where it is most needed
selection and implementation, identifying the business priorities
and ensuring senior management buy-in at an early stage.
The strategy may recommend acquisition, a new supply chain or new skills.
game-changing innovation
where the impact on the business can be managed.
The Pentathlon Framework can be used to describe a structured process
that removes the risk of failure as ideas progress through the 'Innovation Funnel'.
2 > Ideas Generation
to problems and challenges.
prioritisation of ideas
of ideas when incomplete information is available
of ideas to market
to move ideas from conception, through implementation
to market in an environment of high uncertainty.
5 > People & organisations
tension between taking risks and minimising
failure as products and services near market.
Technology strategy is essential in a competitive market
A technology strategy – that is aligned with the corporate mission – can help focus R&D on doing the right things for growth. It can supports the R&D manager to: –
- Make difficult decisions such as how to restructure the department or manage the product portfolio.
- Objectively identify the right technology opportunities and defend from possible technology disrupters.
The different facets involved in creating a technology strategy are covered in our theme.
A strong technology platform provides a competitive advantage for a organisation.
Steve Bone of nu Angle describes how a technology strategy runs in parallel to the business plan in this short video. He uses the example of biofilm management to show how although each business unit might have its own market challenges managing the technology across the whole business can provide economies of scale.
He says: “First, you need to decide what part of the technology you are really good at and to gain an objective view as to whether your lead is sustainable, because you don’t want to risk your core business by spreading your resources too thinly.
“One method of reducing risk is to manage the technology horizontally across the organisation so that all the business units benefit from the investment. This has been described as a ‘technology skewer’ – an approach to technology management that can support growth.”
He explains more in the video
If you are having difficulties watching the video above you can view it on YouTube here.
Articles Relating to Strategy
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Cognitive bias, where a decision-maker actively seeks out and assigns more weight to evidence that confirms their hypothesis, can disrupt the technology strategy which needs to be objective.
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What makes a disruptive technology successful? According to Hardman et al, the winning characteristics include being disruptive to market leaders, end users and infrastructure. Their analysis proves useful to both potential disrupters and the incumbent.
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With increased market competition and social pressure, energy companies have had to adapt, generating innovative ideas themselves and dealing with new technologies that may threaten their position. But how can you predict how disruptive a new technology will be?...
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What do you think about roadmapping?
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