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Top2. Approach
To formulate a technology strategy for SMEs, it is necessary to understand, which technological profile the SME should establish to be compatible also in the future. Moreover, their technological framework also the addressed markets are of central interest (as the markets lead to relevant functions and therefore to relevant technologies). Friar (1985) also points out, that market pull and user needs plays a major role in the development of a technology strategy.
It is not surprising, given the nature of the issue at hand, that primarily the future development of both, technologies and markets, have to be investigated and analysed. The reason is very evident: foreseeable requirements evolution or -shifts within existing markets and the appearance of new interesting markets will influence the required technology profile of the SME. Hakanson and Zander (1986) suggest therefore, that the technology strategy should be developed in parallel with the corporate strategy because of their strong independency.
Due to these dimensions “market” and “technology” and the time orientation (actual state vs. potential future state), 4 areas of influence can be distinguished (Figure 1). In order to establish a valid long term technology strategy, all those four areas have to be examined and analysed.
Figure 1. The Influence of market and technology
The analysis starts with the actual state of technology (on a technology competence level) and actual addressed markets (on a requirements-level). The analysis of the actual state can be implemented quite easily, as SMEs often have a quite good picture on the actual requirements of their addressed markets and their technological competences. The identification of the future markets and new future technologies is rather more complex. These areas are much less apparent to SMEs as they rarely have them investigated systematically (Lichtenthaler, 2000; Shane, 2009).