Designing a framework for acquiring technological knowledge among technology transfer recipients-a perspective from a radar manufacturing firm in Malaysia

Abstract

Technology transfer is becoming increasingly important for business and economic growth in developing nations. The modern global economy uses knowledge resources to increase productivity and foster improvements in standard of living. Individual businesses acquire knowledge of advanced technologies to establish and maintain competitive positioning in the global marketplace. Without proper knowledge acquisition, transfer of technology cannot take place. The process of acquiring knowledge requires the organization to choose or adapt elements of the technology to local cultural conditions to integrate it with indigenous technologies. The cultural context of the recipient can also affect the process of acquiring knowledge. The culture and social environment of the individual creates a schema for organizing knowledge and understanding reality. This paper has two objectives: Firstly, to investigate how organisational culture affects readiness for technology transfer, and secondly, to identify elements of organisational culture affecting readiness for technology transfer. Qualitative mode of data collection was used in this study as well as interview and focus group discussion. The results from the preliminary investigations were used to create the components of the framework. Hypotheses were formulated between the constructs of the framework and a rigorous attempt was made using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to validate the construct as they created through qualitative findings.