Technology Assessment: Technological Capability Assessment for Automotive Parts Manufacturers

Today, technology plays a crucial role in firms’ competitiveness. Therefore, it needs, like other sources of competition, to be managed from a strategic point of view (Arasti and Pakniat, 2006). Strategic view of technology should consider different aspects of technological capability (TC) of the firm, and therefore assessing the TC will lead to better strategic planning and technology development. In the manufacturing industries, impact of technology as a source of competitive advantage is widely accepted and developed (Phaal et al., 2001, 2004). VanWyk (2004) pointed out that: “We need a simple, comprehensive grasp of technology. We need to understand at the macro level how technology is composed, how it evolves and how it interacts with other systems”. However, its impact is complex and often difficult to be integrated into strategic management process. There is now a broad consensus among different academics, industrial experts, and policy makers that a manufacturing organization to be competitive in the global market, must be able to produce required high-quality products being reliable and economic (efficient) by easiest ways of production (Shamsuddin and Bititci, 2006).