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Integrated roadmaps for strategic management and planning
Roadmapping is a complex long-term planning instrument that allows for setting strategic goals and estimating the potential of new technologies, products, and services. Until recently, roadmapping was used mainly for strategic planning, either from a technological or amarket research perspective. Roadmaps emphasized either technological development or satisfaction of market demands but rarely both. Consequently, roadmaps either excessively stress the technology side, which might lead to technically sophisticated solutions that lack applicability, or overstress customer needs, neglecting business competence-building. Therefore, this paper develops a newintegrated roadmapping approach that combines these two perspectives: it focuses on strategic planning by firms and public authorities for the long run goals of social and economic development, bringing together the market “pull” and technology “push” approach. This dual technique provides the potential for alternative means of choosing the most effective resource allocation. Integrated roadmaps include the various development stages of prospective innovations, e.g. stages of the existing innovation value chain, including R&D, manufacturing,market entry, services, andmarket expansion as well as prospective stages, including new technologies, products and services. The value of integrated roadmapping lies in its responsiveness to the challenges in innovation planning schemes for firms and sectors; it takes into consideration both future market requirements and the future resource basis for satisfying market needs, an approach not currently offered by traditional techniques. The paper develops a roadmapping methodology that can be used for planning firms' and public authorities' long-term innovation strategies.