Wharton on Managing Emerging Technologies

Emerging technologies such as the Internet and biotechnology have the potential to create new industries and transform existing ones. Incumbent firms, despite their superior resources, often lose out to smaller rivals in developing emerging technologies. Why do these incumbents have so much difficulty with disruptive technologies? How can they anticipate and overcome their handicaps? Wharton on Managing Emerging Technologies presents insights, tools, and frameworks from leading busi-ness thinkers based on the research of Wharton's Emerging Technologies Management Research Program. This pioneering industry-academic partnership, established in 1994, is one of the longest and broadest initiatives on the management of emerging technologies. For the first time, this book distills the insights from the program into a single volume for managers, covering a wide range of issues related to the successful management of emerging technologies. The editors contend that managing emerging technologies represents a "different game," requiring a different set of management skills, frameworks, and strategies than those used by established firms to manage existing technologies. In this book, experts from diverse fields examine key issues such as: Common pitfalls and potential solutions for incumbent firms in managing emerging technologies Strategies for assessing the potential of new markets and designing technologies to take advantage of market "lumpiness" The need for scenario planning and "disciplined imagination" to develop strategies under uncertainty The limits of patents in protecting gains from technology, and the use of lead time and other strategies The power of innovative financial strategies and the use of real options in making investments Using alliances and new organizational forms Developing a "customized workplace" Wharton on Managing Emerging Technologies represents a powerful survival kit for managers "dropped behind the lines" of these new technologies. The authors