Case study as a methodological foundation for Technology Roadmapping (TRM): Literature review and future research agenda

Technology roadmapping (TRM) is a flexible methodology that is widely applied at firm, sector, and national levels to support long-term strategic planning, innovation, and policy development. As the case study approach is a prevalent methodology used in TRM development, this study conducts a systematic literature review to investigate the case studies applied in TRM research. The findings are discussed in terms of the strengths and limitations of the case study methodologies as well as five future research directions, including improving TRM implementation process, further development of scenario-based and social-needs-driven roadmaps, and exploration of the applications in agile innovation management and open innovation. •Case study as a common methodology applied in TRM research needs some investigation.•A systematic literature review covers 79 case studies of TRM from 2003 to 2020.•Potential improvements over the case method applications are identified.•Five future research trajectories are suggested based on the trends and gaps from the themes.