Perspective: technology management in the service sector

This paper reports out of the symposium on 'Technology Management in the Service Sector' which was held as a part of Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering and Technology in 2007. The objectives of the symposium were: to explore how technology management research and education can contribute to the evolving field of services science, management and engineering; to define a research agenda for the field of engineering and technology management that addresses the critical needs of the evolving service economy and to discuss needed funding structures and programs to foster service oriented research. We tackled these issues in two ways. First, the key leaders from academia, industry and government presented the critical issues and challenges that presently exist. Then, small groups analysed the selected topics in depth. We identified three main components of service science: value, people and technology, and explored how researchers in the field of technology management would tackle this new phenomenon.