“In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”

– Dwight D. Eisenhower

Learning about the effective management of technology is very important because through technology, we can greatly amplify our abilities. Thus, the ability to effectively manage technology has always separated those who reach their potential from those who do not. The readings and case studies in this class will teach you some of the skills that you will need to effectively manage technology, and in so doing, provide you with the opportunity to take another step toward achieving your full potential.

Here is what this course will provide for you personally.

This course provides skills necessary for solving problems related to technology.
This course addresses the need for managers to understand and manage the technology necessary to obtain competitive advantage in an increasingly sophisticated business environment.
This course demonstrates a systemic way to view technology and make decisions about technology.
This course demonstrates systemic ways to communicate your decisions.
This course provides you with a set of tools to manage technology.
This course gives you talking points or examples to describe your ideas.
This course provides you with a set of tools that will help you develop high-quality products faster, more efficiently, and more effectively.
The Strategic Plan Course Project is a major focus of our activity in this course, and it is a significant part of your overall course evaluation and grade. Preparing the Strategic Plan Course Project allows you to apply what you’re learning and brings the concepts presented to life.

Please adhere to your schedule in writing your Strategic Plan Course Project. It is important to stay on schedule with this project because it is due in its final form on Sunday of Week 7. Most weeks will require you to read two chapters. I would recommend that you read one chapter at a time – take a short break before reading the second chapter. To maximize your comprehension and planning, read to comprehend, not just to get it done. A good litmus test for comprehension is to talk to yourself about what you read after you complete the chapter. If you experience difficulty in doing this task, you probably read a bit too quickly and should consider reading the chapter again more slowly.

To best comprehend our Schilling text, first read the Summary of Chapter found at the end of each chapter. Then read the chapter. There are a number of cases detailed in the chapters. Read these carefully because they provide ways that the ideas presented are actually used in the real world.

Strategic Management of Technology addresses the need for managers to understand and manage the technology necessary for competitive advantage in an increasingly sophisticated business environment. Topics include the identification of technological competencies, the evolution of technology, the design and management of systems for technological innovation, the integration of technology and organizations, sourcing technology, and the management of the new product development process.
Terminal Course Objectives
DeVry University’s course content is constructed from curriculum guides that are developed for each course and are in alignment with specific Terminal Course Objectives. The Terminal Course Objectives (TCOs) define the learning objectives that the student will be required to comprehend and demonstrate by course completion. The TCOs that will be covered in detail each week can be found in the Objectives section for that particular week. Whenever possible, a reference will be made from a particular assignment or discussion back to the TCO that it emphasizes.

A
Given a company situation be able to describe the industry dynamics of technological innovation.

B
Given a company situation be able to determine whether and how to protect its technological innovations.

C
Given an organizational and industry context, identify the core technological competencies of the organization.

D
Given an organizational context, develop a plan to increase the innovative capabilities of the organization both through collaboration strategies and internal innovation.

E
Given information about a company’s industry and organization, formulate a technological innovation strategy through its new product development strategy.

F
Given an organizational and industry context, identify and suggest a deployment strategy that will facilitate the success of a technologically driven organization.
Course Schedule

Week, TCOs, and Topics

Readings/Class Preparation

Activities/Assignments

Week 1
TCO A

The Importance of Innovation

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Sources of Innovation

Case Analysis 1: Apple Computer

Graded Discussion Topics

Week 2
TCO A

Types and Patterns of Innovation

Chapter 3: Types and Patterns of Innovation

Chapter 5: Timing of Entry

Graded Discussion Topics

Week 3
TCO B

Protecting Innovations

Chapter 4: Standards Battles and Design Dominance

Chapter 9: Protecting Innovation

Case Analysis 2: Research in Motion

Graded Discussion Topics

Week 4
TCOs C & D

Identifying Core Competencies and Choosing Innovation Projects

Chapter 6: Defining the Organization’s Strategic Direction

Chapter 7: Choosing Innovation Projects

Graded Discussion Topics

Midterm

Week 5
TCO D

Collaboration Strategies and Organizing for Innovation

Chapter 8: Collaboration Strategies

Chapter 10: Organizing for Innovation

Case Analysis 3: Personal Navigation Devices

Graded Discussion Topics

Week 6
TCO E

New Product Development Process

Chapter 11: Managing the New Product Development Process

Chapter 12: Managing New Product Development Teams

Case Analysis 4: Google

Graded Discussion Topics

Week 7
TCO F

Crafting a Deployment Strategy

Chapter 13: Crafting a Deployment Strategy

Course Project

Graded Discussion Topics

Term Project

Objective | Term Project Description | Ideas to Help Prepare the Course Project | Final Paper Rubric | Citation Help

The objective is to complete a written plan that will suggest a practical Strategic Direction for a company.

