Overview
This online elective course has two focus areas – technology and innovation.
The course will address a number of the technology management challenges we face today. We can define management of technology and innovation as the set of activities associated with bringing high technology and innovative products to the marketplace; there is no such thing as a low-tech industry anymore. The course focuses on the operational and organizational issues associated with managing new product development and commercialisation, including:
- Manufacturing process technologies and their integration through Internet-based enterprise tools
- New product development processes, tools and techniques
- Marketing high technology products with high technology techniques
- Managing R&D portfolios and development of technology alliances
- International trade policy and its effect on high technology industry
- Design issues and business strategies for new technology products in both established firms and new ventures
As well, the course will allow students to more deeply understand specific technology management issues, such as information technology management, internet strategy, environmental management, construction management in the technology age, and entrepreneurship in high technology.
The other focus area is innovation in systems, processes and techniques identifying how they have evolved, to what extent they are innovative, to what extent they achieve what they are intended to achieve, and how they can be supported and implemented effectively.
Some additional questions to be explored are:
- What have specific management technology and innovations of the recent past achieved and were these achievements what was originally expected?
- How innovative were these technologies, products and processes?
- How do we evaluate the effectiveness of innovations and technology?
- Why some innovations and technology are more widely adopted compared to others?
- What is the life-cycle of a successful technology and / or innovative practice or process?
- What are the emerging trends in management practices or processes related to innovations and technology?
The course will take the perspective of the general manager at the product line, business unit, and corporate levels. It will examine each of these levels in some detail, and also addresses the interaction among the different levels of general management—for example, the fit between product strategy and business unit strategy and the link between business and corporate level technology strategy.