Decision Support System for Technology Opportunity Discovery: An Application of the Schwartz Theory of Basic Values

TL;DR

The paper tackles the challenge of technology opportunity discovery (TOD) by integrating Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) with Schwartz's theory of basic human values to link technological maturity with fundamental user motivations. It operationalizes this integration through a three-step workflow—market-side evaluation, technology-side evaluation, and balancing—validated via workshop experiments with four Sony CSL technologies, revealing a consistent 'vision gap' between expert and consumer perspectives and a higher 'value breadth' associated with successful technologies. The study provides both a practical tool for early-stage R&D decision-making and a theoretical bridge connecting value theory to innovation outcomes, highlighting how human-centric value mappings can guide more effective technology commercialization decisions. Overall, the framework promotes more human-centered TOD by enabling structured exploration of latent user needs and aligning them with technical feasibility to inform R&D portfolio prioritization and market strategy.

Abstract

Discovering technology opportunities (TOD) remains a critical challenge for innovation management, especially in early-stage development where consumer needs are often unclear. Existing methods frequently fail to systematically incorporate end-user perspectives, resulting in a misalignment between technological potentials and market relevance. This study proposes a novel decision support framework that bridges this gap by linking technological feasibility with fundamental human values. The framework integrates two distinct lenses: the engineering-based Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) and Schwartz's theory of basic human values. By combining these, the approach enables a structured exploration of how emerging technologies may satisfy diverse user motivations. To illustrate the framework's feasibility and insight potential, we conducted exploratory workshops with general consumers and internal experts at Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc., analyzing four real-world technologies (two commercial successes and two failures). Two consistent patterns emerged: (1) internal experts identified a wider value landscape than consumers (vision gap), and (2) successful technologies exhibited a broader range of associated human values (value breadth), suggesting strategic foresight may underpin market success. This study contributes both a practical tool for early-stage R\&D decision-making and a theoretical link between value theory and innovation outcomes. While exploratory in scope, the findings highlight the promise of value-centric evaluation as a foundation for more human-centered technology opportunity discovery.

Figures (2)

• Figure 1: The pan-cultural model of human values derived from Schwartz's Smallest Space Analysis (SSA) of 36 samples across 20 countries. The plot illustrates how 56 single values form 10 motivationally distinct types, whose circular arrangement reflects a near-universal structure of conflict and compatibility. (Adapted from Figure 2 in Schwartz schwartz_1992).
• Figure 2: TODs found for the four technologies. The results for successful cases (a, b) and failure cases (c, d) are compared. The blue line represents the Technology Deployment team's evaluation, and the orange line represents the General Consumers' evaluation. Note that for "Bubble Click," no opportunities identified by General Consumers met the specified thresholds.