ABSTRACT
The view that technology is a key strategic factor in achieving competitive advantage is so widely accepted in industry and literature that it has become an axiom. However, management of technology represents the greatest challenge to any organisation as the process of technological change requires investment in both capital and time, is unpredictable in nature and can encompass changes in strategies, culture, skills, working practices, organisation structures, supply chains and trading alliances. Management of technology is the ability to achieve an advantage by exploiting technology in products, services and processes accompanied by the necessary changes in internal and external structures. Such an ability requires a wide range of expertise spanning the development of technology through to managing the change process itself. The growing importance of technology management has led an increasing number of higher education institutions to develop and deliver education and research programmes
in this field. In the development of these programmes it is important to take an integrated approach in which the technology, engineering and management issues are brought together as a coherent whole. The learning objectives should be aimed at developing strategic thinkers who are technical rather than theorists with business minds capable of understanding the complexity’ of the process of technological change. The programme delivery mechanism should maximise the learning skills of learners so that they can cope with the fast changing competitive rules as opposed to developing knowledge and skills about a deterministic world. This paper proposes a framework for education and research in management of technology which is based on an industry-academic interface. It is shown that such an interface will be mutually beneficial to industry, academia and learners.
