Introduction to Technology

Problems faced by developing countries in Innovation and Technology Environment:

Problematic, Poor business model, political instability and governance, low education level,
lack of world class research facilities, underdeveloped infrastructure, lack of trained human
resources.
Technology Meaning and Definition:
Practical application of scientific or engineering knowledge to the development of application
of product or processes or operations.
Importance:
To achieve success in business and sustain competitive position
Promote culture of innovation for long term sustainability
Achieve:
Product or service differentiation, reduce costs, new business opportunities.
Evolution of Technology:
1. Tool : Tools provide mechanical advantage in accomplishing a physical task. Must be
powered by human or animal effort
2. Machine: A tool that substitutes the element of human or animal effort. Only requires
controlling function.
3. Automation: Removes the element of human control with an automatic algorithm.
Components of Technology:
Hardware: Physical structure and logical layout.
Software: Knowledge of how to use hardware
Brainware: Reason for using technology in a
particular way.

Know-how: learned or acquired

knowledge on how to do things well.

Features of Technology:
Change: forces to change, wide spread effects: ripples through the society until it reaches
everyone, Self reinforcing: Technology feeds on itself-One invention leads to other, Complex:
complex ideas, methods and processes, Immoral:
Classification of Technology:
New Technology: ,
Emerging Technology: not fully commercialized-in next 5 years it will be,
High Technology: Advanced or sophisticated-highly educated people-high r&d,
Low Technology: low level skills, manual or semi automatic operations, low r&d,
Medium Technology:
Appropriate Technology: A good match between technology utilized and resources required.
Codified Technology: Available in coded form.
Tacit Technology: No articulated knowledge, based on experience, remains within the minds of
the developers.
Characteristics of Technology:
Opportunity: Opportunity for improvement, Appropriability: Due to economic motives,
Transferability: Not smooth-knowledge is sticky, Resources: consumes resources-moneypeople-time.
Significance of Technology:
Provides Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA): valuable, rare, hard to copy.
Increases Productivity: dramatic cost reduction
Creates profit:
Protects from Obsolescense:
Achieves Business Market Fit:
Enhances Motivation and Potential of Employees.
Engine of Economic Growth

Improves quality of life

Competitive Technology strategic option

Highest Corporate level
Multi Industrial business
(Tata Group, TVS Group etc)
Single Industry-business

Functions of the Firm (Department)

Corporate Strategy addresses:

Choosing industries, balance between
different industries
Competitive Strategy
How to entry or exit from the business.
Building a framework for a firm to derive
goals, policies
Functional Strategy
Must support, reinforce, contribute to the
competitive strategy.

Commercialization Strategy:
Refers to the series of financing options that a company entertains to move a
technology/product from concept to market place.
Licencing: Selling right to use to others
Strategic Alliance: Soul searching
Equity Investment in parent company
Equity Investment in a spin off
Initial public offering (IPO): A company which takes this route will never be same.
Types of Commercialization:
Commercialization : A process of bringing a new product into potential market
Technology Enabled Commercialization: driven by revolutionary scientific or technical
discovery. Rare occurance. Produce extremely large and rapid business growth. Makes
products obsolete.
Production or design-driven commercialization: driven by competition. Objective is to make
the product work better.
Market-driven commercialization: Driven by customer choice.
Commercialization process:
Eight Steps: 1. Research Observation and experiment, Disclosing the Invention to OTC,
Market Assessment , Patenting and other legal actions ( trade mark and copyright) ,
Prospecting, Negotiation (signing a non-disclosure agreement) , Deal, After the deal.
Technology opportunities:
Military, Medical, Manufacturing, Entertainment, Sports, Textiles, Food Services, Engineering.
Jobs: System Engineer, Computer Engineer, Cyber Threat Analyst, Business Analyst, Chief
Information officer.
Technology scaleup:
Increase the uptake among new users. Mainstream dissemination. Ecological phenomenon.
Successful Scale up process: Innovation, team creating opportunities for diffusion, user
organization adaptation, implementing innovation, environment.
Failure in Scale up process: innovation design, preferences of potential users, environment
(social, political and economical), methods of dissemination.
AIDED model of Scale up:
A-ASSESS
I-INNOVATE
D-DEVELOP
E-ENGAGE
D-DEVOLVE
Assess: Assess the need or demand of the user group.
Innovate : repackage or develop the existing invention to meet the need and demand of the
user group.
Develop: Address the environmental factors that will best support increased use of innovation.

