1. Chapter 6
NATURALAND
TECHNOLOGICAL
ENVIRONMENT
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

2. Himalaya Publishing House
Business Environment
Francis Cherunilam
Chapter 6
Natural and Technological
Environment
 The natural and technological environments present the
impulsive potential for development while the other
environments like the economic, social, and political and
government factors represent the propulsive potential for
development.

3. Himalaya Publishing House
Business Environment
Francis Cherunilam
Chapter 6
Natural and Technological
Environment
Impulsive and Propulsive Factors Affecting Business

4. Himalaya Publishing House
Business Environment
Francis Cherunilam
Chapter 6
Natural and Technological
Environment
 Given the natural and technological environments, the
propulsive factors determine the extent of exploitation of
the development potential and the direction, pace and
pattern of development.

5. Himalaya Publishing House
Business Environment
Francis Cherunilam
Chapter 6
Natural and Technological
Environment
Innovation
 Innovation is a very important factor that provides
competitive advantage and, consequently, determines
success.

6. Himalaya Publishing House
Business Environment
Francis Cherunilam
Chapter 6
Natural and Technological
Environment
Calantone and Cooper have identified six major reasons for the new
product failures.6 They are as follows.
1. The better mousetrap no one wanted
2. The me-too product meeting a competitive brick wall
3. Competitive one-upmanship
4. Environmental ignorance
5. Technological dog products
6. The price crunch

7. Himalaya Publishing House
Business Environment
Francis Cherunilam
Chapter 6
Natural and Technological
Environment
Rates of Product and Process Innovations
William Abernathy and James Utterback

8. Himalaya Publishing House
Business Environment
Francis Cherunilam
Chapter 6
Natural and Technological
Environment
Technology S Curve

9. Himalaya Publishing House
Business Environment
Francis Cherunilam
Chapter 6
Natural and Technological
Environment
Innovative Drivers

10. Himalaya Publishing House
Business Environment
Francis Cherunilam
Chapter 6
Natural and Technological
Environment
ICT AND MARKETING
 Advances in information and communications technology are
revolutionalising the modus operandi of marketing and the business
system. The business horizon is humming with buzzwords like
internet, world wide web (www), cyberspace, information
superhighways etc. which are changing the way of contacting
customers; order receiving and processing; and networking and
integrating business system. The revolutionary changes being
ushered in by the internet are indeed exciting.

11. Himalaya Publishing House
Business Environment
Francis Cherunilam
Chapter 6
Natural and Technological
Environment
Transfer of Technology
 Technology transfer is the process by which commercial technology
is disseminated. This will take the form of a technology transfer
transaction, which may or may not be a legally binding contract,27
but which will involve the communication, by the transferor, of the
relevant knowledge to the recipient.

12. Himalaya Publishing House
Business Environment
Francis Cherunilam
Chapter 6
Natural and Technological
Environment
Levels of TT
 Operational Level: At the bottom level are the simplest ones, needed for
operating a given plant: these involve basic manufacturing skills, as well
as some more demanding troubleshooting, quality control, maintenance
and procurement skills.
 Duplicative Level: At the intermediate level are duplicative skills, which
include the investment capabilities needed to expand capacity and to
purchase and integrate foreign technologies.
 Adaptive Level: At this Technological Self-reliance level, imported
technologies are adapted and improved, and design skills for more
complex engineering learned.
 Innovative Level: This level is characterised by innovative skills, based
on formal R&D, that are needed to keep pace with technological frontiers
or to generate new technologies.