Implementation of new technologies in Lithuanian industry

Pramonės įmonėse technologinio progreso vystymuisi svarbu ne tik naujų technologijų atradimai, bet ir jų diegimas, technologinių pasiekimų sklaida įmonių produktuose ir gamybos procesuose. Naujų technologijų diegimas įmonės veikloje nėra paprastas procesas. Visų pirma tai susiję su didele rizika, egzistuojančių gamybos procesų ir organizacinių sistemų pertvarkymu. Šiame straipsnyje nagrinėjami pagrindiniai naujų technologijų diegimo motyvai ir įmonių sprendimus diegti naujas technologijas lemiantys veiksniai. Naujų technologijų diegimo proceso veiksniai, nagrinėjami įvertinant ne tik įmonės vidinius finansinius rodiklius, bet ir išorinės verslo aplinkos bei technologijų rinkos vystymosi aspektus. Straipsnyje išskiriamos trys veiksnių grupės: įmonės vidinę situaciją atspindintys veiksniai, technologijos rinką apibūdinantys veiksniai, rinkos sąlygas ir išorinę verslo aplinką nusakantys veiksniai. Taip pat nagrinėjamas naujų technologijų diegimo pramonės įmonėse priežastingumas, išskiriant dvi grupes naujų technologijų diegimo motyvų, atitinkančių vidinius ir išorinius įmonės tikslus.The implementation of new technologies within the activity of an enterprise is not a simple process. First of all this is related with high risks involved in processes of production and reorganization of organizational systems. When planning the implementation of new technologies, many factors have to be assessed. Some of them are related with the common economic standing of the country, the growth of GDP and its structural changes, the shift of industrial production and the change of working conditions. The other factors reflect internal aspects of the process for the implementation of new technologies such as the change of energy sources when using a wider spectrum of equipment, the compression of production cycle, the reduction of costs and the improvement of production quality. The factors mentioned before can complement or compensate each other and, thus, have a big influence on strategic decisions of the enterprise. One of the most essential factors, identified in scientific literature at the moment, is the identification of time for the implementation of new technologies when one or other technology as the choice of the object for investments or a new business tool is unavoidable when seeking to successfully perform or remain in the market. The intensive competitive struggle has brought certain changes into the classical logics of a business organization. The competitive advantage is achieved only by those enterprises that combine and reconcile strategic actions best of all but not by those that only create new technologies. Therefore, the evaluation of internal resources of the enterprise as well as the capacity, business environment market and finally the selection of time for the implementation of the new technology serve as the basis for achieving the competitive advantage and successful performance of the enterprise. This article provides the description of the main reasons to implement new technologies in industrial enterprises, as well as presents the main stages of technology implementation and the factors that determine the decisions of implementation of technologies. The causal analysis of new technology implementation in enterprises provided possibilities to group reasons for implementing new technologies in enterprises, with regard to internal aims (creation of a unique product or improvement of existing ones, pursuit of technological/competitive advantage, availability of specific information resources, possibility to attract financial resources, increase of technological capacity, reduce of production costs) and external aims (increasing customer needs, increasing competition in the market, strategic decision of competitors, positive political environment for investments, rapid development of technologies, shortening of technology lifecycle) of enterprises. The causality analysis of new technology implementation in enterprises provided a possibility to single out the main factors that influence strategic decisions for the implementation of new technologies in enterprises. They are: saturated markets, market fragmentation, mobile production, globalization of markets and investments, rapid development of technologies, decreasing lifecycle of technologies, brand convergence, and constant search of the optimal ratio of quality and price