THE BUSINESS OF TECHNOLOGY : VALUING CERAMIC TECHNOLOGY AS AN ASSET

Most who are directly involved with the business or development of technology would agree that technology is highly valuable. However, a surprising fact is that most US companies do not tend to value their technology as an asset and thus have no place to show that value in their portfolios. Though the US spends approximately $135 billion/year on both federal and industrially-funded research, industry has no real expectation of any return on that investment. With that in mind, a panel was organized at the 17th Annual Conference and Exposition on Advanced Ceramics to answer the following questions. How is the value of ceramic technology determined How is it protected How is it used for competitive advantage Their answers to these questions are discussed in this paper.