The role of knowledge management in cultivating technology innovation and entrepreneurship

The process of technology innovation can be approached with a perspective that combines strategic business planning and engineering acumen. Technology innovation is the process by which technological ideas are generated, developed, and transformed into new business products, processes, and services by an entrepreneurial enterprise. This innovation is thus used to make profit, establish marketplace presence, and be a competitive advantage for the innovating enterprise. Being able to select the right industry, that is, to identify the dimensions of an industry that is more favorable for new technology firms than other industries, is a challenge that must be planned strategically from the initiation of a business idea. Being able to identify potential opportunities from changes in environmental, social, regulatory, and technological factors is also important. Taking advantage of technological transitions is considered a strategic issue faced by innovating entrepreneurs. This paper presents the issues faced by twenty technology-based ventures created by engineering students-turned-entrepreneurs with backgrounds from various engineering disciplines. The innovation process is discussed in regards to how these students-entrepreneurs use knowledge about new ventures, innovation, and strategic positioning. Namely, Foster's technological s-curve is correlated with Ansoff's product-market matrix to categorize technology-based entrepreneurial opportunities. The dimensions of an industry, i.e. whether new products are introduced into an existing market or an existing product is launched to reach a new market, indicate the type of viable environments in which disruptive technologies can succeed. In addition, the paper discusses the role that current trends have in positively affecting technology transitions, as disruptive technologies are usually identified only after the effects of these trends on its particular industry are experienced. Thus, a dual-perspective approach of applying both engineering design and strategic management is used. Finally, the effect that the limited-market environment of Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) in Canada has on these twenty technology-based ventures in terms of a product-market view of strategy and a resource-based strategy is discussed. The difficulty in assessing the potential success of technological opportunities early in their life makes it even more imperative for entrepreneurial engineers to apply an integrative approach to knowledge management and business strategy.