Key Value Chain Exam Points

• Firm-level technology strategy: Defined as how technology is embedded across primary and support activities to create competitive advantage
• Cost leadership: Technology reduces cost in Operations and Inbound Logistics activities
• Process innovation (JIT, Kaizen): Redesigns specific value chain activities
• Outsourcing/OEM: Externalization of specific primary activities (Operations or Outbound) to another firm's value chain — creates a value constellation

3 Factors Driving Diffusion (PeCeS)

Perceived characteristics of the innovation · Community/bandwagon effects · Social system norms and structure

Crossing the Chasm (Moore)

• Establish a technology standard to reduce FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt)
• Attain bandwagon effect — critical mass of adoption
• Ensure availability of complementary products
• TADLi: Target the beachhead · Assemble invasion force · Define the battle · Launch the invasion

Other Key TM 201 Concepts

• Toffler's Waves: Agricultural Age → Industrial Age → Information Age
• Components of Technology (KITS): Knowledge · Infrastructure · Tools · Structure
• 8 Tenets of MOT (RAVILIFQ): Responsiveness · Agility · Value creation · Innovation · Learning · Integration · Fairness · Quality
• Martin's Innovation Chain: Invention + Development + Entrepreneurship + Management + Social needs + Supportive environment = Commercialized innovation
• 8 Stages of Technological Innovation (BATdIPaMaDE): Basic research → Applied research → Tech development → Implementation → Production → Marketing → Diffusion → Enhancement
• Teece Model (Market Entry): Appropriability regime · Dominant design paradigm · Complementary assets

Why Promoted Scientists Make Poor R&D Managers

• Scientists value autonomy; managers must direct others — opposite personalities
• Scientists are trained to seek truth; managers must make business decisions under uncertainty
• Scientists value publications; managers must deliver business results
• Promotion removes the best researcher but creates a mediocre manager (Peter Principle)
• R&D managers must bridge science and business — a rare dual competency

Why NPV Is Unreliable for Basic Research

• Basic research has no defined market application → cash flows are unknown
• Time horizon is too long → discount rate compounds uncertainty
• Outcomes are binary (breakthrough or nothing) → expected value models fail
• Real Options are better: they treat the R&D project as an option to invest further — accounts for managerial flexibility (expand, abandon, delay)

Why PERT/CPM Are Unreliable for R&D

• PERT/CPM assumes well-defined tasks with estimable durations — R&D is inherently uncertain
• Research is non-linear: discovery can redefine the project entirely
• Unlike construction (predictable sequences), R&D loops back on itself
• However: PERT/CPM remain useful for the development phase (experimental development)

March 2025 Exam — CVP Computation

Given: Fixed Cost = ₱60,000 | Selling Price = ₱1,000 | Variable Cost = ₱600

Step 1 — CM per unit: ₱1,000 − ₱600 = ₱400

Step 2 — BEP: ₱60,000 ÷ ₱400 = 150 units per month

Must sell 150 units to break even. Any unit above 150 contributes ₱400 profit.

NPV Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages: Accounts for time value of money · Considers all project cash flows · Single comparable metric · Adjusts for risk via discount rate

Disadvantages: Requires accurate cash flow forecasts (hard for R&D) · Discount rate choice is subjective · Ignores managerial flexibility · Biased against long-term R&D projects

Contingency Theory of High-Tech Marketing (RMAP)

• R&D and Market Interaction — close coupling needed
• Market Research Tools — non-traditional tools needed (concept testing, customer visits)
• Advertising — education-focused, not just persuasion
• Price — skimming vs penetration based on uncertainty level

Tech Commercialization Stages

Why OEM Has No "Market Mediation"

In OEM, the technology transfer occurs through a bilateral private arrangement. The transferor (buyer who provides designs) actively guides the process, but there is no open market transaction — the technology is not bought/sold at arms-length. Even though a formal contract exists, the transfer is internal to the relationship, not mediated by a technology market.

