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This paper sought to analyse the dynamics underlying university technology transfer and commercialisation mechanisms. We adopt a qualitative research methodology, which incorporates different case studies, interviews and applied research of the actors involved in universities, business incubators and start-ups. While limited to three case studies, this paper does highlight the technology transfer mechanisms and the support provided to commercialisation, including the identification of the difficulties and opportunities present within the context of cooperation networks. By surveying those running incubators and incubator company managers in conjunction with analysis of research, development and innovation (RDI) cooperative projects backed by European funding, we were able to gain insights into the different processes of transferring and commercialising technology. Falling within the framework of the third component of universities' mission, this article demonstrates not only the importance of RDI cooperation networks but also how the consequent commercialisation of new products and services generates positive consequences for economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this study is to investigate to what extent equity crowdfunding could enable firms to outsource research and development activities. Likewise, the present study aims at analysing the relationship between desorptive capacity (DCAP) and equity crowdfunding performance. We also aim at studying the mediation role of ICT firm's capabilities, connective capacity and minor equity ownership. In this regard, this study intends to pioneer into connecting the knowledge management theory with the crowdfunding studies. A sample of 180 projects based on the top ten European equity crowdfunding platforms has been used. Findings indicate that desorptive capacity enables companies in developing external knowledge retention and expoitation which, in turn, enhance equity crowdfunding performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology transfer offices (TTOs) in research-driven universities serve as an intermediary between suppliers of innovations and those who can potentially commercialise them. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), TTOs are expected to take an important role in the evolution of successful spin-off companies from innovation to production to sales to sustainable profit. TTOs aim to help businesses to innovate and prosper leading to improving local and national economic prosperity. TTOs often support spin-off companies becoming a learning organisation and easing into an articulated management of activities complementary to the research and development activities that create the innovation and drive the transition from innovation to product lines. This paper aims to investigate the current situation of research-driven university's TTO in UAE using a case study of Etisalat BT Innovation Center at Khalifa University and Masdar Institute for university policy implications. The findings suggest that TTOs assist university researchers in many ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the entrepreneurial university has been receiving increased attention in recent years. The growing literature stock has been leading to a rather unstructured research status quo, characterised by foci on particular elements and actors of the entrepreneurial university. Hence, our paper aims to systematically integrate the fragmented literature on entrepreneurial universities. Relying on the stakeholder theory, our paper provides a stakeholder-based conceptualisation. We identify seven research streams and devised an integrative systematic university-centred view on the entrepreneurial university itself and its core stakeholders within its organisational boundaries and beyond, such as researchers, firms, the economy and society. We illustrate and discuss the findings and conclude with a future research agenda. Due to its systemic nature, our integrative stakeholder-based conceptualisation of the literature on the entrepreneurial university enables the identification of important future research directions that particularly address the linkages between the stakeholder groups and the overall ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can small firms manage and benefit from open innovation? We study three Taiwan's biotechnology firms leveraging open innovation in developing new drugs. At the phase of the new drug discovery, two companies acquired technology from external sources. CSRC Synpac Company acquired technology from Professor Yuan-Tsong Chen at Duke University (USA) in 1991. GlycoNex Company acquired technology from Professor Sen-itiroh Hakomori at University of Washington (USA) in 2001. AbGenomics Company developed its own technology at Professor Rong-Hwa Lin's team at National Taiwan University (Taiwan) in 2000. Through technology transfer, CSRC Synpac Company licensed out the new drug Myozyme to Genzyme Corporation (USA) in 2000. AbGenomics Company licensed out the new drug AbGn-168H to Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceutical (Germany) in 2005. GlycoNex Company licensed out the new drug GNX-8 to Otsuka Pharmaceutical (Japan) in 2009. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses the new global patent map developed by Kay et al. (2014) to reflect the patenting activity of Spain together with the activity of the Basque Country, a highly industrialised region in Spain, for the time interval 2000-2006. The global patent map reflects the technology categories where a patent could be categorised according to the international patent classification (IPC) system, in addition to the degree of similarity among different IPCs, determined by using the citing-to-cited relationships as bonds between categories. An overlay method has been developed to compare, on the one hand, the patenting activity in Spain and the Basque Country and a display of the most important technology sectors and; on the other, the selection of a technology sector and an analysis of technology transfer in both regions through different IPCs to compare them and determine the possible technological sources remaining for development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While university-business cooperation (UBC) is predominantly focused on commercialisation involving university staff and firms, the area of work-integrated learning (WIL) including students is increasing in prominence. WIL is an intrinsic component and catalyst for broader