This course requires the completion of a comprehensive Strategic Plan.

You have a choice to use either an existing company or a fictitious company. In either case, the Project is to complete a written plan that will suggest a practical Strategic Direction for the company.

The Plan will have 7 sections. The 6 sections will reflect each of the 6 TCOs plus a bibliography. Each section will be 2 – 3 pages in standard business proposal format.

The sections are:

• Strategy (TCO F)
• Core Competencies (TCO C)
• Industry Dynamics (TCO A)
• Technology Sourcing and Internal Innovation (TCO D)
• Product Development Strategy (TCO E)
• Strategy to protect innovations (TCO B)
• A bibliography listing your references for the project

Section 1 – Strategy

TCO F – Given an organizational and industry context, identify and suggest a deployment strategy that will facilitate the success of a technologically driven organization.

This is the most important part of the project, because it sets the direction for all other sections. In this section, you establish the strategy for an organization.

Often people refer to this component as the “Vision” or “Mission” of a company, but it is not. The Vision for a company could be that you want to be a market leader. However, the technology strategy tells everyone how you will achieve that market leadership. The technology strategy tells the various stakeholders – employees, customers, community, and stockholders – what you are going to do to achieve that market leadership. This strategy should be very clear and easy to understand so that everyone will be “on the same page” when it comes to working together toward that goal.

In this section, you should describe what “SHOULD” be the strategy of a technologically driven company. You should focus specifically on the technology strategy. You should think about all the things we learned in the class that will determine a strategy that will help the company succeed.

Remember that you can use either an existing company or a fictitious company. If you choose to use an existing company, you can visit their web site to see if their strategy is listed. Or you can do a web search on their technology strategy to see if anyone has written any stories about their strategy. For a fictitious company, you should make up a technology strategy that fits that type of company.

Examples of a Technology Strategy:

• Verizon Wireless – Have the best network of all wireless carriers
• Honda – Build the best engines
• Keller – Deploy the best Internet based on-line and blended education technology, not build it, not own it, but use a 3rd party to provide it
• Intel – Have the fastest and most powerful CPUs

The key is to be able to describe the strategy in a 1 or 2 sentence summary and in detail as well. The description should start or end with the simple sentence statement of the technology strategy. However, there must be sufficient detail to explain why that is the right strategy.

Section 2 – Core Competencies

TCO C – Given an organizational and industry context, identify the core technological competencies of the organization.

Like all subsequent sections of the project, this section is based on the Strategy Section.

Example:

• Verizon Wireless Strategy is the having the best Network. Thus, the core competencies will be built around the network. Things like RF Engineers and wireless security experts would be detailed
• Intel’s strategy is to build the fastest most powerful CPUs. Thus their core competencies will be built around CPU engineering
• Keller’s strategy is to deploy the best on-line education technology. Thus their core competencies would be things like educational technology evaluation and on-line education curriculum development

The best way to do this section is to apply the three tests of a core competency (page 123) to the strategy that you detailed in the Strategy Section.

Section 3 Industry Dynamics

TCO A – Given a company situation be able to describe the industry dynamics of technological innovation.

Here you should take the strategy identified in Section 1 and describe in detail why that is the right strategy based on what is occurring in the industry. Provide as much detail as possible as to the industry trends and why you think those trends are important.

Section 4 – Technology Sourcing and Internal Innovation

TCO D – Given an organizational context, develop a plan to increase the innovative capabilities of the organization both through collaboration strategies and internal innovation.

Here you would offer ideas as to what is the best way to “Source” the technology that supports the strategy. A complete discussion about how best to manage the innovative capabilities of the company being described is required.

Section 5 – Product Development Strategy

TCO E – Given information about a company’s industry, and organization, formulate a technological innovation strategy through its new product development strategy.

Product Development is very important to an organization. This section will describe how the company will structure its product development. Obviously, the kind of structure will be determined directly by the technology strategy stated in Section 1.

Section 6 Strategy to protect innovations

TCO B – Given a company situation be able to determine whether and how to protect its technological innovations.

Using the things learned in the class, describe how you would use patents, trade secrets, copyrights, etc. to protect the Intellectual Property (IP) required to support the strategy.

See Syllabus/”Due Dates for Assignments & Exams” for due date information. Submit your assignment to the Dropbox located on the silver tab at the top of this page.

Don’t forget to cite your sources properly, both parenthetically and in your bibliography/works cited. If you need assistance with proper citation, the following web site may be beneficial:

http://www.apastyle.org/faqs.html

Be certain to review the “APA Style Guidelines” Tutorial available from THE HUB’s Library Port.