychology or systematic inventing. Only a small number of studies have investigated the application of analogies in the specific context of breakthrough innovation projects. This paper focuses on the question how analogies can be systematically used in the early innovation phases of new product development and which factors influence the successful use of analogical thinking in innovating companies. Special attention is paid to organizational facilitators and the requests on people involved in this process. --

The "fuzzy front end" of innovation

The fast transformation of technologies into new products or processes is one of the core challenges for any technology-based enterprise. Within the innovation process, we believe, the early phases (fuzzy front end) to have the highest impact on the whole process and the result (Input-Output Process), since it will influence the design and total costs of the innovation extremely. However the Fuzzy Front End is unfortunately the least-well structured part of the innovation process, both in theory and in practice. The focus of the present chapter is on methods and tools to manage the fuzzy front end of the innovation process. Firstly, the activities, characteristics, and challenges of the front end are described. Secondly, a framework of the application fields for different methods and tools is presented: Since a product upgrade requires a different approach compared to radical innovation, where the market is unknown and a new technology is applied, we believe such a framework to be useful for practitioners. Thirdly, a selection of methods and tools that can be applied to the fuzzy front end are presented and allocated within the framework. The methods selected here address process improvements, concept generation, and concept testing. --fuzzy front end,innovation management,stage-gate process,frontloading,triz,dsm-matrix,lead user

Exploring over the Presumed Identity of Emerging Technology

While scientists are stepping up their efforts to develop new technologies, the ability of firms to determine the value of their technologies by identifying potential applications has become a major challenge. This article focuses on a particular phase of technology development: the emergence phase. When a promising new technology first sees the light of day in a fundamental research laboratory, its target markets often seem plentiful but are ill-defined. The inability to produce prototypes or to identify potential users makes it difficult to explore potential commercial applications. On the basis of four micro-nanotechnologies case-studies conducted within a multi-partner innovation project, this article aims to theoretically explain why the identification of applications from emerging technologies is not a trivial problem. That research analyses how technologists and non-experts interact during creative investigations on new applications. It shows that the technologists are victims of a form of cognitive fixation effect. Indeed, their beliefs and activities are guided by a stable cognitive representation of their technology: the presumed identity of technology. Based on a recent design framework, C-K Design Theory, the technological exploration process followed in our four case-studies is modeled and mechanisms to dismantle the presumed identity and to design an extended identity of technology are provided.management of emerging technology; technological exploration; identity of technology; C-K Design Theory, presumed identity; technology-push; technological innovation

How to transfer discontinuous technology into radical innovation: Some evidence from three nanotech cases

In this paper the focus is on the strategy formulation processes, specifically supportive methods and structures, which address various managerial issues concerning discontinuous technologies and radical innovation in the early phase of strategic decision-making. In three in-depth case studies how companies proceeded with discontinuous technology and radical innovation ideas in strategy formulation was investigated ex-post. Based on literature and the analysis from the cases nine propositions are suggested for the design of an idealized strategy formulation process model for the simultaneous and differentiated strategic management of radical innovation and incremental innovation. The propositions are transformed into a visualized process model showing the interaction and arrangement of the latter. --discontinuous technology,radical innovation,strategic planning

Massidea.org : Defining a Digital Business Ecosystem (DBE) for Massinnovation

This study is introducing Massidea.org from Digital Business Ecosystem (DBE) point of view. Massidea.org is an open innovation community for sharing challenges, ideas and visions. It boosts individual and communal creativity by intelligently connecting people and their insights. In Massidea.org, public, private and educational sector organizations and nations can collaborate with the wide range of people. Technologically Massidea.org is grounded on open source solution. Digital Business Ecosystem is divided into two main partitions: 1) digital (ecosystem): the technical infrastructure and 2) business (ecosystem): “An economic community supported by a foundation of interacting organizations and individuals—the ‘organisms of the business world’. Therefore our Massidea.org definition will include both of these approaches. The data collection for this case study was carried out in Finland, which is one of the most competitive countries in the world

Technology Application Selection – the TAS Framework : Finding promising applications for new and emerging technologies

Technologische Innovation ist seit jeher ein wichtiger Faktor für den wirtschaftlichen Erfolg. Es gibt verschiedene Möglichkeiten, technologische Innovationen zu erforschen, wobei diese meist aus der Forschung hervorgehen. Aufgrund der Komplexität und der damit einhergehenden Ungewissheit ihrer erfolgreichen Kommerzialisierung und der langen Dauer ihrer Forschung und Entwicklung bleiben die technologischen Möglichkeiten meist ungenutzt. Eine der größten Herausforderungen der technologischen Innovation ist die Identifizierung von Anwendungsbereichen für die jeweiligen Technologien. Um diese Herausforderung zu bewältigen, haben sich verschiedene Forschungsarbeiten damit befasst und konzeptionelle und praktische Rahmen für einen geführten Prozess der Anwendungsidentifizierung entwickelt. Dennoch fehlt es an einer detaillierten Anleitung für die Identifizierung von Technologieanwendungen. Hier kommt das TAS - das Technology Application Selection Framework - ins Spiel, das in diesem Beitrag vorgestellt wird

A Review of Cloud-Based ERP Systems in SMEs

The adoption of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) could offer significant benefits in terms of managing the resources and support business function. However, the traditional ERP systems are quite expensive and have complex procedures for the adoption especially for SMEs. With the introduction of cloud-based ERP systems that have similar functionalities with traditional ERP, SMEs are now able to adopt this system. However, the adoption of cloud ERP remains low and question arise on how to encourage SMEs to adopt this system. Drawing from management and Information Systems literature, this study proposes and conceptual framework for cloud ERP adoption among SMEs. Using archival analysis approach and technology-push and demand-pull as the theoretical background, this research has come out with six main themes namely:  firm qualities, internal pressure, external pressure, technology features, organizational readiness and external support. This paper will give significant benefits to ERP vendors to understand their potential buyer’s behaviour towards the adoption of cloud ERP

The Marketplace Variables in Successful and Unsuccessful NPD Projects in Technology Intensive Companies

We present an exploratory investigation of how managers conceptualize and perceive ‘marketplace’ variables in successful and unsuccessful New Product Development (NPD) projects, and explore the role that marketplace variables play in differentiating between successful and unsuccessful NPD outcomes. Limitations and future research directions are also discussed.Our findings indicate that managers perceive the marketplace in multiple ways during the NPD process and also that differences exist in metric equivalence across successful and unsuccessful NPD projects. Also, although half of the marketplace variables are positively related to NPD success, managers in Finnish technology companies appear to attach higher relative importance to market attractiveness rather than market competitiveness variables. Marketplace variables appear to be less important than in the Korean and Chinese samples, and much more important than  in the Canadian sample in the Mishra et all study (1996), and similarly much more important than in the Cooper study (1979b)