Technology management

Abstract

The importance of technological innovations for maintaining and strengthening a company's competitiveness, especially in high-wage countries, has increased eminently. Market internationalisation, shorter product lifecycles and the soaring demand for resources are only a few of the possible explanations. In the global race for business deals, time is a crucial factor. Ideally, the period from the initial idea to the innovation should be restricted to an absolute minimum. The company's ability to manage complex systems is a further criterion that often tips the scales between success and failure. In other words, innovations alone are no guarantee of growth. Lasting success depends on the interaction between innovations and efficient complexity management (ARTHUR 2007). For this reason, in particular, technology development processes need to be reorganised, because in the turbulence of technological change the classic technology push and market pull models, as well as their combination, are no longer applicable. © 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.