Technology selection between technology management and decision making: a case study from the Iranian automotive industry

The government of Malaysia has introduced several national policies to facilitate industrialisation and technology development in the country throughout the years. However, the effectiveness of this policy in facilitating technology transfer has never be measured quantitatively. The objective of this paper is to review the evolution of Malaysia's technology transfer model and process since Malaysia gained its independence. This paper will look into the past and current national policies that have facilitated the technology transfer process in the country. A literature review was conducted on various frequently used technology transfer model since 1940s and compare it to the technology transfer process evolution in the country. From the analysis, the national policies introduced over the years have a direct and indirect effect on the technology transfer process in the country. However, the effectiveness of technology transfer model that was facilitated by the policy was never measured quantitatively. Further study needs to be conducted in measuring the efficiency of the technology transfer process that facilitated by a specific policy introduced by the government. The factors and sub-factors affecting the technology transfer process facilitated by this specific policy also need to be identified so that further improvement can be proposed.

PurposeThis paper aims to establish a systematically constructed defence offset technology transfer (TT) process description and to identify the process pain points and critical success factors from the supplier perspective.Design/methodology/approachA novel integrated case study and Straussian grounded theory approach under the interpretative assumptions and purposive sampling in a global defence industry organisation are presented.FindingsThe TT is approached from the process modelling point of view, and a detailed operations description covering the end-to-end TT process across a defence industrial participation project is presented. The findings suggest that local recipient’s management, financial resources and planning, supply chain management and local production planning are the main factors of an efficient process.Research limitations/implicationsThis is a single case study, only reflecting the supplier view. Future research could explore the other dimensions of the process to confirm the identified factors playing a role over time.Originality/valueTo date, the body of TT research has focused on the factors influencing the technology absorption and the identification of meta mechanisms between the supplier and recipient organisations in a context of a multinational corporation and as an intra-firm activity, providing little insight to the actual practical operational level TT process. This study seeks to fill this gap by advancing a more profound understanding of the process activities and the main factors through which the local recipient organisation can best influence the project’s success and manage the inter-organisational TT operations more effectively in a highly technologically complex operational environment.

This paper analyses mechanisms for transferring technologies from laboratories to firms which will embed it in their products. Analysis is based on the Fiat Research Center (FRC), an industrial R&D laboratory belonging to a multinational group focused on the automotive industry. At the end of the eighties, changes in the automotive industry strategy required technology management to take into account product complexity, growing research costs, new forms of vertical coordination with suppliers. In order to face these challenges successfully, FRC changed its 'group-oriented' strategy into a 'market-driven' one. It developed a new Technology Transfer (TT) process, that had to deal with the trade-off concerning limitations imposed by the group policy in terms of disclosure of innovative technologies, the growth of technological competencies owned by suppliers, and requests arising from customers. The focus of this work is on relationships among the mechanisms for transferring technological knowledge, changes in organizational structures, and intra- and inter-firm coordination mechanisms. The process of TT, and required organizational structures and mechanisms, are considered as depending on (1) the complexity of transferred technologies and (2) organizational competencies owned by firms where technologies are transferred. 'Tacit' knowledge and 'sticky' information concepts are used to explain the existence of alternative mechanisms of TT. Finally, analysis of the cost of coordinating the transfer of technologies to suppliers and Fiat business units has been used to evaluate FRC investments in new technologies, in order to put emphasis on the effect of active management of knowledge on the value of a technology.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impacts of technological capability (TC) and technology management (TM) on the development of China’s telecommunications industry by examining two interrelated questions: Which is the order parameter for China’s telecommunications industry? and What are the relationships between TC and TM? The paper will develop models to analyze TC, TM and the development of China’s telecommunications industry quantitatively. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews literature related to TC and TM and investigates the technical features of China’s telecommunications industry. Then, the paper makes a theoretical analysis of the relationships among them. First, it analyzes the effects of TC and TM on the industry and tries to explore the order parameter. Second, the paper analyzes the interaction between TC and TM. Then, the paper applies the Haken model to construct an analysis model. It also constructs models for measuring TC and TM. Using the data of China’s telecommunications industry from 1991 to 2010, the paper identifies the order parameter for the industry and tests the relationships between TC and TM. Findings – The paper finds that TC plays a dominant role in the development of China’s telecommunications industry. The paper also finds that TC promotes the development of TM. However, TM fails to promote the development of TC. The paper presents two other important findings. The first one is that China’s telecommunications industry has constructed a positive feedback mechanism for continuous development of TC, which provides an impetus for industry upgrades and development. The second one is that there is no positive feedback growth mechanism for TM capability, which has increased the lag between TM and TC and has become one of the important reasons why TM does not promote TC. Research limitations/implications – Theoretical and managerial implications are put forward. Thus, TC must be improved to propel the development of China’s telecommunications industry; TM should be greatly improved and an effective growth mechanism for TM should be constructed; the synergy between TM and TC should be achieved. Research limitations are also pointed out. Thus, the results in this paper probably cannot be generalized to other industries; it does go on to discuss the synergetic mode of TM and TC that can best compel industrial development, and it does not explain what the growth mechanisms for TM and TC should be. Originality/value – The paper is original, as it provides new perspectives of TM and TC for analyzing industrial development, and it provides the method and model for quantitatively analyzing TC and TM at an industry level. It discovers the order parameter and new problems of China’s telecommunications industry, which no one has identified before. The paper also offers references for analyzing other industries from the perspectives of TM and TC.

