Evaluation of retained technology asset: framework and system development

The interest in technology valuation is revived and increasing mainly due to the lack of suitability of the traditional valuation methods in explaining the market reaction to newly-emerging knowledge-oriented companies. Moreover, many firms are now gearing their efforts to the strategic use of technology asset such as technology licensing, transfer and commercialization. Firms are also trying to enhance their technological competitiveness by re-evaluating their technology level and thus identifying the strengths/weaknesses of their technology portfolio. To accomplish this objective, the development of an integrated evaluation system for technology assets is essential. This paper presents a technology valuation system developed for a steel manufacturing company in South Korea. The valuation framework is based on: the multi-attribute evaluation of technological competitiveness using analytic hierarchical process; and the expected future benefit of the technology using four different methods of discounted cash flow estimation. The suggested framework is easily applicable to various industries where technological competitiveness should be evaluated systematically.