Assess emerging technologies

Credit Union Management, Aug 2001

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How do you know which emerging technologies to pursue? The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School suggests credit unions need a thorough assessment process for technologies they're considering.

In their book, Wharton on Managing Emerging Technologies, Dr. George S. Day, founder of Wharton's emerging technologies research program and expert marketing professor, and Dr. Paul J.H. Schoemaker, the program's research director and chairman and CEO of Decision Strategies International Inc., suggest assessing possible technologies with this four-step process:

1. Scoping. Establish the scope and domain of the technology search, based on credit union capabilities and the technology's potential threat or opportunity.

2. Searching. Determine the information and technology sources to monitor, procedures to follow and organizational arrangements that will allow the credit union to screen technologies and search for signals of both an emergent technology and its commercial viability.

3. Evaluating. Identify and prioritize candidate technologies and then evaluate them against the credit union's technical capabilities, target market needs and competitive opportunities.

4. Committing. Use the first three steps above to determine whether to pursue a particular technology. This fourth step addresses how to pursue a technology, by making a strategic commitment to the new technology in the form of a particular strategic posture.

Learn details involved in these steps at CUES' Managing Emerging Technologies, Sept. 30-Oct. 3 at Wharton's Steinberg Conference Center in Philadelphia. For more on the program, visit www.cues.org/education/wharton2001.htm or www.cues.org/fyi/n_52501.htm.