TECHNOLOGY AS PERCEIVED BY RESEARCH-AND-DEVELOPMENT TEAM LEADERS - AN ANALYSIS

The work reported in this paper was carried out as part of a larger study on the uncertainties experienced by R&D scientists and engineers. It pertains to the development of a perceptual measure of technology, and its subsequent application to an R&D work context. Twelve perceptually based characteristics of technology were identified from literature, and formed the basis for a questionnaire. The survey methodology was adopted in this study. Responses to the questionnaire were elicited from sixty leaders of R&D teams belonging to the Telecommunications and Space Technology R&Ds. Analysis of data revealed that while certain characteristics seemed to constitute the 'core' of technology, the dominance of certain others varied between teams from the two R&Ds. This suggests that managerial implications from the perception of technology should be drawn with specific reference to the context. The study outlines some implications for R&D managers based on the profile of technology perception.