Emerging hard and soft technologies: Current status, issues and implementation problems

This paper analyzes 16 emerging hard and soft technologies. First, it assesses and critiques the contents of recent research publications on each of these technologies. Next, it identifies various sets of objectives, for which each of these technologies has been adopted. The third section discusses the characteristics and nuances of each technology and then summarizes certain recent experiences of companies with each. Further, the paper focuses on the implementation problems in relation to each technology, as encountered by companies. The final sections outline the important lessons and the critical success factors. In conclusion, the paper stresses that hard technologies do face certain technical problems, but all of these can be overcome through R&D, although often at a substantial cost. Soft technologies, on the other hand, seem always to encounter serious peoples’ problems, whose solutions require large efforts in terms of retraining and attitudinal changes of employees. To make a success of any technology (hard or soft) careful and sustained implementation is the key.