Technology Strategy
(San Francisco - Fall 2015 - 1.0 cu)

Professor Karl Ulrich

TA: Alex Cantwell is the TA for the course. Alex typically attends class sessions, and is available by email if you have administrative or grading issues.

<<Click on "Modules" in the left navigation bar for the overall flow of the course, including all content pages and assignments.

There is no conventional syllabus for this course. The course materials are mostly embedded directly in the modules of this site. There is a textbook, but many of the readings and cases are web-based resources. You will find that preparing for this class is best done at your computer with a good internet connection, as you'll need to view web sites, read the content pages in Canvas and access documents from the web.

Course Policies (set up as the first assignment)

Textbook
Constantinos C. Markides and Paul A. Geroski. 2005. Fast Second: How Smart Companies Bypass Radical Innovation to Enter and Dominate New Markets. Jossey-Bass. San Francisco.

The text is available via Amazon in both paper and Kindle formats. There is a good supply of used copies available too. This is a well written book that summarizes a lot of the academic literature, while providing good references to original sources. It's also quite inexpensive.

The other readings are all available as web pages or as PDFs via this site.

What you should learn in Technology Strategy (MGMT 731)

Definition of technology
Roles relative to technology
What is a technology strategy?
Incremental vs. radical innovations / H1, H2, H3 innovation
Technology push and market pull
S-curves
Drivers of diffusion rates
Rogers' categories of adoption / "crossing the chasm"
Industry patterns of entry/exit and the "dominant design"
Competence-enhancing vs. competence-destroying technologies
Disruption of incumbents - disruption from below and the "innovator's dilemma"
Drivers of value capture - appropriability and complementary assets
Patents as mechanism for appropriation
Standards as mechanism for appropriation
Timing of entry, first mover "advantage"
Open innovation, open tournaments