Welcome

Need for Managing Technological and Organizational Change

Technology has always played a major role in shaping an organization's structure and processes, as well as being one of the major catalysts for organizational change. Until recently, innovation in process technology-used to transform raw materials and information into goods and services-has been relatively slow and the need to adopt new process technology not particularly pressing. Thus, organizations could adopt it incrementally and find ways for it to complement organizational structures and processes by trial and error. However, technological innovation in the factory and office has accelerated. Organizations cannot afford to adopt new technology by trial and error or to learn gradually how to make new technology and manufacturing practices complement the rest of the organization. They must learn faster and the complementarity achieved must be no less than optimal. It is the mission of the Center for the Management of Technological and Organizational Change (CMTOC) to contribute to meeting this need.

Mission

Many of the barriers to effective utilization of new technology are managerial and organizational, rather than technological per se. The mission of the Center for the Management of Technological and Organizational Change (CMTOC) is to identify organizational and management issues associated with the introduction of new technology, to design and conduct research that generates both theory and practical knowledge for dealing with such issues, and to disseminate research results by a variety of media to the business, research, and educational communities.

Directors

	Gerald I. Susman Associate Dean for Research The Robert & Judith Klein   Professor of Management Director, CMTOC
	Russell Barton Professor of Supply Chain and   Information Systems Co-Director Quality and Manufacturing Management Program   and Associate Director, CMTOC

Forum Meetings, Research and Consultation

CMTOC presents the Advanced Manufacturing Forum (AMF) in the spring and fall of each year. The most recent AMF was March 19-20, 2009 at The Nittany Lion Inn and featured presentations from Eastman Kodak, Metalworks / Great Openings, Baxter Healthcare, and Minitab. The AMF is an opportunity to exchange ideas with others who have similar roles and responsibilities, hear their experiences and actions undertaken, and learn from the successes and mistakes of others, all in a supportive climate. More than three hundred companies have attended the forum since 1983. CMTOC participates in business research and publishing, as well as advanced manufacturing technology consultation.

The Sixty-Sixth AMF is scheduled for October 29-30, 2009 at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel. Please send a message via the "contact us" page if you would like to be included in the mailing list. Please include your name, mailing address and email address in your message.