Technology Strategy:

Knowledge Management

Technology Intelligence

Collecting, Analyzing and Communicating Competitive Technology Information

Why Technology Intelligence?

Companies install an intelligence system (technology, market, business or competitive intelligence) to collect and analyze information on market, product, and technology changes and on other environmental transformations in order to increase their decision-making quality and competitiveness.

As organizational needs in information on markets, competitors, products, and technology changes may differ, there are different ways to develop and implement technology intelligence activities, depending upon the business environment, its uncertainty, technology strategy, and the resources & capabilities available. Another important factor influencing the technology intelligence needs depends on the stages in the company life cycle.

Technology Intelligence in Start-Up Ventures

Flexibility and speed of response are key advantages of start-up ventures based on their organizational knowledge base. To support sustainable growth, this organizational knowledge base has to be elaborated on and carefully cultivated. During the initial stages (inception, pilot production, rolling out, and growth phase), startup firms are especially faced with rapid changing technology and innovation management activities, and therefore, with changing technology intelligence needs as well. Because of the entrepreneurial dynamics and cultures within start-up ventures,  implementing a technology intelligence model from traditional firms and the search for “the” technology management approach seems not to be very promising. Therefore, technology intelligence has to be looked at in a more generic manner – e.g. by using the four behavioral modes of intelligence activities – in order to be managed in start-up ventures.