A Conceptual Model for Technology Evaluation at Corporate Level Regarding Supply Chain Motives and Capabilities

Technology evaluation is one of the main funtions of technology management in all corporations. It contains the assessment of product and/or process technologie's attractiveness as well as the firm's technological capabilities. The result of technology evaluation is normally used for technology strategy formulation. Despite the importance of technology strategy at corporate level which includes investment priorities of corporation, its subsidiaries and the supplier's network in the field of technology, almost all of technology evaluation models and frameworks are designed for single companies and dont consider the situation of suppliers. However, the motives and capabilities of supply chain regarding the development/acquisition and implementation of new technology in the end product should be taken into account by corporations. Otherwise, new product development process at corporate level might fail or become successful in term of time and cost. In this paper, we propose a conceptual model for evaluation of technologies which integrates corporation and it supplier's motives and capabilities regarding a specific technology. By reviewing the literature, interviewing experts from automative industry and then using thematic analysis method, the first draft of proposed model is conceived. The model is subsequently verificated and validated through a focus group. Finally, the applicability of model is confirmed via two case studies.