RESEARCH PERSPECTIVES WITHIN TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT

Following the idea of interdisciplinarity described above research into technology management issues could comprise the following perspectives: the firm perspective covering the problems of the firm in relation to new technology. This does not in advance delimit the empirical field of research. External and internal conditions, and phenomena on micro as well as on macro level might be studied, but the focus should be the firms' handling of the "technology situation". the management perspective management is a function, not an hierachical level or a group of persons. This function includes choices and decisions of the firm, its development of strategies, the formation of experience and the firm's utilization of this in future situations of managerial action. Many different theories deal with the "who" and "how" of management performance. the technology management perspective the products of the firm, their development and production represent the point of departure for studies of technology management. Technology management includes the choice of solutions to technical problems on the product and process level under varying limitations. Furthermore it includes the development of the firm's business, strategy, structure and routines in a way which ensures an expansive and constructive utilization of the knowledge resources. the social construction perspective the "reality" as it presents itself to the firm in relation to new technology has been created through social processes. The firm does not act on the basis of objectively defined external conditions, goals, problems and solutions. Rather the firm experiences or defines these matters in a way which can be generated in many different ways and by many different social forces. uncertainty, dynamics and emergence the study of technology management must focus on the post-industrial society and the kind of difficulties, it implies for traditional forms of rationality. Uncertainty is not an imperfection but a basic condition in running the business. Actors and firms enter into interdependent but loosely coupled systems which develop dynamically. Consequences do not alone originate in design but also in different historical, contextual and institutional matters. This gives the development a less deterministic and predictable character. case studies as empirical focus pointing out the importance of historical, contextual and institutional bindings case studies must be the natural empirical focus. More than merely deducing general empirical results and conclusions, the ambition is to look for generalizations in the theoretical approach to technology management. As indicated in the introduction the idea of investigating technology management over this wide range of levels also implies a multi-paradigmatic approach in order to interpret the rationale of management actions observed. Furthermore it is provisionally suggested that the development of an operationally consistent technology management concept should consequently incorporate contributions from more theoretical paradigms. Table 1 illustrates a structuring of theories, which all but from varying perspectives define technology as a central analytical object. Elements of the scheme are briefly resumed below (from Clausen 1996) and then drawn upon in the second section of the paper, where a specific construction project is being studied in order to accentuate the inherent contradictory consequenses of present handling of technology. In industrial economics, technology is a central parameter of competitiveness. The firm must act upon structural conditions in the sector and in the market. Within this framework technology management roughly aims at detecting and choosing the specific technology, which contributes maximum value to the firm. Competitiveness is observed in a wider perspective within innovation economics, focusing on firms’ problems in order to gain access to new technology and to destroy obsolete technology. Thus the qualifications of staff, access to knowledge, relations to suppliers and authorities’ regulations become essential elements in the development of innovative technological capability. The actors and organisational structures in firms are raised as subjects in organisational theory. Here technology management becomes a question of how the organisation allows for new assignments and prepares for education and learning processes. Unfortunately, in traditional organisation theory explicit actors for managing technology are rarely appointed. This problem area is rather occupied with the most efficient adaptation of the organisation to the demands of new technology. If, however, the firm is looked upon in a society perspective it is necessary to turn to industrial sociology. This theory is emphasizing the technology manager as a performer of functions on a societal level. Thereby technology’s consequenses for working conditions, control, power relations and policy come in focus. Technology management then could be a question of developing employees’ participation in decision making or of exposing pros and cons of different production concepts. The influence of the broad variety of actors on the shaping of technology is illustrated by the new technology sociology. Contrary to industrial sociology’s focus on the determining influence of structures, the new technology sociology is considering technology as "socially constructed" through different actors’ interpretation of problems and solutions. Technology management then becomes a question of negotiations between actors in order to create compromises and alliances about the shaping of a technology and its properties.