Technological Strategy & Organizational Innovation

Posted on Aug 18, 2025 in Business Administration and Innovation Management

Technological Functions

Technological Surveillance Outcomes

  • Technology update.
  • New technological opportunities: new products, new processes, technological alliances.

Technological Surveillance Tools

  • Patent analysis
  • Bibliometrics/Scientometrics
  • Reverse engineering
  • Technological benchmarking
  • Internet
  • Technologist networks
  • Industry/technology/trade fairs or meetings
  • User workshops
  • Creativity sessions
  • Technology forecast sessions

The Strategy

Technological Choice

  • Current technological situation analysis: formulate technological objectives.
  • Identify target technological assets.
  • Determine how to acquire those target technological assets.
  • How to exploit technological capabilities.

Freeman’s Innovation Strategies

  1. Offensive Strategy (Proactive): Technological Leader

    • Offensive R&D.
    • High-risk innovation.
    • High profitability potential.
    • First-mover advantages: monopoly benefits, strong corporate image, learning economies.
    • First-mover disadvantages: high risk, high costs, low efficiency at the beginning.

  2. Defensive Strategy (Reactive): Technological Follower

    • Defensive R&D.
    • Risk aversion.
    • High production and distribution competences.
    • Creative imitation.
    • Follower advantages: low risks, learn from first-mover errors, efficiencies.

  3. Opportunistic Strategy

    • Focusing on market niches.

  4. Dependent Strategy

    • Technology acquisition (licenses and patents).
    • Subcontracting firms.

  5. Imitative Strategy

    • Minimum degree of innovation, if any.

  6. Traditional Strategy

    • No innovation.

The Innovative Organization

Grouping by Functions

Advantages

  • Specialization and economies of learning.
  • Economies of scale within a particular function.
  • Top management in contact with all functions.

Disadvantages

  • Problems in inter-function coordination and communication.
  • Problems become more important when the firm has different business units.
  • Function managers might lose their strategic focus.
  • Difficult to cope with diversity.

Grouping by Products

Advantages

  • Decentralization.
  • Closer to customers.
  • Flexibility and adaptation.
  • Improves control over the business unit.
  • Ownership of strategy.

Disadvantages

  • Fragmentation and non-cooperation.
  • Danger of loss of central control.
  • Tasks and resources duplication.

Matrix Structure

Features

  • The principle of unique command.
  • Requires a high degree of autonomy for employees.

Advantages

  • Higher capacity to face complexity, uncertainty, and change.
  • Facilitates idea exchange.
  • Integrates knowledge.
  • Participative decision-making.

Disadvantages

  • Risk of conflict between managers.
  • Unclear job and task responsibilities.
  • Unclear cost and profit responsibilities.

Developing a Learning Organization

  1. Empowerment

    • Working climate in which employees can develop their full potential.
    • Less authority and more leadership.
    • Decentralization.
    • Employees assume risks; they apologize instead of asking permission.

  2. Accumulate, Share, and Distribute Internal Knowledge

    • Knowledge is a valuable resource.
    • Side learning.
    • Problems with storing and sharing knowledge.
    • Problems with distributing knowledge.

  3. Accumulate and Integrate External Information

    • Environment: opportunities and threats.
    • Complex and dynamic environment.
    • Enhancing contact with the environment.
    • Gatekeepers.

  4. Challenge Status Quo and Enhance Creativity

    • Error tolerance.
    • Bureaucratic obstacles.
    • Behavioral obstacles.
    • Power relationships.
    • Time limitations.