| Management of Technology I |
Please answer ONE of the following questions. Your answer should be typed, double-spaced, and between 2,500 - 2,800 words in length (include a word count at the end of your paper). Use appropriate references, drawing on materials you have read in the course or elsewhere. The paper is due by 3.00 p.m. on Friday, November 21, 1997 (please place in my mailbox in the D.M. Smith office, room 110).
Questions (select ONE)
Either:
1. "Technological change is a complex process whose workings are only partially understood." What aspects of technological change do you think we now understand-and what do you consider are the critical gaps in our comprehension of the technological change process? If our understanding of technological change is only partial, how should this affect the technology management strategies of companies and the public sector? Are there ways in which this situation of partial knowledge can best be addressed?
Or:
2. Consider the argument that small firms now have a greater relative advantage in developing innovations and generating new jobs. What is the underlying conceptual basis for this view and under what conditions are small firms most likely to be innovation leaders? What are the counter arguments to the view that small firms now have a relative advantage and what is your own perspective on this issue?
Or:
3. Service (or tertiary) sectors and occupations now employ the majority of workers in most advanced economies, including in the United States. However, public policy towards technology management and development is primarily focused towards manufacturing industry. Consider the role of service activies in advanced economies and discuss how technological change is affecting the further development and structure of tertiary sectors and jobs. Is there any need for greater public attention and policy towards technological change in the services sectors and, if so, what should the elements of such policies?
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