| In today's world of rapidly changing technology, successful businesses need to be vigilant about the potential impact new technologies may have on the future of their organization. While the literature contains research on how large organizations manage the innovation process, little exists examining how entrepreneurial organizations monitor for and assimilate new technologies. This research was exploratory in nature and develops a framework upon which future theoretical models can be built. The multiple case study methodology was used to examine how entrepreneurs in the service sector take on the challenge of monitoring and assimilating new technological opportunities. A comprehensive set of standardized questions was deployed during one-on-one interviews; many of the questions were open-ended in nature. This served as the primary information gathering technique, but was augmented and verified by other sources such as company literature, resumes, World Wide Web information, and personal observations. In addition, triangulation of data was accomplished through the use of two supplemental techniques. First, in addition to the entrepreneurs, individuals who worked with entrepreneurs on a regular basis were interviewed in order to gain another perspective. Second, a small quantitative type survey was imbedded near the end of the interview process, to point out consistencies or anomalies within the qualitative information. A total of 20 individuals from 12 different organizations participated in this process. Each entrepreneur interviewed presented a unique view of the technology scouting and assimilation process. However, certain common process elements did emerge based upon the results of this research effort. |
