Kirankumar S. Momaya

Technology management and competitiveness: is there any relationship?

Technology is an important enabler of competitiveness. The strategic management of technology can help organisations sustain their competitiveness. Despite such a vital linkage, only a few organisations in India seem to have been able to implement the technology strategies with remarkable success. An attempt has been made in our research to quantify this vital link between technology management and competitiveness. Criteria were identified and grouped to quantify technology management maturity and competitiveness for a select set of organisations in high-tech industries. The findings of the preliminary research are presented in this paper. The technology management performance was audited using a standard tool. Competitiveness is quantified on four important parameters covering productivity, growth, returns and market capitalisation. The results are quite predictable at times, but surprising in some firms. More research is needed to understand the best practices and diffuse them for sustainable development.

Developing a Conceptual Framework for Strategic Technology Management Using ISM and MICMAC Methodology

The Automotive Industry has been one of the sunrise industries in India and is poised to enhance its contribution from 5 per cent of GDP in 2006 to 10 per cent by 2016. With the liberalization and globalization process which started in 1991, the industry is in the process of transforming itself from being a ‘Job order fulfiller’ to being an ‘Integrated Organisation’. Most automobile and auto-component players in India have chosen the path of attempting to progress on operational/manufacturing capabilities. For advancing on technology capability dimension, they mostly relied on international collaborations. Without a holistic framework of Strategic Technology Management (STM), most of the collaboration has been of limited help and many players are progressing very slowly on technology capability. The key objective of this article is to review the situation related to STM in the industry and evolve a macro level conceptual framework for STM. For this purpose, we did extensive fieldwork and used the methodologies like Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) and MICMAC, as they help in identifying the linkages, hierarchies and levels of various enablers of STM and thus provide insights into the complex issue. Factors for STM were evolved from literature survey and expert opinion. A key contribution of the article is evolving a conceptual framework for STM in emerging economy context. The conceptual framework can act as a valuable guide for leaders of the automotive and other industries to think and decide about the future path they need to take to succeed in the emerging era.

Strategic technology management in the auto component industry in India

Purpose - The automobile industry in India is one of the sunrise industries and is poised to enhance its contribution from 5 percent of GDP in 2006 to 10 percent by 2016. The auto component industry in India has grown hand in hand with the industry and is in the process of transforming itself from being a “Job order fulfiller” to being an “Integrated organization”. With the liberalization process having started in 1991, most auto component manufacturers in India have chosen the easy path of attempting to progress on operational or manufacturing capabilities. For advancing on technology capability dimension, they mostly relied on international collaborations. The purpose of this paper is to study the strategic technology management (STM) practices in select case organizations in the auto component industry in India. Design/methodology/approach - The methodology employed for this study is a combination of literature survey, expert opinion, comparative case study and a flexible systems methodology, situation-actor-process-learning-action-performance analysis. Longitudinal studies of technology development at the two case organizations have been done and the case analysis and synthesis has been developed based on valuable inputs and insights shared by key personnel in the case organizations. Findings - The study finds that two different organizations have adopted different technology strategies. While both case organizations have strong linkage between business and technology strategy, the approach has been reasonably different for technology acquisition and development. The findings suggest that an effective STM can contribute to faster technology absorption and overall business performance. Organizations in India need to develop the in-house capabilities along with suitable technology acquisitions, wherever required. Originality/value - The two cases provide valuable insights into STM practices in two organizations and highlight the methodology adopted by the companies in their evolutions toward becoming world-class integrated organizations. The learning can provide the way forward for capable firms in the auto component industry in India.

Strategic Technology Management in Practice: Dynamic SAP-LAP Analysis of an Auto Component Manufacturing Firm in India

The key purpose of the paper is to examine reality of Strategic Technology Management (STM) in the Indian context. Despite considerable efforts at enhancing competitiveness through technology management, the scale-up remains low. Among several reasons, weak linkages between the technology strategy and business strategy leading to gaps in the technology capability and competitiveness seem to be the potential root causes. Leadership of firms should have deep understanding of strategic issues of technology management and they should have the drive to go beyond the first set of strategic alliances to enhance capabilities of STM across the journey. While there is considerable literature which emphasizes the importance of linking technology and strategy, reality of STM in Indian context is rarely examined, particularly in mid-size firms. This study examines the longitudinal technology development at an auto component manufacturer in India and analyses the linkage between STM and business performance using the dynamic SAP-LAP analysis. The paper also extends the dynamic SAP-LAP framework to include mapping of STM aspects on a flexibility continuum.

