Strictly Business feature: Q&A with Hossein Bidgoli of CSUB
| Thursday, Jan 14 2010 04:52 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Jan 14 2010 05:16 PM
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Alex Horvath / The Californian
Professor Hossein Bidgoli from Cal State Bakersfield.
People whose lives are unaffected by the march of technology may derive some relief out of the fact that they have no need for the latest 3,300-page mega-textbook produced by professor Hossein Bidgoli and his team at Cal State Bakersfield.
Most of the rest of us don't necessarily need to pick up a copy, either (which is nice, because publisher John Wiley & Sons Inc. lists it for sale at $750).
Nevertheless, this book, "The Handbook of Technology Management," is a big deal -- enough so that it involved the work of 350 authors and more than 1,200 reviewers under Bidgoli's supervision, not to mention the participation of Google, HP and Microsoft, as well as Stanford and Harvard universities, among many others.
The most impressive thing about the project is, Bidgoli does this sort of thing regularly. He has written and edited more than 43 textbooks, including another 3,000-pager, "The Handbook of Computer Networks," released by the same publisher at the same price in 2007.
Bidgoli took the time this week to tell us what it all means. Responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.
Name: Hossein Bidgoli
Occupation/job title: Professor of Management Information Systems at Cal State Bakersfield.
Question: What is technology management?
Answer: Technology management or management of technology is a relatively new academic discipline that focuses on the scientific, engineering and management issues related to the commercial introduction of new technologies.
Q: How has the field of technology management grown in recent years?
A: This field has grown significantly in recent years. Interest in this field is growing among academics and practitioners. Already more than 30 U.S. universities offer Ph.D. programs in the management of technology. The number of graduate and undergraduate programs in this field is on the rise around the world. This is due to the competitive advantage that can be gained by proper management of technology. As a result organizations that effectively perform technology management are among the front-runners in their fields with increasing revenue and customer service.
Q: What are the big challenges facing technology management?
A: Technology management is a multifaceted discipline. It involves many dimensions including technical, managerial, legal, security, international, logistics and operational issues. Integration of these various issues is the biggest challenge. This publication addresses all of these issues.
Q: Who are the leaders in the field (nations as well as large companies)?
A: United States and Japan are among the frontrunners in this field. Among industries expected to become increasingly dependent upon technology and innovation management and active in understanding the many issues surrounding this important and fast growing filed are: government agencies, military, education, energy, health, medical, retail, law enforcement, accounting firms, law firms, justice, manufacturing, financial services, insurance, communications, transportation, aerospace, biotechnology and utilities.
Q: How do you do it -- that is, how do you gather all this information?
A: To define the scope and contents of this project we investigated the technology and innovation management curriculums in leading graduate and undergraduate programs throughout the world. We also researched the current practices in the technology and innovation management fields by leading corporations. I should thank the Internet for facilitation of this process. The Internet allowed us to create a virtual meeting room that anybody from any pat of the world could participate in our research.
Q: Who'll order it?
A: The primary audience is the libraries of two-year and four-year colleges and universities with management, business, economic, engineering, computer science, MIS, CIS, IT, IS, and data processing departments, public and private libraries and corporate libraries throughout the world and reference material for educators and practitioners in the technology and innovation management fields.
The secondary audience is a variety of professionals and a diverse group of academic and professional courses for the individual volumes.
Q: What topic is next for you?
A: Cybersecurity is my next research project as its importance and complexities are on the rise around the world.
