Managing technological challenges in a globally connected business

Citation

Daim, T.U. (2012), "Managing technological challenges in a globally connected business", Foresight, Vol. 14 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/fs.2012.27314baa.001

Managing technological challenges in a globally connected business

Article Type: Guest editorial From: foresight, Volume 14, Issue 2

The papers in this issue were selected from those presented at the Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET) in July 2010 at Phuket Thailand. Due to the popularity of the issue, there were quite a number of submissions. As a result there were more papers than an issue would have. This resulted in two issues. The first one (published as Vol. 13 No. 5, 2011) focused on foreseeing technological disruptions while this issue reviews a wide range of methods and tools for managing them.

There are five papers in this issue.

Potdar and Rogers provide an operational focus by studying reverse logistics and attempt to forecast product returns. Their methodology combines data envelopment analysis (DEA) linear regression and central tendency moving average to forecast product returns for the consumer electronics industry.

Harmon et al. then introduce linkages to the technology level while planning for sustainable information technology services resulting in a technology roadmap. They use a qualitative three-phase process including domain analysis, which features a comprehensive literature review and expert panel depth interviews; roadmap development, which involved two technology roadmapping brainstorming sessions; and follow-up activity, to confirm roadmap session results with the expert panel.

Shen et al. integrate the decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) technique and the analytic network process (ANP) to construct a technology evaluation model for the emerging organic light emitting diode (OLED) display technology.

Laakso et al. focus on the policy aspects and describe a Delphi based approach to estimate the effect of regulation on the mobile operator business. They report that the regulatory framework for the mobile operator business has become more complex over the years and that this complexity is also likely to grow in the future.

Finally Chien and Weng apply the concept of an affiliated network through social network analysis exploring data from US Patent Office. They demonstrate that this approach helps provide insight into the technology development landscape.

Tugrul U. Daim Associate Professor and PhD Program Director in the Department of Engineering and Technology Management, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, USA.

About the authors

Tugrul U. Daim is an Associate Professor and PhD Program Director in the Department of Engineering and Technology Management at Portland State University. Prior to joining PSU, he had worked at Intel Corporation for over a decade in varying management roles. At Intel he managed product and technology development. Professor Daim has been consulting to several organizations in sectors ranging from energy to medical device manufacturing. He has been helping organizations including US Dept of Energy, Energy Trust of Oregon, Biotronik, Elsevier and many others to develop technology roadmaps for their future investments. He is also a Visiting Professor with the Northern Institute of Technology at Technical University of Hamburg, Harburg, Hamburg, where he teaches similar short courses. He has been recently appointed as Extraordinary Professor at the Graduate School of Technology Management at University of Pretoria in South Africa. He is frequently invited to give lectures around the world. His recent visits were to Finland, Japan and Germany. He has published over 200 refereed papers in journals and conference proceedings. His papers appeared in Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Technovation, Technology Analysis and Strategic Management, Computers and Industrial Engineering, Energy, Energy Policy and many others. He has co-authored four books of readings and several proceedings. He is the Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management and North American Editor of Technological Forecasting and Social Change. He received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Bogazici University in Turkey, MS in Mechanical Engineering from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, MS in Engineering Management from Portland State University, and PhD in Systems Science: Engineering Management from Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. Tugrul U. Daim can be contacted at: tugrul@etm.pdx.edu