UBC. It has also been widely recognised as fundamental in the education arena to equip graduates with the required industry experience to innovate successfully. Despite its importance, the UBC literature places limited attention on WIL. Cooperation between university and business at the organisational level of relevant institutions as well as the individual level of participating managers and students is fundamental. Focusing on the student at the interface of UBC, this study contributes a framework for developing UBC through WIL. Managerial implications are discussed for universities and businesses engaged in UBC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prospect of increased revenue and spillovers has influenced the mission of the university to reflect an increasingly commercial orientation. This paper focuses on university commercialisation in three countries (Ireland, New Zealand and the USA), through 58 semi-structured interviews with technology transfer officers and a quantitative assessment of university patenting trajectories. Using interviews with technology transfer office executives and university patent applications as proxies for commercial orientation, the study uncovers explanations to the heterogeneous commercial orientation apparent in all three regions. Findings indicate that path dependency; university leadership; technology transfer office scale and connectivity are critical determinants of commercial orientation. The paper concludes by surmising how path dependency might strongly dictate the other determinants and outlines some implications for literature and policy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Principal investigators (PIs) are at the nexus of university business collaborations through their leadership of funded research grants. In fulfilling their multiple roles, PIs are involved in a range of different activities, from direct scientific supervision of junior scientists, the organisation of new scientific avenues to engaging with industrial partners. With the increased impetus for public research to produce wealth through science commercialisation, research is increasingly orchestrated through programmes which seek to connect research avenues and markets. The role of PIs is of growing importance. The extent of managerial challenges encountered by scientists in the context of their PI role has not been the focus of any empirical studies. This paper examines the managerial challenges experienced by publicly funded PIs. Our study, set in the context of the Irish research system, found three foci of PI managerial challenges - project management, project adaptability and project network management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are firms founded by alumni and former graduate students more likely to form technology transfer relationships with their alma mater than other firms? Given the importance of engagement with academic institutes, the vast amount of research on entrepreneurship and technology transfer has not yet answered this question. Drawing on previous studies on founder's academic background and university-industry linkage, we attempt to answer the question in a Chinese metropolitan context. We found that firms whose founding teams have higher proportion of alumni and lower proportion of highly-educated individuals are more likely to form formal ties with the focal local alma mater. The findings have implications on academic entrepreneurs and university officers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Companies are faced with the challenge of responding to the emergence of new technologies. To reduce uncertainties, there is an incentive for companies to get involved in a new technology while continuing to use their existing technology until final decisions can be made, a strategy called 'parallel development'. Parallel development is good for companies because it provides more options and defers the need for decision making until uncertainties about the new technology are sufficiently reduced. However, parallel development does not just simply consist of developing new technologies alongside existing ones. Moreover, to date there has not been sufficient research into the management of parallel development. This paper will describe a framework of parallel development for successful technological transition, and then illustrate the effectiveness of parallel development through the successful examples of Fanuc, Ltd., and Matsushita Electric Industrial Corporation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although many university inventions and discoveries originating from academia are at a stage beyond basic research, they are yet insufficiently developed to be transformed into innovations without additional research designed to establish proofs of principle (POP) at many levels: technical proof, intellectual property control proof, safety proof, value proof, economic proof and attractiveness proof. Based on the data of a large survey of Canadian academics in natural sciences and engineering, the results of this study show that about 20% of the surveyed respondents engaged in different forms of POP despite the absence of incentives to do so. The results also suggest the presence of interdependence (complementarities) between the different forms of POP. Finally, the results show that funding from industry, strong ties with industry and use of services provided by university technology transfer offices are positively associated with the different forms of POP. These results are used to derive policy implications and directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with patenting behaviours of university researchers and distinguishes between two motivations that academic scientists may adopt when dealing with patents: a proactive one, where scientists are patent enthusiastic and a reactive one, where scientists are more reluctant to patent, even if they might be forced to do that anyway. We use an original dataset on 173 French academic inventors (in life sciences and electronics and engineering sciences) in order to test whether the scientist's motivations to patent affect the number of patents she invents. Our econometric results indicate that a very positive perception of university patenting or a reported willingness to perform patentable research does not lead to more invented patents. Conversely, past patenting experiences seem to matter a lot: academic inventors, who already experienced successful technology transfer due to patents, are more likely to invent patents. Some slight differences