Technology, Business and the Market : From R&D to Desirable Products

Technology, Business and the Market provides an understanding of the connections between developing technologies, research and development, industrial design and the means by which these elements are managed to produce desirable products.

John Sheldrake’s long experience of teaching business and management to engineers has highlighted a gap in the knowledge of students and practitioners alike, between their grasp of developments in science and technology and how these developments lead to the creation of successful products. Using case studies, Technology, Business and the Market explores the impact of new materials, techniques and technologies, and looks at the links between innovation, entrepreneurship, business (including finance), design, manufacturing, branding and marketing. The author examines the ways in which scientific endeavour is conditioned and even distorted by contextual issues such as finance and fashion. This demonstration of the synthesis of technology, business and the market has relevance for students, practitioners and policy makers in established and emerging markets.