A Technological Development Model for Strategy Formation

Summary form only given, as follows. The author presents a technological development model for product and company development based on a distinction between explicit and implicit technologies. Implicit technologies are evolving technologies while explicit technologies are established technologies. Based on empirical data from Swedish companies, a number of strategic dimensions are discussed such as network interaction and combining knowledge from various sources. These concepts are then used to present an integrated model of strategy formation and product and company development. It is argued that this view of technological development facilitates the understanding and analysis of innovation and entrepreneurship in highly changing and changeable technological and market environments. In these situations traditional management models based on predictability and planning are not sufficient if one is to understand how radical technological breakthroughs take place and be able to create favorable conditions for their occurrenc

On-Line Team Project Communication Tool Set

Team projects offer a valuable mechanism for effective learning. However, communication within the team, with the instructor and between different teams is a challenging task that can greatly limit the effectiveness of the learning experience. Some of the tools and concepts that are being developed for distance learning applications can be used to enhance team project communication within teams that are geographically separated as well as for in-campus teams. This article documents a set of on-line tools that allow for asynchronous team participation and timely monitoring and feedback by the instructor

Analysis of Intangible Factors in Waste Minimization Projects

Continual population growth and rising standards of living that accelerate the consumption of limited resources, are forcing society to encourage conservation of these resources. These resources not only include raw material, but also the areas to dispose of the wastes. As a result, communities are driving industries towards waste minimization by limiting waste generation and landfill availability. Firms\u27\u27 environmentally friendly strategies can gain competitive advantage by leading in environmental practices. This advantage emanates from the reduction of risk of environmental regulatory overreaction, as well as improved asset utilization and landfill utilization. However, these intangible benefits are difficult to identify and evaluate particularly with tools that were developed when intangibles were less critical. Many firms simply institute policies that force the tactical decision-makers to make environmentally friendly decisions. However, these policies can commit the firm to act in ways that are not in their best interest, since actions that absorb too many of the firm\u27\u27s resources without sufficient beneficial impact, can generate competitive disadvantages. This paper surveys the available analytical tools that are available to support effective decision-making dealing with intangible costs and benefits. It provides ways to identify some of the intangible benefits and address the value they generate. This paper looks at a case study, where there was an opportunity to reuse a large volume of oven bricks, showing how two companies addressed this opportunit

Strategy Planning for Technological Discontinuities in a Changing Regulatory Environment

This paper describes an approach to the analysis of publicly available financial data for individual industries. These methods enable the analyst to assess past practices and the historical rate of technological diffusion during the transition period of discontinuous technological change. This assessment can provide a basis of comparison for current changes in their industry. These methods are applied to small rural telephone companies during the period of 1960 to 1996. Annual data is presented detailing the change from aerial distribution cable to buried cable by the roughly 600 rural telephone companies financed through loans from the Rural Utilities Services, a branch of the US Department of Agriculture. This change took place at a time when these companies were regulated public utilities. As such they were guaranteed profit and were not subject to competition. With the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and the expectation of nationwide competition in telecommunications services, these firms will be faced with a much more volatile environment, in which firms can fail. Measuring past events through this approach can accentuate critical business practices. This analysis of longitudinal data can provide the rural telephone companies assessment of the change in technology diffusion based on the new competitive forces, and provide direction to management as it attempts to sail in this new uncharted territor

Managing Cultural Differences for Engineers

Understanding cultural issues, developing cross-cultural communication skills and recognizing the need to effectively apply these skills in the global arena are becoming critical success factors for an increasing number of engineers. To address these needs, an engineering management class has been developed at the University of Missouri-Rolla, USA, that uses a team project approach as the major method to achieve the learning objectives. The student teams develop training manuals for dealing with engineers from specific international cultures, based on the material learned in class as well as personal interactions with individuals of the specific ethnic background. An application of this class design is described

Financial Viability of Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Bridges

The application of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) technology to bridges can provide performance enhancements at a time when there is a large and growing need to replace aging bridges in the United States. However, construction costs are significantly higher than with traditional methods, and it is not clear if this technology can become competitive in the standard short-span bridge market. This study investigates current and future costs to determine how cost competitive this technology is likely to become, taking into account the expected improvements in manufacturing, transport, and installation, as well as life-cycle differences. Based on two demonstration FRP bridges and the learning curve approach, the results show that anticipated improvements would not be sufficient to compete on cost with reinforced-concrete bridges. Unless significant improvement also occurs in the cost of component material, this technology will not be cost competitive for the standard short-span bridge, and the application of FRP technology will be limited to other segments of the market, such as bridge deck construction and bridge repair