Strategic technology management in practice: SAP-LAP hills analysis of an automobile manufacturer in India

The automotive industry in India has seen the entry of almost all global auto majors post-liberalisation. To keep pace with the changing automotive world, the companies have adopted newer ways of thinking and also adopted work practices conducive to the changed environment. One of the important elements that the organisations have come to appreciate is technology management. A structured approach to technology management has been the key to better business performance. In India, we find specific examples of organisations that have put the strategic technology management into practice and improved their business performance through effective synchronisation between their technology and business strategy. This article deals with a case study carried out in an Indian automotive major, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. The various situations encountered by the organisation were considered for study, analysed by SAP-LAP hills technique to find processes that had maximum potential for change management application. Organisations need to learn from previous situations and by locating the best key result area, it can be recommended to concentrate there and give prime considerations to such situations and how actors need to behave and how process need to be scheduled under similar situations.

A Framework Conceptualization for National Technological Competitiveness

National technological competitiveness can be understood as the collective capacity of firms and other key actors in a country to deliver superior technological capabilities and better performance matrices needed to be competitive for the country to ensure not only its survival but also a sustainable growth. Technological innovation is one of the key pillars of economic competitiveness of a nation. Due to this, many countries have been focusing on a number of measures to enhance their technological competitiveness. It is important to not only figure out what these measures are but also understand the interplay of these measures to achieve the overall superior performance. This becomes a key issue especially for the developing countries, such as India, to propel their growth through technological means and thereby improve their overall competitiveness as well.

What’s the right game? Time-to-market vs “coopetition” in the Myanmar mobile market

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to illustrate, from a Myanmar mobile operator’s point of view, the trade-off between trying to trying to get to untapped towns and villages faster than competition (“time-to-market” strategy) and cooperating with competition through network sharing to reduce costs (“coopetition” strategy). Design/methodology/approach – The system dynamics (SD) model shows the business results of a Myanmar mobile operator under two different scenarios, one in which the focus is on time-to-market, and the other in which the focus is on coopetition. Findings – An operator motivated by time-to-market advantage expects better margins by capturing market share ahead of competition. However, when every operator follows this individual agenda, its time-to-market benefit depends on whether it is actually faster than competition. In contrast, coopetition eliminates costs by design and provides assured margin improvements. Practical implications – The paper establishes that coopetition has a cl...

A New Perspective for Industrial Competitiveness: Exploring the Role of IITs

Changing worldwide contexts and discontinuity can create opportunities for catch-up for India. Building on a long and exciting journey of competitiveness research, I give a glimpse of context and elements of a new perspective on industrial competitiveness. For that, trends in competitiveness journey of India and select countries are reviewed. Glimpse of emerging competitiveness perspective that focus more on human factors and cooperation, and seem to give better guidance, is given. While actions are needed by many stakeholders, we focus on opportunities and implications for young professionals who are keen to shape competitiveness across continuum.

Technology Management to Accelerate Competitiveness Journey: Exploratory Case of a Renewable Energy Focal Firm from India

Several firms from India are trying to climb to higher stages in competitiveness journey. The key objective of this chapter is to identify characteristics of the phenomenon of “technological gap vicious loop” taking case of focal firms in an emerging industry in India. For this, an exploratory case study approach is adapted. The firm for the case study, Moser Baer India Limited (MBIL), was selected carefully. We use secondary data to make sense of situation, actors, and processes as part of SAP-LAP framework. The elements of the phenomenon are characterized and areas for further are work listed.

Strategic technology management practices in select auto component joint ventures in India: a case study using SAP-LAP methodology

The automobile industry in India has gone through a lot of transformation since inception. With the liberalisation process starting in 1991, the industry has seen the entry of global auto majors in India. Due to changing customer preferences, environmental regulations, concern for safety and inclination towards entertainment, the role of technology in the auto industry has assumed great significance. In line with the global auto and auto component industry, the auto component companies in India has also gone in for technical alliances (TA), joint ventures (JV) with global auto component manufacturers, which seems to have impacted their technology management practices. This paper covers the longitudinal study of technology development at two joint venture auto component manufacturers. The methodology employed for this study is a combination of literature survey, expert opinion, comparative case analysis and SAP-LAP, a flexible systems methodology. The study finds that effective strategic technology management can contribute to faster technology absorption and overall business performance. The two cases provide valuable insights into the strategic technology management practices in joint venture organisations and exhibit the methodology adopted by the companies in their evolutions towards becoming the world-class integrated organisations.