TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT

BBA (601)
ASSIGNMENT
WINTER 2016-2017

NAME – Saurabh bhalla

ROLL NO - 1405009510

Q1. Explain the concept of technology forecasting? Write a brief note

on different methods of technology forecasting.
Ans: The concept of technology forecasting

Technology forecasting is the seeking of or anticipation of technological

innovation. It is the process of predicting the future characteristics and
timing of technology. In the time of rapid technological changes, business
plan must be based on a sound forecast of future technology.

It is a chief goal of technological forecasting to understand and anticipate

the technological innovations and their characteristics. However,
technological forecast cannot be expected to foretell how innovation will
happen or what will be its rate of profitability.

The different methods of technology forecasting

1. Delphi method –
 This method is the intuitive type of method and is subjective in nature.
Though statistical or model based forecasting techniques are preferred
over expert opinion techniques, they are some scenarios where intuitive
methods are found to be relevant.
 When historical data is not available – mostly in the case of new
technology forecasting where expert opinion is the only possible
source of forecasting.

 In the situations where the impact of factors which were previously

considered to be relevant have lost their strength.

 In those instances where ethical issues are more important than

technical and economical issues.
Delphi is a program, sequential questionnaire approach. Instead of an
individual, a group of individuals make a forecast. The group prepares a
forecast with certain characteristics.

Q2. What is technology acquisition? Explain the two methods of technology

acquisition.

Ans: Technology acquisition with an example

Technology acquisition is the process by which a company acquires the

right to use an utilize a technology for the purpose of improving or
renewing processes, products of services. It does not include retailed or
mass market off-the-shelf software which is generally governed by non-
negotiable ‘shrink wrapped’ licenses.

Technology acquisition is a huge area and the productivity improvement

budget targets a specific part of the technology acquisition process.
Companies applying for funding for technology of acquisition they wish to
acquire. The funding company will also know the details of the license
 agreement between two companies and details of the costs involved as
part of the application.

The two methods of technology acquisition

Internal technology acquisition – is controlled by the organization itself. It

requires the existence of a technological facility in the organization. This
facility could vary from one expert that understands the technological
application effectively to manage a project conducted by an outside
research and development (R&D) team, to a full-fledged R&D department.

External technology acquisition – is the process of procuring technology

developed by others for use in the organization. External technology
acquisition generally has the benefit of decreased cost and time to carry
out, and fewer risks. Thus, outside acquisition normally must comprise an
aspect of adaption to the acquiring organizations must understand that this
adds extra costs, time, and risks to the project.

External acquisition can take the form of licensing, buying equipment with
embedded technology, investment in a collaboration which has a
technology development function, or even the acquisition of an
organization that has the required technology.

Q3. List and describe the different characteristics of the various stages in life
cycle of technology.

Ans: Diagram
Explaining the stages

1. Cutting-edge – This stage represents the origin of a fresh product,

material or process resulting from R&D activities. In R&D laboratories, new
ideas are generated depending on gaining needs and knowledge factors.
Depending on the resources allocation and also the change element, the
time taken in the innovation stage as well as in the subsequent stages
varies widely.

2. State-of-the-Art – In this stage, cutting-edge technology is employed to

fulfill a particular customer need. It is important to note that the customer
base for this kind of latest technology is small, but discerning. Therefore, it
is best to let only technical specialists handle the marketing of this
marketing of this kind of technology. Production processes are still far from
being standardized, so, it is easier for state-of-the-art technology to
respond to the wide-ranging market needs, even though in an ineffective
and inefficient manner.

3. Advance – Once the technological attributes are standardized, the

technology undergoes fast – paced market expansion. But gradually, the
less discerning customer also joins the broadening customer base. This
 customer wants the advantages of the newest technology but does not
want to develop his own technical expertise to appreciate the technology.
At, this stage, professional marketing of the technology becomes a many
players jump into the fray. It is during this stage only that the company
may automate some parts of its process, specify roles based on expertise,
or conversely, go through organizational restricting.

4. Mainstream/Mature – Once the technology comes to this stage, there is

little scope left for more product innovations and most firm concentration
only on improving existing product technology. However, eventually that
scope is also exhausted because the process is near-perfect by now. As a
result, product differentiation becomes almost impossible. By this time,
the organization has gone beyond non-standard, play-by-ear method of
operation and requires considerably standardized structure,
communications and systems.

5. Decline – In this stage, there is little or no scope for improving the

technology any further, Moreover, even the smallest improvement costs a
lot. Eventually the technology is replaced by a new generation technology.
The new technology will not wipe out the older technology immediately
and abruptly. The stages of the TLC are not so distinctly visible either and
seem to happen seamlessly and gradually rather than with abrupt
distinctions.

Q4. a. List the different qualitative technology transfer models

b. Explain the Schile, Radnor, and Wad model in detail

c. Draw process model for problem solver model

Ans: a. Listing five models

 The Bar-Zakay model – This model is based on a project management

approach, wherein the process of technology transfer is divided into
four stages:
o Search
 o Adapt
o Implement
o Maintain

This model specifies the activities to be carried out and also highlights the
importance of both transferor and transferee for undertaking
technological forecasting, long-range planning, and gathering of project-
related intelligence.

In this model, the term ‘donor’ is used, which refers to the transferor
and gives an impression that the owner of technology is giving away a
valuable asset out of selfless reasons.

 The Behrman and Wallender model – Behram and Wallender

introduced a process for international technological transfer which is
more applicable to multinational corporations. The only disadvantage of
this model is that, during the first three stages, the transferor develops
the technology transfer project where transferee is not involved much,
thereby indicating dependency

This emphasizes that the technology transfer does not end with the
startup of production and unless there is a mechanism to foster
sustainability, the project is considered a failure.

