Technology management at university research centers

摘要

Technology Management seeks to make more efficient and effective use of technology and its development. In our modern age dominated by rapidly changing technology, effective technology management is critical for organizational success. University research centers are driven towards complexity, not only from the intricacy of the technologies that are investigated, but also because of changes in the way research is done. Resource constraints demand increasing interdisciplinary collaboration among universities, industries, and governmental agencies. This added complexity should create a demand for improved methods and tools for technology management and research. However, few of these efforts are evident in the literature. It must be kept in mind that management efforts to improve performance through increased control and planning can also stifle creativity and loose some of the most promising opportunities from the research effort. This paper reviews an approach to enhance the productive capabilities of university research centers and its application to the Center for Infrastructure Engineering Studies at the university of Missouri-Rolla. Included are the design of a survey and planned group interaction session to generate self-assessment of the center and a prioritized list of activities to address the center's major needs. The participants evaluated very favorably the value generated by the survey and group session.