Engage: Incorporation of new technology into user group. Steps: Introducing, translating,
integrating innovation.
Devolve: Innovation is passed to more user group through social network.
Reasons for Technology transfer decision making:
Profit from selling technology, location and logistics advantage reduce transportation cost,
competitive edge, grants and subsidies-transfer to developing nation, Limitation of home
country, Superior capital market, enhance competence.

Factors for choosing a particular of Technology:

Customer Preference, product competitiveness and market potential, speed of introduction of
new products and process, availability of technology for import in strategic areas.
Technology transfer categories:
Horizontal transfer: One firm to another. Firms located in different countries.
Vertical transfer: Transfer of technology from an R&D to the firm.
Technology transfer categories based on boundaries:
International Technology Transfer across national boundaries
Regional Technology transfer From one region of a country to another region.
Cross-Industry or cross-sector technology transfer: From one industrial sector (space program)
to another (Commercial sector)
Inter-firm transfer : From one firm to another firm
Intra-firm transfer: With a firm, from one region to another.
Technology Negotiation and Diffusion
Technology Outsourcing Socio, Political, Legal and Cultural Consideration
Social:
Enhances Motivation and Potential of Employees
Protects from Obsolescense
Economic:
Change in competition
Change in Asset Valuation (Intellectual property has more value)
Change in Focus for Nation Competitiveness
Political - Trade Blocks
Legal Patents , Intellectual Property
Cultural Knowledge management
Cognitive Knowledge Know-What
Advanced Skill Know-how
System Understanding Know-why
Self-Motivated creativity care-wy
Technology Diffusion:
The process of closing the gap between what people do know and what they can effectively
put put to use.
It is integral part of innovation strategy and it is not a discrete activity.
Hard Technologies, Soft Technologies
More complex and iterative process. Multiple ways and significant variation.
Active Governmental role in fundamental research:
Market Failure (A private firm will not invest), Public Good, Strategic interest.
Models of Technology Difussion:
Stock Model, Order Model (Early adoptors gain more)
Technology Transfer Modes:
Passive Mode Published literature, Self teaching manuals
Semi-Actice Mode - Screens available pertinent information.

Active Mode Technology agent will be fully involved.

Types of Technology up-gradation:
A technology up-gradation is the implementation of a new or significantly improved
production or delivery method.
Radical Improvement, Continuous Improvement.
Technology up-gradation techniques:
5W2H What, Why, Where, When, Who, How, How Much.
Work Simplification, Kaizen Method, Hoshin Kanri, Performance Improvement, Theory of
Constraints, Stretch Goal (Six Sigma)
Adoptation of New Technology:
Innovators, Early Adaoptors, Early Majority, Late Majority, Laggards.
Framework for Inward Technology Transfer:
Awareness, Association, Assimilation, Application.
Technology Transfer Services
Technoogy Transfer : A process for conceiving a new application for a existing technology. Flow
of technology from soruce to received. A Structural learning process
Technology transfer process:
Sellers Capability and Motivations, Buyer, Technology gap, Technology package,
Bridging Agencies, Operational Environment, Mechanism of Transfer, Mode of Transfer,
Price.
Levels of Technology Transfer
Mechanism of Technology Transfer
Non-Commercial Means Books Journals etc
International Commercial Transactions - FDI, licencing, management contracts ech
Levels of Transfter
Operational Level, Duplicate Level, Adaptive Level, Innovative Level.
Functons of Technology Transfer:
Co-ordinate, nurture, link.
Method of Technology Transfer:
General Channels
Reverse Engineering Channels
Planned Channels
FDI, Licencing, etch.
Commercialising Innovation:
Process of bringing out the invention or innovation done in the laboratory to outside world
inorder to grab the profits out of it.
Technology Transfer Offices and Material Transfer Agreement
Technology Transfer Offices:
A complex undertaking that draws on varied set of technical, managerial and business skills
that are not commonly found within the research institutions.
Databanks A storehouse of information, Periodicals, Web-based services.
Technology Partnering
In-House Development, Sponsored development, Joint Development, collaborative
development (Agile), partnership.
Intellectual Property Right (IPR)
Patent:

