Technology Suuply Chains: An Introductory Essay

This essay addresses strategic technology sourcing -- the determination of whattechnologies are strategic to a firm (or nation) and the management of the policyoptions that follow from this determination. This work is certainly not the firstword on this subject, nor will it be the last. In fact, we hope that it will stimulatesignificant discussion about strategic technology sourcing especially in thoseorganizations where such discussion has been absent, naive, or just shouted downby the manage-by-the-numbers types. In the business press today, outsourcing is therage. "Restructure and downsize your organization; outsource as many functions aspossible" seems to be the message from many of the world's most profitablecorporations -- large and small -- as well as their consultant-armies.