PULL VS. PUSH - STRATEGIC TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT FOR A SUCCESSFUL INTEGRATION OF MARKET-PULL AND TECHNOLOGY-PUSH ACTIVITIES

摘要

After several years focusing on cost reduction and process improvement, companies are rediscovering the importance of technology and innovation management and its potential to obtain sustainable competitive advantages. Consequently, organizations and businesses have recognized the need for new methods and paradigms to efficiently serve existing and new markets with new and/or modified products as well as services. In general, two different approaches can lead to these goals. On the one hand, certain market needs can initiate a structured search for an appropriate technology in order to develop or enhance products and/or services. On the other hand, a new technology can encourage considerations for improving or entire new developing products and/or services. Hence, the management and coordination of these processes is complex and time-consuming, and there are several intersections with the corporate innovation management. Within the framework of this paper, an extensive literature overview of technology and innovation management aspects on market-pull and technology-push will be given. Especially, the existing classification of market-pull and technology-push will be shown and called into question by suggesting an own conceptual framework. Moreover, the authors will introduce an approach how a technology-based service company is managing the connection of the two alternatives. A special focus is on the accordant methods in order to search for current market needs and new related technologies. The selected case study focuses on one of Germany's biggest and most successful software development and information technology service provider. Based on interviews, document analysis and practical applications, an advanced conceptual framework will be introduced how to integrate market-pull and technology-push activities within the corporate technology and innovation management at the same time.