A patent is a grant of property rights by the government to an inventor. Patents are exclusive
property rights that can be sold, transferred, willed etc much like other valuble asset.
Patentable Subjects:
Process (Unique method), Machine (Phyiscal Item), Manufacture (Fabricated through new
combination of materials or technical applications), Composition of Matters.
Types of Patents:
Utility Patent (Granted for new product, process and machine), Design Patents (Artistic design,
For appearance of an article and not the article itself), Plant Patern (New Plant), Product
patent (for the whole product), Process patent (Process alone and not for the product)
Issues related to property right:
Incrementally modified drugs (Ever greening by changing molecule slightly), Hike in price,
Effectiveness of compulsory licence, Litigation (Infringement using without permission),
Royalty audits (25%, Industry norms, Return on R&D costs, Return on Sales)
Auction Bidding Strategy (Demand, Sale Price, salvage value), Bid Shading (To win bid at a
lower price), Rafter Bidding(To create false demand).
Strategy Implementation:
Differentiation, Integration,
Technology valuation methods: Cost based approach, Price-based approach
Market Feasibility Study:
Covering Letter, Table of Content, Overview, Desciption of existings system (Current
Deficiencies), System Requirement, Description of Proposed System, Development Plan,
Technical Feasiblity Findings, Cost and benefits, Operational Feasiblity findings, Alternatives
considered / rejected, Recommendations and conclusions, appendixes
Technology Investment
Contract Negotiation:
Tro or more persons, for a prospective partnership agreement.
Role and Objectives:
Mutually Satisfaction Structure, Executed Agreement (From draft of the contract document to
final contract document, terms and conditions), Long term releationship.
Negotiation Process:
Planning Stage
Develop Key Information: Key range of issues to be gathered and assessed before
negotiation. Financial aspect, technical and economical aspect.
Key Objectives: Determine the objectives for concluding a deal. Clear about the nature
and scope of the contractual relationship. Well-conceived and adequately supported
gaols moves ahead in an orderly manner.
Information about other party, Objectives of other party
Proposal Analysis: Technical group to analyse it. List all the questions. Welcome
questions and request for informations. Objtain information from independent
resources.
Preliminary structure of relationship: Technical services, engineering services,
management services agreement.
Negotiating Team:
Composition of Negotiating Team: Chief negotiator, a technical expert, a financial
expert and a legal expert. Complex deal: Engineering, Manufacturing and marketing
personnel.
A simple patent may require one person from each party.
Contact Drafts
A draft contract = a deal focused conract. A draft contract is dispatched to the
prospective providers as tender document.

Point at which they enter the process:

If licence is already available Simple.
If there is not existing licence, Present the technology to prospective licensee, explain
field of use, payments/royalties.
Preparing the first draft:
Organiszational Aspect of negotiations:
Physical Arrangements, Meeting length and frequency, Informal meetings, Language
difference, Premature publicity.
Conduct Negotiations:
Adversarial Approach: Each side fiercely defends its position. Judicial system.
Principled Negotiation: Negotiators are problem solvers with a goal of reaching a wise
agreement efficiently and amicably.
People : Separate people from problem
Interests: Focus on interests, not positions
Options: Generate a variety of possibilities before deciding what to do.
Criteria: Insist that the result be based on some objective standards.
Negotiation Techniques:
Defer difficult issues / create a momentum of agreement.
Take up general propositions before specific ones.
Use committees to resolve difficult issues.
Keep score of concessions/quid pro quos/Proposed Package deals: quid pro one
concession for another.
Use the two way street agreement: the withdrawal route
Apply the most favoured nations solution: Favoured nation provision and apply it to
terms and conditions.
Spread the concessions out
Structure the negotiations
Negotiation Tactics:
Bad Guy/Good Guy, Divide and conquer, Trial Balloon (Arguments that are intended
seriously), Red Herring(Not relevant issues to be argued), Straw man(weak proposal
which can be destroyed easily), Threatening walkout, Last minute demand.
Technology Investment Practices:
Classification:
Bread and Butter High tech success, low commercial success
Oysters Long shots, big pay-off
Pearls High technical and commercial success
White elephants shelved for later or discontinued.
Financial Assistance - Short Term Credit:
Trade Credit Offered by suppliers
Commerical Paper short term finance to only large firms with sound financial position
Commerical bank
Financial Assistance Long Term Credit:
Retained earlings /ploughing back of profits
Share capitals, Optional Fund, Angle Investments,Loans, Venture Capital, Debts, Grants,
incentives