Theoretical Perspective - Dissertation Example

Christensen, a Harvard Business School professor. He perceived technologies as falling into two categories, namely sustaining and disruptive. Sustaining technology was viewed as small additional improvements to technology that already exists. Disruptive technology is generally lacking in refinement but given time to develop, they in time replace the technology that is currently prevailing. The implications for business are significant if their products fall within the scope of the existing technology, since the disruptive technology is not immediately manifest and there is a risk that they may be rendered obsolete and lose their competitiveness (Kuzma & Priest, 2010).

Technology Acceptance Model The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is a theory that tries to describe the internal process undertaken by users in deciding to accept and use a new technology. Developed by Fred Davis in 1989, the TAM is currently gaining popularity among researchers particularly in the field of information systems (IS) development. Presently, not many lay people are aware of nanotechnology, and those who are regard it as too unfamiliar and are therefore suspicious of it. The diagram following shows how TAM perceives the technology acceptance process.

In this model, ‘perceived usefulness’ is the extent to which a potential user believes that a particular technology would be advantageous to him or her, while ‘perceived ease of use’ is the extent to which a potential user believes that use of a particular system would be effortless or easy (Davis, 1989). Technology Acceptance Model http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Technology_Acceptance_Model.png Sociopolitical modernization and postmodernization Modernization and postmodernization refer to the process of social change.

The concept of modernization views economic, social and political development to be linked in a coherent manner, and that all societies that undergo modernization tend to follow a consistent path. Researchers note that almost all societies that reach an advances state of development experience a shift from ‘modern’ goals of economic and physical security, to post-modern values that emphasize quality of life and self-expression. The development of nanotechnology, because of the enhancement of human lifestyle of which it is capable, will be viewed in terms of post-modernization (Ghazinoory & Ghazinouri, 2009).

Diffusion of Innovation The diffusion of innovation theory is the model by which innovation is thought to be communicated through channels over time among the members of a social system. In this model, an innovation may be an idea, practice, or object which the social system views as new, and diffusion is the particular type of communication through which the message associated with the innovation is passed through the system. Diffusion of innovation is comprised of four elements, namely the innovation, communication channels, time, and the social system.

The Diffusion of Innovation model is shown below (Rogers, 1997): Biomedical Ethics One of the most contentious theories that nanotechnology may expect to be entangled in is that of biomedical ethics or bioethics. The reason is that much of nanotechnology applications are in the sphere of medicine, where one of the more exciting prospects is the use of nanotechnology for the cure of cancer. Biomedical ethics concerns itself with the