Tapan Sahoo

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.