Strategizing though uncertainty in deep technology ventures : a design science approach

Abstract

This work, consisting of four publications that have been published or submitted for publication, uses the highly uncertain context of deep technology venturing to further our understanding of strategy development under uncertainty. The resulting insights are then used to create a strategy development tool for deep technology ventures to use. The work uses a design science approach that combines multiple methods to identify the strategic problems facing deep technology ventures, develop tool requirements, and design and test the tool. The methods employed to guide the design science approach include systematic literature reviews, qualitative multiple case studies, a hypothetical thought experiment and feedback from interviews with domain experts and tool users.

The resulting Deep Technology Opportunity Navigator (DTON), and the empirical data and concepts developed through the design science approach, contribute to the academic literature in three ways. First, the work contributes to the literature on strategic entrepreneurship by finding potential boundary conditions for The Lean Startup and by showing how the assumptions of the Judgement Based View change the way they implement the dynamic capabilities of sensing, seizing and shaping. The work also develops a method for combining technology and market assessment for deep technology ventures. The tool developed by this work also provides a practical way for managers to implement these concepts in their own firm strategy development processes. Subsequent research could further develop these conceptual contributions as well as further develop or validate the DTON.