Technology Transfer, Abstract, Developing Country (Research Paper Sample)

Technology Transfer
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Abstract
The Oxford dictionary defines technology transfer as, “The transfer of new technology from the originator to a secondary user, especially from developed to developing countries in an attempt to boost their economies.” This new technology is incorporated into the already existing technology in the developing countries so as to improve their production rates and efficiency thereby improving their economy. There are various aspects of technology transfer that are going to be addressed in this paper. These aspects will revolve around the past and the present of technology transfer. Firstly, recent findings on technology transfer will be addressed together with how the previous theories and concepts have evolved since they were formulated. Secondly, the evolution of the dimensions of technology transfer will be addressed. Another feature that will be looked into is the contribution of the past researchers for the definition and how these definitions have advanced over the years. Various empirical examples for technology transfer from international and local arena will also be addressed. Last but not least, seminal works and their findings will conclude the discussion on technology transfer. All these aspects will be obtained through thorough research. A comprehensive discussion will be made which will include any suggestions or comments based on the works above
Keywords: technology transfer, abstract, developing country
Literature Review: Technology Transfer
The Third world countries, which are usually considered poor countries, can benefit from the developed countries through technology transfer. Although this transfer is important to their economic development, the Third world countries need to receive this technology with the right conditions in place for it to be effective. These conditions include socio-economic, culture and political conditions which are in existence in the poor countries. Nevertheless, the advancement of the technology from the developing country which is providing the technology is another factor that should be considered.
Technology transfer is a strategy used to evade the uneven distribution of wealth and resources among the poor and rich countries. On recent years, the developing countries have started to embrace this concept. Although this started as a form of copying the richer countries and their practices in an attempt to achieve the same results. Even though there are countries which have succeeded using this idea, most of them will not succeed due to various constraints such as lack of enough skilled labour.
Technology transfer is achieved by corporations which are in various nations which come together and provide capital while directing these countries to establish the new technology in their country in various sectors depending on the technology in question. The various aspects of technology transfer will be discussed in this paper and the challenges that face it.
Key Recent Articles and their findings
There have been various articles written through thorough research in recent times on technology transfer. These articles cover a lot of different aspects and subjects of technology transfer. Some of these articles will be discussed in this section of the paper. Technology transfer may have evolved in various ways since it begun decades ago. These articles may include some of the changes that have occurred or new things that have come up in recent times.
An article by Ghebrihiwet and Motchenkova (2017), investigates the relationship of technology transfer in the resources sector with Foreign Direct Investment and foreign ownership restrictions. In this article, it is found that the need for joint ventures has become somewhat mandatory in order for multinational companies to mine and export the natural resources of the developing countries. The government in the developing countries impose this measure on to the multinational countries so as to achieve economically.
As an alternative to forcing these companies into these ventures with the local companies, the developing countries’ government may decide to limit foreign ownership. However, the use of joint ventures has become increasingly popular in many countries. As an example, ADNOC, which is a local company in Abu Dhabi, owns about 60% of the shares in Emirate’s operations in the oil and gas. The other 40% percentage is co-owned by international companies in the oil sector.
Iran is another notable example which has embraced the joint venture idea in recent times. The joint venture is usually undertaken as a way of attracting more foreign investors into the host country. The author in this article uses a model to analyze the effects of using joint ventures versus the use restrictions on foreign ownership while comparing the benefits and pitfalls of both instances.
In this model, what is looked into is the effect of either of the two options based on the level of cost that will be used to transfer technology from the developed country to the host country. It is seen that the use of restrictions makes the foreign multinationals reduce the amount of technology transfer that they bring to the host country. The developing countries will be affected negatively when they restrict their equity on the joint ventures.
The developing country may improve their welfare when the transfer of technology is costly and depending on the market structure by removing shares from their local firms. Ghebrihiwet and Motchenkova (2017), “A similar measure was taken in 1984 by the Norwegian government.” (p. 323). This is where the Norwegian government took the shares and managed them in their own ministry that deals with energy.
Another article by van der Heiden, Mansor & van Genderen (2016), looks into the capacity of companies in the third world countries to receive technology from the developing countries which is clearly more advanced than theirs. This also includes the knowledge that comes along with the technology, which also has to be received by the receiver country. The receiver country, especially the organizations within it, have to incorporate a system that makes it easier to receive the technology.
The article focuses on a new model based on the receiving capacity of organizations in developing countries and more knowledge in previous studies. It gives new concepts on the absorption capacity of the organizations. It is based on the organizations putting up some form of system in their operation so as to incorporate this technology.
In this approach, the technology delivered to the receiver country must conform to the initial need that the country had of the technology and also its demand. This is not just taken as a single unit, but as a process of delivery of the technology involving various activities as a whole. The transfer in this case includes not only the transfer of the equipment needed to implement the technology but also the passing of knowledge to the individuals in the organizations will be involved in using the technology.
The process of transferring this technology involves various steps including; identifying the demand for the technology, identifying the source of the technology, selecting the right technology to transfer, selecting the right company to transfer the technology and the receiver’s adaptation for the technology received. This transfer occurs on various platforms and across various participants on the international territory.
It is noted that technology transfer seems to become harder as the technology being transferred increases in its complexity. The transferred technology has to be received by the receiving country such that it will bring about economic development to it. The process by which it receives is therefore important. The organization that is receiving this technology has to learn about the new technology beforehand. The preexisting, less advanced technology, has to be foregone by the organization.
The article looks at a new model of absorptive capacity which is a system of technology transfer previously used by various organizations to transfer technology from developing to underdeveloped countries. This model advances the previous concepts from various researchers. It encompasses the use of a structured system to achieve the required absorptive capacity. The model looks at the transfer system as a long term process of acquiring technology and knowledge until the organization achieves its target of absorptive capacity concurrently.
Another recent article written by Dubickis and Gaile-Sarkane (2015), looks at technology transfer and innovation. The link of innovation and technology transfer has been necessitated by the growth in competition. The article produces a qualitative analysis of the relationship between innovation and technology transfer. The research identifies three relationships between the two.
Both innovation and technology transfer bring about economic growth. Even though the innovative ability of a company is important, the introduction of new ways to do things within an organization is also vital. Although technology transfer is challenging in various ways, it is very important in increasing the innovation of any organization. In simple terms, technology transfer can be defined as the implementation of innovation in simple terms.
The researcher uses focus groups as a way of collecting qualitative data in order to determine the relationship between the two concepts. It is found from analysis that both of the methods follow a certain process in order to achieve its objectives. It is also found that technology transfer is used as a tool for achieving innovative goals. Various relationships are obtained based on the study undertaken by the researcher. This includes the fact that both technology ...