یک مطالعه جهانی از مدیریت فارغ التحصیلی در برنامه های فن آوری

In the last decade, the field of technology management has attracted considerable attention from practitioners and scholars. The rapid emergence of powerful and innovative technologies in manufacturing, computing, telecommunications and the life sciences, such as biotechnology are making the strategic management of technology, a critical task in virtually all organizations. Reflecting this trend, several universities offer graduate programs in the management of technology (MOT). These programs have originated from various academic schools and disciplines (business, engineering, public policy) creating considerable diversity of focus, themes emphasized, courses, and student backgrounds. The rise of these programs, in part, reflects the growing need for managers and technologists who are able to understand, contribute to, and manage a wide variety of technology-based programs and organizations. This paper presents the results of a global study of graduate MOT programs. Over fifty (50) universities participated in the research reported in this paper. Findings related to research trends, curriculum developments, staffing, program implementation, and program emphases are examined. Several recommendations are advanced for universities considering initiating or further developing their MOT program. In addition, observations about the future direction of the field are made.

Since technology is a major driver of global economic development, industry increasingly seeks more effective ways to manage existing and nascent technology. Technology has become a great equalizer among companies and countries (Badawy, 1998). The strategic alignment of technological assets with a company’s direction and management is a major issue in terms of impacting profitability and growth. Unfortunately, there have often been important mismatches between the graduates of universities and the skills needed by today’s technology-based organizations (Mignogna, 2002). Responding to this, management of technology (MOT) educational programs have been developing worldwide. Originating largely in the US and in a few Western European countries, MOT programs are now housed under the various academic schools (business, engineering, science, etc.) and have considerable diversity in their themes, focus, and course offerings. According to Kocaoglu, director of the engineering management program at Portland State University, more and more academic institutions are creating MOT programs. In 1976, there were fewer than 30 engineering management programs, but now there are nearly 200 worldwide, mostly at the graduate level (Santo, 2001). Particularly, the MOT field has emerged from its relative obscurity during the 1970s and 1980s to mainstream business management during the 1990s (Nambisan and Wilemon, 2002). There have been several studies on the definition, scope, and skills needed in the MOT educational field (Hauck, 1999, Mallick and Chaudhury, 2000 and Zehner, 2000). The National Research Council defined MOT as “linking engineering, science, and management disciplines to address the issues involved in planning, development, and implementation of technological capabilities to shape and accomplish the strategic and operational objectives of an organization”. It also identified eight primary needs in the technology management field (Weimer, 1991): • How to integrate technology into the overall strategic objectives of the firm • How to get in and out of technologies faster and more efficiently • How to assess/evaluate technology more efficiently • How to accomplish technology transfer • How to reduce product development cycle time • How to manage large, complex and interdisciplinary or interorganizational projects/systems • How to manage the organization’s internal use of technology • How to leverage the effectiveness of technical professionals Badawy further defined MOT as “a field of study and a practice concerned with exploring and understanding technology as a corporate resource that determines both the strategic and operational capabilities of the firm in designing and developing products and services for maximum customer satisfaction, corporate productivity, profitability, and competitiveness” (Badawy, 1998). Simply stated, MOT attempts to answer the question of how an organization can maximize gains from its technological assets (Nambisan and Wilemon, 2002). A few researchers are currently examining the differences between MOT and engineering management (EM) despite the existence of several areas of common interest. EM primarily focuses on the process of managing the engineering function itself, while MOT is a much broader concept (Mallick and Chaudhury, 2000). Khalil and Garcia-Arreola point out that “MOT is not an easy task. It combines a variety of technical fields with business insight, requiring a wide perspective of both engineering and business issues. Such perspective is not provided by current MBA or engineering programs” (Santo, 2001). All these attempts to delineate the emerging MOT field converge into a few common thrusts: interdisciplinary efforts, industry partnerships, international perspectives, and integrative, multidisciplinary approaches. While scholars and practitioners are becoming more knowledgeable about the special focus of the MOT field, many organizations are facing the demands of fast-changing markets requiring a shift of focus from the “traditional factory model” largely designed for manufacturing to a new paradigm that demands a more sophisticated, diversified graduate program curricula. Our “Global Survey on MOT Graduate Programs” was conducted by surveying over 170 US and non-US universities. The study aims at assessing the state-of-the art of contemporary graduate MOT education by exploring various dimensions of these programs.

Over the past decade or so, technology has assumed an increasingly central role in products and services, organizations, as well as in all other aspects of the society. This has translated into a critical need for people who are trained in managing different types of technological assets in varied commercial and non-commercial contexts. Despite such a demand, trained technology managers continue to be a scare resource. As Dr Alan G. Merten, President of George Mason University and Chair of the National Committee on Workforce Needs in Technology, recently noted, “we have a technology management shortage in this country, shortage of people who can manage people who are technologists” (Techway, 2000). The MOT education was established to address this demand. MOT education has continuously evolved and grown during the last four decades. To do this, MOT educators are attempting to better serve their students’ professional requirements and meet industry needs. The information age accelerates borderless activities resulting in increasing global competition and the evolution of important issues, such as, technology transfer and the strategic management of technology. As we move toward the future, how should MOT be positioned? Badawy suggested that management of technology is an integrative process, not a functional activity such as engineering management. It focuses on integrating the technology side of an enterprise (i.e. manufacturing, IT, R&D) with the business side (i.e. marketing, finance) (Badawy, 1998) proposing alternative models for MOT education. Other researchers have addressed the problem of MOT education within MBA or engineering management programs. Gruver and Stamos point out that a number of business schools have taken a ‘mix-and-stir’ approach to addressing the prospective employers’ changing needs, essentially adding or substituting specific courses as degree requirements for business-school students (Santo, 2001). In that sense, our study recognizes the following key issues: • MOT programs are still in the process of evolving as a professional, increasingly well-defined discipline. It needs to achieve its own clear position as distinguished from traditional MBA and MEM programs. • Industry involvement has increased, yet joint efforts across institutions and between universities and industry can be increased to better serve the educational and professional goals of MOT programs. • Society and businesses are increasingly moving into the information age where technology and human talents are more crucial for a firm’s sustainable competitive advantage. MOT education should be able to help answer for such new demands; for example, by helping MOT students achieve a high level of competence in IT, E-Commerce, and technology management. • International perspectives are critical to MOT education; more and more businesses are globalized and technology is accelerating this internationalization process. In the digital era, many organizations will have a virtual identity that fully transcends geographical boundaries and nations. • MOT programs have until now focused almost exclusively on graduate level education. However, given the increasing demand for technology professionals in all areas of the society, in the near future, we will need to start examining how technology management education can be incorporated at the undergraduate level too. Finally, it is anticipated that our study can help both academicians and practitioners learn the importance of managing technology, obtain ideas about where the MOT area is and where the field is going. The study can also help point out the strengths as well as potential deficiencies of MOT program offerings. Educators and practicing managers of technology can learn from each other regarding ideas, trends, and issues to help design and position their MOT programs. Students should find this research helpful in better understanding how the study of MOT can help fit their professional goals. The future of the MOT field will, of course, depend largely on having great academic programs and producing well-informed graduates capable of dealing with a wide variety of technology management challenges. The selected sources of information about MOT listed in Table 7 can help researchers and industry participants who are interested in the MOT field capture a variety of relevant issues and trends about MOT.