David Probert

Technology roadmapping—A planning framework for evolution and revolution

Abstract Technology roadmapping is a flexible technique that is widely used within industry to support strategic and long-range planning. The approach provides a structured (and often graphical) means for exploring and communicating the relationships between evolving and developing markets, products and technologies over time. It is proposed that the roadmapping technique can help companies survive in turbulent environments by providing a focus for scanning the environment and a means of tracking the performance of individual, including potentially disruptive, technologies. Technology roadmaps are deceptively simple in terms of format, but their development poses significant challenges. In particular the scope is generally broad, covering a number of complex conceptual and human interactions. This paper provides an overview of the origins of technology roadmapping, by means of a brief review of the technology and knowledge management foundations of the technique in the context of the fields of technology strategy and technology transitions. The rapidly increasing literature on roadmapping itself is presented in terms of a taxonomy for classifying roadmaps, in terms of both organizational purpose and graphical format. This illustrates the flexibility of the approach but highlights a key gap—a robust process for technology roadmapping. A fast-start method for technology roadmapping developed by the authors is introduced and described. Developed in collaboration with industry, this method provides a means for improved understanding of the architecture of roadmaps and for rapidly initiating roadmapping in a variety of organizational contexts. This paper considers the use of the roadmaps from two main perspectives. The first is a company perspective: roadmaps that allow technology developments to be integrated with business planning, and the impact of new technologies and market developments to be assessed. The second perspective is multiorganizational: roadmaps that seek to capture the environmental landscape, threats and opportunities for a particular group of stakeholders in a technology or application area. Two short illustrative cases show the fast-start method in use in the context of disruptive technological trends from these two perspectives.

Developing a framework for make‐or‐buy decisions

The make‐or‐buy question represents a fundamental dilemma faced by many companies. Companies have finite resources and cannot always afford to have all manufacturing technologies in‐house. This has resulted in an increasing awareness of the importance of make‐or‐buy decisions. This paper reports on the development of a make‐or‐buy framework to address the make‐or‐buy decision for either a specific individual part or family of parts. Firstly, a literature review of the principal make‐or‐buy approaches is discussed. Secondly, the development of a make‐or‐buy framework is described and the framework is explained and illustrated using case studies. Thirdly, the operationalisation of the framework is outlined. The paper concludes with a discussion of its contribution to both the academic understanding of the subject, and the improvement of industrial practice.

Morphology analysis for technology roadmapping: application of text mining

The practice of technology roadmapping (TRM) has received much attention from researchers and practitioners, to support planning and forecasting in companies and sectors. However, little research has focused on the support of well-organized information for more effective roadmapping and the presentation of in-depth configurations of new products or technology. This paper proposes a roadmapping methodology to assist decision-making by applying a systematic approach based on quantitative data. To this end, key information is extracted from documents such as product manuals and patent documents by text mining, which is then used to identify the morphology of existing products and technology. Morphology analysis (MA) also plays a crucial role in deriving promising opportunities for new development of product or technology by matching product and technology morphology. Therefore, MA-based TRM can enable the effective exploitation of large quantities of significant information that might otherwise be left untapped, supporting innovation by generating a comprehensive set of detailed product and technology configurations. The proposed MA-based TRM approach can be applied to both incremental and radical innovation, supporting both market pull and technology push. The method is illustrated with a detailed example for mobile phones to demonstrate its practical application.

Developing a technology roadmapping system

Technology roadmapping is becoming an increasingly important and widespread approach for aligning technology with organizational goals. The popularity of roadmapping is due mainly to the communication and networking benefits that arise from the development and dissemination of roadmaps, particularly in terms of building common understanding across internal and external organizational boundaries. From its origins in Motorola and Corning more than 25 years ago, where it was used to link product and technology plans, the approach has been adapted for many different purposes in a wide variety of sectors and at all levels, from small enterprises to national foresight programs. Building on previous papers presented at PICMET, concerning the rapid initiation of the technique, and how to customize the approach, this paper highlights the evolution and continuing growth of the method and its application to general strategic planning. The issues associated with extending the roadmapping method to form a central element of an integrated strategic planning process are considered.

Starting-up roadmapping fast

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Strategic Roadmapping: A Workshop-based Approach for Identifying and Exploring Strategic Issues and Opportunities

Abstract: Roadmapping has become one of the most widely used approaches for supporting innovation and strategy, at both firm and sector levels. A key benefit is the communication associated with the development and dissemination of roadmaps, particularly for aligning technology and commercial perspectives. This article presents a workshop-based method for supporting the identification and exploration of strategic issues and opportunities, as part of a “fast-start” approach for the rapid initiation of roadmapping. The approach has been tested in 28 applications, covering a broad range of organizational contexts. Details of the workshop approach and facilitation techniques are described.

Make vs. buy decisions: A process incorporating multi-attribute decision-making

Abstract The need for companies to develop consistent and competitive manufacturing strategies is now well established. A fundamental question in the development of a manufacturing strategy is the determination of what the company will make and what it will buy, i.e. the make vs. buy (MvB) decision. Historically, such decisions were often made primarily on grounds of cost, however, in recent years there has been an increasing recognition of the strategic implications of these decisions and the need to take into account a wide range of factors other than cost. This paper describes the results of an ongoing study to investigate the factors affecting the making of MvB decisions and the creation of a process to guide industrial companies through making such decisions. The process is based on operationalising a framework which addresses technology and manufacturing processes, supply chain management and logistics, support systems, and costs. Companies following the process are taken through a structured sequence involving identification of triggers for the MvB decision, and the comparison of in-house and external sourcing judged against the areas above. Multi-attribute decision-making is used to provide an overall MvB recommendation. The paper describes the MvB process, its application in an industrial case and concludes with a discussion of its contribution to both academic understanding of the subject, and improvement of industrial practice.

Tools for technology management: an academic perspective

The value of management tools is occasionally brought into question. They are sometimes seen as some form of crutch which managers deploy instead of thinking creatively. This paper attempts to clarify the nature of management tools and argues a case for their appropriate use. The paper distinguishes between tools and company procedures or systems and explores some new categorisations. Focusing specifically on technology management tools, the paper looks at where different tools have come from, and provides examples from industry, government and consultancy companies. The role academics can play in their development is explored, with the paper arguing that they are in a rare position to impartially scrutinise and evaluate existing tools as well as contribute to the development of new tools to solve unusual and complex problems.

Frontier experiences from industry-academia consortia

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Technology management process assessment: a case study

The effective management of technology as a source of competitive advantage is of vital importance for many organisations. It is necessary to understand, communicate and integrate technology strategy with marketing, financial, operations and human resource strategies. This is of particular importance when one considers the increasing cost, pace and complexity of technology developments, combined with shortening product life cycles. A five‐process model provides a framework within which technology management activities can be understood: identification, selection, acquisition, exploitation and protection. Based on this model, a technology management assessment procedure has been developed, using an “action research” approach. This paper presents an industrial case study describing the first full application of the procedure within a high‐volume manufacturing business. The impact of applying the procedure is assessed in terms of benefits to the participating business, together with improvements to the assessment procedure itself, in the context of the action research framework.