Technology Roadmapping for A Service Organization
Technology Roadmapping for A Service Organization
复制标题
服务组织的技术路线图
DOI：
10.1080/08956308.2004.11671619
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发表时间：
2004
影响因子：
2.2
通讯作者：
D. Probert
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
R. Wells;R. Phaal;C. Farrukh;D. Probert
路线图帮助皇家邮政优先考虑研究活动，并确保将技术考虑纳入业务战略。联合王国皇家邮政和其他服务组织面临的最大挑战之一是，在全球竞争日益激烈和技术发展步伐迅速的驱动下，如何使其技术投资的价值最大化。皇家邮政在战略层面有效管理技术的能力，将是确保其作为一个具有全球竞争力的分销公司取得成功的关键。技术路线图（TRM）提供了一种方法，确保技术投资与开发利用未来市场机会所需的新能力保持一致。TRM方法的历史根源在于技术密集型的产品型公司，但它同样适用于技术依赖型的服务型组织，在这些组织中，技术投资的价值必须得到最大化和沟通。本文介绍了应用TRM在皇家邮政的研究规划领域，与剑桥大学的合作。结果表明，该技术可以成功地应用于一个基于服务的组织，并强调了路线图作为一种有效的工具，以支持战略技术管理的好处。皇家邮政的应用程序形成了T计划“快速启动”技术路线图方法（1，2）的发展的关键阶段，特别是在如何定制技术，以适应不同的业务环境。战略技术路线图技术路线图是一个过程和沟通工具，以帮助战略决策。TRM的总体目标是将技术考虑因素与战略业务背景相结合，以确定那些最有潜力实现业务目标的技术，并加速将技术转化为产品。路线图是一个可视化的辅助工具，它明确了研发计划、能力目标和需求之间的联系。TRM是在战略层面进行技术规划和协调的重要工具，有助于高级管理人员做出更好的技术投资决策。虽然路线图可以采取各种形式，但它们通常包括一个基于时间的图表，将技术开发/投资与产品/服务和业务/市场驱动因素联系起来，如图1所示。前瞻性技术路线图从现在开始展望，并使用来自不同业务领域的专家意见来创建未来视图，以帮助回答特定问题。根据路线图的背景，问题可能会有很大的不同，但可能包括这样的问题，“如果减少或推迟对特定技术开发的资助，对实现下游能力里程碑有什么影响？“路线图可能是技术驱动的，也可能是需求驱动的，但最强大的是那些融合了这两种观点的路线图。“技术推动”视角描绘了特定技术或技术组的发展，以确定潜在的未来产品机会。“市场拉动”的观点描绘了未来的业绩或客户需求，以确定投资哪些技术，以及在什么时间框架内。在已经成功部署TRM的公司中，这是一个适合更广泛的战略规划背景的迭代过程。战略规划涉及的决策是在高层次上确定和联系公司想要解决的客户/市场需求以及满足这些需求的产品和服务。根据这一战略计划，技术规划涉及识别、选择和投资技术，以支持这些产品和服务需求。业务发展涉及规划和实施战略计划的某些方面，特别是涉及开发新产品/服务或新业务的方面。…
Roadmapping has helped the Royal Mail to prioritize research activities and ensure that technology considerations are integrated into business strategies. One of the biggest challenges facing the United Kingdom Royal Mail and other service organizations is how to maximize the value of its investments in technology, driven by increasing global competition and the rapid pace of technology development. Royal Mail's ability to manage technology effectively at a strategic level will be essential to ensuring its success as a globally competitive distribution company. Technology roadmapping (TRM) provides a method for ensuring that investments in technology are aligned with the development of new capabilities that are required to exploit future market opportunities. The TRM approach has its historical roots in technology-intensive product-based companies, but it is equally applicable to technology-contingent service-based organizations, where the value of technology investment must be maximized and communicated. This paper describes the application of TRM within Royal Mail's research planning area, in collaboration with the University of Cambridge. The results demonstrate how the technique can be successfully applied within a service-based organization, and highlight the benefits of roadmapping as an effective tool to support strategic technology management. The Royal Mail applications formed a key stage in the development of the T-Plan "fast-start" technology roadmapping approach (1, 2), particularly in terms of how the technique can be customized to suit different business contexts. Strategic Technology Roadmapping Technology roadmapping is a process and a communication tool to aid strategic decision-making. The overall aims of TRM are to integrate technology considerations with the strategic business context, to identify those technologies that have the greatest potential to meet business goals, and to accelerate the transfer of technology into products. The roadmap is a visual aid that crystallizes the links between research and development programs, capability targets and requirements (3). TRM is an important tool for technology planning and coordination at a strategic level, helping senior managers to make better technology investment decisions (4). While roadmaps can take various forms, they generally comprise a time-based chart, linking technology development/investment to products/services and business/market drivers as shown in Figure 1. Prospective technology roadmaps look forward from the present, and use expert opinion from different areas of the business to create a future view that helps to answer specific questions. The questions can vary considerably, depending on the context of the roadmap but could include such questions as, "If funding for a particular technology development is reduced or delayed, what are the implications for achieving downstream capability milestones?" Roadmaps may be technology driven or needs driven, but the most powerful are those that merge the two perspectives (5). The "technology push" perspective charts developments of a particular technology or group of technologies to identify potential future product opportunities. The "market pull" perspective charts future performance or customer needs, to identify which technologies to invest in, and in what timeframes. In companies that have successfully deployed TRM, it is an iterative process that fits within the broader strategic planning context. Strategic planning involves decisions that identify and link at a high level the customer/market needs a company wants to address and the products and services to satisfy these needs. Given this strategic plan, technology planning involves identifying, selecting and investing in the technologies to support these product and service requirements. Business development involves planning for and implementing certain aspects of the strategic plan, specifically those involved in the development of new products/services or new lines of business. …