The Research Framework

The previous chapters showed a lack of Technology Intelligence (TI) in technology-based SMEs from a theoretical and a practical point of view. The practitioner’s voice demands a solution that meets SMEs’ specifications, of which resource restriction is a primary concern. Resource restriction seems to be the principal reason for numerous cases in SME-specific research, where solutions for large companies are very often scaled down in order to be appropriate for SMEs. However, the literature is rather suspicious of such transformations. A look into the reality of TI in technology-based SMEs showed that the topic is of concern in practice. Even though companies generally do some activities in order to be informed about what happens in their technological environment, they rarely do it in a coordinated manner. This implies three risks. Firstly, there is no overview of activities, which means that it is not clear who has what kind of information, and if there are redundancies. Secondly, there are probably some observation areas that are not covered but should be. Thirdly, activities do not adequately harmonize with the company’s strategy. Thus, there is a need in practice to give TI activities a system.