Radical technological changes (so-called "technology shocks") frequently
disrupt the competitive market structure. New entrants appear,
industries need to be redefined, incumbents lose their positions or
vanish completely. Fast moving industries - like the often quoted
example of the semiconductor industry - have preferably been analyzed
for these phenomena. But do the findings hold for industries with longer
development cycles like the global machine tool industry?
Here, the multivariate analysis is used to find out what management
needs to focus on in order to lead companies through the technology
shocks. The research for this book builds on in-depth interviews with
100 experts and decision makers from the machine tool industry involved
in technology shocks and statistical analysis of detailed quantitative
surveys collected from 58 companies. In several instances the results
challenge classical teaching of technology management.
*Adrian J. Slywotzky - US top selling business author and one of the
most distinguished intellectual leaders in business - comments:
*"In Technology Shocks, Heinrich Arnold develops a very useful model
for analyzing technology shocks, and for focusing on those factors that
will enable a company to navigate through these shocks successfully, and
repeatedly. Although this work is focused on technology, its thinking
has useful implications beyond technology shocks. It provides ideas
that managers can use to protect their firms when they are faced with
any type of discontinuity, technology-based or not".