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The development of a framework to measure the “technology awareness”
of South African technology companies with regard to recent developments in
nanotechnology.
A Research Report
Presented to
The Graduate School of Business
University of Cape Town
In partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the
Masters of Business Administration Degree
By
Ansu Sooful
December 1999
Supervisor: Professor Rias Van Wyk
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COPYRIGHT UCTThis report is not confidential.
It may be used freely by the Graduate School of Business.
I wish to thank my wife Faldiela for her support and encouragement. Her comments and
advise on this report has helped me present difficult and vague concepts clearly and concisely.
I would also like to thank Professor Rias Van Wyk for his invaluable lectures on Management
of Technology, which introduced many of the tools and models used in this report.
I certify that except as noted above the report is my own work and all references used are
accurately reported in footnotes.
Signed: __________________________
Ansu Sooful
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COPYRIGHT UCTTHE DEVELOPMENT OF A FRAMEWORK TO MEASURE THE “TECHNOLOGY
AWARENESS” OF SOUTH AFRICAN TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES WITH REGARD
TO RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN NANOTECHNOLOGY.
ABSTRACT
This study draws on the existing management of technology models and various perspectives
on strategy in order to build a coherent framework that can be used to measure “technology
awareness” as defined in this report. This framework is then applied to the Glass and Non-
metals sector to measure its “technology awareness” with regard to nanotechnology. Results
indicate that there is a low technology awareness of nanotechnology, which was in line with
expected results. The framework’s effectiveness, usefulness and usability were then analysed,
highlighting its strengths and weaknesses.
KEYWORDS: Technology, management of technology, technology awareness,
technology measurement, technology evaluation, nanotechnology,
technology in South Africa, nanotechnology in South Africa.
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Content
GLOSSARY........................................................................................................................................................... 1
1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................ 2
2 KEY DEFINITIONS ................................................................................................................................... 4
3 METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................................................... 6
4 LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................................................................................ 8
5 THEORETICAL MODELS/FRAMEWORKS/CONCEPTS................................................................ 11
6 THE TECHNOLOGY AWARENESS FRAMEWORK ........................................................................ 18
7 APPLICATION OF THE TECHNOLOGY AWARENESS MODEL TO NANOTECHNOLOGY . 22
8 ANALYSIS OF THE FRAMEWORK.................................................................................................... 35
9 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................................... 37
10 APPENDIX 1 – SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT S&T ACTIVITIES......................................... 39
11 APPENDIX 2 – DESCRIPTION OF SECTORS ANALYSED ............................................................. 40
12 APPENDIX 3 – TECHNOLOGY AWARENESS SCORES PER SECTOR........................................ 49
13 REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................... 55
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Glossary
ASTC Australian Science and Technology Council
ATIP Asian Technology Information Program
CSIR Council for Science and Industrial Research
DACST Department of Art, Culture, Science and Technology
DRAM Dynamic Random Access Memory
FRD Foundation for Research and Development
GEAR Growth Employment and Redistribution Plan
GMR Giant Magnetoresistance
HSRC Human Science Research Council
IWGN Interagency Working Group on NanoScience, Engineering and
Technology
MEMS Microelectromechanical Systems
MOT Management of Technology
MRC Medical Research Council
NACI National Advisory Council on Innovation
Nm 1 Nanometre = 10-9 metres
NRF National Research Foundation
NRTF National Research and Technology Foresight
NSTC National Science and Technology Council (USA)
NSTF National Science and Technology Forum
POST Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (UK)
RDP Reconstruction and Development Program
S&T Science and Technology
SAP Social Acceptance Probability
SED Single Electron Devices
SET Single Electron Transistor
SHE Safety, Health and Environment
WTEC World Technology Division
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1 Introduction
During the last eight years, there have been various investigations into Science and
Technology (S&T) in South Africa. These are outlined in Appendix A. One of the most
significant investigations was the technology audit that was commissioned in 1996 and
completed in September this year. This audit would enable government and industry to
evaluate the country’s current S&T strengths and weaknesses as well understand the impact of
technology on the future of the country. Now that the audit is complete, methods should be
developed to identify, evaluate and benchmark technology in South African companies
against the rest of the world. The report aims to provide a framework to South African
managers to enable them to measure the “technology awareness” of their companies and
thereby benchmark their organisations against global competitors.
This report firstly provides a definition of “technology awareness” and then draws on existing
Management of Technology (MOT) models to create a practical framework that can be used
to evaluate a company’s technology awareness with regard to emerging technologies.
Nanotechnology was chosen as the technology to test the framework. The reasons are outlined
below. Firstly, interest in the field of nanotechnology has been growing world-wide over the
last decade with ever increasing number of researchers from diverse disciplines entering the
field. This has increased scope and opportunities in the nanotechnology field. In 1997, the
total spend on nanotechnology research was 432 million dollars by various governments. This
figure excludes the private sector companies such as Hitachi - 280 million dollars, NEC - 15
million dollars and Toshiba - 20 million dollars per annum (Siegel, Hu, Roco, 1999:WTEC site
visits). Figures from Europe and United States private companies were not available,
however, if the trend is similar to Japan, then private sector R&D spend on nanotechnology is
more than double the government spend. This indicates an annual spend of ~1,296 million
dollars of R&D in the field of nanotechnology alone.
Secondly, the completion of a world-wide audit on nanotechnology by the United States
government’s NSTC coupled with the completion of the technology audit of South African
companies provided a great opportunity to draw information from these two reports and
measure South Africa’s technology awareness in the context of the world.
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Thirdly, nanotechnology is a broad-based technology. The implication of this is that many of
the industries would be affected. This research identified seven out of the eighteen technology
sectors would be directly affected by developments in nanotechnology. Only one company -
Eskom mentioned nanotechnology as a potential technology to be aware of in the future
(South African Journal of Science, 1998). It became clear that even “high tech” South African
companies had very little technology awareness of nanotechnology yet the world is spending
more than double South Africa’s total R&D budget on this specific technology. If this report
helps South African companies develop technology awareness with regard to this or any other
rapidly emerging technology, then it would have met its primary objective.
The report firstly defines key terminology and then outlines the research methodology
adopted for this study. This includes the types of research conducted as well as any problems
experienced with the methodology. After this, a brief review of the various types of literature
is outlined. Key pieces of literature are noted and their respective contributions to this report
are discussed. Various theoretical and MOT models are then discussed. These models were
selectively chosen to build up a practical framework for the evaluation of technology
awareness. The framework is then constructed from modified and self-developed models. It is
then applied to the Glass and Non-metals sector in South Africa to measure the sectors level
of technology awareness with regard to nanotechnology. The framework is then evaluated in
terms of its usability. This report then concludes with a synopsis of the key issues.
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2 Key Definitions
In order to develop a model to measure the technology awareness of nanotechnology in South
African companies, the following definitions are described.
2.1 Nanotechnology
Since nanotechnology is such a broad field, it is not surprising that different regions in the
world have different definitions of what is meant by nanotechnology. For example, in Europe,
nanotechnology is defined as “the direct control of atoms and molecules for materials and
devices” (Siegel et al, 1999:141) while the definition in the United States is broader. In this
report the United States’ National Science and Technology Committee’s (NSTC) definition of
nanotechnology is used:
“the exploitation of the novel and improved physical, chemical, mechanical, and biological
properties, phenomena, and processes of systems that are intermediate in size between
isolated atoms/molecules and bulk materials, where phenomena length and time scales
become comparable to those of the structure. It implies the ability to generate and utilise
structures, components, and devices with a size range from about 0.1 nm (atomic and
molecular scale) to about 100 nm (or larger in some situations) by control at atomic,
molecular, and macromolecular levels” (Siegel, et al, 1999:131).
2.2 Technology Awareness
For the purposes of this study “Technical Awareness” is defined as the holistic understanding
of the impact that new or emergent technologies will have on current actions/strategies.
Technology awareness must be holistic, indicating that the internal and external environment
of the company is understood. This includes social factors, environmental issues and various
trends in society. The identification of emergent technologies should be conducted via
technology scanning methods and/or the consulting of appropriate sources of technology
information. The extent to which the results of this technology analysis are used to influence
current actions/strategies is an indication of the level of technology awareness (Sanders,
1998:110-111).
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2.3 Internal Core Competencies
Van Wyk (1999:60) defined a core competency as a “unique combination of technology,
corporate procedures and corporate skills”. Core competencies have the following
properties:
• Differentiates the organisation from its competitors
• Is hard to imitate
• Underpins many different products
• Provides access to different markets
• Contributes to perceived customer value
Van Wyk (1999:61) acknowledges that it is very difficult to find core competencies that meet
this definition. Some organisations might not be able to find any such competencies. In this
study the term core competency is used to identify a unique and/or distinctive competency in
the company.
