26th International Association for Management of Technology Conference - IAMOT 2017

In the paper the two aspects of Management of Technologies (“MoT”) are lined out: a) Management of Technologies for Regions and Countries b) Management of the Technology Portfolio for Enterprises Strategic MoT for regions and countries is done to reinforce the competitiveness of the region in the ever harder global completion to ensure employment, the standard of living, social welfare and the quality of living. As far as technology strategies for regions is concerned, the EU bets on “S3” (Smart Specialization Strategy). “S3” - in simple words – is betting on the specific strengths fields of a specific region. As a matter fact, there are several strengths in a region: Strengths of enterprises, strengths in R&D, strengths in infrastructure etc. Regarding the technological competitiveness of the region in the global competition, two strengths are decisive: The strength in enterprises and the strengths in R&D (IPR). If a specific region has a technological strength in both - enterprises and R&D – this technology is called a “double strength technology” or “a double strength field” of the region. The author has derived a new concept to identify the “Double Strength Technologies” (“DST”) of a region. The computation of these DSTs of a region – which can be done highly automized – is shown on a few examples. This DST concept could - for example - be used in the frame of the elaboration of EC´s S3 strategies of Europe´s regions. As far as the “MoT” for enterprises is concerned, it is good to remember that there is but one reason for innovation: TO MAKE PROFIT! Profit is the difference between the prices that can be achieved and the production costs. Better (premium) prices can be achieved with Product Innovation, the production costs can be lowered with Process Innovation. In a chapters of the paper the “Ten most important Success Factors in Innovation of Technical Products in Enterprises” are described, in another chapter the “Ten widest spread Misconceptions” are line out. Within these two chapters many alleged doctrines of innovation management are disrupted! For example the “obsession for cooperation” is rebutted, but also some fairy tales about “Technology Transfer” and other myths of MoT. On the other hand the importance of some old, very basic rules for success in innovation are brought back into memory, like the “PIMS Concept” of the 1970 ies, or the findings of the three professors for innovation, Prof. Ansoff, Prof. Prahalad and Prof. Kondratjew. It is shown that MoT with Digital Technologies is no Rocket Science but a Task for Innovation Professionals! According to the author, much less MoT projects will fail in the 21rd DIGITAL Century NOT because of NOT knowing the specific rules for innovation of digital technologies, but because the new young CTOs in the 21rd century do not any longer remember the “Lessons Learned” for successful innovation of the 20th century! It is - however – lined out in the paper that for “INDUSTRY 4.0”, one major application of digital technologies, Europe is falling behind the global leaders in terms of IPR relevant for INDUSTRY 4.0. A list with the global TOP 40 enterprises regarding IPR relevant for INDUSTRY 4.0 is presented and discussed in the presentation. The author outlines the three most important Criteria for Success out of his personal experience within 28 years as CTO in industry. The Paper concludes with the well known Slogan of the famous Peter Drucker: "The CEO of an Enterprise only has two Functions - Innovation and Marketing!"