Technological change and technology monitoring process: Evidence from four Italian case studies

Technology monitoring (TM) may take on different meanings in a company's day-to-day activities. In some cases it can be interpreted as a technology intelligence methodology, while in others it is understood as technology forecasting or even as technology assessment. These different interpretations are confirmed by an analysis of the literature. This case study examines the technology monitoring process in four Italian companies. For each of the cases considered, first we analysed the way technology monitoring is carried out and then we tried to understand what factors influence the company approach to technology monitoring. Four factors that can be expected to influence a company's technology monitoring approach came out of this empirical research study: the industry a company operates in, the business model it uses, the importance of technology in the corporate culture, and the level of its R&D resources.