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Managing technology in the decentralized firm
Book reviews
‘unleash’ their own company’s corporate potential. Whether Chief Executive Officers, Managing Directors, their fellow directors and corporate strategists adopt the practical suggestions derived from the study (as set out in Chapter 5) remains to be seen. Whilst the book does (as a natural consequence of the analyses) tread into other areas of well-researched management theories (leadership, culture, etc.), these were used to complement and/or support the authors’ findings rather than to establish contradictory views. This is a book that helps bridge the gap between the academic world and practical management in a common sense approach. As a manager I enjoyed its clarity of content and its simple style of delivery. Overall, Sharpbenders is good value for money at E25.00. Thomas Heron
Managing Technology Decentralized Firm
in the
by A.H. Rubenstein, Wiley, Chichester, 1989, ISBN O-4 71-61024-0, f44.80, 4 76 pages. Albert Rubenstein shares a wealth of experience in the management of the R&D function with practising managers. The book is based on insights gained over thirty years in more than 250 American firms. Illustrative examples and cases improve the practical usefulness of the book. A ‘watch list’ or ‘checklist’ at the beginning of each section assists the reader in monitoring problems relating to technology in his firm. The revelation that no definitive solution for the problem of managing technology is forthcoming despite the obvious depth of research stresses the importance of the issue. The central theme of the book is that problems encountered in managing technology are not so Technovation
Volume 11 No 2
much related to technical than to organizational issues. Not surprisingly, the main body of the book deals with the organizational forms, roles, networking, planning, idea flow, and evaluation commercialization of technology. Rubenstein explains that organizational form is often the result of reaction to environmental and strategic change. Additional learning is required to deal with change, notably to build and differentiate roles and to assemble information and resources. Consequently, organizational change often takes too long to bring about. The author proposes many possible solutions to reduce the time required to bring change, the most important of which are corporate support, mentoring and a longrather than short-term view. Corporate support and involvement is featured in almost every section as essential to ensuring successful technology management. Technology planning is an area where managers may either disagree with the vision of the CEO, or decline to participate for fear of endangering their career prospects by making mistakes. Corporate management has the challenge of creating a secure environment where risk-taking is actively encouraged. Participatory management is required to ensure shared vision. The attentive marketing-oriented reader often questions the supply or internal orientation of technology publications. Rubenstein attempts to dispel any fear of a supply orientation, by repeatedly focusing technology activities on the ‘future market mission’. In defining technology as ‘activities aimed at producing new and improved products, processes, materials and know-how, with a view of improving the competitive position’, Rubenstein underlines his basic viewpoint. The section on idea sources is important, despite its exclusion of lead customers as a potential source of ideas. Rubenstein observes that many good ideas, internal to the firm, are never communicated. A comprehensive model 125
Book reviews
of the internal flow of ideas illustrates the importance of corporate management participation. Rubenstein suggests networking between divisions to solve the problem of interdivisional rivalry. Networks may take the form of cross-divisional project teams, career paths, funding, idea generation, liaison and reviews. The major criticism of Rubenstein’s notion of networking is that it only incorporates internal networks. Networks with suppliers and customers are excluded from the discussion, despite their obvious value. Project evaluation is an often overlooked topic dealt with in considerable detail. Rubenstein suggests that evaluation ought to take place at three criticaf stages in the technology development process: (1) before the project (selection); (2) during the project (monitoring); (3) after the project (economic evaluation). No less than 67 criteria are proposed to evaluate a project, only 10 of these external to the firm. Among the techniques utilized in American financial measures are firms, short-term favoured. These include return on ~vestment, payback period and various return ratios. The value of this section lies in its treatment of evaluation as a continuous process and its criticism of short-termism. A longer-term perspective of technology development leads to less emphasis on short-term financial results, thus creating a supportive culture for risktaking and creativity. The section on technology commercialization emphasizes the by now familiar concept that it is organizational, not technical, factors that influence the success of the technology development process. Insufficient resources, unclear roles, organizational barriers and corporate support once again feature as major issues. The final message is that the problems associated with technology development are manageable though complex. Rubenstein writes in an easy-to-follow style which avoids abstruse academic language. It is a practical book which makes important points and provides excellent insights. It is worthy of 126
inclusion on the technical manager’s bookshelf.