The relationship between economics and technology, as well as their interaction in production productivity, project management and in technology transfer processes are bere reviewed. Over the last two decades there has been an increasing interest by economists in the technologist's view of technical change and its mechanism . The author looks at the zone between technology and economics, the ‘technological economics’, and discusses the theory of innovation recently sketched out by Nelson and Winter. The relevance to project management and technology transfer of contemporary writing by economists leads to the view that there are welcome signs of a convergence of the conceptual models now emerging and tbe practical problems of technology management and movement.

PurposeThis paper reviews the framework of the management of technology (MOT) field and examines some application cases of technological development and innovation in China. It addresses various crucial issues necessary in the establishment of infrastructure, strategies, mechanisms and systems of technology management in China. It draws upon knowledge acquired from the US experience in this field for the past two decades.Design/methodology/approachAn overview and conceptual paper based on observations and research experience.FindingsThis paper stresses the importance of keeping‐up with the fast pace of technological change and the emerging new global paradigms of the business environment. MOT is an important strategic instrument to improve competitiveness and create prosperity in countries that effectively apply it. The paper draws upon the experience of the US in MOT over the past two decades and projects what may be needed for China to continue its development and economic growth in the future. There is a need for appropriate infrastructures, strategies and mechanism to be established in order to support the diffusion of MOT principles throughout China. Educational institutions offering business and engineering education need to introduce MOT curricula following the US model or develop a new model shaped by the Chinese culture.Originality/valueThis paper presents the crucial tenets of technology management and provides some observations and insights on technology transfer, technology strategy and innovation process in China today. It suggests critical areas that decision makers in government agencies, enterprises and international funding agencies need to address with respect to MOT in China. Understanding the existing gaps in the process of technology management will assist in implementing more sustainable arrangement for successful technology transfer and development.

Among generic technology management activities, rapid technology identification and selection stand as the significant determinants of technology adoption success in the digital transformation era. Especially for manufacturing SMEs in developing countries, rapid digital technologies are critical since they struggle to protect their competitiveness in global value chains threatened by digitalization. Previous studies introduce various multi-criteria decision-making model-based approaches to identify and select appropriate manufacturing technologies. However, these approaches were relatively rigid and required an advanced understanding of the technology for criteria and alternative settings and evaluation. Decision-makers need more flexible and scalable contextual frameworks for technology selection in digitalization. Since digital technologies offer both benefits and challenges, the decision-making models should reflect this dialectic nature of Industry 4.0 adoption and contextually optimize their decisions by combining multiple quantitative methods for technology identification and selection. Besides, case studies on digital technology selection are rare in manufacturing SMEs from developing country context in the literature. In this context, this study proposes a technology selection framework that utilizes the three dimensions (industry 4.0 technologies, benefits, and challenges) and combines AHP with a QFD-inspired intervention matrix and an optimization model by Mixed Integer Programming (MIP). The proposed model is validated with a case study from the automotive supplier industry in Turkey with the data provided from interviews and a Delphi survey with 11 experts from the digitalization value chain of the selected industry. Case study results revealed that the highest benefits of industry 4.0 lie in process/quality efficiency improvement and reduced inventory. At the same time, data analytics and sensor technologies occurred as the most critical tools. Significant challenges of digital technology adoption are insufficient expert know-how and budget constraints.

Despite the growing interest in university-to-industry technology transfer, there are very few studies on the governance of universities’ technology transfer offices (TTOs). The few existing ones tend to focus on US universities and generally tackle one dimension of the governance. The present paper aims at contributing to this literature in two ways. First, it takes into account the diversity of organizational models with a theoretical perspective: the paper presents a discussion on which combinations of four structural dimensions should yield viable configurations. Four main types of TTOs are identified: (1) classical TTO; (2) autonomous TTO; (3) discipline-integrated Technology Transfer Alliance; and (4) discipline-specialized Technology Transfer Alliance. Second, the paper relies on 16 case studies of universities located in six European countries in order to address the pros and cons of the four types of TTOs. The results provide both a conceptual understanding and an empirical overview of how universities organize their technology transfer and intellectual property management.

