Technology Entrepreneurship, Technology Strategy, and Uncertainty

Technology entrepreneurship—and, by extension, technology strategy—is the study of how firms use technology to create and capture value. While this area draws on multiple domains, including literatures describing the evolution of technology, firms, and industries, few dedicated efforts have been made to integrate these domains to describe technology strategy, even though many of the most powerful firms today are not those with industry or resource positions but those with technology positions. This chapter unpacks the theoretical and empirical foundations of technology entrepreneurship as it relates to strategy, summarizes current research, and highlights important unanswered questions, foremost of which is the role of uncertainty in theories of strategy. This chapter also asks two important questions: Given the growing centrality of technology in almost every area of economic life, is a technology strategy view needed? Also, given the rise of uncertainty, is a theory of uncertainty also necessary?

East Meets West

It would seem that people are very different because they may dress differently, are acculturated in different manners, speak different languages, have different cuisine, family traditions, etiquette, philosophies, literature, history, governments, education, artifacts, and technologies. The concept of Eastern culture and Western culture is often couched as dichotomous. Eastern and Western cultures are not monolithic and have wide variance, inclusive of variance that might be found in religions. Religion plays a role in both cultures, and these religions have an impact on how women may be viewed and treated, inclusive of gender expectations. These gender expectations that may stem from religions may then affect how women are immersed in science and technological fields. This chapter briefly explores gender as it is encapsulated in the East and West within the frame of religion. Three religions are briefly discussed, one that is considered more of an Eastern religion and two that are Westernized, Islam and Southern Baptist and Mormonism, respectively. After these religions are examined in terms of gender, these four questions are answered: (a) Could religion hold back women in technology positions that are within the male domain of work? (b) Are religions different in how they compartmentalize women? (c) Are Eastern and Western religions different in how women are perceived and ultimately treated? and (d) How can women overcome the stereotypic threat within the world of religion and work?

Gender, Race, Social Class and Information Technology

The issue of the underrepresentation of women in the information technology workforce has been the subject of a number of studies and the gender gap was an issue when the digital divide dominated discourse about women’s and minority groups’ use of the Internet However, a broader view is needed. That perspective would include the relation of women and IT in the communities in which they live as well as the larger society. The information society that has emerged includes the United States and the globalized economy of which it is an integral part. Women and minorities such as African Americans and Latinos are underrepresented in computer science (CS) and other information technology positions in the United States. In addition, while they areno longer numerically underrepresented in access to computers and the Internet – as of 2000, (Gorski, 2001) - they continue to enjoy fewer benefits available through the medium than white boys and men. The following article explores the diversity within women from the perspectives of race, ethnicity and social class in North America, mainly United States. The technology gender and racial gap persists in education and in the IT workforce. A broader and deeper look at women’s position in relation to the increasingly techno-centric society reveals that women may have reached equality in access, but not equity in academic study and job opportunities.

Solutions and Strategies for IT Recruitment and Retention: A Manager's Guide

There is some debate as to exactly how big the IT talent gap is in America. Information varies according to the source and time of individual reports. A 1998 report by the Information Technology Association of America estimated the gap at 190,000 unfilled core information technology positions.1 Just two years later, however, that same organization predicted that there would be demand for 1.6 million general (as opposed to core) IT workers in the United States in the year 2000 and that half of those positions would go unfilled. This study estimates the gap at 843,328 unfilled information technology positions.2 Recent economic trends have invalidated these early predictions and demand has gone down considerably. But the unstable nature of IT demand simply creates more problems. How does a public sector manager maintain a system that is flexible enough to move with market forces?

GPS and GIS for Weed Surveys and Management

Global positioning systems (GPS) technology, developed by the Department of Defense, enable accurate documentation of Cartesian coordinates anywhere on the earth's surface. Surveying, mapping, positioning, and subsequent management of weed infestations can be expedited with this technology. Positions and boundaries of infestation may be located with 10-m or better accuracy while the GPS receiver is continuously moving, and with 2-m or better accuracy with brief stops for repeated sampling. GPS data agreed closely with U.S. Geological Survey data. Coordinates for a weed infestation may be relocated for treatment, evaluation or other purposes. Basic geographic information systems (GIS) map features from Digital Line Graph (DLG), Topologically Integrated Encoding and Reference Systems (TIGER) and other sources of information may be used to fully integrate delimiting survey results from GPS readings in order to develop weed management plans.