THE DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF INTERACTIVE MODELS OF INDUSTRIAL-TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

The paper begins by offering a process oriented description of industrial technology transfer. This is used as a basis for a brief review of the limitations of recent and current models of industrial technology transfer In response to these limitations, an interactive model (and evaluative framework) is developed on the basis of three components: accessibility, mobility and receptivity (AMR). The deficiencies of identifying technology largely by its techno-economic attributes are discussed, and a multiple constituency approach is proposed. After definition and discussion of these concepts, the paper illustrates the application of the AMR framework and the development of the multiple-constituency approach in four contexts. Each context is explored through an applied study in which a researcher from the team has spent two or three years working with an industrial partner, a group of companies or a technology transfer intermediary. A final section gives the substantive applied conclusions from the four case studies and presents some general policy implications.