Industry Analysis Components (IIMO)

• Industry Structure — concentration, growth, competitive dynamics
• Industry Value Chain — where value is created and captured
• Macro Environment — PESTLE analysis
• Opportunities & Threats — market segment analysis

Why Few Tech-Based Ventures in the Philippines

• Limited access to venture capital and angel investors
• Weak IP protection and enforcement discourages innovation
• Brain drain — best talent goes abroad
• Low domestic R&D spending (below 0.5% of GDP)
• Risk aversion in culture; limited entrepreneurship education
• Underdeveloped tech commercialization ecosystem (few incubators/TTO)

Scenario Planning Process

1. Define the Focal Issue — the strategic question to address
2. Identify Key Environmental Forces — PESTLE scan
3. Identify Key Predictable Variables — what is knowable/certain?
4. Identify Critical Uncertainties — what is unknown and impactful?
5. Cluster Variables — group related uncertainties
6. Rank Variables — by impact and uncertainty
7. Select Scenario Logic — choose 2 axes (2×2 matrix = 4 scenarios)
8. Develop Scenarios — write rich narratives for each quadrant
9. Assess Scenarios — test plausibility and consistency
10. Assess Implications for Strategic Planning — derive strategy options

Creative Destruction (Schumpeter)

Capitalism can only be understood as an evolutionary process of continuous innovation and creative destruction. New technologies destroy old ones — not through competition on price but by making them obsolete. Examples: digital photography → film cameras; streaming → video rental; smartphones → point-and-shoot cameras.

TMC Logo — The Two S-Curves

Two S-shaped curves on an X-Y plane where the second curve starts before the first curve reaches its plateau. X-axis = Time/Effort invested. Y-axis = Performance/Capability. First curve = current technology trajectory. Second curve = emerging technology. The overlap point = when to start investing in the next technology (jumping the S-curve) — embodying creative destruction in practice.

S&T Plans Comparison

Common LogFrame Errors to Avoid in Exams

• Confusing outputs with purpose (outputs are deliverables; purpose is the change caused by outputs)
• Indicators that are not measurable, achievable, or time-bound
• Assumptions that are actually within project control (those are risks, not assumptions)
• Activities stated as outputs (outputs are results, not actions)

Step-by-Step Recovery Plan

1. Assess current status — what has been done, what is behind, what is missing
2. Meet all stakeholders — understand their concerns, expectations, and political dynamics
3. Identify root causes — scope creep? resource shortfall? poor planning? team issues?
4. Stabilize the team — address morale, clarify roles, establish psychological safety
5. Renegotiate scope/schedule/budget — be honest with sponsors about what is achievable
6. Develop a recovery plan — new baseline with realistic milestones
7. Establish clear reporting — regular status updates, escalation path for issues
8. Execute and monitor — track against recovery plan, adjust as needed

Risk Management Process

• Identify: Brainstorm all potential risks (risk register)
• Assess: Probability × Impact matrix — prioritize high P × high I risks
• Plan response: Avoid · Transfer (insurance/contract) · Mitigate (reduce P or I) · Accept
• Monitor: Track risk triggers, update register, implement contingency plans

Exam Day Strategy

• Read all questions first — choose the ones where you can apply the most frameworks
• Structure answers: Define → Explain → Example → Implication
• Use mnemonic acronyms in your answer (examiners recognize and appreciate them)
• For case questions: identify the core problem, choose the right framework, apply it explicitly, recommend with justification
• Write clearly — illegible answers lose points even if the content is right
• Time allocation: 20 pts = ~25 minutes per question

A Note to Future MTM Students

This reviewer was built during my own compre preparation — not as a shortcut, but as an exercise in exactly what TMC taught us: break down complexity, organize knowledge, make it usable and shareable. The hardest part of the MTM program isn't learning the frameworks. It's connecting them into a coherent worldview of technology management.

If you're reading this as a future batch, know that someone before you tried to make the path a little easier. Use this, improve it, and pass it on. That's the spirit of Honor, Excellence, and Service.

Christian Leonard A. Roman

"In today's AI-driven world, leveraging tools like these isn't optional — it's part of how we grow as technology managers. And I think this reflects what we've been trained to do in TMC: not just learn, but make knowledge more usable, sharable, and impactful." — CLR

This is an independent, student-created reviewer and is not officially endorsed by UP TMC. Content is based on personal notes and may vary across classes and instructors. Use as a supplementary guide only.