Improving the process of Technology Roadmapping

Improving the process of Technology Roadmapping
Dr Yee Choy Leong
Graduate School of Management, UPMPaper for the Third International Graduate Conference on Engineering, Science, and Humanities (IGCESH 2010), 2-4 November 2010, UTM Sekudai, Johor, Malaysia.

Abstract – In this research, the process of Technology Roadmap Management (TRM-II) was tested in a company. Many useful insights and comments about implementation of the process were identified from the participating managers. The managers’ inputs are used as basis for further improvement of the process. Learning from this research is presented. The paper ends with suggesting guidelines to improve the process of technology roadmapping in future.

Keywords: technology roadmapping; process; workshop; improvement; field experiment

I. INTRODUCTION
This paper aims to report a research that applied Technology Roadmap Management (TRM-II) in a practical setting. Technology Roadmap Management (TRM-II) is an effective process to assist companies in technology strategic planning [1]. The process helps managers to generate roadmap for them to monitor and manage their technological development as well as strategic planning for technology. Roadmap is a graphical representation that provides a top-level strategic view of the company. The most general and common framework comprises a multilayered time-based chart, bringing together various perspectives into a single visual diagram [1] (see Figure 1).

The concept of roadmapping built upon visualization concept. It is very helpful especially to top management of a firm. This is because top management today wants strategy be viewed from a high level and represented in just one diagram. Visualization concept serve as a ‘visual’ vehicle of thought can helps them to do this job. Visual representation technique provides new ways of examining and improving managerial decision making. The visual representation is a useful type of format for helping managers to make sense of complexity. Visual representation can simplify ideas and facilitate the transmission of complex ideas from individual to individual. Most importantly, visual representation helps to divorce ideas from specific managers, making them more accessible to debate and modification. Moreover, visual representations are of potential interest to managers because they are a means of displaying graphically the firm’s current strategic position, as various departmental managers understand it, and because they hold the promise of identifying alternative routes to improving that position.

TRM-II has incorporated both the hard and soft approach into its process can help companies to obtain maximum benefits from its implementation. However, many firms have implemented the technique and resulted in many impressive roadmaps but the strategies are either irrelevant or neglected by the management. Thus, the main concern here is whether the process can be built into the company’s daily operating system as part of their strategic planning process, are of interest for many managers and researchers. Therefore, a careful consideration of designing an effective process to ensure the process could integrate with other parts of the organization, and compliment with other systems, in order for it to be used on an ongoing basis, is important. Thus, grounded on this basis, the TRM-II process was developed and it can be divided into 5 stages:

Stage 1: Top-level management involvement and support
Stage 2: Pre-process formal educational and training programs
Stage 3: Team building workshops
Stage 4: Technology roadmap charting
Stage 5: Post-process continuous improvement

TRM Process

Improving the process of Technology Roadmapping


Yee Choy Leong
Graduate School of Management, Universiti Putra Malaysia 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia, e-mail: yee@econ.upm.edu.my

Kenny Teoh Guan Cheng
Department of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Economics and Management
Universiti Putra Malaysia

Abstract – In this research, the process of Technology Roadmap Management (TRM-II) was tested in a company. Many useful insights and comments about implementation of the process were identified from the participating managers. The managers’ inputs are used as basis for further improvement of the process. Learning from this research is presented. The paper ends with suggesting guidelines to improve the process of technology roadmapping in future.

Keywords: technology roadmapping; process; workshop; improvement; field experiment

strategy

SWOT roadmapping