New insights into the international technology transfer process

This research examined technology transfer in an international joint venture. No general relationship was found between the type of technology transferred and the specific methods used in the transfer of that technology. However, more complex technologies required relatively more effort to complete their transfers than did simpler technologies.

The 1980's and early 1990's has been a time of the rapid globalization of many markets.

This has given firms unprecedented access to new markets and growth opportunities. From the perspective of the firms already operating in those markets, it has brought unprecedented new competition. Simultaneous operation in a number of markets around the world can be a challenge even to large multinational corporations, especially in industries where the pace of new product development is rapid. Many firms find they must collaborate with other firms to share the risk and cost of competing globally. The challenge to collaborating firms is in actually realizing those economies of scope and scale through the integration of their efforts. This research addresses one aspect of that integration problem. This is the transfer of technologies or knowledge from one site to another. The dilemma facing any manager in a cooperative venture is first, whether the

partner has something of benefit to offer, and second, if that benefit can be appropriated back to the home firm. Appropriating that benefit can be especially challenging when the technologies being transferred are part of the core functions of a firm, as often is the case with production technologies. This paper reports findings of a study of the process of harvesting the benefits of collaboration through the transfer of technology.

Important Questions yet Unanswered

A reasonable question for anyone faced with the transfer of a technology from one place to another is "how should I do it?". There is a wealth of literature addressing the transfer of knowledge and technology that provides a cornucopia of ways in which technology is transferred from location to location (see Table 1).

Table 1. Information Transfer Mechanisms Found in Existing Research.

MechanismExamples

Communication

MethodsImpersonal (policies, procedures, plans, and schedules), Personal (through

supervisors or work coordinators), or Group (scheduled and unscheduled

meetings; Van De Ven, Delbecq and Koenig, 1976);

Face-to-face, telephone, personal documents, faxes or memos, impersonal

written documents, and numeric documents (Daft, Lengal and Trevino, 1987;

Daft and Lengel, 1986; Trevino, Lengal and Daft, 1987);

Face-to-face, video, telephone, voice conferences, group meeting, voice

messages, group gathering, chart/graphs, computer report, document/report,

memos, electronic mail, facsimile, handwritten note, and letter/message (Rice,

1992; Rice and Shook, 1990);

Within project group, outside group, outside R&D, outside company (Allen,

1977; Keller, 1994).

HierarchyRules and programs, Joint planning, Formal information systems, Lateral

relations (Galbraith, 1974; Nadler and Tushman, 1988; Tushman and Nadler,

1978; Lawrence and Lorsch, 1967).

Structural

Linking

MechanismsStanding liaisons between groups, personnel transfer to another site (Allen and

Cooney, 1971; Allen, Hyman and Pinckney, 1983; Ettlie, 1990; Roberts and

Frohman, 1978; Galbraith, 1974).

Formal RolesProject or program manager (Allen, et al., 1988; Marquis and Straight, 1965).

Informal RolesChampions or opinion leaders (Chakrabarti, 1973; Jervis, 1975; Ounjian and

Carne, 1987; Rogers, 1983; Souder and Padmanabhan, 1989; Dean, 1984);

Gatekeepers (Allen and Cooney, 1971; Allen, 1977);

Roles oriented toward specific functions or stages in the innovation process

(Jervis, 1975; Kazanjian and Drazin, 1986; Roberts and Fusfeld, 1981).

Integrating

GroupsCoordinating committees, task forces, or decision-making committees (Roberts,

1979; Roberts and Frohman, 1978; Lawrence and Lorsch, 1967);

Official projects, programs, or matrix structure (Larson and Gobeli, 1988;

Marquis and Straight, 1965; Galbraith, 1974).

External

IntegratorConsultants (Attewell, 1992); Standards (Langlois, 1992).

Unfortunately, there have been few studies that directly address how one would specifically go about transferring a specific type of technology under a given set of circumstances. There are a few exceptions, though. For instance, some studies suggest that as the complexity of the technology increases, more integrated structures or relationships with other organizations (such as the creation of special project groups) are required (Allen, Tushman and Lee, 1979; Kazanjian and Drazin, 1986; Killing, 1980). Other studies suggest that the problem-solving approaches used by an organization must be determined by the way a new technology fits into that firm's organizational structure (Tushman, 1978; Tyre, 1991). A similar group of studies imply that the firm's relative competency in a particular technical area will determine what types of technology may be transferred, and how the firm will proceed with the transfer (Attewell, 1992; Egelhoff, 1990; Hall and Johnson, 1970). Two works by Ghoshal (Ghoshal and Bartlett, 1988a; Ghoshal and Bartlett, 1988b) suggest that specific integrating mechanisms must be used to transfer technologies, depending on the firm's location in the multinational network.

While these studies offer some insight that contingencies affecting technology transfer exist, they do not directly answer the question of "how should I do it?".

Allen, Thomas J. Managing the Flow of Technology. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1977.

Allen, Thomas J., and Sean Cooney (1971) "The International Technological Gatekeeper."

Technology Review, Vol. 73, No. 5 (March), pp. 2-9.

Allen, Thomas J., Diane B. Hyman, and David L. Pinckney (1983) "Transferring Technology to

the Small Manufacturing Firm: A Study of Technology Transfer in Three Countries."

Research Policy, Vol. 12, , pp. 199-211.

Ghoshal, Sumantra, and Christopher A. Bartlett (1988a) "Creation, Adoption, and Diffusion of

Innovations by Subsidiaries of Multinational Corporations." Journal of International

Business Studies, , Fall, 1988, pp. 365-388.

Marquis, Donald G., and D.L. Straight. Organizational Factors in Project Performance. MIT

Sloan School of Management, 1965.

Nadler, David A., and Michael L. Tushman. "Strategic Linking: Designing Formal Coordination