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3 Methodology
The first step in this process was the gathering of data. There were five areas in which
research was conducted. These were grouped in the following categories:
1. Nanotechnology as an emergent technology including current breakthroughs and
applications.
2. Ways and means of evaluating companies’ ability to link technology with strategy.
Current academic models, and evaluation methods.
3. Research into the South African companies’ strategic planning processes.
4. Information on South African government’s understanding of nanotechnology and
whether this forms part of its long term planning.
5. Information of first world governments’ understanding of nanotechnology and whether
this forms part of their long term planning.
6. Research on world-wide companies that are currently involved in nanotechnology,
including investment in the technology.
Desk research was done for all of the above categories.
The second step was to identify and pick the most appropriate models that could be used in
the development of the framework for the measurement of technology awareness in South
African companies. Some of the models had to be adapted in the creation of the framework.
All adaptations are fully described and documented.
The third step was to apply these models and create a complete framework that could be used
to evaluate technology awareness in South Africa. The framework was analysed and
described. Limitation and assumptions were highlighted.
The fourth step was to apply the framework to nanotechnology and to the South African
industry. This involved a technology scan of nanotechnology, followed by an internal analysis
of a South African company. During the scanning phase it became clear that the field of
nanotechnology was too broad to conduct a detailed scan without dividing the technology into
manageable logic areas. A logical hierarchical structure of nanotechnology, proposed by the
NTSC, was used in the scanning process (Siegel, et al, 1999:5).
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The initial proposal was to conduct an evaluation of the top technology companies in South
Africa. A Delphi study was to be conducted to get consensus on the evaluation of companies
as technology companies by experts in the field of MOT. However, many of the potential
panellists had issues of confidentiality with regard to the knowledge that they had on
companies and therefore could not participate in this panel. The implication of this was that
the “top technology” companies could not be identified.
Instead of using the Delphi study group to identify top technology companies, this report
made use of the information from the South African government’s technology audit to
identify technology sectors impacted by nanotechnology. These sectors included companies
involved in material processing, chemical, synthesis, and electronics. The impacts of
nanotechnology on seven key technology sectors were evaluated. The sector that was most
highly impacted was discussed in the report.
The final step was to evaluate the framework by interpreting the results and looking for
corroborating or dismissive evidence that the framework gives a “true” indication of
technology awareness of nanotechnology in the South African industry. Both benefits and
shortcomings of the framework were identified and discussed.
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4 Literature review
The types of literature that were consulted can be broken up into four basic areas, that is:
• Speculation on the Impact of Nanotechnology
• Research into Nanotechnology
• Management of Technology and Innovation
• Technology in South Africa
A fifth area called “General Area” was also outlined to include commentary on literature that
does not fall into any of the above categories.
4.1 Speculation on the Impact of Nanotechnology
Although there was little academic or scientific information in these readings, it gave an
indication of the general awareness of a technology, general public opinion and potential of
the technology, which helped when conducting a scan of the technology and social
landscapes. Currently there are over 500 nanotechnology sites on the Internet and just as
many Usenet articles. Majority of the Usenet articles tends to be speculative and sensational
with very little scientific data. Most of the web sites contain both sensational as well as valid
scientific data. The Foresight Institute’s web site www.foresight.org was a very valuable site
in extracting both visionary and scientific information. The “Engines of Creation” by Drexler
(1986) proved to be very useful since Drexler is also a scientist and he was able to link
speculation with scientific possibilities.
4.2 Research into Nanotechnology
For actual research information into nanotechnology, journals on general science, engineering
and physics provided valuable information. Articles on information on latest research
developments in nanotechnology could be found in New Scientist, Journal of Physics,
Scientific American, Nature, and the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
The most valuable information was extracted from the Internet. These included companies
that are currently conducting research into nanotechnology, Academic institutions such as
universities and technology institutions, various government sites such as NASA, NSTC,
POST, etc. These sites contained published and unpublished papers and articles.
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The most useful piece of literature was a worldwide study of nanotechnology commissioned
by the Interagency Working Group on NanoScience, Engineering and Technology (IWGN).
This report entitled “Nanostructure Science and Technology- A Worldwide Study” took more
that two years to complete and it provides a consolidated view of all the research that is
currently being done on nanotechnology by governments as well as companies. A complete
audit was done including worldwide site visits to public, private and corporate research
facilities. Many of the findings of this report were used during the technology scanning
process.
4.3 Management of Technology and Innovation
The main component of this report is the development of a framework that management can
use as part of their strategic planning. In order to develop this framework, technology
management books and journal articles were consulted. These readings include two of Peter
Drucker’s books, namely, “Technology Management and Society”, as well as “Managing for
the Future”. Other books included a book by Ernest Braun called “Technology in context –
Technology Assessment for Managers” and “Strategic Thinking and the new Science” by T. I.
Sanders.
The most useful readings in terms of practical and easy of use models were from “
Technology and the Corporate Board” and “Strategic Technology Scanning” by Rias Van
Wyk. This report makes use of some of the models that he proposed. The Journals that were
consulted included the Management of Technology Journal and the International Journal of
Technology Management.
4.4 Technology in South Africa
In order to get information on the technology awareness of South African companies the
following literature was consulted. The “Business Futures 1999” published by the Institute for
Futures Research gave an overall picture of the current technology situation in South Africa.
Various Government and non-government institutions produced reports and papers on
Science and Technology during the last eight years. These were also used to build up a profile
of technology in South Africa. The following science councils - CSIR, NRF, MINTEK, and
MRC were also contacted for more information on the South African technology landscape.
The Journal of Science was also used as a source of information to build this profile.
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The most useful source of information was the recently completed technology audit, which
covered 18 technology sectors. This report draws on many of their findings when conducting
an internal examination of South African companies. Economic data compiled by Standard
Bank was also consulted in order to get a perspective on the economic trends of the South
African industry. Another book that was consulted was “South Africa – Prospects for
successful Transition” by Nedcor and Old Mutual. This book outlined various possible
scenarios for South Africa and outlined difficulties that South African society has to face in
order to grow economically.
4.5 Other General Areas
The development of a model to evaluate technology awareness is part of a drive to create a
culture of foresight when conducting strategic planning. For this reason general Strategy
books such as “What is Strategy- and does it Matter” by Whittington as well as various
articles in “The Strategy Reader” were consulted.
Another area that this framework hopes to promote is the development of “learning
organisation” by providing a tool, “the use of which will lead to new ways of thinking”
(Senge, Keiner, Roberts, Ross, Smith, 1994:28). This is a concept introduced by Peter Senge
in his book the “Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the learning organisation”. He,
together with four other authors, subsequently published “The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook”
which provided tools and strategies for building a learning organisation. This framework
embeds some of these tools and strategies in order to ensure that the process of calculating
technology awareness results in an increase in organisational knowledge.
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5 Theoretical Models/Frameworks/Concepts
5.1 Organisation of Nanotechnology technology areas
One of the problems that broad-based technologies introduce is the complexity of coherently
investigating various technological advancements. The United States National Science and
Technology Council (NSTC) developed a model to organise their research during their world-
wide study of nanotechnology during the period 1996 to 1999. This report will make use of
this model in order to highlight the areas of technology impact (Siegel et al, 1999:5).
The model is graphically represented as follows:
Organisation of the field of Nanotechnology
There are three broad areas that one can split up the process involved in nanoconstruction.
These are:
1. “Synthesis” - This involves the process where atoms or molecules are put together to form
“nanoparticles”.
2. “Assembly” - These nanoparticles are then put together to form nanostructures. By
controlling the size and structure of these nanostructures it is possible to control the
properties of the resultant material. A likely technology that would be introduced at this
stage in the process would be nanoreplicaters.
3. “Application” – this includes the way in which these nanostructures are networked
together in order to control the properties of the resultant material. This resultant material
can fall into four application areas that is:
Atoms/ Molecules
NanoparticlesNanostructures
Nanodevices
Dispersion and coatings
Consolidated materials
High Surface Area
Process line
Synthesis ApplicationsAssembly
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• Functional nanodevices - driven by the need for smaller devices. These devices need
to have the ability to interconnect with other nanodevices and create complete
functional systems.
• High surface area materials - The nanoscale building blocks have high surface to
volume areas. One would be able to control the surface area of a material by
controlling the networking/bonding of the nanostructures that make up a material. This
is very important for the creation of absorption materials or catalysts.
• Consolidated/bulk materials – the bulk behavior of materials can be controlled and set
at the atomic level. This could affect the mechanical, magnetic, or optical properties of
materials.
