Management of Technological Change : the Great Challenge of Management to the Future

Technological change has been recognized as the major contributor to economic growth and has become one of the most important challenges to policy makers and managers. Many excellent books and papers have been written on the subject. Most of these deal with the macro or micro economic impact of technological change or the technological change process from invention and discovery to innovation, development, and final maturity as well as ultimate obsolescence of technology. This book is designed to present technological change as a decision process and explain the use of recently developed methods for the effective management of technological change. In particular, techniques for the effective choice among technological alternatives, timing of the introduction of new technology both in terms of its own status and that of the technology to be replaced if any, and the rate and method of introduction of new technology are presented. Management of technology is a complex decision process which is affected by both internal and external factors. The purpose of this book is to instruct the reader in effective technology deciSion making which involves the evaluation of the status of technology in use if any, the problem to be solved or output to be obtained, determination of environmental and internal constraints, and the competitive environment or market conditions which affect the technology decisions. Front Matter....Pages i-xviii Introduction....Pages 1-20 Research in the Management of Technological Change....Pages 21-29 Economics of Production and Technological Change....Pages 30-47 Productivity and Technological Change....Pages 48-68 Modes of Technological Change....Pages 69-85 Sources of New Technology....Pages 86-117 Technology Pricing and Economic Evaluation....Pages 118-137 Technological Forecasting....Pages 138-164 Product, Process, and Service Innovation Cycles....Pages 165-178 Decision Theory and Hierarchial Processes....Pages 179-223 The Economic Impact of Technological Change....Pages 224-248 Environmental Impact and Future Role of Technological Change....Pages 249-261 Strategic Management of Technological Change....Pages 262-264 Back Matter....Pages 265-268