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Last updated: Thursday, 25-Jun-2009 16:24:01 EDT
Fabrykat 2000 - Final Report - Appendix B
Technology Management Curriculum Development:
Criteria and Overview for Institution and Course Selection
1. Institutions
The selection process leading to the identification of three institutions of higher education where the Technology Management (TM) option would be introduced was based on the following criteria:
- academic status of the institution;
- diversity of three selected institutions to reflect diversity of higher education institutions in Poland, thus increasing the possibility for future dissemination of the model TM option;
- balance in geographical location of three institutions in Poland; and
- possibility of identifying capable academic leaders that would spearhead an effort of introducing three pilot courses and eventually installing a full scale Technology Management option at their respective institutions.
With these criteria in mind, the following three institutions of higher education were selected as sites for a pilot introduction of three TM courses, and then implementation of a full scale Technology Management Option along with the leaders that have been contacted and agreed to work on this project:
Warsaw School of Economics, Dept. of Management Systems; leader – Prof. dr Wieslaw M. Grudzewski, Department Chair and Chairman of Management Section of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Prof. Grudzewski and Prof. Irena Hejduk, his deputy, both have a long record of publications in the area of marketing and management. They have conducted a number of workshops and training for high-tech companies in Warsaw.
WSB-NLU at Nowy Sacz, private school of business located in Nowy Sacz, which has been ranked consistently over the last 3 years as the best private school of business in Poland (developed with USIA grant funds); leader – Dr. Krzysztof Pawlowski, Rector of the School and Member of the Strategic Committee of the Ministry of Education of Poland;
Wroclaw Polytechnic, School of Management and Informatics, one of the oldest school of business in Poland with a focus on technology; leader – Prof. dr Edward Radosinski, Chair of the Department of Computer Applications. Wroclaw University of Technology has a long tradition in teaching courses related to technology management.
Moreover, the Institute of Industrial Management, “Orgmasz,” in Warsaw was added to the list in the second phase of the curriculum development. A co-founder of the institute, Prof. Wieslaw Kotarba, as President of the Polish Patent Office is without a doubt one of the most competent experts in the country on intellectual property issues. He has experience in teaching since he was a university professor before becoming a Cabinet member.
Criteria and Selection of Technology Management Courses.
A broad review of courses being offered in Poland, other European countries (like the Netherlands), and by U.S. institutions related to Technology Management yielded a list of non-cohesive, very diversified courses that sometimes seemed to be randomly put together. This led to the conclusion that to come up with a cohesive and holistic curriculum for a Technology Management option, it was necessary to develop a system that would link together: a process of “innovation-to-market,” an envisioned profile of the graduate, and major objectives of the option that are derived form the mission of the academic institution. To simplify the matter, three basic phases of the “innovation-to-market” process were identified:
Phase I: GENERATING IDEAS/ VENTURES/ PRODUCT DESIGN
Phase II: MANAGING/ ORGANIZING/ HANDLING LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES
Phase III: MARKETING OF TECHNOLOGY/ SALES/ DISTRIBUTION
A separate group of courses was established to support each of the three Phases of the process.
Group II courses were subdivided into two sub-categories: “Strategy/ Legal and Ethical/ Resources,” and “Management Tools and Techniques.” Such a structure seemed to be justified by the fact that courses in this group were addressing two clearly different levels of management: strategic and operational (with concentration on management tools and techniques).
Additionally, some topical clusters were identified within courses listed in every group that corresponded with specific, well-recognized academic fields in the area of management.
In Group I, the following two clusters of courses were identified:
- Entrepreneurial courses – including courses focusing clearly on the issues of entrepreneurial aspects of bringing technology to market, starting up and organizing new ventures etc.;
- Innovation courses – focusing on the issues of idea generating, techniques of creative thinking and innovation process and management.
In the Group II sub-category “Strategy/ Legal and Ethical/ Resources,” the following four clusters of courses were identified:
- Strategic issues – courses dealing with the strategic role of Technology Management and ways it should be incorporated into the corporate strategy;
- Management issues – courses providing a broad overview of management processes in technology transfer including classical R&D management;
- HRM issues – all courses addressing staff management and performance in so-called ‘high performance organizations” that are technology driven; and
- Legal and Ethical issues – courses addressing ethics of innovation, intellectual property and laws regulating technology transfer.