emerge across scientific disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firms look for procuring a sustainable advantage over their competitors. Therefore, they should be both operationally and strategically efficient. However, as firms work with other companies, they are under threats of misunderstanding, inefficiency, difficult synchronisations, etc. These threats will be transformed into real business traps. In this paper, authors propose a global framework which focuses on collaborative new product development (NPD) projects. The ultimate goal is to minimise harmful potential consequences of collaborations. This framework emphasises critical characteristics of any collaboration among partners. It helps users to have a clearer understanding of the overall environment of such projects. This understanding leads not only managers towards a better definition of their strategy but also guides them to acquire a more resourceful operational efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a methodology and a working paradigm, based on TRIZ theory, specifically conceived for SMEs that are not able to face the problem of intellectual property management (IPM) in an autonomous way. As a first step, we introduce the competences and possible company structure to manage and protect intellectual property (IP) by means of patents and trademarks; then we describe the methodologies and the tools, which can be used for IPM, such as those derived from TRIZ. Finally, we describe a case study which refers to a typical example of know-how transfer from a technological leading sector to the large production of consumable products showing the use of considered TRIZ tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SME innovation strategy and motivation has become one of the most challenging subjects of innovation policy. New innovation models proposed recently have captured the attention of policy makers. However, these models seem for the most part to be applicable to medium-sized or large enterprises. The objective of this paper is to analyse the open innovation model in the case of outsourced cooperative R&D in SMEs. Although the driving forces for outsourcing innovation in SMEs are in some respects similar to those for large firms, others are linked to lack of resources, but both have in common the pursuit of efficiency in R&D and technology transfer. This paper is based on an empirical study of open innovation in SMEs and proposes a model for analysing the critical elements which influence performance and strategic alignment between R&D performers and their partners (in most cases, SMEs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore what implications the geographical dispersion of foresight participants and their regional idiosyncrasies have for the management of foresight processes. Specifically, we argue that these kinds of multi-stakeholder processes place demands such as scalability, modularity and dependability on the design and deployment of foresight methodologies. We also report a Finnish foresight process to support the development of the Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) of the European Forest-Based Sector Technology Platform. This process was based on the RPM Screening methodology which consisted of the internet-based solicitation and assessment of research themes, identification of promising research themes through Robust Portfolio Modelling (RPM), and several facilitated workshops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article compares sectoral systems of innovation (SSI) related to software in the selected Asian countries: China, India, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, focusing on outputs of scientific research for years 2002-2006 and using tech mining research method. The paper characterises the relative importance of specific domains of applied software research in every country and measures the responsiveness of researchers to emerging technologies. The analysis helps identify potential inefficiencies and strategic threats in the software sectors of the concerned countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

R&D networks have been studied and promoted by scholars and policy makers as a way to increase the performance of innovation systems. At the same time, limited attention has been devoted to evaluate their performances. This paper reviews the literature that studied R&D networks from different approaches and suggests a framework to help developing evaluation systems for R&D networks. The framework is based on a network model that highlights the main elements and characteristics of an R&D network, underlines the opportunity of three different perspectives of evaluation and has been applied and tested on three case studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent growth in inward and outward technology transfer, e.g., by means of technology licensing, reflects the new paradigm of open innovation. By actively acquiring and commercialising intellectual property in the technology markets, these open innovation processes contrast traditional closed innovation processes. Prior open innovation research has largely been limited to case studies and theoretical contributions, and other lines of research have focused either on inward or outward technology transfer without taking an integrative perspective. Therefore, I simultaneously consider inward and outward technology transfer as the two main directions of open innovation. On this basis, data from a survey of 154 industrial firms are used to test four hypotheses relating the size and quality of the corporate patent portfolio to a firm's extent of external technology acquisition and external technology commercialisation. The results show that the corporate intellectual property portfolio constitutes a major determinant of opening up the innovation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 21st century, the capability of best practice transfer will be a core competency of firms and a source of competitive advantage. This study reviews the practices of semiconductor firms and presents three models for the intrafirm transfer of best practices. These models have important implications for technology and knowledge management. First, replication strategies can apply not only to the service sector but also to manufacturing, including high-tech firms. Second, these transfer models validate the contingency theory since various situations induce different transfer models. Third, external benchmarking may not always be the best way to solve problems and maintain competitive advantage. The resource-based theory maintains that firms can retain a competitive edge by efficiently and effectively applying practices developed in-house. