technology and the strategic management process. As these processes will tend to vary according to industries and organizations, this study investigates the issues involved through the study of diverse case examples of the actual integration of advances in information technology and the strategic management process. The "Methodology" section of this chapter identifies the cases analyzed.
Information Technology: Development Over Time
Technology is society's pool of applied knowledge concerning how goods and services can be produced by managers, workers, engineers, scientists, and craftspeople, using land and capital. Innovation, in an economic context, is the introduction of new products, or processes. Productivity is defined as a measure of the rate at which output flows from the use of given amounts of the factors of production (Miller, 1996).
When technology is considered within the context of physical science, it is typically viewed as the application of physical science and engineering technology to human endeavors. This concept emphasizes device effects and procedures. When technology is conceptualized within the context of the behavioral sciences, it is viewed as the application of language and linguistics, communications, cybernetics, and psychometrics to human endeavors. The behavioral science concept of technology incorporates applications of engineering research (particularly human factors engineering), logistics related to the effective use of physical resources, and information science. Technology, thus, is the conscious invention of ways of acting on the material world to meet human needs (Miller, 1996).
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