• Dispersion and coatings - Some of the commercial applications include printing,
sunscreens, photography, and pharmaceuticals and drug dispensary (Siegel, et al,
1999).
This report uses these four functional areas to act as a basis for investigating and describing
advancements in nanotechnology.
5.2 Technology Scanning/Assessment - Nanotechnology
There were several models or methodologies for technology scanning that various literatures
proposed. Hetman (1973:119) proposed a seven-step model while Braun (1998:33) proposed
a five-step model for technology assessment. Whilst these models covered the various aspects
of technology scanning, it was felt that Rias Van Wyk’s (1997:28) four-step approach to
technological scanning seem more relevant here. The reason for this was that both Braun and
Hetman’s approaches appeared to concentrate on the technology impact analysis, while Van
Wyk’s approach seem to concentrate more on the strategic nature of technology scanning. His
approach is outlined below.
• Define the landscape and set the agenda
• Explore the technological frontier
• Interpret and identify landmark technologies
• Evaluate using the landmark technologies and re-examine the company’s technological
base.
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It must be noted that the intended use of this model was to examine a host of emerging
technologies and not just one. In fact Van Wyk (1999) cautions against scans that are “clearly
focused and narrow domains of interest”. This warning must be noted when conducting a
technology scan as systemic influences in an organisation can dictate the areas that are
scanned (Whittington, 1993:55). The scope of this report, however, has been restricted to the
technological area of nanotechnology. Within the context of this report, it is acceptable to
apply this model to one well-defined technological area.
This report was interested in the identification of landmark nanotechnology technologies and
the evaluation of South African companies’ technological basis with respect to these
technologies. Van Wyk (1999) also proposed methods for the diagnosis of core competencies
and a matrix that indicates the interaction between the core competence and landmark
technologies. This would help an organisation identify landmark technologies that it should
be considering in their strategic planning.
5.3 Measurement of the status of technology in a corporate
In his unpublished book “Technology and the Corporate Board”, Rias Van Wyk (1999:1)
used a four-point scale in describing a link between corporate strategy and technology. The
scale is described as follows: -
Level 0 – There is no link with technology and strategy. Technology is a tool.
Level 1 – There is a relatively weak link between technology and strategy. Strategy is formed
first, and the technological implication examined later.
Level 2 - Strategy and technology codetermine each other. Executives understand their
technological core competencies and they use this as part of the strategic drive of the
organisation.
Level 3 – Technology foresight shapes and defines overall strategy. Executives use this
foresight to identify strategic opportunities.
5.4 Examination of the External/ Market Forces
Braun (1998:130) introduced the concept of a “relevance tree” that covers five areas, namely,
Economy, Technical/Commercial, Labour, Social/personal, and the Environment. Van Wyk
(1999:41) identified six “clusters of social values”. These are Safety, Health, Environment,
Energy, Entropy, and Economic. This report makes use of Van Wyk’s (1999:42) social
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preferences as basis for examining external/market forces. A table has been developed to help
map technologies against emerging social/ market values.
Description Weight Weighted
score
Rejection
Score =0
Acceptance
Score =0.5
Preference
Score = 1
Safety % Threaten No Impact Enhance
Health % Threaten No Impact Enhance
Environment % Contamination No Impact Improve
Energy % High cost, high
wastage, low
output
No Impact Low cost,
low
wastage,
High output
Entropy % High Low No impact
Economy
a) Efficiency % Reduce No Impact Improve
b) GDP/Capita % Reduce No impact Increase
c) Money % Reduce No impact Stable
d) International Ratios % Unstable Not
Affected
Stable
e) Non Cyclic Development % Unstable Not
Affected
Stable
f) Equitable distribution of
means
% Reduce No impact Increase
g) Balanced geography
development
% Reduce No impact Increase
h) Differential Social
Empowerment
% Reduce No impact Improve
Social Adoption Probability (SAP) =
This table indicates the social values and trends in society. The implications of this are that
technologies having a high “preference” bias will have a higher probability of succeeding
(P=1) then technologies that have a “rejection” bias (P=0). These probabilities are reflected
as “scores”.
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Also weights have been added to these values to indicate the importance attached to each
factor. These values can differ in different regions or societies. For example, first world
countries might be more concerned about SHE factors and less concerned about economic
factors while third world countries might have an opposite perspective. The “score” is
multiplied by the weight to give a “weighted score”. The “Weighted Scores” are added up to
give a “Social Adoption Probability” (SAP) score.
A cautionary warning by the Processualists is that the market is not as flexible as one might
be lead to believe. Even superior technologies that score a high SAP might be rejected by
society. Another cautionary note is that the calculations done here are highly subjective.
This model would work best if the weights were done by an internal committee rather than
individuals. The reason for this is that there is a great deal of thought and debate behind the
values. This activity will help develop organisational knowledge by stimulating debate and
assumptions about the external environment. If organisations continue to perform this activity
on a regulate basis and reflect on the results of their previous activities by revising their
assumptions and perceptions, then they would have taken the first steps to creating a learning
organisation around social scanning (Senge et al, 1994).
5.5 Strategic Technology Management
Drucker (1992:216-219) supports the view that research and development need to become
business driven rather then science driven. He proposes that technology strategies must be
based on business and market objectives. Business objectives should be based on the
potential of technology.
Whittington (1993:81-90) gives various perspectives on this subject. From a classical
perspective technology has to be market driven, that is, “technology push” processes must be
replaced with “market pull” processes so that the organisation can meet and satisfy consumer
needs. Wittington then shows how this market centric perspective is flawed in that technology
innovation can also be used to improve profits by controlling workers (Marxian) or by
controlling markets and dominating consumers (Schumpeterian).
Processual and systemic prospects suggest that technology innovation management is more
than simply understanding that the market directs technologies.
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The systemic view looks at the culture of the organisation. In American companies, R&D
staff views themselves as individuals separate from the company technology, while top
management view technology as simple tools to serve the objectives of the organisation.
Financial and Accounting disciplines dominate the top structure. In Germany companies,
technology drives the corporate strategy. Top management tends to come from R&D or
science backgrounds. Technology and strategy are intertwined at all levels in the company.
The German industry’s recent success indicates a better approach to technology (Whittington
1993:81-90).
The processual perspective is that technology innovation cannot be managed due to its
uncertain and unknown nature. Processualists warn against “over management” of innovation.
Also, the market approach tends to over estimate the flexibility of the organisations and
markets, Nuclear power and the QWERTY keyboard are given as examples of superior
technologies that did not fit with established paradigms. “Effective technology innovation
does not only come from scanning the external environment for marketing opportunities …
but from looking internally into the organisation and establish and build on core
competencies” (Whittington 1993:90).
Systemic view of Technology Management
This diagram attempts to capture these various points of view on strategic technology
management. The four areas outlined in the corners of the rectangle influence strategy, yet
strategy also impacts these areas. Also there are interrelationships between each of the
corners. Business objectives can impact the market, even if it means dominating the
consumers (Schumpeterian) and vice versa where market factors dominate business objectives
Business / Market
Objectives
Strategy
Potential
Technologies
Market/ External
Factors
Internal Core
Competencies
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(Classical). Objectives can drive internal competencies (Marxist) while competencies can
determine objectives (Processual). Internal competencies develop/ drive new technologies
(Processual), or new technologies can drive /influence competencies (Systemic). And finally,
the market environment can drive new technologies (Classical) or new technologies can
create new markets (Processual) e.g. 3M’s “Post-it”.
Technology managers need to be able to understand the systemic nature of strategic
technology planning and understand the interrelationships of these driving forces in order to
effectively manage technology. The interrelationships differ in different organisations.
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6 The Technology Awareness Framework
The following framework has been developed to help organisations come to terms with the
technology awareness levels within their organisations. Existing MOT models help identify
technologies that organisations should be concerned about, but fail to measure their
technology awareness of the organisation with regard to these technologies. A possible reason
for this is that the measurement of a concept like technology awareness is not an exact science
and much of it is based on calculated intuition. This framework attempts to integrate the
models/frameworks mentioned in the previous section into a coherent framework that can be
used to calculate an organisation’s technology awareness.
The Technology Management model outlined and described in section 4.5 was used as the
base model as this outlines the various areas that impact strategy. The Technology Scanning
model from section 4.2 was then added to the base model to identify “potential technologies”.
The External/Market Forces model from section 4.4 is used to identify market or external
issues. And finally, the Status of technology framework from section 4.3 is used to measure
the strategy in terms of the levels defined by Van Wyk. The board is capable of identifying
the business objectives and core competencies. Core competencies are defined in section 2.3.
