The Valuation of Technology: Business and Financial Issues in R&D (Operations Management Series) [Hardcover]

F. Peter Boer (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471316385 | ISBN-13: 978-0471316381 | Publication Date: February 26, 1999 | Edition: 1

"The Valuation of Technology is a timely and thoughtful book on a critical issue in the global business arena. Peter Boer's insights constitute important reading for leaders in all fields."-Jeffrey E. Garten, Dean, Yale School of Management

"The Valuation of Technology fills a critical void for those executives who wish to upgrade technology decision making from an art to a more definable science."-George B. Rathmann, Chairman and CEO, ICOS Corporation

Technology valuation has replaced risk management as the management approach to analyzing the profitability of current and future technology projects. The Valuation of Technology: Business and Financial Issues in R&D explores the link between research and development and shareholder value in a comprehensive way, providing mathematical models for the valuation of R&D projects and answering critical questions on how to analyze technology initiatives and forecast their future value. This professional reference creates a common language for understanding the financial issues relating to R&D and provides analytical tools that businesspeople, scientists, and engineers can use to assess new technologies, R&D projects, and R&D budgets-thereby facilitating communication and producing more enlightened decisions. It also identifies several common fallacies in performing valuation of technology-based properties, including adding together enterprises with different time horizons and failing to recognize the value of risk-minimization strategies.

Among the many remarkable features of The Valuation of Technology:
* Offers quick, easy models for technology valuation that readers can use immediately
* Includes a method for the quantitative valuation of technology projects and shows readers how to build a project spreadsheet and assign value to research projects
* Comes with a disk containing templates for a selection of mathematical models provided in the book

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"The Valuation of Technology is a timely and thoughtful book on a critical issue in the global business arena. Peter Boer's insights constitute important reading for leaders in all fields."-Jeffrey E. Garten, Dean, Yale School of Management

"The Valuation of Technology fills a critical void for those executives who wish to upgrade technology decision making from an art to a more definable science."-George B. Rathmann, Chairman and CEO, ICOS Corporation

Technology valuation has replaced risk management as the management approach to analyzing the profitability of current and future technology projects. The Valuation of Technology: Business and Financial Issues in R&D explores the link between research and development and shareholder value in a comprehensive way, providing mathematical models for the valuation of R&D projects and answering critical questions on how to analyze technology initiatives and forecast their future value. This professional reference creates a common language for understanding the financial issues relating to R&D and provides analytical tools that businesspeople, scientists, and engineers can use to assess new technologies, R&D projects, and R&D budgets-thereby facilitating communication and producing more enlightened decisions. It also identifies several common fallacies in performing valuation of technology-based properties, including adding together enterprises with different time horizons and failing to recognize the value of risk-minimization strategies.

Among the many remarkable features of The Valuation of Technology:
* Offers quick, easy models for technology valuation that readers can use immediately
* Includes a method for the quantitative valuation of technology projects and shows readers how to build a project spreadsheet and assign value to research projects
* Comes with a disk containing templates for a selection of mathematical models provided in the book

About the Author

F. PETER BOER is President and CEO of Tiger Scientific, Inc. and a professor of management and engineering at Yale University. He is a former executive vice president and CTO of W. R. Grace & Co. He has also held business management and technical positions at the Dow Chemical Company and the American Can Company. Boer holds an AB in physics from Princeton University and a PhD in chemical physics from Harvard University, and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He has created and presented the seminar "The Financial Impact of Technology" to business managers across the nation.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (February 26, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471316385
• ISBN-13: 978-0471316381
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,262,921 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This a must read for all senior executives in technology, September 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Valuation of Technology: Business and Financial Issues in R&D (Operations Management Series) (Hardcover)

This is a great book, that for the first time, not only brings together the technology management and financial disciplines, but also highlights that often misunderstood cultural differences between these two disciplines that need to work together.

I liked the book so much, I bought 10 copies and distributed them throughout my organization. This is a well conceived book, that covers not only the nuances of technology and scientific discovery and management, and/or the rudimentary aspects of time value of money, but also covers more advanced concepts such as the optionality of R&D investments.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Critical Resource for Maximizing Value From Innovation, R&D, January 27, 2000

By 

Pete Clark (London, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Valuation of Technology: Business and Financial Issues in R&D (Operations Management Series) (Hardcover)

F. Peter Boer's Valuation of Technology is mandatory reading for every CEO, Head of R&D, and key investor who has heard it all when it comes to the importance of "innovating". But who despairs about the absence of fundamental tools for extracting new value from research-driven efforts in all parts of the corporation.

No longer- this is the missing corporate value creation toolset. Valuation of Technology fills the critical gap between value formulas and project-focused research management, in a way that makes a convincing case for future evolution of R&D as a total corporation value resource, not just another functional department.

A former top executive with W. R. Grace and now a professor at Yale (in addition to running his own corporation, Tiger Scientific, Inc.), Professor Boer combines a senior executive's sense of the right measures and analyses with an entrepreneur's enthusiasm and pragmatic curiosity. The author's impressive body of work also reflects his sensitivity to the key people and organizational issues that often spell the difference between exceptional new value creation and disappointment.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, but..., August 28, 2003

By 

Michiko "Donna" (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Valuation of Technology: Business and Financial Issues in R&D (Operations Management Series) (Hardcover)

This is generally a great read. However, I find the quantitative examples in Chapter 6 very confusing to follow. In addition, as a financial analyst, I feel very insulted for being called "bean counter" numerous times in the book. The author should be more aware of this demeaning attitude he carelessly imbedded in this otherwise great book.