Strategic management of technology and innovation 2024: A reflection

In the last few months (Sep-Nov) I got an opportunity to teach “Strategic management of technology and innovation” (SMTI) at IIM Bangalore to EPGP, PGP, and PGPBA students. In a fast-changing technology world, SMTI kept me on my toes even though I was teaching it for the sixth time in the last six years. It was a period when genAI hype had begun to settle down, all tech giants had taken positions in humanoids, and AMD under Lisa Su was doing much better than Intel. Here are a few things that stand out as I reflect on what I learned.

The increasing role of start-ups: Traditionally, Indian companies have focused more on operational excellence and relied on long-term partnerships for technology development and innovation. For example, Tata-Hitachi (construction material), TVS-Suzuki (two-wheelers), Amara Raja Batteries (ARBL)-Johnson controls (battery technologies), etc. However, over the past two decades, some Indian companies have shifted gears in their technology strategy. Some have set up / strengthened their in-house R&D (e.g. ARBL). Moreover, over the past decade, the center of gravity of innovation has shifted towards start-ups and they seem to be playing an increasingly important role in how large companies are managing technology and innovation. Reliance acquired Faradion from the UK in the Sodium-Ion battery space and has invested in the robotics company Addverb, Titan acquired Hyderabad-based HUG innovations to scale the digital watch business, fertilizer player Coromandel Intl is a majority stakeholder in Chennai-based drone startup Dhaksha. Over the past five years, Maruti Suzuki has onboarded 18 startups as business partners through its accelerator. With the startup ecosystem maturing in India, this trend is likely to grow.

Innovation-related disclosures in annual reports: Disclosure of intellectual capital or innovation dashboard in annual reports is not a statutory requirement in India. However, several companies present various parameters such as new products launched, R&D expenses, patents filed/granted, automation achievements, digital onboarding (in banking and insurance space), etc. Some companies also mention continuous improvement-related metric. In fact, in many annual reports, there is a separate section called intellectual capital where this information is presented. There is no consistency in these disclosures, however, it give some idea as to what is important to the company as far as innovation is concerned. For example, please see some of the innovation dashboards from Tata Motors, Asian Paints, SBI Life, and Zomato. I feel a lot can be learned about innovation from these disclosures.

Role of genAI: Unlike last year, genAI tools were no longer a curiosity. They had become part of an accepted toolset. Students were openly discussing it. I can’t say I used it extensively while preparing for the course. However, I found it useful in getting pointers for further study. For example, while studying AMD’s strategy during the last decade, ChatGPT gave useful tips. However, I relied a lot more on annual reports, earnings calls, CXO interviews, etc. I thought the assignments might be a high-scoring match given the access to genAI tools. I am sure the tools were used extensively by students. However, it didn’t guarantee quality reports and there was a lot of variation in the quality of answers and referencing. Let’s see how this aspect evolves going forward.

Guest lectures: We had two guest lectures bringing in a fresh industry perspective. The first one was from Dr. Balvinder Singh who is a leader in camera/vision/XR technology and is credited with Samsung smartphone camera global leadership from Galaxy S3-S24. He presented how camera development especially the role of software has evolved in the past decade. He also shared the important role open innovation is playing for companies like Samsung.

The second guest lecture was from Sunil Mishra, who has decades of experience developing banking products. Sunil gave an overview of the rapidly evolving digital banking ecosystem in India and associated product innovations. Who would have thought India would have virtual or neo banks with no physical branches so soon?

Overall, SMTI-24 was a great learning experience for me. Hope it was the same for students.