Since most directors know their companies core competencies and business objectives, it was
felt that no framework or model was required for this. The model now looks like the
following diagram:
The Modified Technology Management Model
Business / Market
Objectives
Strategy
Potential
Technologies
Market/ External
Factors
Internal Core
Competencies
Internal Analysis
Technology
Scan
Market/External
Factors
Status of
Technology
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A matrix was then developed. This matrix was based on Van Wyk’s (1997:33) matrix of core
competencies versus landmark technologies. The following adaptations were made.
1. The matrix allows for a score of one and zero where 1 indicates impact, and 0 indicates no
impact. This deviates from the original matrix where scores from –2 to 1 were allowed.
2. New calculations were added onto the matrix where certain mathematical formulas were
used to work out the technology awareness per landmark technology, and then per
organisation.
This matrix gets its information from the modified technology management model. This is
represented below:
Landmark
Technologies
Core competencies Internal
Impact (I)
Strategic
Level (L)
SAP Awareness
Score (S)
A B C
Technology 1 1 0 1 2 2 0.7 2.8
Technology 2 0 0 0 0 3 0.2 0
Technology 3 0 1 0 1 1 0.8 0.8
Technology 4 1 1 1 3 3 0.4 3.6
Internal Effect (E) 2 2 2 6
Technology Awareness (T) T= ∑∑∑∑S /∑∑∑∑I 1.2
Low T High
Awareness 0 Low 1 Medium 2 High 3 Awareness
Some of the basic calculations and definitions are as follows:
1. Strategic level (L) – Strategic level of a landmark technology in a company - as defined by
Van Wyk (1999:1). Values range from 0 to 3 indicating the strategic level of that
technology at the organisation’s board level.
2. Impact level (I) - the sum of the core competencies that are affected per technology. This
calculation indicates number of core competencies impacted by a landmark technology.
Internal
Analysis
Technology
Scan
Status of the
technology
External/
Market Factors
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3. Effect (E) - the sum of the technologies that affect a core competency. This calculation
indicates the total effect on each core competency.
4. Social Acceptance Probability (SAP) – the probability of the technology being accepted
by the market.
5. Awareness Score (S) - the level that the landmark technology has in the organisation (0-3)
multiplied by the Impact Score I multiplied by the probability of Social acceptance SAP.
6. Technological Awareness (T) – the sum of S divided by the sum of I. The scores can be
clustered as follows:
• 0 – 1 Low Awareness
• 1 – 2 Medium Awareness
• 2 – 3 High Awareness
The logic behind this framework is that there are various considerations to measuring
technology awareness. The technological landscape should be understood so that potential
landmark technologies could be identified (Systemic). The organisation should understand its
core competencies and business objectives and how they relate to technology (Processual).
The market environment must be understood and organisations should understand the impact
of introducing new technologies (Classical). The final component of technology awareness is
the strategic view of the organisation on technology. By creating a framework where
technology awareness is determined by looking at the impact of a technology on a company,
the impact on society, and the attitude of the board to that technology, gives an “Awareness
Score” per technology. Some companies might score high on some technologies and low on
others due to possible systemic reasons. Technology awareness is organisational based and
not technology based. For this reason, an overall score (T) is calculated to indicate technology
awareness.
The usage of the framework is as follows:
1. A Technology scan is conducted as described in section 5.2
2. An External /Market examination of each landmark technology identified in Step 1.
3. An Internal Analysis is done to determine core competencies and business objectives.
4. A scoring of the strategic level of each landmark technology at the board level.
5. Populate the matrix and calculate the score.
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The framework is useful in the sense that it provides a measurement to an abstract concept.
In South Africa, companies are very financially driven and therefore numbers play an
important role. This framework puts together many abstract concepts and adds certain
values to them in order to reduce technology awareness to something that investors and
directors can understand. Currently, abstract concepts like “brand value” and “company
value” are measured and accepted by the market. Even in a conservative discipline like
Accountancy, the concept of “goodwill” was introduced to cater for these abstract
concepts. The creation of frameworks to measure various technology concepts helps a
non-technology aware market come to grips with technology matters in a format that they
can understand.
MOT measuring frameworks would help the market peg a value to something, even if it is
an abstract concept. Once the market has some perception of value to these concepts, it
will begin to manage them by discounting firms with low scores and funding firms with
high scores. It must be noted that the current JSE handbook does not have any technology
indicators. Since investors use this book to make investment decisions, it implies that
investors are not totally aware of the level of technology awareness of the companies that
they are investing in. By creating these indicators, so that investors can understand and
evaluate them, one would indirectly influence the board to begin managing technology in
order to protect their share price.
This model is very simplistic, however it outlines the important considerations that one
should account for when determining the level of a company’s technology awareness. It
also provides a base on which other technology evaluation frameworks can be built. This
framework will be tested using nanotechnology as the technology landscape. Any
problems experienced with the framework will be highlighted and discussed in section
nine.
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7 Application of the Technology Awareness Model to Nanotechnology
7.1 Step 1 – Conduct a Technology Scan
7.1.1 Define the Landscape and Set the Agenda
The boundaries of the technological scan are set within the nanotechnology organisation
model described in section 5.1. These are as follows:
• Nanodevices
• Dispersion and coatings
• Consolidated materials
• High Surface Area materials
The scanning process will concentrate on these technological areas.
7.1.2 Explore the Technological Frontier
7.1.2.1 Nanodevices
7.1.2.1.1 Construction of Nanoprocessors
One of the most exciting areas of application of nanotechnology is in the area of
microprocessors. Currently chip manufacturers are faced with the problem of size vs.
complexity. As complexity (c) increases and size (s) decreases, cost goes up and feasibility
decreases i.e. c/s ∝∝∝∝ cost and s/c ∝∝∝∝ feasibility.
Microprocessors – size vs. complexity
(Roux A, 1999:4-18)
In some of the laboratories research activities on silicon are decreasing, research activities on
single-electron devices (SEDs) which are composed of integrated single-electron transistors
No of Transistors
0
50100
150200
250300
350400
450
Year
Transistors per cm 2
Circuit Line Size
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
Year
Circuit Line Size
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(SETs) are increasing. Hitachi has already created a logical circuit of a diameter of less that
10 nanometers in diameter that can represent 1 bit of information using less than 10 electrons.
(Chown 1995:22). Currently more that 500 000 electrons are used to represent 1 bit. This
development indicates the journey towards SET and SED circuits has already begun and that
a breakthrough is possible in the near future.
7.1.2.1.2 Giant magnetoresistance (GMR) Technology
In many metals, electrical resistance changes when placed in a magnetic field. This property
has been of little use until GMR in multilayered structures was discovered in 1988 where it
made it possible to detect very small external magnetic fields.
Current applications of this technology are found in hard disk heads, computer memory
applications that could compete with (Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) and flash
memories, and various very small sensors, e.g. motion detectors (Roux A, 1999:4-54).
After the introduction of GMR technologies, the annual increase in number of bits per cm2 of
disk surface area have increased from 30% per annum to 100% per annum (PC Magazine,
1999).
A current restriction on this technology is that the transition of these layers is quantum
mechanically confined in one dimension. Current research is conducted to create layered
filaments in which there are one- and two-dimensional confinements (Siegel, et al, 1999:67-
93)
7.1.2.1.3 Optical Devices
Optical devices have already benefited from incorporation of nanostructured materials. Recent
advances in the “self-assembled” formation of quantum dot structures have stimulated
progress in the development of quantum dot lasers, implying greater improvements for lasers
utilising either quantum wire or quantum dot active layers. (Siegel, et al, 1999:67-93).
7.1.2.1.4 Nanotubes
The first synthesis of carbon nanotubes was reported. Initially, work on nanotubes was
focused on purifying and producing these tubes rather then studying their properties. The
theoretical study of their electronic structure followed this. The finding of these studies
indicate that these nanotubes have unique electronic and mechanical properties that are
expected to lead to groundbreaking industrial applications in the near future (Siegel, et al,
1999:67-93).
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7.1.2.2 Dispersion and coatings
This area is the most advanced in terms of current applications of nanotechnology. A unique
value of nanoparticles is their extremely high particle surface area; having many more sites
for achieving property enhancements makes them ideal for a wide variety of applications as
dispersions and coatings. Dispersive and coating applications of nanoparticles include optical,
thermal, and diffusion barriers. One of the great advantages are in the environmental impact
of coatings. Currently many coatings involve the utilisation of toxic solvents. Utilising
nanostructure particle in coatings will eliminate the use of these solvents. By eliminating
hazardous wastes, nanocoatings can both reduce a company’s disposal costs and improve its
environmental position (Siegel et al, 1999:35-49).
Some of the current applications are outlined below.
