A systematic review of industry-level applications of Technology roadmapping: evaluation and design propositions for roadmapping practitioners

Technology roadmapping (TRM) has gained prominence in both firm-level and industry-level applications, however, there is a lack of attention in the evolution of TRM processes in the industry. This paper systematically reviews the literature on industry-level TRM between the period 2000 and 2019 by categorically coding 23 journal articles to account for the general facets of TRM and the stakeholder involvement efforts in the process. The paper contributes to the TRM body of knowledge in three ways, first, by creating a portfolio of articles extending on prior reviews in the field and focusing on the industry-level applications between 2000 and 2019. The results show that many researchers combine methods in different stages of TRM, but only a handful of the industries forgo future planning for technology implementation. Second, the efforts and rigour in stakeholder selection and involvement were assessed across breadth, depth, and timing dimensions. Our results show that the overall stakeholder involvement effort is low, and the process can benefit from including thought leaders from diverse domains, especially from firms to instigate interest in technology development and commercialization. Third, based on our findings we developed design propositions for TRM practitioners to improve stakeholder involvement in the process.

Keywords: Technology roadmapping, TRM, stakeholder theory, design propositions, stakeholder involvement, CIMO-logic