| Abstract |
There is an increasing trend for interconnections between all nations of the world owing to the widespread globalization of industrial production, inputs sourcing and outputs marketing. A further reason is the raised awareness of global consequences, resulting from natural resources depletion and apparently localized environmental degradation activities by industries. Much of this ever-growing and complex interdependence has been possible as a result of a host of unprecedented technological achievements in the past few decades, which have enabled industrial enterprises in developed countries to accomplish an increased degree of flexibility, through automated manufacturing, to combine economies of scale, through process standardization, with economies of scope, through product differentiation, and to achieve quicker response times to customers' preferences and market demands. Simultaneously, in most developing countries, there is also an observable undercurrent of deregulation, privatization or corporatization, and open international market competition for industrial development. In this present era of new internationalism, technology management has become one of the main strategic priorities, because it provides the vital factor underpinning the survival and prosperity of industrial enterprises everywhere. Hence, given the recognition that the key competitive advantage in the international market-place nowadays is the ability of an enterprise continuously to introduce technological innovations faster than others, the need for endogenous technology capacity building can hardly be overemphasized. This paper presents a general framework for the development of a set of technology indicators which could be useful for assessing industrial investment projects funded by an international or national development finance institution. The framework attempts to integrate business and technology strategies particularly in the context of developing countries. Starting with consideration of the unique characteristics of technology at the firm level, and using a systems analysis approach to the market structure, possible strategic mixes are determined by considering four business strategies-price, value, niche and green leadership-and four technology strategies-technology leader follower, exploiter and extender. The necessary considerations for a technological capability enhancement and plausible technology strategy progression path are also discussed for different development conditions. The analytical measures presented in this paper are focused on such important aspects as the degree of technology component sophistication, the level of technology capability advancement, the status of technology infrastructure building, and the dynamism of technology climate, all of which could be used for investment project review and appraisal undertaken by international and national development finance institutions. |