7.1.2.2.1 Cosmetics.
An area of nanoparticle technology that has incredible commercial potential is in the
multibillion-dollar cosmetic and beauty industry. This industry consists of cosmetics and
hygiene products such as powders, sprays, perfumes, and deodorants. There are also large
markets for sunscreens and skin rejuvenation preparations. The diet industry is also being
impacted by nanotechnology where nanoparticle taste enhancers are introduced into low-
calorie substrates (Siegel et al, 1999:35-49).
7.1.2.2.2 Medicine/Pharmacology.
In the area of medical applications, finely dispersed pharmaceuticals offer rapid drug delivery
and reduced dosages for patients (POST, 1996).
7.1.2.2.3 Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS).
Although most MEMS technologies will support the semiconductor industry in particular,
there are many other applications being explored, such as in medicine, ceramics, thin films,
metal alloys, and other proprietary applications. The production and use of nanoengineered
ink products benefit from this technology. For example, laser-assisted delivery of the ink jet
droplet could maintain accurate deposits of the ink on its target. Another application in this
field is using nanoscale properties to tailor the inks to achieve ideal absorption and drying
times for desired colour properties and permanency (POST, 1996).
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7.1.2.2.4 Semiconductors
One form of “bottom up” technology that is receiving considerable attention is thin films for
the semiconductor industry (POST, 1996). Here single atoms or molecules are deposited by
physical vapour deposition via a process called sputtering. Sputtering is used on a large scale
to coat metal sheets, glass, polymer substrates and other receptive materials in order to
produce enhanced electronic properties for information storage and processing speed (Siegel
et al, 1999:93- 113).
7.1.2.2.5 Sensors
Chemical or physical sensors often use nanoparticles because they provide high surface area
for detecting the state of chemical reactions, because the quality of detection signals is
improved, and because earlier and more accurate determination of leakage reduces waste.
Some commercial sensors and actuators composed of thin films are already used for
environmental vapour monitoring in reactors (Siegel et al, 1999:93- 113).
7.1.2.3 Consolidated materials
There is great interest in the mechanical behaviour of nanostructured materials. The reason for
this is mechanical properties of materials can be controlled and enhanced by controlling the
nanoparticle size and structures. An example of this is nanocrystalline pure metals (~ 10 nm
grain size) where hardness values are 2 to 7 times higher than those of larger grained (>1 mm)
metals. There are examples of other properties such as magnetic and ductility factors also
being increased.
7.1.2.4 High Surface Area materials
High Surface materials have many uses. This includes the creation of chemical separators,
catalysts, various others outlined below. Separation materials with well defined pore sizes and
high surface areas are already being fabricated and tested in the laboratory for potential use in
energy storage and separations technologies. In addition, many laboratories around the world
are actively pursuing the potential to create novel thermal barrier materials, highly selective
sensors, and novel construction materials whose bonding and strength depend upon the
surface area of the nanoscale constituents. Other applications include (Siegel et al, 1999:49-
68):
• Battery or capacitor elements for new or improved operation
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• Biochemical and pharmaceutical separations
• Product-specific catalysts for almost every petrochemical process.
Many research companies are also engaged in developing molecular replication technologies
for rapid scale-up and manufacturing.
7.1.3 Interpret and Identify Landmark Technologies
The potential landmark technologies were extracted from the above findings of the
technology frontier. In each case, the potential technology must be evaluated whether it is a
landmark technology by looking at the following criteria as proposed by (Van Wyk 1999:58):
• Frequency of appearance in the literature
• Very high growth in a technology dimension
• Novelty in principle, material or structure
• Commercial availability or promise of rapid deployment.
• High linkage with other technologies
There are some general observations that can be made since nanotechnology is the only
technological frontier that is being looked at. The first observation is that nanotechnology is a
novel technology by definition. The bottom up or “building blocks” approach is novel in
terms of the principle of manufacturing. The size is novel since it is in the region of ~0.1nm to
~150nm. Finally the structure is novel in terms of the ability to manipulate it and control the
properties of the material. All the nanotechnology related technologies share this novelty.
The potential technologies are identified below in a table. This table indicates the frequency
of articles that appear in the technology literature such as New Scientist, various technology
journals, University publications, Time magazine, Fortune, the Internet, etc. In this report, the
Internet was searched for unique articles that contain information relating to each technology.
It was felt that it would be acceptable as a method of measuring frequency of literature. Also,
nanotechnology is an emerging field, and therefore most information on the subject is
published to the Internet before it gets to the journals thus making the Internet a valuable
source of information.
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The table also indicates technological links and the commercial status of each potential
landmark technology.
Technology Frequency Technology Linkages Commercial
Status
Single Electron Devices 500+ Electronics R.D.
Giant magnetoresistance (GMR)
Technology
500+ Electronic data storage C.A
Quantum Dot Lasers 238 Optical technology C.A
Carbon Nanotube materials 500+ Materials technology R.D.
Nano based cosmetics 180 Chemical Synthesis S.D.
Nano based hygiene products 159 Chemical Synthesis S.D.
Nano based coatings 43 Electroplating, Spraying,
painting
R.D.
Nano taste enhancers 19 Food and Beverage
Technology
S.D.
Rapid drug dispersion methods 172 Medical technology S.D.
Enhanced ink dispensing/properties 43 Printers/ presses paint
technology
S.D.
Microelectromechanical Systems 500+ Electromechanical technology R.D.
Nano constructed Semiconductors 500+ Semiconductor technology R.D.
Miniature sensors 500+ Chemical detection R.D.
Molecular enhanced materials 390 Materials technology R.D.
Nanostructured chemical separators 58 Separation technologies R.D.
Nanostructured thermal barrier
materials
500+ Materials technology R.D.
Nano structured catalysts 500+ Chemical Synthesis R.D.
C.A. = Commercially available
R.D. = Rapid deployment
S.D. = Slow deployment
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In this study, all technologies with 500+ articles that are either currently available, or they
would be rapidly deployed when they become available are identified as landmark
technologies.
The results are as follows:
• Single Electron Devices
• Giant magnetoresistance (GMR) Technology
• Carbon Nanotube materials
• Microelectromechanical Systems
• Nano constructed Semiconductors
• Miniature sensors
• Molecular enhanced materials
• Nanostructured thermal barrier materials
• Nano structured catalysts
This will conclude the technology scan. The next step is to conduct an external investigation
to find the social preferences of each technology.
7.2 Step 2 - Market/ External Analysis
For each of the landmark technologies identified in the technology scan, an external analysis
must be done to calculate technology specific Social Adoption Probabilities (SAP). This
process is very subjective, and therefore it was recommended that a committee assign the
various values to the table.
In the absence of such a committee, this report adopted the following strategy for assigning
values to the table. The National Science and Technology white paper together with various
other government documents were used to extract national priorities as an indication of social
preferences. The assumption made is that government priorities reflect the social value
system. The weights were then assigned accordingly. Each of the scores assigned for each of
the technologies was done using the researcher’s understanding of the impact of the
technology on the social landscape. In a corporate environment the committee members
would discuss and debate these values thereby reducing the subjectivity of such a study.
Sometimes the social value scores might differ depending on the external environment that is
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affected by technology. A table on the next page has been developed with the calculations of
SAP for each technology within the South African social context.
The first two steps complete the external environment assessment. The next two steps would
look internally at the organisation.