In the competitive world today, maintaining and developing market share are of great importance to any business, and technology plays an important role here. Technology selection, influencing the competitive advantages of an enterprise or a country is a multi-criteria decision problem which can be improved by integrating different MCDM1 methods. Many different resources including financial, human and time are spent to access a needed technology. Utilization of these resources can be optimized by integrating them with appropriate technologies. The objectives of this study are: 1) identifying the effective criteria of technology selection to improve the performance of CROUSE companies in Iran's auto industry by using Fuzzy Delphi, Fuzzy AHP and Fuzzy TOPSIS techniques, and 2) providing a systematic model to prioritize ABS2 sensor technology alternatives. We contributed to the technology selection by identifying critical criteria in technology selection. Our findings show that indicators of technology selection are not only some internal factors of the organization, but also include some factors external to the organization, and that the most effective criteria on technology selection are not merely financial, and some other factors such as political issues or the impacts of technology on employment are also influential. Key words: Fuzzy Delphi, fuzzy AHP, fuzzy TOPSIS, technology selection, technology selection criteria.

This case study researched organizational factors that affect the university-industry technology transfer (UITT) processes of a private university, chosen by its success and uniqueness in the Brazilian context. Stood out as factors: innovation among pillars of management; valuing of research and intellectual property; qualified students, teachers and managers; multidisciplinary research groups; stability of governing body; performance of the TTO, Technology Management Agency and Technology Park. Difficulties highlighted were: reconciliation of time between activities of professors-researchers, bureaucracy and centralization of administrative and legal support; valuation of research results; approach and negotiation with companies. Among suggestions are: granting greater independence to the structures in charge of UITT and making them self-sustainable; training agents in technology marketing, sale, and negotiation skills.

Technologies developed by the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Energy Storage (STOR) Program must be converted into products, processes, or services that benefit the private sector. The process of technology transfer is the primary means of accomplishing this. The purpose of this report is to examine the technology transfer activities of the STOR Program and suggest mechanisms that might make the transfer of technologies from national laboratories and universities to the private sector more effective. A brief summary of recommendations that would improve the effectiveness of the transfer of energy storage technologies from the national laboratories to the private sector is discussed. 33 refs., 2 figs.

This chapter considers the role of technology transfer intermediaries (TTIs) in the processes of innovation in networks involving universities, research and development centres, and business firms from an international perspective. A diversity of types of TTIs is recognised in terms of their particular interests in the operation of innovation processes and the conditions they impose in transactions involving intellectual property. It will identify the various objectives of sponsoring stakeholders as differentiating the missions and accountabilities and, in turn, determining the focus and roles of different types of TTIs and the interactions and networking between them, both formal and informal. In discussion, the chapter will propose that the significance of systemic influence on the processes of technology transfer and innovation should be researched at two levels. At the micro-level of personal interactions, examining how systemic influences shape tacit knowledge transfer between and learning by individuals engaged in research and innovation processes. Second, at the level of national cultures, examining the ways in which the cultural context institutionalises patterns of innovation and technology transfer networking.

An objective of this effort is a quick recap to assess the underpin barriers of transfer of technologies appeared in Ukraine after acquiring the Independence and those developed of today and to highlight and evaluate an impact of political, historical, mental and other factors affecting the science and as a consequence leakage of technologies abroad. Of importance is also a question if a current COVID-19 pandemic will join these factors if it initiates an illicit transfer of dual use (DU) technologies from Ukraine as it was in 1990s and how it affects an efficient and proper functioning and optimization of transfer of technologies process, and that is quite a challenge nowadays. Investigated problem. The process of technology transfer and specifically that one of DU as a whole is neither simple nor systematic and far from being that perfect, especially when it deals with dual-use technologies and at present reduced to a short relationship between supplier/recipient only. The experience and practice show that it is a rather complicated, multi-leveled and multi-players process which is impacted and follows several factors and conditions that determine its success and/or failure at the end. The main scientific results. The development of dual use technologies continues in a quagmire of conflicting interests and technology transfer export control rationales. There are historical, mental and political-military considerations where a state’s decision to develop weapon systems or related applications can be assessed not only as a function of perceived levels of threat to its security, but also as a need to respond and/or step forward to potential technological innovations; and second, the fundamental conceptual differences in appreciation among countries of the right to possess different advanced weapons systems for defensive or offensive purposes. The result of this endeavor makes a solid ground floor for further debates in terms of political science, export control regulations and factors affecting transfer of sensitive technologies.

This report illuminates the decision-making processes affecting technology transfer at ORNL as they potentially impact upon development of high-temperature superconductors. The methodology of this report consists of an analysis of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) documents laws, and regulations; a review of relevant literature on licensing, patents, and user center decision making; and interviews with persons directly involved in technology development and transfer at the laboratory. The process of technology development at ORNL encompasses, among other things, activities aimed at research and development (R D), technology transfer, and technology utilization. Each of these activities has officially become part of an overall laboratory mission referred to as technology development. 28 refs., 1 fig., 3 tabs.

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