ompetitors' present and future position. In addition, any initiative which has the support of top management will get a better response from the team members. Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 Gate#1 Gate#2 Gate#3 Corporate Technology Gate#4 Technology Develop- Implement- Direction Options Selection ment & ation Evaluation Delivery Vision Figure 12.2 Five stage gate model Next Generation Mobile Communications Ecosystem The financial obligations and shareholders' perception need to be considered in the formulation of corporate strategy. It is important to understand that focusing too intently on financial data might be missing the point. To address this challenge, concepts such as Intellectual Capital (Knowledge Management) and Balanced Scorecard that takes into account both tangible and non tangible assets need to be considered [5]. Lastly, and especially for vendors, the vision and programs of ITU and other SDOs need to be emphasized in their corporate strategies. The absence of this important piece from operators and in particular vendors' corporate strategy could be detrimental. 12.2.1.2 Stage 2 - Technology Options After getting the directions from the corporate (and hence passing through gate 1), the next step is to identify the technologies that can meet those needs. Operators R&D and Advance Technology teams need to list all the technologies and standards that are either available or going to be available in both the short term and long term. These teams also need to check the availability of the required spectrum. A technology inventory is required to identify all the technologies and sub-technologies of the company. For vendors it might mean that they need to develop Intellectual Property Rights and protect those by submitting proposals to SDOs which can later become global standards and technologies. 12.2.1.3 Stage 3 - Technology Selection and R&D At this stage technologies that are identified in the previous stage need to be thoroughly analyzed by the operators. All the technological options will