Introduction
In the recent past, most companies have been considering how science-based tools streamline business operations. Specifically, the primary focus has been on the best approaches to commercialize emerging systems and support the delivery of high-quality products. Researchers and developers have been keen to identify the best approaches to link all aspects of modern technologies and apply them to improve processes. These strategies have been intended to improve the level of efficiency. This paper describes technology management (TM) as a key field that is capable of reshaping business performance. The research agenda revolves around the gaps affecting the adoption of TM in the service industry, and emerging opportunities, and offers directions for future research in the area.
Defining Technology
Many companies, government agencies, and organizations are presently relying on emerging technologies and systems to solve pursue their goals. Morales et al. (2018) define the term as the collection of all skills, tools, procedures, and techniques that human beings and advanced systems utilize to support the production of a wide range of services or goods. Experts in the field focus on the power of scientific knowledge to develop machines and rely on them within the realm of engineering to achieve specific practical goals. The emerging process of scientific inquiry or process is founded on technical systems to transform people’s experiences and outcomes.
Depending on the anticipated goals, technology could refer to the nature of knowledge and attributed embedded in a wide range of machines to streamline operations. Most of the emerging systems will rely on emerging technology to deliver the intended result or output. Due to the applicability and nature of such technologies, it has been possible for different economies to grow, transform people’s life experiences, and address some of the common human problems, including poverty (Geum, Kim, and Lee, 2017). However, the adoption of technology is a process that has resulted in negative issues in the world today, including increasing levels of pollution and ethical questions.
Experts and developers have been keen to work together and consider how they can improve existing technologies and achieve some of the targeted aims. Das, Banerjee, and De (2019) rely on this understanding to explain how this field has been developing following the challenges experienced in different parts of the world. This situation or fact will also explain how technology will continue to dictate human arguments and goals in the future. While continued progression and development in this field are possible, there is a need for people to be concerned and consider how they can address most of the emerging issues.
Technology Management
Within the past three decades, nations and companies have been on the lookout for superior technological systems that resonate with the anticipated goals. Such a process gave birth to what is presently known as technology management. Lau (2020) defines the term “technology management” as a field that guides and allows business firms to acquire and manage their technological fundamentals in such a way that they deliver competitiveness. This concept has developed in the recent past to become a powerful model for pursuing both national and organizational goals. Experts in this field guide companies to make the right decisions, solve emerging issues, and consider new ways of reaping the maximum benefits of TM.
Numerous areas and approaches have become the norm within the wider area of TM. Leaders seek guidance from different agencies to understand how emerging systems could be adjusted or applied to add relevant value. Companies and governmental organizations that develop their technologies continuously will identify the best ways to apply them in different departments and maximize the level of competitiveness. Firms that ignore the effectiveness and nature of such technologies will record negative challenges and be unable to rival their competitors.
Tas and Yeloglu (2018) believe that ignorance of TM could be disastrous for all types of organizations, including those operating in the non-profit sector. The involvement of all key actors could be a powerful strategy for ensuring that the technological systems and processes put in place resonate with the anticipated organizational goals.
Selected Research Agenda and Context
Professionals and leaders in many organizations acknowledge that modern technologies will become the future of strategy. The innovative aspect of management technology is essential since it helps companies align their technologies with the anticipated goals. Consequently, the firms will identify and experiment with some of the best approaches to improve their current products and streamline the existing processes (Chulkov, 2017). Additionally, the approach helps develop a better model for future performance and maximizing the overall level of competitiveness. Companies that are ready for emerging technological systems will be in a position to implement change successfully, solve identifiable problems, and transform overall performance.
From this analysis, it becomes clear that the concept of TM has nothing to do with the advancement and development of superior technologies. Instead, it guides the involved partners to identify how the available technological systems could be adopted and integrated to support the delivery of positive results (Tang et al., 2020). Leaders will identify the best strategies to coordinate operations, support decision-making, and plan to improve performance. Companies embracing such a strategy will acquire timely information and address gaps that could affect the anticipated outcomes. In firms involved in manufacturing, TM has remained a powerful tool or process that helps support the delivery of the anticipated results.
The described context reveals that TM is a powerful field that will continue to dictate the nature of organizational goals. Unfortunately, past researchers and analysts have identified the concept and applied it to streamline organizational performance. Some of the key areas that leaders consider include product development and quality improvement. The acquisition and implementation of TM have helped improve operations and meet the demands of more customers (Fartash et al., 2018). This reality reveals that the adoption and use of TM in the service industry are not fully studied. This gap exists since many organizational leaders identify quality products and efficiency in operation as some of the powerful procedures for supporting the delivery of positive results.
Researchers who have completed studies focusing on the applicability of TM in the service industry have only investigated how firms could translate emerging concepts to improve operations. For instance, Chulkov (2017) argues that process mapping and product development are evidence-based approaches that could help service providers meet the demands of their customers. Fartash et al. (2018) believe that attributes that work efficiently for the goods sector could be replicated to dictate how services are improved and provided depending on the demands of the customers. Unfortunately, the nature and speed of research in this field have remained ineffective or inadequate.
For instance, many healthcare institutions have been unable to link emerging concepts of TM to maximize efficiency and meet the demands of more patients. Additionally, service industries and companies change within a short period. This development explains why some companies will always find it hard to employ TM efficiently and deliver the intended services to more clients. This situation presents a research gap that all key stakeholders, professionals, and technologists should consider to improve organizational performance (Morales et al., 2018). A detailed analysis of this gap, therefore, forms the basis for the proposed or current research agenda.