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our data from local suppliers to AB Volvo's truck and bus-plants in Brazil, China, India and Mexico show that foreign TNCs contribute to technology-learning and improved adaptive technological capabilities, which help suppliers to expand businesses with domestic and international OEM-customers in many industries and markets. This support the evolutionary perspective that technology transfers from industrialised to developing economies are based on local inter-firm linkages arising from regular manufacturing activities of foreign TNCs. A policy lesson is that business-linkages with foreign TNCs with a low-volume demand for high-quality products can result in technology-upgrading among small local suppliers who make necessary learning-investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most innovation researchers tend to consider innovation adoption as a binary process, implying that companies have either adopted an innovation or not. In this paper we focus on e-commerce as an innovation that can be adopted stepwise. We distinguish between two levels of e-commerce, basic and advanced. Following Rogers' (1995) innovation adoption model, we investigate the differences between companies with regard to their knowledge, perceived potential value, implementation and satisfaction with e-commerce. In a field study involving 127 companies, we consistently find higher scores for companies at the advanced level, even when controlling for the impact of the intention to further adopt e-commerce and various contextual factors. Interestingly, we also find significant, negative interaction effects between adoption level and adoption intention. Due to the magnitude of these effects, the interaction effects tend to cancel out the additional effect of adoption intention for companies at the advanced level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has introduced many changes over the last decades causing a socio-economic evolution based on information acquisition and knowledge dissemination. It helped create an emerging global information-based society with innovative means of communication that can help in increasing competitiveness for individuals, organisations and societies. ICT has helped generate new forms and structures of business, social and economic entities that are no longer bound by geographic or time constraints, but instead depend mainly on being connected all the time. This article addresses the efforts taking place in Africa to minimise the digital gap and actively join the global information society. Many African nations have invested heavily in building their ICT infrastructure to help improve the readiness of their communities and this article provides an overview of some of the projects implemented to build the African information society while demonstrating some the lessons learned and experiences acquired. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on international transfer of manufacturing capability has traditionally focused on the viewpoint of the 'transferor', where the recipient is usually less sophisticated. The nature of knowledge in the transferor is identified as the core determinant of the 'transferability' of capability, ideally independent of the host context. In this paper we consider the problem from the viewpoint of the 'transferee'; extracting the capability that it needs from a relatively passive transferor and feeding back knowledge in a mutual learning system. In such cases the 'knowledge transfer' metaphor breaks down. We illustrate this with a case study of a major US computer manufacturer transferring the capability of building its most complex server product to a European site. We discuss the implications of the case for the literature on knowledge transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Product portfolio selection is one of the key drivers for the medium- and long-term success of most firms. In this paper we conduct an empirical investigation on a flexibility approach to select projects and allocate budget in a product portfolio. The model is concerned with the resolution of uncertainty over the product development life cycle and deals with technical, market and cost factors all together. Previous results indicate the effectiveness of this approach in evaluating projects individually. However, until now, no study has been carried out to check the appropriateness of this model to compare and select projects. Our conclusions are in line with the applicability of the referred model to tackle the problem of selecting projects and allocating budget in a portfolio of new products and/or technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the physical distance between engineers' workstations increases, the probability that they will communicate regularly decreases rapidly. As with many things in nature, this probability declines as the inverse square of distance. At the same time, it must be remembered that while separation decreases the probability of communication, even very close physical proximity does not guarantee communication. Although engineers are more likely to communicate if closer together, the probability remains low in the absence of other relations. Unless people have a reason to communicate frequently about technical issues they will not do so, even over very short distances. When that reason exists, as for example when engineers or scientists share the department or project team membership, their chances of communicating regularly can increase substantially. At this point, we bring together the use of organisational structure and architecture and test the sensitivity of communication to varying positions in physical and organisational space. Results are presented from two very different organisations showing how communication probability varies with different degrees of physical and organisational separation. Finally, we reflect back on the 27-year-old work of Jack Morton, then Executive Vice President of Bell Telephone Laboratories, and show how he anticipated all of our research results long before the research was undertaken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the importance of foreign subsidiaries' network embeddedness as a strategic resource for market performance and technological competence in multinational enterprises. The conceptual framework of this study