Premium
Portfolio Management in Double Unknown Situations: Technological Platforms and the Role of Cross‐Application Managers
Author(s) -
Kokshagina Olga,
Le Masson Pascal,
Weil Benoit,
Cogez Patrick
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
creativity and innovation management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.148
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1467-8691
pISSN - 0963-1690
DOI - 10.1111/caim.12121
Subject(s) - structuring , portfolio , project portfolio management , element (criminal law) , emerging technologies , business , process (computing) , knowledge management , industrial organization , computer science , marketing , process management , economics , project management , management , finance , artificial intelligence , political science , law , operating system
This article investigates portfolio management in double unknown situations. Double unknown refers to a situation in which the level of uncertainty is high and both technology and markets are as yet unknown. This situation can be an opportunity for new discoveries, creation of new performance solutions and giving direction to portfolio structuring. The literature highlights that the double unknown situation is a prerequisite to designing generic technologies that are able to address many existing and emerging markets and create value across a broad range of applications. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the initial phases of generic technology governance and associated portfolio structuring in multi‐project firms. We studied three empirical contexts of portfolio structuring at the E uropean semiconductor provider STM icroelectronics. The results demonstrate that (1) portfolio management for generic technologies is highly transversal and comprises creating both modules to address market complementarities and the core element of a technological system – the platform, and (2) the design of generic technologies requires ‘cross‐application’ managers who are able to supervise the interactions among innovative concepts developed in different business and research groups and who are responsible for structuring and managing technological and marketing exploration portfolios within the organizational structures of a company.