TECHNOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT STYLES

Despite the utilization of technology in company strategies it is important to understand how the various facets that the technology management styles may assume are configured. After all, they can be decisive in the natural evolution of the technologies to be utilized in a company?s innovative processes. Utilizing the political metaphor, McGee and Prusak (1994) and Weil and Ross (2004) classify five  “states”  of  styles  of  technology management.  They stress  that  maintaining  multiple  styles generates confusion and reduces consumers organizational resources, with a loss of efficiency.

1. Technocratic Utopia: a highly technological approach to management that emphasizes the classification and modeling of information assets of an organization, strongly supported in new technologies. It is stimulated generally by information professionals who develop detailed planning based on architecture and efficient use of organizational data. Its aim is to plan a technological infrastructure with a unique databank for information without redundancy.  It is characterized by valuing the most recent hardware and software and it is concerned more with the mechanisms of information distribution than by whom the information is used. It seeks to handle all the organizations? information and presupposes that those in the highest hierarchical positions will not restrict the free flow of information;
2. Anarchy: presents a complete lack of technology management;
3. Feudalism: presents technology management by business or functional units, which define their needs. The leaders possess the power to decide which measures will be utilized to understand performance and the common vocabulary to be utilized. It is prevalent in environments where there is structuring by units or divisions that possess high autonomy; 
4. Monarchy: the power over technology management is centralized  and  autonomy of  departments  and  divisions  in  relation  to  technology policies  is substantially reduced. The approach is from top to bottom, autocratic. Generally they reveal short “reigns”  or  “monarchs”  and  “presidents”  that  bring bad  bodment  for  the  growth  of  persistent technology uses and traditions. The mortality of this style is high and fast.

Weill and Ross (2004) approach 3 different monarchical styles:

1. in Business, where an executive or senior executive group develops all technology decisions related to the company; and
2. in Information Technology, whose decisions are made by an IT executive or group;
3. Federalism: an approach to technology management based on consensus and negotiation of key-information elements (management, strategic and tactical levels) and on the flow of information for the organization. In this state, negotiation is the key by which the potentially competing and non-cooperative parties may be united. The elaboration of a collective definition of objectives and means to reach them is also important. Generally the organizations possess strong central leadership and a mentality that encourages cooperation and learning.

Considering the political styles for information, McGee and Pruzak (1994) establish the following steps for effective management of technology: Selecting a Political Organization: The selection of a political organization implies the definition of a management model. Knowing that the models utilized by people in the company, which of these models predominates at the moment, which is most desirable and how to proceed to achieve it may bring the best utilization of resources to the company.

 The  technology  management  models  may be  analyzed  along  four  dimensions:

  1) Vocabulary and meaning unit – an agreed upon conjunct of given terms, categories and elements of data that have the same meaning throughout the whole organization;

2) A significant degree of access to technology – those who should possess the technological elements and to what ends should they be employed;

3) Quality of technology – achieved through detailed care with integrity, precision, prevalence, , interpretability and general value of technology; and

4) Efficiency in managing technology:

• Adapting Technological Policies to the Organizational Culture: technological policies important to the survival of a new organization are among the last things to change in an organization whose mentality undergoes alteration;
• Practicing Technological Realism: considering breaking technology down into units that administrators can understand and negotiate;
• Choosing the Appropriate Policy: an important question in choosing a technology policy is evaluating and studying the charismatic people who possess political abilities of persuasion and negotiation to discuss and negotiate with those who hold power in the organization, facilitating the sharing of technology to the benefit of the organization;
• Avoiding Empire Building: technology is a powerful tool that can drive administrators to build empires based on the possession of great volumes of information. In order for a company to be successful a consensus on what constitutes technology in the organization, which possesses it, how it is conserved, who manages it, and how it is controlled and utilized must be reached. As such, and with great care, the organization can avoid creating a technology empire.

The innovative processes, technological or not, present in essence a scope in the sense of adding value to products and services offered by organizations. This makes them singular in the competitive economic arena and excessively commoditized. Innovations travel along various links that compose a chain of value for companies, implying ease of access to a variety of knowledge by the organizations. It also implies operating in new markets, increases in revenue and strengthening of partnerships. Innovations may guide organizations in the search for what are called competitive advantages and, at the same time, guarantee sustainability over the medium- and long- term.