In the Group II sub-category “Management Tools and Techniques,” the following two clusters of courses were identified:
- Decision Support Tools for Technology Management – courses addressing specific decision-making tools and techniques to be used in the high-risk/opportunity environment of technology transfer, eg., project management, risk management etc.;
- Management Functions for Technology Management – courses addressing classical functional areas of management such as finance and accounting with a specific bias towards the technology transfer environment. It was suggested that such courses could be incorporated through appropriate adjustments and augmentation of the respective core business curriculum.
In Group III, no clusters were identified. It was assumed instead that all courses in this group would address marketing issues of technology transfer with special focus on technology-based competitive advantage, market plan and commercialization. Special attention was paid to such courses as “Hi Tech Marketing Project,” or “Practical Elements of Marketing New Technology,” which embodied such methodologies as appropriate internships, projects and/or a capstone course at the end of the Technology Management option curriculum. Such a capstone course would draw from all courses in the option and provide students with an opportunity to apply acquired knowledge in a context of a real technology transfer problem/ case.
The desired profile of a graduate in Technology Management implied a set of goals that have to be met by the courses selected to the curriculum. It was assumed that the Technology Management option curriculum must attain the following four goals:
- endow students with Technology Competence;
- provide students with Innovative Abilities;
- develop and instill Entrepreneurial Abilities; and
- equip students with solid Organizational Abilities.
The above goals were used as criteria in selecting courses for a final version of a Technology Management curriculum, in order to provide in it a set of courses that together would address all four goals. It was also assumed for practical purposes that the entire option should not exceed 30 credit hours, therefore the proposed curriculum will include 8–10 one semester academic courses. The following six courses were developed and implemented as noted below:
Course: “Principles of Technological Entrepreneurship ”
Author: Prof. Wieslaw Grudzewski and Prof. Irena Hejduk
Institution: Warsaw School of Economics
Learning Outcomes: This course is intended to lay the foundations for the technology management curriculum, with an emphasis on market-driven technology extensions services, while simultaneously covering the essentials of technology commercialization.
Course: “Decision Support Tools for Technology Management”
Author: Prof. Edward Radosinski
Institution: Wroclaw University of Technology
Learning Outcomes: This course focuses on management techniques and tools specific to the managing of technological competitiveness, from the business planning stage to strategic, long-term development scenarios. Students will be exposed to relevant decision-making techniques used in a high-risk, high-potential gains environment, with particular emphasis on project management and risk management tools.
Course: “Business and Technological Ethics”
Author: Prof. Edward Kolasa
Institution: Nowy Sacz School of Business WSB National Louis University
Learning Outcomes: This course introduces elements of normative and theoretical ethical standards in business practices, with a particular emphasis on the role of ethics in a high-tech environment, including corporate social responsibility towards the labor force, clients, shareholders, and the community as a whole.
Course: “Marketing for Technology Oriented Organizations.”
Authors: Prof. Wieslaw Grudzewski and Prof. Irena Hejduk
Institution: Warsaw School of Economics
Learning Outcomes: This course provides a comprehensive review of marketing tools and techniques especially useful in technology-driven organization. Special emphasis will be on Information Technology and its role in modern marketing.
Course: “Research and Development Management”
Author: Prof. Edward Radosinski
Institution: Wroclaw University of Technology
Learning Outcomes: This course will focus on management techniques and tools specific to the managing research and development activities. Students will be exposed to the array of issues associated with the costing, budgeting, project team building and project risk management typical for an R&D environment.
Course: “Intellectual Property Management”
Author: Prof. Wieslaw Kotarba, President of the Polish Patent Office
Institution: Institute of Industrial Management “ORGMASZ” in Warsaw
Learning Outcomes: This course will provide students with a broad foundation and legal framework of laws and regulations in the area of intellectual property, patents, licenses etc. This course will address specific Polish laws as well as international laws and conventions. The focus of the course will be on laws related to industrial and technological ventures.
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Last Updated on: June 25, 2009 |
