Technology Management Routines That Matter to Technology Managers

 

Daniel Z. Levin

Management and Global Business Dept.

Rutgers Business School – Newark and New Brunswick

Rutgers University

111 Washington Street

Newark, NJ  07102

(973) 353-5983

Fax (973) 353-1664

levin@business.rutgers.edu

 

 

Helena Barnard

Gordon Institute of Business Science

University of Pretoria

26 Melville Road

Illovo, Sandton, 2191 South Africa

barnardh@gibs.co.za

 
International Journal of Technology Management, Vol. 41, Nos. 1/2, 2008, pp. 22-37


Abstract

This study addresses the fragmentation in the technology management field by identifying and organising the routines used by managers of technology. In a multi-method, iterative qualitative study done jointly between academics and technology managers from a number of large industrial firms, 27 technology management routines were identified. These 27 routines were organised into a framework consisting of four categories: producing scientific and technological knowledge, transforming knowledge into working artefacts, linking artefacts with user requirements, and providing organisational support. This framework provides an organising scheme to make sense of technology management routines. In addition, because managers of technology actively participated in developing the routines, the study contributes by identifying routines practitioners regard as particularly important. Both research and practical implications are derived from the framework.

Key words: process, routine, technology management framework.

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