On Customer Complaints

A dissatisfied customer who doesn’t complain won’t be a customer for long.
Think about it. What is the underlying reason behind customer complaints? Is it because the customer just wants to lash at you one last time before she goes to the competition? I doubt if that’s even true 1/3 of the time. If the customer [...]

Uses and Caveats of Technology Roadmapping

This is part 3 of my first look in technology roadmapping. Part 1 and 2 are here and here respectively.
As mentioned earlier, technology roadmapping is not limited to a single product. Phaal et al. (2004) identified eight different types of roadmaps which may be used for different purposes. These eight types will not be discussed [...]

The Technology Roadmapping Process

For a brief introduction on technology roadmapping, see my earlier post.

While understanding the basic parts of a roadmap is important, it is just as critical to understand the process that produces such a roadmap. To elaborate on the technology roadmapping process, we refer to Bray and Garcia (1997) who depict the activity as being comprised [...]

A First Look at Technology Roadmapping

Technology roadmapping is an organisational process designed to align business objectives with available or yet-to-be available technologies. Bray and Garcia (1997) describe it as “a way to identify, evaluate and select technology alternatives that can be used to satisfy the need [of the market].” It is also a tool that should be used in the [...]

A Focus on the Incubatee

Key Points

An incubatee must balance short and long term responses to new technical and market opportunities;
Incubatees must be encouraged to use control systems within their operations at the early stages; and
Interaction among incubatees is vital.

Strategic Planning (part 2)

This is part 2 of a four-part series on strategic planning. Part 1 is here.
For this part, we will concern ourselves with the second question: where do we want to go? It is in this part where the firm formulates (if it hasn’t done so previously) or re-formulates (as needed) its hierarchy of objectives. This [...]

On Teaching Entrepreneurship

“…being an entrepreneur is not a personality characteristic, it is a learned skill…An entrepreneur doesn’t seek risk; he or she tries to minimize risk…it’s actually about managing uncertainty. What is teachable is how, given your character, you can live in an entrepreneurial way–as opposed to changing your character.”
–Prof. P. W. Marshall. Entrepreneurship: It Can Be [...]

Strategic Planning (part 1)

Strategic planning is an organisation-wide activity led by management aimed at deciding which general direction a firm should take. The complexity of the process may depend on the size of the firm. Nevertheless, because of its importance to an organisation’s success, it should be handled conscientiously at all times if it is to be effective.
According [...]