In the present work a study of technological strategies is made, criteria of the link between technological management and business strategies are issued. As well as the need for their implementation in the Cuban manufacturing company is outlined in order to achieve the necessary levels of competitiveness, both for the national and international markets.
Introduction
Throughout world history, technological revolutions have been shown to lead to changes in the technoeconomic paradigm with a generation of technological systems that have a common dynamic. They are expanding their action through the different branches and sectors to cover almost the entire economy. They lead to profound structural changes and are capable of transforming the way of producing and living in the regions, countries and hemispheres of the population.
Within the framework of the current international situation, increasingly in economic crisis, our country has a sustained work policy aimed at constituting an alternative model that puts man at the center, and prioritizes the solution of their main needs in a sustainable way. For this model to be viable, it is necessary for the socialist state company to demonstrate that it can be as or more efficient than the capitalist company, that it is capable of competing and winning in the international market, that it detects and satisfies the needs of clients, who live in harmony with the environment and constantly improve themselves, adapting to changes in the environment.
One of the sectors that strives to improve the performance of its companies and contribute adequately to the struggle of Cuban society is the Light Industry sector, and within it the companies that are in turn locally subordinate (local industries) and that play a fundamental role in the life and socioeconomic development of the population.
This type of company suffers from a high level of technological obsolescence, even when production commitments are defining in the development of the territory where they are located.
For all this, it is necessary in these companies to carry out studies aimed at the design of technological strategies aligned to the strategic objectives of the organizations based on technological diagnoses.
Development
Strategy and technology
Above all, it is necessary, in the first instance, to state what is the conception of business strategy that the authors adopt in this material.
According to Ramos (1999), business strategy is a process aimed at achieving sustainable competitive advantages, being the result of the combination of two other processes, one formalized, deliberate and structured in two phases: A first phase of elaboration or design of the strategy according to the company's mission and the correspondence between the external environment (opportunities and threats) and the internal environment (strengths and weaknesses) and a second phase implemented based on the strategy developed, adapting the organizational structure and administrative systems and deploying resources depending on the strategy.
The strategy for Pavón Morote & Hidalgo Nunchera (1997) is the scheme that gives meaning and coherence to the set of decisions and those responsible for them, being the result of a process of numerous interactions, negotiations and conceptualizations between the organization's management personnel. Its main objective is the development of specific management capacities and responsibilities of an organizational and administrative nature, which are capable of combining strategic and operational decisions at all hierarchical levels.
Ansoff (1976) stated that strategy is a planned process following a script and supported by different techniques (objectives, budgets, programs and plans).
It is the criteria of the authors to adopt the position where it will be understood as a strategy that guides the behavior of the company in the present and future, encompassing the general scope of the organization as a single and coherent whole, in order to obtain competitive advantages, and which proposes to explain the great options for the company that will decisively guide its decisions on organizational activities and structures, and also establish a frame of reference in which all the actions that the company will undertake during a certain period of time must be recorded..
Various authors such as: Menguzzato & Renau (1991), Pavón Morote & Hidalgo Nunchera (1997), Bowman (1990), Gimbert (1999), Gárciga (1999), have defined three specific levels of business strategy in a conceptual way: First Level of Corporate Strategy, Second Level of Business Strategy and Third Level of Functional Strategy in which it is defined how to use and apply the resources and skills within each functional area of each strategic business unit in order to maximize the productivity of said resources.
The third level of the strategy has the basic objective of promoting strictly competitive actions, based on the set of corporate and business guidelines, in fact finding that the competitive advantage obtained is sustainable for the longest period of time possible in the most company functions or business areas.
To establish the strategies of an organization, technology and innovation have been considered as an increasing force in recent years, due to the importance that both elements have acquired as a result, among other factors, of the increasing speed of technological change and the markets and therefore the competition.
Two fundamental reasons directly link the company's strategy with technology and determine the importance of managing technological resources.. The first is given by the fact that one of the most solid ways to increase the performance of a company, effectively comply with the defined corporate purpose (the case of Cuban companies, especially those that do not have competitors in the national market) and To achieve the sources of competitive advantage set forth by authors such as Porter (1982) and Schlie (1999), it is the maximum use of the potential of the company and of the most pertinent technologies with its processes and needs. The other reason lies in the potentialities, synergies and advantages (not exploited in most cases) that exist in the maximum use and in different areas, of the basic technological knowledge or technological core of the company..
In the authors' opinion, one of the most complete definitions of technology is that provided by Child, which is understood as the set of knowledge and information typical of an activity that can be systematically used for the design, manufacture and marketing of products or the provision of services, including the appropriate application of techniques associated with global management.
Specifically geared towards the business sector, Dilworth defines it as the skills, techniques, procedures, equipment, and systems used to carry out a job.
Technology, from the point of view of business competitiveness
Today in the world the current trend in this regard is that those organizations that have managed to achieve an advanced state in their technologies today maintain a strategy for the development of these incorporated into man or intangible capital.
In the current Cuban company, technological development should not be seen in isolation, but as part of a unique and integrating system, configured from the base of related technologies.
For this, it is necessary to create technological strategies in organizations, mainly in manufacturing companies, that allow the development of a tailored suit to guarantee, in parallel, the integration of knowledge management or intangible capital and the acquisition of new equipment.. The first to guarantee a better use of existing technologies, leading to better levels of development in the organization of work and therefore an increase in productivity. The second to replace technology that does not meet the demands of the competition and the strategic goals or objectives that the company has set.
An example where the need for the creation of a technological strategy such as that set forth in this material is materialized, is the Provincial Clothing and Footwear Company, belonging to the VICLAR Business Group. Where although the first steps have been taken with the purchase of new equipment, proposals for organizational actions in some of its workshops, a strategy has not yet been defined in this regard, which means that regardless of the actions taken, there is no clarity of how to reach the final objective.
Conclusions
The Cuban manufacturing company is in need of implementing technological strategies that ensure a definitive advance in its management in order to achieve efficiency and effectiveness in achieving its objectives, allowing the achievement of increased satisfaction of its national clients and insertion into international markets..
recommendations
It is recommended to continue carrying out studies that address the importance, as well as the advantages that lead to the implementation of technological strategies in Cuban manufacturing companies, in order to encourage their use.
Bibliography
(1) Pavón J.; Hidalgo A. (1997). "Management and Innovation a Strategic Approach". Ediciones Pirámides SA. Madrid.
(2) Menguzzato M.; Renau JJ (1997). “The Strategic Management of the Company. An innovative approach to management ”. Havana. Cuba.
(3) Bowman C. (1990). “Strategic Administration”. American Hall Prentice. United Kingdom
(4) Gimbert X.; Collective of Authors (1999). "How to prepare a Strategic Plan in the Company". Five Days Notebook. ESADE. Spain.
(5) Gárciga JR (1999). “Strategic Formulation. An Approach for Executives ”. Editorial Félix Varela. Havana.
(6) Porter MA (1982). "Competitive Strategies". Mexico: Cecsa.
(7) Schlie TW (1999). "The Contribution of Technology to Competitive Advantage" "Technology Management Manual". At Gaynor. G (editor in chief). Mc Graw-Hill Interamericana SA Santa Fe de Bogotá.
(8) Morin J.; Seurat R. (1998). "Technological Resource Management". Cotec Foundation for Technological Innovation.
