Adoption framework for advanced manufacturing technologies

The paper examines the adoption of advanced manufacturing technology (AMT). The general proposition is that the adoption of AMT reflects an interactive learning process, which is described by the extant use of AMT, firm-specific AMT knowledge accumulation, and the transfer of AMT ideas among networks of firms, suppliers, industry associations and government. This general proposition was specified as a structural equation model of Adoption of AMT. Data were based on the experiences of 224 Australian manufacturing companies that have invested and succeeded in using AMT. The results suggest that the adoption of AMT is primarily a function of a firm's assets for AMT, which comprise the resources, capabilities, and competences for developing and using AMT. The relationship between the adoption of AMT and assets for AMT was reciprocal, which implied a process of dynamic accumulation of both technology and human assets - a view consonant with the competence perspective of the firm. Overall, assets for AMT represent the AMT knowledge base of firms, and were shown to have a crucial role in determining the adoption of AMT.