The international transference of technology on an enterprise-to-enterprise base: A conceptual model and an application - A Brazilian experience in computers.

Abstract

This study is concerned with one of the most critical issues for developing countries today - the international technology transfer process. While there appears to be no concensus on what technology is, it seems widely recognized that technology is an essential factor in the industrialisation process. In recent years, some developing countries have become increasingly aware of the importance of technology, advocating the transference of technological resources, in an attempt to "leapfrog" the long period of technological evolution of the advanced nations, and accelerate their industrialisation process. This research represents both a theoretical and an empirical attempt to understand the positive aspects of the technology transfer phenomenon. The major contributions of the study reported here are the following: a) It proposes a broad conceptual framework for analyzing international technology transfer transactions on an enterprise-to-enterprise basis. b) It clarifies the concepts of technology and technology transfer. c) It describes the Brazilian pilot experience of transferring computer technology for the establishment of a computer production capability. The results of this study suggest that the process of transferring tangible, intangible, proprietary and non-proprietary technological resources needed to establish an industrial production capability in another country is a dynamic, complex, multi-dimentional phenomenon, involving a variety of mutually interacting variables. These have been identified as contractual, individual, organizational, environmental, technological, transmission-mechanisms, resource-flow, and time-related variables. In general, the technology transfer transaction was found to be an exchange of economic and technical interests between the technology-supplying and recipient organisations, in which individuals play a key role.

Date of Award	1982
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bath