Global Business Environment

SUMMARY: Technology is the knowledge or methods that are necessary to carry on or to improve the existing production and distribution of goods, services, products or processes, and also includes entrepreneurial expertise and professional know-how. The choice of technology for a company must depend on the type of competitive advantage it seeks to develop. Such a choice can complement the firm's competitive advantage. The technology chosen must be in tune with the firm's overall strategies. A thorough analysis of all the firms' available technologies is necessary to identify areas where there is scope for cost minimization or product differentiation.

Technology development need not always occur in a single organization. It can occur in inter-connected networks of organizations such as industry-university cooperative research centers, R&D consortia, and R&D limited partnerships also.