 The Dahlman and Westphal Model – Dahlman and Westphal introduced

a process on the basis of their experience of work carried out in the
Republic Korea. This model emphasizes the involvement of the
transferee at all the stages during planning and implementing process of
the technology transfer project.

The major disadvantages of this model are that it assumes that the
transferee has the access to high level engineering skills. This is not true
in many developing countries and may cause failure of the transfer. The
 model also does not pay enough attention to negotiation and post-
implementation stages.

 The Schile, Randnor, and Wad Model – This is simple, universal model
for technology transfer process. This model describes seven elements
which ensure the planning, and ultimately successful implementation of
any technology transfer project. The seven elements of this model are
suitable even in today’s business environment.

The way they suitable even in today’s business environment. The way
establish themselves can changes with respect to time. The only
disadvantage of this model is that it does not offer any guidelines to a
transferee on what they do.

 The Chantramonklasri model – This model may valid in technologically

developed countries, such as, India and China, but not in other smaller
developing countries.

b. Diagram
Q5. a. Explain the different steps of Environmental impact analysis(EIA)
process. What are the various issues in the preparation of EIA Report?

Ans: a. The different steps of EIA process

1. Examination of environmental resources – This is the first step

where fast examination of the basic environmental resources – land,
air, and water is done at a micro level at the site of the project.
Scanning is performed to evaluate the fragility and the degree of
exploitation of the resource base.

2. Separation of project zone – The second step is to separate the

project zone from the rest of the surrounding.

3. Description of environmental attributes – The third step is to

identify, assess, and define all the environmental attributes.
 4. Ranking of environmental resources – The fourth step is to rank
environmental resources as per their fragility, significance and
quality.

5. Review – The fifth step is to carry out review on every aspect of

effects of the proposed project on the identified individual
environmental resources available in the project zone.

6. Categorization – The sixth step is to categorize the effects in the

systematic order.

7. Remedial plans – The seventh step is to prepare remedial plans for

diminishing negative effects.

b. The eight issues of EIA report

 Determine the environmental impact – This is critical aspect; the

environmental impact and the changes in the environmental attributes
should be clearly distinguished. The determination of environmental
impact includes the impact on environmental attributes that have to be
found out. The impact on attributes has to be measured, and to so the
total impact on the environment the impacts on the attributes should be
aggregated.

 Identify the impact – There is an infinite number of attribute to be

evaluated. This is because any property of the environment is
considered to be an attribute. Hence, the number should be minimized
to get a finite manageable number. Therefore, redundant, duplicative,
though to measure, an unclear attributes can be discarded. This means
that a few attribute which are tough to measure can still be examined.
  Properties of the base – the type of impact is determined using the
conditions of the environment prior to the project. Assessing the
properties of the base in an important factor.

 Character of attribute – The impacts is the effects on the actual distinct

attributes of the environment. Nature does not respect human’s
discrete categories. The actual impact might be of changing severity on a
range of interrelated attributes.

 Amount of impact – All the impact should be converted into measurable

units. But it is quite difficult to define impacts in common units.

 Aggregation issue – The problem of how to aggregate all impacts arises

after measuring the project impacts on different individual attributes.
This includes depicting the different impact measures in common units,
which is tricky.

 Reporting results – The result should be shown in an easy and clear way
to understand the total impacts of an activity from a short review. It is
preferred to show the impacts on summary sheet in matrix form.

Q6. Briefly explain any four new technologies available in the present market.
What are the different aspects must be considered while implementing a new
technology.

Ans: The four new technologies

1. Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is gaining much focus among organization of all sizes.
There is a major shift in the way companies obtains software and
computing capacity, as more companies tap into web-based
applications. Cloud application services or ‘software as a service (SaaS)’
deliver software as a service over the internet, which entails the
 company to publish or put its software on the internet and allow
individuals and companies to ‘rent’ it through a subscription model.

2. RIFID
RIFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification and is type of auto ID
technology that uses radio waves to identify an object or person. It is
used to identify, monitor and manage individual objects as they move
between physical locations. RIFID is the generic name for technologies
that use radio waves for automatic item identification. RIFID as a
technology has received a lot of attention by researchers, academics
and major retailers like Metro, Tesco and Wal-Mart. RIFID has been
successfully applied to supply chain management, manufacturing and
logistics but there is still a lot of scope and potential for applying it even
more widely in real world environments.

3. Social Media
Social media is a team used to refer to online technologies and practices
that are used to share opinions and information, promote discussion
and build relationships. Social media has exploded as a category of
online discourse where people create content, share it, bookmark it and
network at an unnatural rate.

4. 4G Technology
The acronym for 4G is fourth Generation Communication Systems. It is a
new technology in wireless communication. The users are provided with
a comprehensive IP solution like data, voice and streamlined multidata.
Also, if we measure the data rates, they are superior to previous
generations.

Aspects considered while implementing new technologies

 Be aggressive – To be aggressive to set up a strong competitive edge is

important as it enhances production and system performance.
 Be cautions – If the new chosen technology provides revenue to your
business, then it is necessary to be careful while making any major
modifications in the new technology.

 Be prompt – It is important for you to be prompt to implement the

small changes to your chosen technology and to supervise their impact.

 Do not be hasty – If major changes may affect your business, it is vital to

make the implementation changes slowly.

 Be safe – Proper security at the time of design and development is

needed. It is better to employ a security expert who will take care of the
privacy of the organization.