An empirical analysis of advanced technology. New product development issues

During 1996 and 1997, two empirical investigations into the importance of management-of-technology (MOT) issues (unresolved MOT problems) were completed. In these studies, more than 150 academic and industry participants from 17 countries evaluated the importance of each MOT issue relative to the others of its study. Each study used a DELPHI issues questionnaire methodology, which involved multiple questionnaires in sequence, which enables an initial evaluation of each issue and then subsequent re-evaluations of the same issue. The first study ranks 24 MOT issues and identifies “strategic planning for technology products” as the “number 1 MOT issue”. The second study delves more deeply into this number 1 issue, placing 21 “strategic planning for technology Products” sub-issues into rank order of importance, identifying the improper linkages of technology strategic planning with other strategic planning aspects as the most critical technology product planning problem. Discussants provide insights into their reasoning. This article briefly describes each completed DELPHI study's findings (including differences among different countries' participants) and their implications for the MOT field