Chapter 1: Technology Evolution, Invention and Transformation

Overview

In the post-dot-com business climate, a growing number of organizations are adopting a more conservative approach to purchasing, implementing and applying technology to service customers. The technologies used to introduce new products and optimize the process of business now meet with a higher level of scrutiny. This new approach to technology can be labelled as a cautious scepticism, a residual attitude manifested by the downturn in the technology industry. The new stance on technology is largely due to two factors: the enormous effort expended on the Y2K problem, and the meltdown of Internet companies, which symbolized the dawn of a new era in business.

More importantly, society’s attitude towards the lack of delivery on the promises that heralded the last wave of new technologies has created a technological paradox for business. New information technologies have not delivered quantum returns, nevertheless they are now vital in the performance of business processes. It could be argued that companies today can no longer afford to view technology as a luxury. Technology must be engaged to achieve superior capabilities over rival firms. Companies engaged in a globally competitive market need technology simply to survive and maintain a level of parity in competitive performance. In Foster’s words:

Strategic errors, however, are not always to blame when a technology leader is overtaken by a competitor. Incorrect perceptions of technical limits, inability to measure technological progress, faulty interpretation of market signals, and unrealistic faith in understanding customer needs tend to mask the deterioration that sets in when an existing technology matures and the superior potential of an alternative begins to affect the competitive balance.^[3]

The result of the dot-com meltdown and the reduced confidence in technology providers is a ‘wait and see’ attitude towards corporate investments in technology. This new attitude – less aggressive and risk averse – originated first with the technologies used as a connective mechanism (such as the Internet) and has quickly spread to eCommerce, and other information ‘delivery technologies’. However, this cautious attitude may be premature, as Lynn White observes: ‘As our understanding of the history of technology increases, it becomes clear that a new device merely opens a door; it does not compel one to enter.’^[4] During the last few years of the twentieth century, businesses and individuals raced through the door of opportunity offered by technology, unfettered by the stark realities of capitalism and the need to operate profitably. The initial gold rush of the Internet may be over, but its use as a medium for business and cultural change has just begun. Companies no longer have a choice whether or not to use technology, but instead must weigh its impact on their value proposition. Each successive upgrade brought by each new generation of technology must also be assessed as to its relative value. It is now a matter of assessing at what time to make the investment in new technology, and whether it still adds the same or greater relative value. Organizations must develop the ability to evaluate a technology for its potential to add value and quickly understand how to absorb it into their current business offering and/or rank its applicability to a future value proposition.

^[3]R. Foster, Technology in the Modern Corporation (Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1986) p. 35.

^[4]L. White, Medieval Technology and Social Change (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1962) p. 28.