Different Perspectives
Within the past five decades, many companies and investors have been shifting from the traditional economics of manufacturing, agriculture, and construction. This trend has led to the emergence and development of a stable service science (Ndesaulwa and Kikula, 2016). This discipline has been fueled by the nature of technological needs, expectations, and social changes. Those who are focusing on the application of modern technologies have helped transform the nature and manner in which companies provide services. However, this field continues to record several problems. For instance, the key stakeholders and investors lack the relevant knowledge of TM and the major supportive attributes. These issues explain why most of the companies in the service sector are yet to reap the maximum benefits of TM.
These issues have triggered new perspectives or approaches through which business firms and government institutions can reap the benefits from TM. First, some professionals have only been keen to develop a powerful model for applying TM to transform how pure service corporations and agencies streamline customer satisfaction initiatives. For instance, Ndesaulwa and Kikula (2016) indicate that companies could rely on TM to maximize efficiency, attract more clients, and address complaints promptly.
However, such a model ignores the fact that companies that produce and deliver a wide range of products need to take the concept of services seriously. Second, a unique form of focus has existed whereby organizational leaders and experts in technological matters have been adopting TM as a framework for improving the quality of products and how they are delivered to different customers. This perspective means that the adoption of TM has not become standardized to determine the nature of processes implemented to meet the demands of more clients.
Third, the adoption of TM in the service industry has gained a new perspective whereby some stakeholders believe that there is a need to innovate and produce superior technologies. For example, Sefollahi (2018) believes that TM could not be pursued without considering the nature of the current technological systems. Without improving, innovating, and delivering superior technological systems, it would be impossible to develop evidence-based processes for improving the nature of available services. These divergent perspectives are capable of providing additional insights for examining the gaps recorded in TM today and identifying new measures to apply the concept more efficiently in all service sectors.
Development of Research Agenda Literature
TM continues to present powerful ideas for transforming business operations. Within the past few years, new trends have emerged whereby companies and institutions have succeeded in applying technology to streamline the delivery of services. Due to the nature of these industries, some professionals have been keen to analyze the unique attributes of the sector and how it differs from the manufacturing and goods-producing industries (Sefollahi, 2018). Such analyses have presented several similarities and differences that could help reshape the nature of organizational performance. Additional studies could be completed to present superior models and incentives for pushing TM and integrating it more efficiently in the service industry.
Scholars in the fields of management, engineering, and science have been keen to present a new research agenda for ensuring that more companies deliver their services to the targeted customers. They have acknowledged that a gap exists since little remains are known regarding how to apply TM and address the changing demands of the global service economy. Mgunda (2019) also indicates that additional studies would be needed to present superior funding processes and programs that could help more companies improve the nature of service delivery. Nonetheless, specific challenges exist that future scholars should unearth and propose evidence-based solutions. The consideration of such attributes will guide the current research agenda and make it possible for more companies to achieve their business aims.
Critical Analysis
The service industry is reshaping economic performance in both developing and developed countries. Clients are focusing on most of the recorded trends to identify companies that are capable of providing personalized and high-quality medical services. In different regions, services are providing employment opportunities and outputs, thereby transforming the experiences of more people (Klein, Pacheco, and Righi, 2017). However, the applicability of TM in this sector differs significantly from the digital and physical products sectors. Researchers and analysts in the service industry appreciate the fact that innovations are needed to meet the demands of both service providers and customers. Services have unique attributes that should guide any form of research. Specifically, they are non-perishable, require continuous efficiency, and are intangible.
As described in the outlined research agenda, only a few scholars and analysts have been interested in the power of TM in the global service sector. The result is that only a few attributes and knowledge exist regarding service development (Klein, Pacheco, and Righi, 2017). Many experts in the past have only been focusing on the physical management and manufacturing of high-quality products. With this understanding, future scholars will rely on the available information and identify better ways to improve service delivery through the power of TM (Mgunda, 2019). The study could also identify some of the options for improving service innovation and present better insights for aligning TM with the changing demands of the service industry.
Lessons, Limitations, and Future Research
The lessons observed or gained in this recent past support the application of TM in different organizations that manufacture different products. The concept of TM has emerged as a powerful force that supports corporations to maximize their competitiveness and meet the demands of the targeted customers (Pfano, 2016). This knowledge could be replicated in the service industry to boost performance and ensure that more customers receive timely services. The stakeholders in the service sector need to consider these attributes and adjust them accordingly in such a way that it promotes service development.
While it can be possible to pursue the outlined research agenda, some limitations exist that future analysts should not ignore. First, the application of TM in the past has been concentrated in the manufacturing field. Second, researchers should understand that services differ significantly from physical products and require a different TM approach (Klein, Pacheco, and Righi, 2017). Third, many companies in the service industry tend to be reluctant to embrace TM as a powerful model for improving customer experiences. Key future research areas could include the management and promotion of service innovation and the application of TM in different service firms sustainably and efficiently.
Conclusion
The identified research agenda seeks to present new strategies and applications of TM in the service sector. The current evidence is limited since past studies have only focused on the adoption of TM from a general perspective to streamline business operations and maximize competitiveness. The proposed agenda is capable of presenting new insights for addressing the identified research limitations and presenting new ideas for meeting the needs of more firms in the service industry. The identified future research direction is relevant and capable of transforming the way players in the service sector meet their clients’ needs.
Reference List
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