Roadmapping in industrial companies: Experiences

From its origins in the US electronics sector in the 1970s, technology roadmapping has been adapted (and adopted) widely, for many different innovation, strategy and policy applications. Communication is commonly cited as one of the key benefi ts of roadmapping, particularly in terms of the process that brings different organizational perspectives together, with the roadmap providing a common visual 'language'. There is signifi cant demand for methods that are agile, in the sense of being rapid, flexible and effective to apply, focused on strategic decisions and actions. 'Fast-start' roadmapping workshop techniques enable key stakeholders to address strategic issues efficiently using the visual structure of roadmaps to capture, discuss, prioritize, explore and communicate. This paper presents the learning from a set of five diverse applications of the fast-start approach in the Basque Country, which demonstrate the agility of the technique.

Frontier experiences from industry-academia consortia

Technology roadmapping has been applied successfully in many industrial organizations. Designed to facilitate and communicate technology strategy and planning, roadmaps (or, as in Europe, route maps) can take a variety of specific forms, depending on the type (opportunities, capabilities, products, technologies, etc.) and particular company context. While roadmaps are generally manifest in a number of "program elements or levels" superimposed upon a timeline, experienced mappers often claim that it is "roadmapping" rather than "the roadmap" that generates the value. This special report focuses primarily on product and technology roadmaps. Following an introduction to the evolution, purpose and applications of corporate/industry roadmapping, four industry-developed articles examine roadmapping in Lucent Technologies, Rockwell Automation, the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry, and UK-based Domino Printing Sciences.

Managing Information Risks in asset management - Experiences from an in-depth case study in the utility industry

Information is one of the most important resources in our globalized economy. The value of information often exceeds the value of physical assets. Information quality has, in many ways, an impact on asset management organisations and asset managers struggle to understand and to quantify it, which is a prerequisite for effective information quality improvement. Over the past few years, we have developed an innovative management concept that addresses these new asset management challenges: a process for Total Information Risk Management (TIRM), which has been already tested in a number of asset management industries. The TIRM process enables to manage information quality more effectively in asset management organisations as it focuses specifically on the risks that are imposed by information quality. In this paper, we show how we have applied the TIRM process in an in-depth study at a medium-sized European utility provider, the Manx Electricity Authority (MEA), at the Isle of Man.

Market-pull and technology-push in manufacturing start-ups in emerging industries

Purpose - As traditional manufacturing, previously vital to the UK economy, is increasingly outsourced to lower-cost locations, policy makers seek leadership in emerging industries by encouraging innovative start-up firms to pursue competitive opportunities. Emerging industries can either be those where a technology exists but the corresponding downstream value chain is unclear, or a new technology may subvert the existing value chain to satisfy existing customer needs. Hence, this area shows evidence of both technology-push and market-pull forces. The purpose of this paper is to focus on market-pull and technology-push orientations in manufacturing ventures, specifically examining how and why this orientation shifts during the firm's formative years. Design/methodology/approach - A multiple case study approach of 25 UK start-ups in emerging industries is used to examine this seldom explored area. The authors offer two models of dynamic business-orientation in start-ups and explain the common reasons for shifts in orientation and why these two orientations do not generally co-exist during early firm development. Findings - Separate evolution paths were found for strategic orientation in manufacturing start-ups and separate reasons for them to shift in their early development. Technology-push start-ups often changed to a market-pull orientation because of new partners, new market information or shift in management priorities. In contrast, many of the start-ups beginning with a market-pull orientation shifted to a technology-push orientation because early market experiences necessitated a focus on improving processes in order to increase productivity or meet partner specifications, or meet a demand for complementary products. Originality/value - While a significant body of work exists regarding manufacturing strategy in established firms, little work has been found that investigates how manufacturing strategy emerges in start-up companies, particularly those in emerging industries. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.