Strategic technology management and international competition in developing countries - The need for a dynamic approach

The present scenario of free trade, globalization and intense international competition calls for a strategic development of technology management particularly in the developing country enterprises to enable them to quicken technology capability building and compete in the international market. The present paper explores the need and measures to adopt such a strategy and build up technology innovation systems to leap-frog and meet the above objectives taking a few examples from Indian scenario. It is argued that the ITC of a country is the sum total of TM capabilities of the firms in that country. Moreover, both TM and ITC are cumulative, incremental and are therefore evolutionary in nature. It is necessary, therefore, to talk about dynamic indicators of ITC. Such dynamic indicators are captured best in the mechanisms of selections - of choices and preferences on structures of incentives and strategies. We argue that national indicators of ITC are the same as the firm level indicators of dynamic TM; and indicators of dynamic TM are the indicators of choices and preferences on structures of incentives and strategies.