Week 11 (Technology Assessment & Forecasting)

Brief Summary:
-
In this week's class, we covered what technological assessment was and also the driving factors behind technology assessment. As mentioned by one of the class presenters, technological assessment is the evaluation of a technology to see how practical and effective it is, and also if it is worth investing money in.
-
Driving factors for this type of assessment is firstly due to an exponential growth in the range of new technologies, and firms would have to determine which ones best suit their interest. Secondly, the environmental and social impacts of implementing these new technologies will have to be evaluated. Furthermore, due to the large increase in number of new technologies, assessment is needed to determine what priority should be assigned to each invention.
-
Interesting Ideas:
-
I feel that while firms engage in the process of technological assessment, they should also take in account the views of the public. This is an important factor as if the public disapproves of the method used in producing their products, they could choose to boycott the firm's products. Take for example, D&G produces unique jeans through the method of sandblasting. As much as this technology allows the creation of faded jeans, the process in making these jeans actually harm the workers involved. When information about this got leaked to the public, it eventually affected the sales of these jeans. As can be seen, it is unwise to not take into consideration the opinions of the public as they might object to the types of technologies employed.
-
Key takeaways
-
1. It is necessary to appropriately evaluate the types of technologies employed as inaccurate evaluations could potentially harm both workers and their business.
-
2. In the era of increasing technological advances, by evaluating and employing the right technologies will allow firms to have a competitive advantage over their competitors. This is as employing suitable technologies can lead to increased efficiency and productivity.
-
Discussion:
-
I felt that it would be good to look into more of the factors evaluated in an assessment. While it is true that these factors defer from firm to firm, we could have been able to observe certain trends which determine which factors are generally more important.
-
Ratings:
-
I would give the lesson a 8/10. This lesson was interesting as it gave me an insight into the process of assessment, and the need for it. Furthermore, as we progress on to our careers, we might be required to do these assessments frequently.