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Description Weight SED GMR Nanotubes MEMS Semi-
conductors
Sensors Molecular
Material
Thermal
Barriers
Catalysts
S W S S W S S W S S W S S W S S W S S W S S W S S W S
Safety 11% 0.5 0.06 0.5 0.06 0.5 0.06 1 0.11 1 0.11 1 0.11 1 0.11 1 0.11 0.5 0.06
Health 5% 0.5 0.03 0.5 0.03 0.5 0.03 0.5 0.03 0.5 0.03 1 0.05 1 0.05 1 0.05 0.5 0.03
Environment 8% 1 0.08 0.5 0.04 0.5 0.04 1 0.08 1 0.08 1 0.08 1 0.08 1 0.08 0.5 0.04
Energy 3% 1 0.03 1 0.03 1 0.03 1 0.03 1 0.03 1 0.03 1 0.03 1 0.03 1 0.03
Entropy 4% 1 0.04 1 0.04 1 0.04 1 0.04 1 0.04 1 0.04 1 0.04 1 0.04 1 0.04
a) Efficiency 2% 1 0.02 1 0.02 1 0.02 1 0.02 1 0.02 1 0.02 1 0.02 1 0.02 1 0.02
b) GDP/Capita 13% 1 0.13 0.5 0.07 1 0.13 1 0.13 1 0.13 1 0.13 1 0.13 1 0.13 1 0.13
c) Money 10% 1 0.1 1 0.1 1 0.1 1 0.1 1 0.1 1 0.1 1 0.1 1 0.1 1 0.1
d) International Ratios 8% 0.5 0.04 0.5 0.04 1 0.08 1 0.08 1 0.08 1 0.08 1 0.08 1 0.08 1 0.08
e) Non Cyclic Development 7% 1 0.07 1 0.07 1 0.07 1 0.07 1 0.07 1 0.07 1 0.07 0.5 0.04 0.5 0.04
f) Equitable distribution of means 12% 0.5 0.06 0.5 0.06 0.5 0.06 0.5 0.06 0.5 0.06 0.5 0.06 0.5 0.06 0.5 0.06 0.5 0.06
g) Balanced geography development 9% 0.5 0.05 0.5 0.05 0.5 0.05 0.5 0.05 0.5 0.05 0.5 0.05 0.5 0.05 0.5 0.05 0.5 0.05
h) Differential Social Empowerment 8% 0.5 0.04 0.5 0.04 0.5 0.04 0.5 0.04 0.5 0.04 0.5 0.04 0.5 0.04 0.5 0.04 0.5 0.04
Social Adoption Probability (SAP) 0.74 0.63 0.74 0.83 0.83 0.86 0.86 0.82 0.7
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7.3 Step 3 - Internal Analysis of South African Organisations
Initially, the top technology companies in South Africa were going to be analysed. However,
South African companies are not measured in terms of technology management and attempts
to put together a Delphi study failed due to issues of confidentiality. Therefore this report
makes use of the results of the South African National Technology Audit that was recently
completed. The other main sources of information included the Science Councils, the
Department of Arts Culture, Science and Technology, the Institute for Futures Research and
various sources of South African economic data. The following sectors were examined as it
was felt that these sectors would be affected by nanotechnology:
• Mining
• Base Metals
• Rubber & Plastic
• Glass & Non-Metallic
• Electrical & Electronics
• Petrochemical & Chemical
• Medical & Pharmaceutical
A description of each sector can be found in Appendix 2.
Although all the above sectors were investigated, the scope of this report is limited to a
complete discussion one technology sector only. The two most impacted sectors were
identified as the Glass and Non-metallic and the Petrochemical & Chemical sectors. This
report conducts a complete internal analysis of the Glass and Non-metallic sector. A listing of
the findings with regard to the other sectors can be found in Appendix 3.
The Glass and Non-metallic sector’s core competencies were extracted from the list of
competencies listed in appendix 2. They were identified as:
• Non metal material synthesis, which includes glass, clay and ceramics;
• High tech sighting equipment,
• High Productivity,
• Low cost processes that produce quality products.
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The business objective of this sector is to become more competitive in the world market bylowering costs (Audit Report, 1999:8-9).
7.4 Step 4 – Strategic Level of Landmark Technology
One of the limitations of using information out of the technology audit reports is that there is
no interaction with the board to determine the strategic nature of technology in the
organisation. However, part of the audit team’s function was to question the companies about
the industrial sector technologies. This study draws on the audit teams interpretations of these
responses. The following strategic levels were defined based on the audit report finding:
Landmark Technology Strategic
Level
Single Electron Devices 0
Giant magnetoresistance (GMR) Technology 0
Carbon Nanotube materials 0
Microelectromechanical Systems 0
Nano constructed Semiconductors 0
Miniature sensors 0
Molecular enhanced materials 1
Nanostructured thermal barrier materials 1
Nano structured catalysts 1
The audit team’s findings were that the majority of the respondents in this sector could not
adequately describe the technologies in their companies yet the technology yield amounted to
an average of eight technologies per company, which is considered to be high. Also the
clustering of technologies indicated a focus on process technologies while 82% of research
and development activities was on product technologies. Finally, the researchers indicated
that they were heavily dependent on their research equipment, which they believed was
inadequate to serve their needs.
The audit report does not mention which people in the organisation were interviewed,
however, one can assume that it would have been key people since this was a high level
delegation. The findings in this sector indicate that these key people from the organisations
did not understand the technologies employed in their organisations. Their focus on process
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technologies indicates a priority of cost cutting rather than new product development. This is
mismatched with focus R&D, which is on product rather than process technologies. This
indicates that R&D activities are not totally integrated into the company. “Technology is
viewed as a tool to serve corporate goals” (Whittington, 1993:85). Finally, researchers
indicated that their equipment was inadequate which also indicated a lack of strategic
technology planning at senior levels in this sector.
7.5 Step 5 – Calculation of Technology Awareness
The final step is to bring all the calculations done in each section into one consolidated view
by populating the technology analysis framework with these values. The following table
represents this:
Landmark technology Core Competencies Impact Strategic
level
SAP T.A.
C1 C2 C3 C4
Single Electron Devices 0 0 0 0 0 0.74 0
Giant magnetoresistance
(GMR) Technology
0 0 0 0 0 0 0.63 0
Carbon Nanotube materials 1 1 1 1 4 0 0.74 0
Microelectromechanical
Systems
0 1 0 0 1 0 0.83 0
Nano constructed
Semiconductors
0 0 0 0 0 0 0.83 0
Miniature sensors 0 1 0 0 1 0 0.86 0
Molecular enhanced materials 1 1 1 1 4 1 0.86 3.44
Nanostructured thermal barrier
materials
1 1 0 1 3 1 0.82 2.46
Nano structured catalysts 0 0 1 0 1 1 0.7 0.7
0
Effect 3 5 3 3 14 6.6
Sector Technology Awareness Score (Nanotechnology) 0.471
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C1 - Non metal material synthesis, which includes glass, clay and ceramics;
C2 - High tech sighting equipment,
C3 - High Productivity,
C4 - Low cost processes that produce quality products
It is very clear that the technology awareness of nanotechnology is practically non-existent in
the Glass and Non-metals sector. The key competencies are all affected with the ”high tech
sighting equipment” the most impacted. The technologies that have the greatest impact on the
sector are the nanotube materials and the molecular enhanced materials.
This resultant technology awareness score is verified by the fact that management sees cost as
the greatest threat from international companies, rather then substitute products or alternative
process methods.
Competitive Environment as Defined by Sector Respondents
Changes of the Competitive Environment in the Glass & Non-metallic Sector
1
2
3
4
5New Entrants
Supplier Pressure
International CompetitionSubstitutes
Price Pressure
Future Environment Current EnvironmentAQ22d - 410.XLC
Source: National Technology Audit - Glass and Non-metals sector
The application of this framework is evaluated in the next section.
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8 Analysis of the Framework
During the application of the framework, it became very clear that technology awareness
calculations need the involvement of directors and/or senior managers in an organisation. The
framework is more than a mathematical tool. It is designed to stimulate discussion and debate,
and thereby create a culture of technology inquiry and measurement. This study relied on
literature rather then inquiry procedures to extract information. The indirect value attained
from the process of trying to reach consensus on the various values assigned at the different
steps could not be tested. This activity has been structured such that it would increase the
technology knowledge of the organisation and help by developing a learning culture when
challenging existing organisational mental models. It was also intended to help technology
unaware directors to come to grips with strategic technological issues by showing them how
social values, technology, strategy, business objectives, and core competencies interact with
each other. The way in which the model was applied to the Glass and Non-metals industry
did not allow for the indirect impact on the organisation to be measured.
A problem with the framework is that it involves a very long process to get to the technology
awareness score. Directors’ or senior managers’ time tend to be very limited. This could act as
a deterrent to companies adopting the framework. It is therefore advisable in these
circumstances to conduct each step separately. Also, experts can be used for the technology-
scanning step to minimise the impact on current resources. However, all the other steps must
involve senior company people. A possible method of implementation might be to arrange an
annual two-day workshop where these models are applied to work out whether the company’s
technology awareness score in increasing or decreasing. This long process can be managed
within the organisation in many ways, however, it must not be viewed as a task that can be
delegated to lower level staff to complete.
This framework is still based on the capacity of the users to interpret and analyse the
information presented in an open and unbiased way. The use of a committee would help
reduce any biases, however, if the committee itself lacks diversity, systemic biases would be
prevalent. The model does not cater for these systemic biases or for the analytical and
interpretation skills of the users. In this way, it presents a rather simplistic view of the
gathering information, interpreting it and assigning values to the framework. It was felt that
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attempts to factor in adjustments for size of committee, diversity of committee and analytical
skills would have complicated the framework and made it difficult for people to interpret. The
main reason for developing this framework was to provide a simple yet practical framework
that companies can use to measure their technology awareness. The cost of this simplicity is
that not all the variables have been considered.
