Technology development process and managing uncertainties with sustainable competetive advantage approach

Abstract

The main purpose of this research work is to assist the decision-making process which is related to technology and knowledge factor within an organization. The data has been gathered and analysed from a particular multinational company that operates in the ceramic manufacturing industry within Malaysia. Four respondents were sought to answer the sense-and-respond questionnaire, including the part on technology sharing. The priority among technology types, including basic, core, and spearhead was decided by the maximum coefficient of the variance. The work has two main contributions: 1. It proposes and validates a tool for decisions and strategies related to technology focus in firms, and 2. expands the notion of technology types from focusing only on product development to one that focuses on both product and process development. The results of the study show that the proposed model which was previously applied in high tech start-ups and local medium-size enterprises is applicable in large industries involved in mass production.