The marketing and purchasing of technology: an examination of high technology sellers and low technology buyers

Abstract

This thesis examines the marketing and purchasing of technological products and services between industrialized countries and developing countries. It is an area worth investigating following its growing importance in recent years in world trade. This is reflected through the massive volumes of technological products and services transferred from Western industrialized countries, in particular, to developing countries, with a high proportion going to the oil-producing ones. It is also reflected through long-term contractual arrangements between suppliers and buyers. In spite of being highly and thoroughly negotiated, these deals appear to have run into difficulties during the delivery or implementation of the contract, causing delays, extra costs, losses and hardships to suppliers and buyers alike.

This research constitutes an attempt to analyse the sources of the level of success achieved by both parties during the implementation of these deals, in the hope of shedding some light on this relatively unknown and complex area. Suppliers and buyers are seen as two equally active partners in the relationship following the theory put forward by the Interaction Approach.

Emphasis is put on the importance of conflict and cooperation between the two parties and their relationship with the level of success achieved. In turn, conflict and cooperation are hypothesized as being closely associated with the level of commitment of the parties, their relative power positions, their level of adaptation and, finally, the importance of the distance which exists between them. Nineteen suppliers from UK, USA and France a seventeen buyers from Algeria were used to test these hypotheses.

The results give evidence of the high complexity of the relationships which are established between suppliers and buyers. Limited support is found for the hypotheses put forward which are thus not fully validated. Further research may be necessary to highlight some of the processes. Nonetheless, cultural and technological factors appear to play an important role in the level of success achieved by both parties. One of the central issues appears to be for each party to be fully aware of the perceptions and requirements of the partner.