Centre for Technology Management

Technology Road Mapping: The Issues of Managing Technology Change

David Probert and Noordin Shehabuddeen,

Centre for Technology Management, Manufacturing and Management Division, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Mill Lane, Cambridge CB2 1RX, UK

Abstract

Technology road mapping has emerged in recent years as a key management tool in formulating the link between technological resources and the exploitation of market opportunities. A powerful aid to strategy formulation and communication, the technique has the major advantage of bringing many functions within a business together around a common plan. Although there is no definitive guide to road mapping practice, the application in many different businesses has revealed a number of generic aspects. A major common factor is that technology road maps are concerned with the introduction of technology change into an organisation.

This paper proposes a conceptual model of the factors significant for the successful introduction of technology change. The relevance of this framework to technology road mapping is discussed based on the in-depth experience of developing and implementing TRMs for three large companies. Also discussed briefly are results of questionnaires sent to these three companies to obtain a feedback on their post-implementation experiences.