Title: Technology foresight: experiences from companies operating worldwide

Authors: Hans Dietmar Burgel, Guido Reger, Rene Ackel-Zakour

Addresses: University of Stuttgart, Breitscheidstrasse 2c, 70174 Stuttgart, Germany. Fraunhofer Institute of Systems and Innovation Research, Breslauer Strasse 48, 76139 Karlsruhe, Germany. University of Stuttgart, Breitscheidstrasse, 2c, 70174 Stuttgart, Germany

Abstract: As the speed of innovation and globalisation grows, chances and risks for enterprises rise. An early identification of discontinuities can prevent enterprises from losing ground in competition. The need to stay up to date in technology development or to become a trendsetter can be supported by technology foresight (TF), a system or process which should enable the users to identify new or overlapping technologies. The study reported in this paper aimed to find out how technology foresight is carried out in companies operating worldwide. It is based on interviews with different representatives of 21 selected enterprises who have gained experience in technology foresight activities. One of the main results is that the firms make intensive use of internal and external networks to collect and analyse information.

Keywords: technology foresight (TF); TF networks; TF process; technology strategy; success factors; R&D management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTM.2000.001579

International Journal of Services Technology and Management, 2000 Vol.1 No.4, pp.395-413

Published online: 04 Jul 2003 *

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