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The definition of technology has been illustrated by the technology
triangle which contains three components – human resources, technical knowledge,
and hardware know-why. The angles are related to each other and
reciprocal. Effective technology application depends firmly on the interactions between
the three components, which is a unique process. There is a new definition
of technology by Paul et al., (1985), which is presented in three groups: (1)
General – technology as a key factor of success; (2)
Common – general features of technology without noticing its
usage; (3) Special – function of a scientific domain.
According to Richard et al. (1993) the meaning of
technology is to respond to social needs in the form of product and
process; anything that changes input to output is
technology; technology studies tools and methods used in different fields of industry (Loroubi dictionary). Management
of technology is defined as "an interdisciplinary area relating to
designing, developing, and technological abilities to form and fulfill strategic
and operational goals in an organization" (Figure
1). It focuses on technology, known as the main factor of wealth creation. Certainly, wealth creation is not
mere money. It depends on elements like improvement of knowledge,
intellectual property, effective productivity of resources, preservation of environment,
etc., which affect the development and quality of life. Technology
management includes accepting responsibility, creation, purchasing, dissemination
and technology development to help people's efforts and customers' needs
(Khalil, 2000). The principal domain of technology management is: How can
we incorporate technology with strategic goals of organization? How can we
develop technology more quickly? How can we evaluate technology with
more effectiveness? How can we better transfer technology?
How can we increase longevity and decrease development of new production? How can we
manage inter-organizational technology? How can we use professional effectiveness
of technology as a progressive factor? (Tarek and Khalil, 2000).
Discussion about organizational goals include concept of effectiveness
(Richard, 1998). As the simplest definition, effectiveness in an organization is
the degree of the organization's access to its goals (Richard, 1998). In
return, efficiency is the degree of resources used to produce an efficient unit in
the organization. It is necessary to note here that despite effectiveness and
efficiency tend to incorporate, but this does not happen always. In other words,
an organization may be efficient but not effective and vice versa, (Richard,
1998). Efficiency is doing well. Effectiveness is functioning properly. In spite
of presenting a simple definition of effectiveness, in many cases, its measuring
is not possible.
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