and
general
Leon Vermaak
New Product Development
and Testing
by W. Henry, M. Menasco and H. Takada, Lexington Books, Lexington, MA, 1989, ISBN 0-669-1277-X, f25.00, 302 pages. As suggested by its title, New Product Development and Testing does not cover all areas of the new product management process. Instead the authors concentrate, at the project level, on six ‘generally agreed’ key factors for success in product development and testing. No attempt is made to review leading-edge thinking in new product planning, idea generation, or specialist functional tasks and integration outside the marketing specialism. The book was inspired by a workshop, held in 1986, bringing together academics, new product managers and market research practitioners. The emphasis of the workshop was evidently more specialist than managerial with selected readings in this area being added at a later date. The book presents, in turn, each of the six identified success factors. Each section begins with editorial comment outlining current academic thinking followed by papers illustrating either complementary or diverse approaches to the area under review. In Part I, ‘Management of the development process’, the editors recognize that the successful development of new products may be constrained by management capability. Chapter 1 (Feldman and Page) reviews the normative model of the product planning process and illustrates, from a comparative study, that there is limited adherence to the formal model. Chapter 2 (Johne) draws from research with experienced innovators demonstrating that Technovation
Volume 11 No 2
‘unleash’ their own company’s corporate potential. Whether Chief Executive Officers, Managing Directors, their fellow directors and corporate strategists adopt the practical suggestions derived from the study (as set out in Chapter 5) remains to be seen. Whilst the book does (as a natural consequence of the analyses) tread into other areas of well-researched management theories (leadership, culture, etc.), these were used to complement and/or support the authors’ findings rather than to establish contradictory views. This is a book that helps bridge the gap between the academic world and practical management in a common sense approach. As a manager I enjoyed its clarity of content and its simple style of delivery. Overall, Sharpbenders is good value for money at E25.00. Thomas Heron
Managing Technology Decentralized Firm
in the
by A.H. Rubenstein, Wiley, Chichester, 1989, ISBN O-4 71-61024-0, f44.80, 4 76 pages. Albert Rubenstein shares a wealth of experience in the management of the R&D function with practising managers. The book is based on insights gained over thirty years in more than 250 American firms. Illustrative examples and cases improve the practical usefulness of the book. A ‘watch list’ or ‘checklist’ at the beginning of each section assists the reader in monitoring problems relating to technology in his firm. The revelation that no definitive solution for the problem of managing technology is forthcoming despite the obvious depth of research stresses the importance of the issue. The central theme of the book is that problems encountered in managing technology are not so Technovation
Volume 11 No 2
much related to technical than to organizational issues. Not surprisingly, the main body of the book deals with the organizational forms, roles, networking, planning, idea flow, and evaluation commercialization of technology. Rubenstein explains that organizational form is often the result of reaction to environmental and strategic change. Additional learning is required to deal with change, notably to build and differentiate roles and to assemble information and resources. Consequently, organizational change often takes too long to bring about. The author proposes many possible solutions to reduce the time required to bring change, the most important of which are corporate support, mentoring and a longrather than short-term view. Corporate support and involvement is featured in almost every section as essential to ensuring successful technology management. Technology planning is an area where managers may either disagree with the vision of the CEO, or decline to participate for fear of endangering their career prospects by making mistakes. Corporate management has the challenge of creating a secure environment where risk-taking is actively encouraged. Participatory management is required to ensure shared vision. The attentive marketing-oriented reader often questions the supply or internal orientation of technology publications. Rubenstein attempts to dispel any fear of a supply orientation, by repeatedly focusing technology activities on the ‘future market mission’. In defining technology as ‘activities aimed at producing new and improved products, processes, materials and know-how, with a view of improving the competitive position’, Rubenstein underlines his basic viewpoint. The section on idea sources is important, despite its exclusion of lead customers as a potential source of ideas. Rubenstein observes that many good ideas, internal to the firm, are never communicated. A comprehensive model 125
Book reviews
of the internal flow of ideas illustrates the importance of corporate management participation. Rubenstein suggests networking between divisions to solve the problem of interdivisional rivalry. Networks may take the form of cross-divisional project teams, career paths, funding, idea generation, liaison and reviews. The major criticism of Rubenstein’s notion of networking is that it only incorporates internal networks. Networks with suppliers and customers are excluded from the discussion, despite their obvious value. Project evaluation is an often overlooked topic dealt with in considerable detail. Rubenstein suggests that evaluation ought to take place at three criticaf stages in the technology development process: (1) before the project (selection); (2) during the project (monitoring); (3) after the project (economic evaluation). No less than 67 criteria are proposed to evaluate a project, only 10 of these external to the firm. Among the techniques utilized in American financial measures are firms, short-term favoured. These include return on ~vestment, payback period and various return ratios. The value of this section lies in its treatment of evaluation as a continuous process and its criticism of short-termism. A longer-term perspective of technology development leads to less emphasis on short-term financial results, thus creating a supportive culture for risktaking and creativity. The section on technology commercialization emphasizes the by now familiar concept that it is organizational, not technical, factors that influence the success of the technology development process. Insufficient resources, unclear roles, organizational barriers and corporate support once again feature as major issues. The final message is that the problems associated with technology development are manageable though complex. Rubenstein writes in an easy-to-follow style which avoids abstruse academic language. It is a practical book which makes important points and provides excellent insights. It is worthy of 126
inclusion on the technical manager’s bookshelf.
and
general
Leon Vermaak
New Product Development
and Testing
by W. Henry, M. Menasco and H. Takada, Lexington Books, Lexington, MA, 1989, ISBN 0-669-1277-X, f25.00, 302 pages. As suggested by its title, New Product Development and Testing does not cover all areas of the new product management process. Instead the authors concentrate, at the project level, on six ‘generally agreed’ key factors for success in product development and testing. No attempt is made to review leading-edge thinking in new product planning, idea generation, or specialist functional tasks and integration outside the marketing specialism. The book was inspired by a workshop, held in 1986, bringing together academics, new product managers and market research practitioners. The emphasis of the workshop was evidently more specialist than managerial with selected readings in this area being added at a later date. The book presents, in turn, each of the six identified success factors. Each section begins with editorial comment outlining current academic thinking followed by papers illustrating either complementary or diverse approaches to the area under review. In Part I, ‘Management of the development process’, the editors recognize that the successful development of new products may be constrained by management capability. Chapter 1 (Feldman and Page) reviews the normative model of the product planning process and illustrates, from a comparative study, that there is limited adherence to the formal model. Chapter 2 (Johne) draws from research with experienced innovators demonstrating that Technovation
Volume 11 No 2