Technology and Operations Strategy – First Half (2016)
Instuctor：
Ruey-Shan Andy Guo (郭瑞祥教授)
Building 2, Room 813 (Tel: 3366-1050)
rsguo@ntu.edu.tw
http://guo.ba.ntu.edu.tw
Hours:
Classroom:
Grading:
Textbook:
Wednesday, 9:10am - 12:10pm
Building 2, Room 204
Participation (30%) Assignments (40%) Term paper (30%)
Burgelman, Christensen & Wheelwright, Strategic Management of
Technology and Innovation, Irwin, 5th., 2009.
Description: Technology and Operations Strategy is an important issue for students who
major in management. In this course, we will introduce the classical
research that are published in top tier Journal and adopt Harvard cases for
discussion, combined with in-class video, readings, design thinking and
lectures to inspire students. Research papers are discussed and reported
individual, which need everyone to actively participate and contribute. The
framework of this course is in the following figure.
Resource
availability
and allocation
Understanding
competitors’
innovative
strategies and
multi-industry
evolution
Corporate
innovative
strategies
Corporate structural
and cultural context
Understanding
corporate
technological
environment
Corporate strategic
management capacity
1
Class Schedule
2/24 Management of technology and innovation
 (p.1-12) Integrating technology and strategy: a general management
perspective
 M. Berry and J. Taggart, “Managing technology and innovation: a review,”
R&D Management, vol. 24, no. 4, pp.341-353, 1994.
3/2 Technology strategy
 (I-1) Profiting from technological innovation: implications for integration,
collaboration, licensing, and public policy
 (I-3) The core competence of the corporation
 Case: 3M
 Each group prepare a ppt file to answer the following questions:
1. As Andy Wong, how would you handle the authorization for
expenditure (AFE) for the relaunch of the privacy screen?
2. As Paul Guehler, would you approve the AFE if Wong set it up to
you?
3. How effective has Wong been as a front-line manager in the 3M
context? How effective has Guehler been as a 3M division
president?
4. What is it about 3M that makes it perhaps the most consistently
entrepreneurial large company in the world?
3/9
Technology evolution
 (II-3A) Exploring the limits of the technology s-curve. Part 1: component
technologies
 (II-11) Architectural innovation: the reconfiguration of existing product
technologies and the failure of established firms
 C. Christensen and R. Rosenbloom, “Explaining the attacker‘s advantage:
technological paradigms, organizational dynamics, and the value network,”
Research Policy, vol. 24, pp.233-257, 1995.
2
3/16
Disruptive innovation & design thinking
 (II-4) Customer power, strategic investment, and the failure of leading
firms
 HBR article: Design thinking
 Case: IDEO product development
 Each group prepare a ppt file to answer the following questions:
1. How would you characterize IDEO's process, organization,
culture and management?
2. Should IDEO accept the Visor project as is (on a dramatically
reduced schedule)? Should they try to persuade Handspring's
management to change its aggressive launch schedule? Or should
they simply decline the project?
3/23
Technology sourcing
 (III-5) Absorptive capacity: a new perspective on learning and innovation
 F. Rothaermel and M. Alexandre, “Ambidexterity in technology sourcing:
the moderating role of absorptive capacity,” Organization Science, vol. 20,
no. 4, pp. 759–780, 2009.
3/30
Business model innovation
 Living on the fault line
 HBR article: Reinventing your business model
 Case: Netflix
 Each group prepare ppt file to answer the following questions:
1. Did Netflix do the same jobs for consumers that Blockbuster did?
How did this evolve over time?
2. Compare Blockbuster’s and Netflix’s profit models. How might
the differences affect the respective company’s strategies?
3. As you examine each major shift in Netflix’s strategy, what might
have been an assumptions checklist for VOD?
4/13
Mid-term presentation
3