Sources of information used in technology planning in the upstream environment of the electronics industry

An exploratory survey of participants in the upstream environment of the electronics industry has been conducted to identify and characterise most frequently used practices regarding the sources of information used in technology planning in these industries. Based on 818 responses, we find that the general dimensions of technology intelligence gathering hold independent of time frame to commercialisation. Further, intelligence gathering in support of technology planning in the short-term time frame to commercialisation (one year or less) is dominated by information obtained from direct interactions with customers, while such intelligence gathering in the long-term time frame to commercialisation (three to five years) is dominated by insight from visionaries. Both geographic and organisational level demographic differences were observed in the same factors in both the short-term and long-term time frames to commercialisation.