is made up of six components: network formative motivation, external network structure, business embeddedness, technical embeddedness, market performance and technological knowledge transfer. Two different types of network embeddedness - business embeddedness and technological embeddedness - are proposed to have an influence on the subsidiaries' market performance as well as on technological knowledge transfer of new products and production processes in the MNE. Using data on 106 Taiwan's electrical and electronic manufacturers gathered from a benchmarking questionnaire, eight hypotheses are tested in a LISREL model analysis. The results reveal that the seven hypotheses are supported, albeit under circumstances in which the relationship between network formative motivation and technical embeddedness is not significant. The study's findings highlight that the foreign subsidiaries' external network embeddedness is a determinate factor in enhancing the whole MNE's competitive capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International organisations advocate global convergence in intellectual property as a prerequisite for successful innovation strategies. The difficulties of achieving such harmonisation are, however, evident from the attempts of several nations to develop divergent intellectual property systems. This paper explores the causes of institutional divergence and uses intellectual property for seed markets in India as a case study. The Indian seed market case demonstrates that convergence and divergence may go hand in hand. The ‘domestication’ of global protection models for seed and biotechnology may require divergence in order to be accepted by domestic stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the previous studies in global R&D were focused on developed economies, meaning the situation of developing countries has been neglected. Consequently, this work conducts a deep case study of eight Taiwanese companies with overseas R&D units. The sample companies came mainly from two industrial sectors: computer hardware and software. Preliminary research findings include the following: (1) firms in developing countries seem all to follow a similar path in internationalising their R&D activities, (2) companies from developed and developing countries appear to have the same motivations and use the similar methods in globalising their R&D, (3) communication and managerial process of global innovation differ for hardware and software product developments and (4) problems of communication, language and cultural difference critically affect the performance of global R&D and can be reduced by employing standard manuals, a unified language and international liaisons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the characteristics of Korean venture businesses and entrepreneurs from the manpower perspective and analyse the differences between linear and non-linear technology transfer to guide more effective venture business policy and strategy. The empirical assessment reveals that Korean entrepreneurs think financial services are most needed. Despite the tendency that entrepreneurs might expect much, the difference was large enough to conclude that government policy on incubation is not effective. Future functions/services of incubators should concentrate on additional and financial functions/services. The current policy of 'as many services as possible to all venture businesses' should be changed to 'pinpoint services to each venture business.' Governments should devise policy to support services that venture businesses want rather than provide what government thinks is necessary for venture businesses. Also manpower policy that helps improving services/functions of incubators as well as staff members is in urgent need. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally, it has been recognised that causal ambiguity of technology, by making it difficult for competitors to identify the technological competencies on which a particular firm bases its competitive advantage, represents an effective protection mechanism helping the firm to obtain superior performance. Recently, researchers have unearthed evidence that the effects of causal ambiguity also could be extended to the interior of the firm itself, hampering the diffusion of its own technological capabilities among its managers. In this case, the existence of causal ambiguity will have a negative impact on firm performance. The first aim of this article is to analyse both perspectives with the last end of establishing the net influence that causal ambiguity exerts on firm performance. The second one, to study how the high involvement human resources practices can help to solve this debate. With this in mind, a set of hypothesis is proposed and they will contrast using a sample of 258 Spanish manufacturing firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A lack of understanding exists regarding how technology and market knowledge can be incorporated effectively within an organisation's approaches to Innovation and New Product and Service Development (I&NP&SD). We present a previously developed theoretical framework for representing both knowledge creation and idea generation within the process of I&NP&SD. We use this framework to analyse how organisations create and incorporate technology and market knowledge sources and ideas within approaches to I&NP&SD. The theoretical framework is useful in defining the need to create a broad range of technology and market knowledge sources, rather than relying on prescribed linear processes. The new knowledge generated will be subjected to invisible filters within an organisation, which can negate naïve assumptions about acceptance of the new technology and market knowledge. In practice, an eclectic range of quality mechanisms can be used to integrate and incorporate new knowledge within the I&NP&SD approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distinctive Shell approach to innovation derives from how the innovation process is managed and executed. The management approach is a combination of a robust business process, with clear objectives and decision points, and a light-touch style of management that recognises the emotive aspects of innovation such as creativity, drive and change. An important aspect is the integration of sustainable development in the innovation effort. Sustainable innovation incorporates the values of society as a third driver in addition to customer needs and technological options. Successful innovation management requires a transparent and