**1. Introduction**

Technology management has come to be accepted as a vital activity and considered by many to be the basis of competition amongst organisations. On the other hand, Pandza et al. (2004) posit that 'Advances in technology have moved manufacturing organisations toward a new competitive landscape. Managers in manufacturing organisations are experiencing the emergence of new manufacturing concepts or even a new paradigm' (p. 402). Smart manufacturing

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2018 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

is one of these emerging concepts. There has been considerable interest by researchers to peep inside manufacturing firms and explore the elements contributing to their performance. 'Over the last decade there have been many attempts to set out the elements of manufacturing systems and to understand their effects' [1]. Concepts such as virtual organisations, concurrent engineering, advanced manufacturing, flexible manufacturing systems and computer-integrated manufacturing have been applied at the company level. However, Hayes and Jaikumar [2] are of the opinion that 'investment based on these technologies frequently proved disappointing, not because of any fundamental weakness in these technologies, but because the links between these technologies and the needs of business were not well understood'. The repercussion of this has been, according to Womack et al. [3], a move by companies to lay more emphasis on soft issues like operations, quality, financial control, production control, change management and supply chain networks. It would be worthwhile to deduce that advanced manufacturing or smart manufacturing alone might not relate to performance of firms. The application of advanced technologies needs to align with the strategy of the firm, hence the need to consider technology strategy and technology management as the main drivers of smart manufacturing.

**2. Technology management**

R&D and is more strategic in nature.

**2.1. Missing links in technology management**

**2.2. Overemphasis on technologies in smart manufacturing**

Technology management, according to Corey [8], is an integration between business and technical disciplines to develop technology capabilities in order to achieve operational objectives. He further elaborates that R&D is also an essential ingredient for incorporating technology into the products and processes of a firm. Jones, Green and Coombs [9] have defined technology management as the 'identification, development and application of relevant technical knowledge and expertise to achieve organisational goals'. This definition goes beyond the usual domain of

Influence of Strategic Technology Management on Smart Manufacturing: The Concept of…

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The effect of employing such strategies has resulted in enhanced productivity of many firms where technology was once treated as a relatively low priority [10]. The importance of technological competencies is evident from the fact that NEC outperformed GTE simply because 'it conceived itself in terms of core competencies' [11]. Therefore, it can be concluded that for the advanced manufacturing industry, technological competencies are always going to be significant

In order to determine the missing links in technology management, Gregory [1] conducted a critical literature review on this subject and concluded that 'all authors identify the need for a set of instruments, for a methodology to facilitate technology oriented decision making and none of the current approaches relates to general management concepts i.e. they do not lend themselves to integration in a unified concept of firm management'. Traditional approaches to technology strategy tend to focus on the identification of critical technologies and the allocation of R&D effort to the most important of these. Manufacturing firms tend to become multinationals, and technologies employed in the parent firm are similar to those employed by other countries, but it is unclear as to whether or not R&D is similar in the home and host countries. The firm exists to create value-added products. Wahab [17] reiterates that the 'performance of firms depends very much on innovation and R&D environment'. However, despite their similarities there are striking differences in the ways that different firms and organisations approach their technology management—the university system in the USA, for example, plays a different role from the one in Southeast Asia. Thus, technology management strategies applied in advanced manufacturing firms in the host country might be different than those applied in the home country—this is a missing link (gap), and this chapter in part has tried to address this gap.

If as Gregory [1] maintains that 'a strategy is only of value if mechanisms for its implementation and renewal are in place', it is surprising that no comprehensive framework for technology management has emerged. Many authors, including Hayes and Jaikumar [2], have highlighted that an overemphasis on technology, rather than on products and services, has led some companies to develop or acquire inappropriate technologies. 'There is a need, then, for a "language" which can represent and link the important dimensions of a business, including technology, in the context of customer requirements' [1]. However, if such a language of technology is developed, it should be

as effective *management* of technology is dependent on them (on this, see also [12–16]).

It is almost impossible for firms to keep away from technology. Continuous development in various industries has relied heavily on technology. The manufacturing sector has also moved leaps and bounds in technology applications. The concept of smart manufacturing also relies on utilising state-of-the-art technologies to monitor and improve productive effectiveness. 'The primary fact about technology in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries is that it has a momentum of its own. Although the technological stream can to some extent be directed, it is impossible to dam it; the stream flows on endlessly' [4]. The development of the Internet and modern sensor technology has benefited most. These technologies can be 'directed' to able to monitor and control the production processes more effectively than is done by current systems which are a mix of manual and automatic parameters. The trend in the development of fast Internet and control systems has provided unique opportunities to introduce smart manufacturing. However, technology alone cannot provide a competitive advantage. The way these technologies need to be applied (technology strategy) and implemented (technology management) needs to be understood by both the academics and the practitioners. This concept of integrating the areas of engineering and management is a concept which this chapter looks into and is introduced by the author for the first time here as 'smart manufacturing management' and resembles with 'engineering management' and 'technology management'. It provides useful results based on a study undertaken in a high-technology manufacturing sector.

Business strategy can be apprehended through its content or its processes [5]. Content research mainly focuses and investigates strategic typologies. Process research puts more emphasis on how the strategy is formulated and implemented ([6], p. 193). 'Strategic technology management' (STM) encompasses both the 'content' of technology strategy and the 'process' of technology management. Technological advances and the timing of their implementation have a considerable influence on the competitive standing of firms. Technology strategies could thus be regarded as important elements which could provide a competitive edge to organisations and also help in the development of their business strategies. Badawy ([7], p. 359) observed that White and Bruton use a similar definition for the management of technology, that is, 'the linking of engineering, science and management disciplines to plan, develop and implement technological capabilities to shape and accomplish the strategic and operational goals of an organisation'.