Besides the above concern with the framework, it worked well in many ways. It addressed
technology landscape issues, the social issues, the internal issues and the strategic issues in a
coherent way. It provided a measurable method of comparing companies in terms of
technology management, and it helped provide an indicator to areas that need attention or
focus.
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9 Conclusion
Historically, government R&D and private sector R&D were not aligned. The recent
initiatives by government have resulted in South Africa completing an audit of Science and
Technology in private and public sector companies. This gives an indication of the state of
S&T currently in South Africa. Over the coming period, government must produce policies
that firstly create co-operation and synergy between government and private sector, secondly,
guide R&D activities in terms of national priorities, thirdly, provide methods of identifying
key areas of technology focus, and fourthly, to measure South Africa in terms of Technology
Awareness. In this way government will be in a position to benchmark South African
industry against international competitors.
Current methods of benchmarking technology between companies/countries include the
following:
• Various methods of comparing R&D spend, i.e. R&D/turnover, R&D/GDP, R&D/capita,
etc.
• Number of Scientist/ PhDs/ Engineers per 1000 employees or per 1000 capita
• Number of technologies that are used in the organisation
• The state of equipment in a country/organisation
• Amount of R&D outsourced.
These methods are fundamentally flawed in that there is no link to strategic intent with regard
to technology. It does not logically follow that a company with a huge R&D budget, a large
amount of scientists, with many different types of technologies, and best possible equipment
will do any better at innovating and managing technology than a company with less resources
at its disposal. In fact, there are numerous examples of where smaller under-funded
companies produced technological innovations that revolutionised that industry. Even though
these numbers provide little or no idea of the status of technology in a company, it is used
extensively with the latest being the national audit. This raises the question of why does such
an inefficient method of calculating remain so widely used?
This report proposes that the reason these ineffective methods are used is that the market
needs some method of measuring and comparing properties of companies. Technology
aspects between companies or even countries are measured in these terms. The aim of this
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report was to create a more appropriated framework to measure technology awareness
between two entities. The framework draws on many of the MOT models already published
and puts them into a coherent format that can be applied to a country or an organisation. This
model provides a more accurate indication of the status of technology in the entity being
evaluated.
Some of the problems with the model are as follows. The major problem is that the
framework calculations are not a precise science. Different people evaluating the same
company can end up with different results. What this score will indicate is that based on the
user’s understanding (mental model) of the external, internal, and technological frontier, that
is how he/she sees the company (Senge et al, 1994:235). Two ways of combating this is to use
a committee to apply the framework, or to use a Delphi study to reach a common score. In
this way, biases can be managed. The second problem is that it is a lengthy process that senior
management has to go through. This might cause them to reject the process or outsource it.
The third problem is that there are factors like committee diversity and size of committee that
might influence the reliability of the scoring process. It was felt that the introduction of
control parameters for these factors would have unnecessarily complicated the framework.
The application of the framework to nanotechnology in South Africa gave a good indication
of the status of nanotechnology in the South African environment. The results of the
application of the model to various sectors indicated that technology awareness with respect
to nanotechnology was between zero and one indicating that it is low (see Appendix 3). Key
areas that would be impacted and the effect organisation core competencies were highlighted.
The social acceptance probability also indicated which technologies are preferred (>0.5) and
which were not (<0.5). All of these factors would help the board decide where they should
concentrate efforts with regard to improving their technology awareness of nanotechnology.
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10 Appendix 1 – South African Government S&T Activities
Year Description Responsible
1992 Towards a science and technology policy for a
democratic South Africa.
International
Development
Research Centre
1994 Science Research Policy in South Africa – a discussion
document
Royal Society of
South Africa
1994 Science Councils : Towards democratisation of
governance
National Science
and Technology
Forum
1994 Proposals for a future national science and technology
management system in South Africa
National Science
and Technology
Forum
1994 Science and Technology policy for the new South
Africa
Foundation for
research and
development
1995 The commissioning of a National Research and
Technology Audit.
Department of Art,
Culture, Science
and Technology.
1996 White paper on Science and technology – Preparing
for the 21st century.
Department of Art,
Culture, Science
and Technology
1998 Year of Science and Technology Government
1999 Audit Results published NRTF
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11 Appendix 2 – Description of Sectors analysed
Each of the sectors is examined in the following way:
• A brief description of the sector.
• Their core competencies
• Strategic technology focus
• R&D focus
• Contribution to GDP
11.1 Mining
Description The Mining sector covers technologies for the extraction processof the ores and the primary surface refinery processes. This areacovers the following type of mining as well as the accompanyingmining services such as surface preparation of the ore orexploration work.
Metal mining
Coal mining
Gas Extraction
Non metallic mineral mining
Competencies • Extraction and purification of mined products
• Exploration
• Quality control and grading
• Transportation of mined products
• Environmental measurements
Strategic
Technology Areas
• Better extraction techniques.
• Mining Equipment
• Automation of Mining process
• Detection of mineral ore techniques
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Product Process Support Information OtherR& D focus
9% 72% 5% 14% 0%
Contribution to
GDP
7.7% percent in 1995
11.2 Base Metals
Description The transformation of mining products into basic metals such as
silver; gold; copper; brass; bronze; zinc; scrap stainless steel and
copper alloy; platinum catalysts; high ferro-chrome carbon;
ferro-chrome; ferro-manganese; silicon metals and iron products;
stainless steel slabs and coils; electrolytic copper or nickel
cathodes. The typical processes adopted in this industry blast
furnace, refining, alloying, casting, sheet and foil rolling
processes.
Competencies • Extraction and purification of metals
• Creation of metal alloy products (ferrous and non ferrous)
• Production metal composite materials
• Metal filming and coating
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Strategic
Technology Areas
• Better quality metal products – reduction of impurities.
• Reduction of hazardous emissions/ by products due to
stricter international standards
• Better extraction technologies
• Enhancement of metallurgical properties resulting in better
surface quality and better strength to weight ratios.
• Reduction of manufacturing costs and improved energy
utilisation in production
• Wet chemical refining.
• Automation of production processes to reduce overall cost
Product Process Support Information OtherR& D focus
9% 55% 28% 8% 0%
Contribution to
GDP
3.2 percent in 1995
11.3 Rubber & Plastic
Description This sector is responsible for the manufacture of man made
fibres, rubber products as well as plastics and synthetics.
Products include tires and inner tubes; rubber and plastic
footwear; hose, belting, gaskets, packing and sealing devices and
various miscellaneous plastic products.
Competencies • Chemical synthesis
• Material development
• Moulded products
• Packaging
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Strategic
Technology Areas
• Better environmentally friendly technologies.
• Rubber and PVC compound technologies
• New polymer products
• Use of CAD for the design of new products
Product Process Support Information OtherR& D focus
37% 41% 13% 9% 0%
Contribution to
GDP
0.5% percent in 1995
11.4 Glass & Non-Metallic
Description This sector covers industrial minerals and limestone, through to
the manufacture of mineral wool and reinforcing fibreglass and
the processing of glass into construction materials, containers
and consumer products, and finally the utilisation of glass for
high tech sighting systems.
Competencies • Glass and Clay
• Ceramics
• New non metal materials
• Sighting Equipment
• High Productivity
• Low cost processes
• Quality products
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Strategic
Technology Areas
• Product focused R&D
• Sighting equipment
• Glass containers with improved strength and lower mass will
allow reduction in unit price
• Improved manufacturing process
• Integrated information technology process control and
quality assurance
Product Process Support Information OtherR& D focus
82% 8% 7% 3% 0%
Contribution to
GDP1.1% in 1995
11.5 Electrical & Electronics
Description This sector includes basic electrical and electronic components
and the specific materials; the manufacture of intermediate
measuring, controlling and signal transforming assemblies and
their further integration, into consumer electronic products; as
well as computer and industrial control equipment to the
integration thereof, into computer, control, transport and defence
electronic systems.
Competencies • Magnetic storage and recording media
• Electric and Electronic components
• Information System and Communication systemcomponents
• Electric and Electronic Systems
• Computer and communication systems
• Services
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Strategic
Technology Areas
• Smaller multiple units, smaller, more accurate components,
higher tolerances – led to smaller and mobile computers.
• Use of more digital technology - in the home and industry.
• Small trade refrigeration products because of demands for
fresh foods.
• Environmentally acceptable electronic products (low water
and detergent consumption).
• High bandwidth availability
• Network integration-authentication technologies.
• Developing new power supplies.
• Laser technology.
• Work across country boundaries and remote areas.
• Production line automation.
• Energy efficiency rates.
• Secure on-line commerce initiatives.
• Voice recognition and activation.