effective innovation business process based on a sound understanding of the nature and characteristics of the innovation process. Innovation is a quest for bringing an idea to market, while managing innovation is about creating value during that process by involving the stakeholders, identifying and reducing the risks, structuring the decision-making process and improving the chances of success — knowing that ultimately the winner is unpredictable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Product development is an essential part of the total innovation process. This paper describes some of the elements that are indispensable for successful product development. The advancement of the circuit breaker, a product that is used to make or break the flow of electrical current, is analysed over a period of almost 30 years. During this time, it becomes clear that continuous improvement in technology relies heavily on individual personalities — the internal entrepreneur — and the creative climate these personalities create. The following description of the processes used in research and product development sheds new light on the importance of the individual researcher, his motivation and passion — often underestimated in the technology management concepts presented in the last three decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent literature showed that foreign direct investment (FDI) especially from developed countries was claimed to facilitate technology flows into the recipient country via technology upgrade and R&D spillover activities. However, little research has been conducted at the disaggregate (firm - industry) level through which technology is transferred. This research investigates the industry technology performance of joint ventures in China and its sources and how structural (institutional) factors of these foreign investments would affect technology progress using micro- (firm) level data. Research results showed that FDI by type of foreign ownership affected TFP progress and growth while capital intensity and its nested effect with market share, were also important in enhancing production efficiency. Industry characteristics also made a difference. Implications derived for FDI absorption on the part of the recipient country and managerial investment decisions of foreign firms in China were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In their struggle to survive, enterprises in developing countries are rushing to keep abreast with the technological advancements. As the indigenous technological capabilities of developing countries are weak by default, they intend to import technology internationally. Experience showed that, in doing so, a number of obstacles might render the technology acquisition process by them, less effective, or even sometimes, a failure economically and/or technically. Cases in developing countries show that the technological capabilities of the technology recipient country are a decisive factor in successfully transferring and absorbing of the particular technology. Many other factors affect the process, such as education, culture, legislations, enabling environment, etc. Building the indigenous technological capabilities should be the ultimate goal of the development countries in order to cope with the aggressive competing world. Government of developing countries should review their strategic plans in order to consider the fast moving technology advancements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology changes the paradigm of economic activities and networking. Because of technological changes, market competition becomes wider and harder and networking becomes more international, inter-sectoral and inter-institutional. Technology also changes the mode of technology transfer and technology strategy. Technology transfer becomes easier and more formal since some portion of tacit knowledge is codified and stored in software. Technology strategy at the national level places more emphasis on private sector initiative; and at the corporate level it becomes more comprehensive including the functions from procurement to marketing. International networking is important especially for developing countries. Its means range from foreign direct investment (FDI) to licensing. A suitable means depends on the conditions of a recipient country. In addition, technology assimilation and domestic diffusion is necessary for full use of acquired technology. Further, domestic networking among industry, universities and public research institutes is necessary to utilise all technological capability for industrial development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the question of how enterprises can improve their competitiveness through the acquisition and development of technology, and hence how countries are able to raise the level of industrial development and grow their GDP. It takes the example of East Asia to demonstrate how fast economic growth can be achieved through the `stages' approach to technology acquisition and development, it also provides some case studies of technology transfer to China as a means of illustrating how successful transfer can be achieved and the problems that can be encountered. Finally, some comparisons are made with, and among, the Arab countries and an attempt is made to draw some lessons for the development of the Arab world from experiences gained elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most current literature on knowledge and technology transfer (Appropriability Model, Dissemination Model, and Knowledge Utilization Model), provides models and descriptions of the processes of transfer, but these models are limited in terms of their application in contemporary high-tech industries since most studies do not provide plausible explanations on key behavioural factors affecting the transfer of know ledge and/or technology. Based on a literature 16 research variables are identified as affecting the process and results of knowledge and technology transfer. Survey results indicate four key factors to accelerating knowledge and technology transfer: Communication, Distance, Equivocality, and Motivation. Data analyses show that there are four distinctive clusters that demonstrate contrasting characteristics in terms of these four factors. The careful mapping of the four clusters on the four factors indicates informative knowledge and technology transfer patterns. Finally, actions to increase communication interactivity and motivation, and to reduce cultural distance and equivocality