NETW583 Strategic Management of Technology Term project | Complete Solution

NETW583 Strategic Management of Technology

Term Project Instructions
A key part of this class is the Term Project – developing a comprehensive written strategic plan
for a technology driven organization. The project is intended to provide students with the
opportunity to integrate skills and knowledge developed in this course. The project has a value of 200 points or 20% of the overall course grade.

This document will provide you with additional information about the requirements as a
supplement to the brief description on the course site.

General Comments
The project is organized consistent with the Terminal Course Objectives. This format allows
students to apply what they have learned and serves to reinforce the concepts.
The Term Project has 6 sections each of which should cover a specific Terminal Course
Objectives

1. Strategy (TCO F)
2. Core Competencies (TCO C)
3. Industry Dynamics (TCO A)
4. Technology Sourcing and Internal Innovation (TCO D)
5. Product Development Strategy (TCO E)
6. Strategy to protect innovations (TCO B)

Each section of the project should be approximately 2-3 double spaced pages in length. Only the
final paper, which is due on the Sunday ending week 7, will be graded.

Each plan grade is made up of 3 components and weighted as follows:
• Content (70%): how well the plan meets the objective of each section, which is
organized by Terminal Course Objective. Care should be taken to ensure that your
ideas are carefully considered and supported by facts and logical conclusions that can
be drawn from them.
• Presentation (10%): Charts, tables, graphs and similar content that adds to the
presentation of your ideas
• Structure (10%): is the overall organization and appearance of the document. The
paper should be organized and structured appropriately for an executive management level.
• Grammar/Spelling (10%): this should be self-explanatory.

Note: Refer to the Policies section under Course Home for important information about
academic integrity and plagiarism. Penalties for plagiarism are severe.

The final plan is due at the end of week 7.
All submissions should be in Microsoft Word format.
Use the following convention for naming your final submission file:

NETW583 Term Project - [LASTNAME] for example:
NETW583 Term Project – Smith

Tips
1. Read through the entire set of deliverables detailed below. This will help you select a
company that is unlikely to lead to roadblocks late in the project.
2. Plan how you will complete each section of the project as well as the final submission
3. Outside research is good, but don’t go overboard as it will affect your grade. Some
things, like finding a company’s mission statement, can only be done by research. Most
of this project does not require extensive external research.
4. Applying the concepts learned in class in a thoughtful, logical manner is the key to doing
well on the project. In other words, I am more interested in what you think in each area
rather than what a company is actually doing or not doing.
5. Professionalism counts. The final submission should be well organized and written. The
style and tone of a business plan is different from case study or term paper formats.
Assume you are submitting the document to the CEO of the company and you will do
well.
6. Edit your work, focusing on quality rather than quantity. Note: most sections will
require at least 2 pages to adequately address the requirements.
7. Ask questions using the Q&A thread so the entire class will benefit from the discussion.
8. Do not wait for week 7 to try and format, structure and edit the paper. There will be little
time to do so.

Term Project Deliverables

Following is a list of weekly activities for the Term Project. Working steadily throughout the course is highly recommended.
Getting off to a good start is the main objective for this week.
Select a Company for the Project. I recommend giving this a great deal of thought as each section of the project is logically linked to the other sections. Some things to consider when choosing a company:

1. While you may use a fictitious company for the project, I recommend using an actual company, since it will make the project easier to complete.
2. The company must be one that is driven by technology. The company can be in the IT business, such as Microsoft or IBM, or it can be a non-IT business that is technology driven, such as Boeing, GE or Pfizer (drugs).
3. Choosing a large, diverse company, such as General Electric, requires selecting a specific division or business unit to meet the objectives and requirements of the project. Recognize it may be difficult to research specific information at the business unit level in the early parts of the project.
4. Make sure you understand the nature of the company’ technologies, products and services, at least at a high level. Choosing a company engaged in genetic research for example, will be difficult if you are not familiar with such research.

Section 1 - TCO F:

Given an organizational and industry context, identify and suggest a deployment strategy that will facilitate the success of a technologically driven organization. Prepare a 2-3-page section that covers the following:
1. Introduction
a. Brief description of the company’s business
b. Brief description of the company’s strategy
2. Company Mission Statement
3. Discuss the five key elements of deployment as they pertain to the recommendations and analysis contained in your paper:

• Timing
• Licensing and compatibility
• Pricing
• Distribution
• Marketing.

Section 2 - TCO C:

Given an organizational and industry context, identify the core technological competencies of the organization.
Prepare a 2-3-page section the covers the following:
1. Identify a representative technology based product or service provided by your company
2. Identify the basic technologies that underlie this product or service
3. Identify the core technological competencies of the company

Section 3 - TCO A:

Given a company situation be able to describe the industry dynamics of technological innovation.
Prepare a 2-3-page section the covers the following:

1. Identify and briefly describe the major industry group in which your company
participates
2. Identify key competitors your company faces
3. Identify the key customer groups served by your company
4. Identify customer needs addressed by your companies products and services

Section 4 - TCO D:

Given an organizational context, develop a plan to increase the innovative capabilities of the organization both through collaboration strategies and internal innovation.
Prepare a 2-3-page section the covers the following:
1. Discuss the various forms of collaboration
2. Evaluate whether or which form of collaboration is most appropriate for the
recommended innovation project

Section 5 - TCO E:

Given information about a company’s industry, and organization, formulate a technological innovation strategy through its new product development strategy.Prepare a 2-3-page section the covers the following:

1. Recommend a new product or service to the senior management of your company.
Be sure to discuss how this recommendation fits with the strategy and competencies of the organization.

2. Explain how the 3 objectives of new product development projects (maximize fit with customer objectives, minimize time-to-market, and control development cost) apply to your recommendation

3. Evaluate the different ways that teams can be structured and recommend a team structure that is matched to your recommended project type.

Section 6 - TCO B:
Given a company situation be able to determine whether and how to protect its technological innovations.

Prepare a 2-3-page section the covers the following:
1. Discuss the four primary mechanisms used to protect innovations
2. Identify the specific mechanism(s) most appropriate for your innovation
recommendation
3. Explain why you selected such mechanism(s)

Week 7: Project Completion
Submit your final project document for grading.