Product Process Support Information OtherR& D focus
74% 11% 11% 5% 0%
Contribution to
GDP
1.7 percent in 1995
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11.6 Petrochemical & Chemical
Description The Petrochemical & Chemical sector covers the transformation
of crude oil and the manufacture of base as well as speciality
chemicals. This covers petroleum and coal products as well as
chemicals and allied products.
Major products include a variety of chemicals: food and
beverage ingredients; pharmaceutical chemicals; agricultural
chemicals, fertilisers and animal feeds; mining chemicals;
plastics; paints; industrial chemicals; synthetic fibres;
explosives; electroplating chemicals; atomic energy chemicals;
enzymes; solvents; chemical feed-stocks and waxes.
Petrochemicals produced include fuels, lubricants, heating oil
and gas.
Competencies • Agricultural products – chemical/ fertilzers/ pestesides, etc.
• Electro-plating
• Chemical products
• Explosives
• Waste processing and storage
• Synthetic fibres
• Enzymes
• Pharmaceutical products and additives
• Paints and coatings
• Food and beverage ingredients
• Plastic and plastic additives
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Strategic
Technology Areas
• Genetic engineering replace conventional chemical processes
and products
• Higher value added speciality products based on fertiliser
technology and materials
• Greater use of plastic smart cards
• Greater use of engineering plastics as a replacement of
metals
• Merging of traditional organic synthesis and biotechnology
to produce optically active molecules for pharmaceuticals.
• Implementation of environmentally friendly technologies,
materials and applications
Product Process Support Info OtherR& D focus
46% 35% 17% 2% 0%
Contribution to
GDP
2.9%
11.7 Medical & Pharmaceutical
Description This sector covers from the extraction or synthesis of reagents
and active substances, through the processing thereof, into
medicines and finally their utilisation as part of comprehensive
and multiform treatments.
Competencies • Clinical analysers and diagnostic reagents
• Various types of medication
• Contraceptives
• Generic pharmaceuticals
• Intravenous fluids
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Strategic
Technology Areas
• Non-invasive probe technology.
• Natural medicines.
• Vaccines-one for life.
• Genomics.
• DNA fingerprinting.
• Gene therapy.
• Biotechnology focus; ongoing product research and
development for product capability.
Product Process Support Info OtherR& D focus
75% 18% 0% 7% 0%
Contribution to
GDP
2.2% in 1995
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12 Appendix 3 – Technology Awareness Scores per Sector
12.1 Mining
Landmark technology Core Competencies Impact Strategic
level
SAP T.A.
C1 C2 C3 C4
Single Electron Devices 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.74 0
Giant magnetoresistance
(GMR) Technology
0 1 1 0 2 0 0.63 0
Carbon Nanotube materials 0 0 0 1 1 0 0.74 0
Microelectromechanical
Systems
1 1 1 0 3 2 0.83 4.98
Nano constructed
Semiconductors
0 0 0 0 0 0 0.83 0
Miniature sensors 1 1 1 0 3 2 0.86 5.16
Molecular enhanced materials 0 0 0 1 1 0 0.86 0
Nanostructured thermal
barrier materials
0 0 0 0 0 0 0.82 0
Nano structured catalysts 1 0 1 0 2 0 0.7 0
0
Effect 3 3 4 2 12 10.14
Sector Technology Awareness Score (Nanotechnology) 0.845
C1 - Mining Techniques
C2 - Exploration
C3 - Grading and Quality Control
C4 - Nature Resources
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12.2 Base Metals
Landmark technology Core Competencies Impact Strategic
level
SAP T.A.
C1 C2 C3 C4
Single Electron Devices 0 0 0 0 0 0.74 0
Giant magnetoresistance
(GMR) Technology
0 0 0 0 0 0 0.63 0
Carbon Nanotube materials 0 0 1 0 1 0 0.74 0
Microelectromechanical
Systems
0 0 0 0 0 0 0.83 0
Nano constructed
Semiconductors
1 0 1 0 2 0 0.83 0
Miniature sensors 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.86 0
Molecular enhanced materials 1 1 1 1 4 1 0.86 3.44
Nanostructured thermal barrier
materials
0 1 1 0 2 0 0.82 0
Nano structured catalysts 1 1 1 1 4 0 0.7 0
0
Effect 3 3 5 2 13 3.44
Sector Technology Awareness Score (Nanotechnology) 0.265
C1 - Purification of metals
C2 - Alloy products
C3 - Composites
C4 - Filming and coatings
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12.3 Rubber & Plastic
Landmark technology Core Competencies Impact Strategic
level
SAP T.A.
C1 C2 C3 C4
Single Electron Devices 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.74 0
Giant magnetoresistance
(GMR) Technology
0 0 0 0 0 0 0.63 0
Carbon Nanotube materials 1 1 1 0 3 0 0.74 0
Microelectromechanical
Systems
0 0 0 0 0 0 0.83 0
Nano constructed
Semiconductors
0 0 0 0 0 0 0.83 0
Miniature sensors 1 0 0 0 1 0 0.86 0
Molecular enhanced materials 1 1 1 1 4 1 0.86 3.44
Nanostructured thermal barrier
materials
1 1 0 0 2 0 0.82 0
Nano structured catalysts 1 1 1 0 3 0 0.7 0
0
Effect 5 4 3 1 13 3.44
Sector Technology Awareness Score (Nanotechnology) 0.265
C1 - Chemical Synthesis
C2 - Material Development,
C3 - Moulding
C4 - Packaging
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12.4 Electrical & Electronics
Landmark technology Core
Competencies
Impact Strategic
level
SAP T.A.
C1 C2 C3
Single Electron Devices 1 1 0 2 1 0.74 1.48
Giant magnetoresistance
(GMR) Technology
1 1 0 2 2 0.63 2.52
Carbon Nanotube materials 0 0 1 1 0 0.74 0
Microelectromechanical
Systems
1 1 0 2 1 0.83 1.66
Nano constructed
Semiconductors
1 0 1 2 1 0.83 1.66
Miniature sensors 1 1 0 2 0 0.86 0
Molecular enhanced materials 0 0 1 1 0 0.86 0
Nanostructured thermal barrier
materials
0 0 0 0 0 0.82 0
Nano structured catalysts 0 0 0 0 0 0.7 0
0
Effect 5 4 3 12 7.32
Sector Technology Awareness Score (Nanotechnology) 0.61
C1 – Electronic devices
C2 - Storage Devices
C3 - Communication Systems
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12.5 Petrochemical & Chemical
Landmark technology Core Competencies Impact Strategic
level
SAP T.A.
C1 C2 C3 C4
Single Electron Devices 0 0 0 0 0 0.74 0
Giant magnetoresistance
(GMR) Technology
0 0 0 0 0 0 0.63 0
Carbon Nanotube materials 1 0 1 0 2 2 0.74 2.96
Microelectromechanical
Systems
0 1 0 1 2 0 0.83 0
Nano constructed
Semiconductors
0 0 0 0 0 0 0.83 0
Miniature sensors 0 1 0 1 2 0 0.86 0
Molecular enhanced materials 1 1 1 1 4 2 0.86 6.88
Nanostructured thermal barrier
materials
1 1 1 1 4 1 0.82 3.28
Nano structured catalysts 0 1 0 1 2 1 0.7 1.4
0
Effect 3 5 3 5 16 14.52
Sector Technology Awareness Score (Nanotechnology) 0.908
C1 - Plastic and Plastic additives
C2 - Petroleum conversion,
C3 - Synthetic fibres
C4 - Waste Processing and Storage
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12.6 Medical & Pharmaceutical
Landmark technology Core Competencies Impact Strategic
level
SAP T.A.
C1 C2 C3 C4
Single Electron Devices 0 0 0 0 0 0.74 0
Giant magnetoresistance
(GMR) Technology
0 0 0 0 0 0 0.63 0
Carbon Nanotube materials 1 1 1 1 4 0 0.74 0
Microelectromechanical
Systems
0 1 0 0 1 0 0.83 0
Nano constructed
Semiconductors
0 0 0 0 0 0 0.83 0
Miniature sensors 0 1 0 0 1 0 0.86 0
Molecular enhanced materials 1 1 1 1 4 0 0.86 0
Nanostructured thermal barrier
materials
1 1 0 1 3 1 0.82 2.46
Nano structured catalysts 0 0 1 0 1 1 0.7 0.7
0
Effect 3 5 3 3 14 3.16
Sector Technology Awareness Score (Nanotechnology) 0.226
C1 - Non metal material synthesis, which includes glass, clay and ceramics;
C2 - High tech sighting equipment,
C3 - High Productivity,
C4 - Low cost processes that produce quality products
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