are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarises a sequence of studies of technology trade and strategies for acquisition and exploitation of technology in large corporations in Sweden, the USA and Japan during the 1980s and 1990s, Licensing in and out, and technology trade more generally, have old origins but have played only a marginal role in most companies across industries as a co-evolving complement rather than substitute for internal R&D and product sales. However, external acquisition of technology through acquisitions, joint ventures, technology purchasing and intelligence was found to have increased substantially in recent decades across sectors in large Japanese, Swedish and US corporations. With the advent of the pro-patent era in the 1980s and the concomitant surge in patenting and IP activities more generally, a pro-licensing era could be hypothesised to follow. Various empirical studies and observations have also recognised the growing importance of technology markets in general and the growth and changing nature of licensing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this paper is how key features of the underlying learning processes influence inter-firm differences in paths technological capability-accumulation and, in turn, operational performance improvement in the latecomer context. This set of relationships is examined in two large steel companies in Brazil over their lifetimes of 40 and 60 years. The framework for learning identifies four processes: external and internal knowledge-acquisition, knowledge socialisation and knowledge codification. These processes are examined on the basis of four features: variety, intensity, functioning, and interaction. The study has found that the paths of technological capability accumulation followed by the two case-study companies were diverse and have each proceeded at differing rates over time across different technological functions. These differences were strongly associated with the four features of the learning processes. In addition, the different rates at which the two companies have improved their key operational performance indicators were strongly associated with their rate of technological capability accumulation and, in turn, the key features of their learning processes. The study suggests that the rates of technological capability accumulation and operational performance improvement can be accelerated if deliberate and effective efforts on knowledge-acquisition and knowledge-conversion processes are made within the company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the requirements of agile manufacturing, the necessity to gain flexibility, can be reached by using a supplier network. A possible way to develop a supplier network is by subcontracting to parties in industrialising countries. In most cases it is necessary to transfer technology. The aircraft industry is an industry in which such technology transfer frequently takes place. This research project examined the process and consequences of technology transfer in the field of manufacturing. Four case studies were carried out in the aircraft industry. The case studies showed that there are two types of technology transfer: technology selling and technology sharing. Technology sharing frequently takes place in the aircraft industry. The results indicate that 'Destination Companies' hardly benefited technologically from technology sharing because the Destination Company is selected for its existing capabilities. In addition, it is questionable whether production technology transfer contributes to economic growth for industrially developing countries. 'Source Companies' that want to work towards agile manufacturing have limited options for technology transfer towards industrially developing countries due to the requirements placed upon the capabilities of the Destination Company and the infrastructure requirements for countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intensification of university-industry relations and the role universities play in a knowledge society are widely discussed. Some even argue that economic development through technology transfer has become a 'third academic mission' on a par with universities' traditional missions of teaching and research. Institutional barriers to the diffusion of that mission, however, are largely ignored. With the aid of some conceptual and theoretical tools from research in organisational analysis the paper focuses on these barriers. Empirical evidence is drawn from a study on technology transfer offices at German universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes how publicly funded basic research programs develop complex linkage fields over time. Research program on synthesis and optimization of chemical processes; Use of functional coding and the flow of people; Technology transfer and the diversity of knowledge and linkages; Types of knowledge and the science-technology distinction.

Presents summary on the link between foreign direct investment (FDI) and transfer diffusion of technology. Effects of FDI ongoing debate; Role of FDI to economic policy of the operation; Evaluation of technology transfer to attract foreign multinational firms.

Presents information on a study which discussed the role of technology transfer in the privatization of state owned enterprises in China. Reasons for the rapid economic growth in the country; Role of information technology in privatization; Details on a practical model for technology transfer.

Focuses on a study on the implications of technology transfer to economic restructuring. Efforts of countries to adopt a free trade economic structure; Elements of economic restructuring; Role of technology in the success of national competitiveness.

Focuses on a study which proposed a model which explained the differences in the expectations before and the market realities after privatization and its implications in technology transfer between Central and Eastern European (CEE) and Western country managers. Review of related literature on technology transfer; Details on the conceptual model regarding management expectations in technology transfer; Expectations and perceptions of CEE managers after business transitions.

Discusses the privatization schemes developed by the countries of the Central and Eastern Europe region and analyzes the issues underlying technology transfer. Progress of privatization in the service sector in Central and Eastern Europe; Identification of the methods of privatization and technology transfer issues; Insight on capital privatization.