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Steven P. MacGregor

IESE Business School

Management of Technology: Managing Effec-tively in Technology-Intensive OrganizationsHans J. Thamhain. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley &Sons, Inc., 2005. 381þ xii pages. US$95.00.

This is a valuable reference book written with an aca-

demic slant and from a technical manager’s perspec-

tive and represents the author’s collective effort of 10

years of formal field research in the area of engineer-

ing and technology management as well as 20 years

in high-technology management positions in large

corporations. Hans Thamhain is professor of man-

agement and director of the Technology and Man-

agement Programs at Bentley College in Waltham,

Massachusetts.

The book is meant to be a professional reference

for managers and technology-oriented professionals

at all levels in industry, as well as a text for college

courses in technology management. It is well organ-

ized, with a total of 14 chapters and five appendices.

Each chapter contains a common subset of headings

that follow the chapter content: ‘‘Summary of Key

Points and Conclusions,’’ ‘‘Critical Thinking and

Questions for Discussion,’’ and ‘‘References and

Additional Reading.’’ This highlights the academic

and reference nature of the book. Also, each chapter

begins with a small case study using either a large cor-

poration (e.g., GE, GM, Merck & Co.) or a large

agency (e.g., NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense)

as the example of a particular topic in technology

management. This is possibly the only drawback to the

book, as a reader in a small company must determine

how that example might relate to his or her situation.

Logically, the scope and definition of management

of technology (MoT) should be one of the first topics,

and this is precisely what the author states in chapter

1: ‘‘The words ‘management’ and ‘technology’ each

carry different meanings and boundaries, and in com-

bination, they stand for a wide array of actions, meth-

ods, tools and techniques’’ (p. 3). The author points

out that the scope of technology management has not

changed and runs parallel to the general field of man-

agement. Following some discussions on this point,

the author proposes his definition of MoT: ‘‘the art

and science of creating value by using technology to-

gether with other resources of an organization’’ (p. 6,

emphasis in original). The first chapter also empha-

sizes a common denominator, which is that the speed

of advances in technology is perhaps the greatest obs-

tacle to efficient MoT. As if he knew what the reader

would likely ask next, the author graphically illus-

trates the increasing level of technology versus time in

Figure 2.2 (p. 26)—prompting a possible reaction

from a reader of ‘‘How can we cope with such expo-

nential growth in complexity?’’

A chapter-by-chapter analysis is beyond the scope

of this review, but some key points in most of the

chapters are certainly worth mentioning.

Organizational issues in technology companies are

subject to the constraints posed by the need for flexi-

bility, speed, and efficiency (chapter 3). The author

uses examples of organizational designs and forms

(e.g., by function, project, matrix) along with their

strengths and weaknesses. Chapter 5 presents further

discussions on management of people and uses the

core management issues such as management of tech-

nical work content, talent, and knowledge as a good

introduction to other issues such as employee motiv-

ation and performance.

Thamhain provides a good discussion of concur-

rent engineering (CE) and integrated product devel-

opment in chapter 4. He sees CE as a unique project

management approach, and the criteria for success

listed in Table 4.2 (p. 67) are quite revealing and of

some considerable value—for example, lay out the

master project plan (top level) covering the project life

cycle, establish effective cross-functional communica-

tions channels and specific methods for work transfer,

have tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty, and

have top management buy in and support the CE

process.

The author covers the people side of technology

and organizations in chapter 5, which includes a very

good list and description of 16 professional needs

critical to technology-based performance. Some

examples include interesting and challenging work,

clearly defined objectives, job security, and open

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communication. This chapter puts heavy emphasis

on motivational concepts and theories. Table 5.3

(p. 125) presents a useful list of the criteria for man-

aging effectively in a technology-based organization,

although many of these items would apply to almost

any type of organization.

Technology project management is considered as a

continuously evolving system, and chapter 6 examines

the tools and techniques for effective project manage-

ment. By and large, this discussion is typical project

management stuff, such as statement of work, mile-

stones, scheduling, budgeting, and task matrix.

The following chapter, ‘‘Measuring and Control-

ling the Work,’’ is probably the best one in the book.

An extensive list of analytical management techniques

for project control (Table 7.4a, pp. 180–5) with a de-

scription of each should be posted in every manager’s

office, along with the top reasons for project failure

(Table 7.2, p. 175). The popularity, skill level, and

value of 29 management techniques, studied in field

research, were also quite revealing (Table 7.5, p. 189).

Schedule tracking topped the list at 99% popularity.

The low popularity of benchmarking (42%) and voice

of the customer (25%) were somewhat surprising.

Chapter 8 covers quantitative and qualitative

approaches and methods for project evaluation and

selection. Examples include net present value and re-

turn on investment. Chapter 9, ‘‘Leading Technology

Teams,’’ certainly covers the human side of the tech-

nology management equation and the anxieties

caused by new tools and techniques.

Managing technical innovation is the subject of

chapter 10, which includes a very good discussion of

barriers to effective team performance (group dynam-

ics). Table 10.3 (p. 264) lists innovative company per-

formance indicators, for example, quality, patents,

and publications.

It was refreshing to see full environmental cost

accounting being presented in chapter 11, which is

devoted entirely to the subject of managing

environmental quality and contains examples of

many companies that have demonstrated environ-

mental stewardship (Table 11.1, p. 284). A useful list

of recommendations for implementing environmental

quality programs (Table 11.3, p. 298) rounds out this

chapter.

Tools for managing risks in high technology are

presented in chapter 12. Perhaps the best quote in the

entire book can be found here: ‘‘Regardless of the

specific tools available, seasoned managers have an

intuitive sense of where uncertainties lurk’’ (p. 307).

The results of a field study that revealed 1,000 unique

risk situations—subsequently grouped and ranked

into 13 generic risk categories of undesirable effects

(Figure 12.2, p. 309)—was another useful part of this

chapter. Examples include changing project require-

ments (#1), technology changes (#4), and changing

social or economic conditions (#13). The author also

identified three subsystems in effective risk manage-

ment: within work and organizational processes, with

analytical tools and methods, and with people.

The last two chapters were marginal. Chapter 13,

‘‘Developing New Business,’’ was mostly devoted to

the bid process, which would be typical of a large or-

ganization’s continuing battle to cope with the lengthy

and cumbersome competitive bid process. Chapter 14,

‘‘Consulting in Technology Management,’’ was most-

ly a pitch for the need for consultants but nevertheless

provided some useful information that an internal

‘‘consultant’’ or manager in an organization could

use.

Finally, the appendices provided listings of

professional groups of relevance to technology man-

agement, professional journals, conferences, and re-

search centers.

Overall, this book is useful and informative and

engages the reader. The individuals most likely to

benefit are new or middle managers, as experienced

technology managers will find that most of the con-

tent is probably known to them. This is also a good

textbook whose main advantage over others is that it

is backed by some interesting research that shows up

in the tables. The author’s mixed experience in indus-

try and academia is probably responsible for his use-

ful viewpoints.

Steve Guerin

Axiomatic Research Corporation

98 J PROD INNOV MANAG2007;24:91–98

BOOK REVIEWS