Title: Technology transfer is organisational development: an investigation into the relationship between technology transfer and organisational change

Authors: Morten Levin

Addresses: Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7034 Trondheim, Norway

Abstract: The main thrust of the paper is to argue that technology transfer enforces organisation development. The point of departure is that technology is constructed through human activity. Values, culture and skills in the design process are built into technological artefacts. Operation of new technology invokes an organisational development process linked with the introduction of new technology. The major managerial challenge in technology transfer is to use the transfer process as a vehicle for creating a learning organisation. The second part of the paper is devoted to pinpointing managerial challenges in technology transfer. These challenges, which emerge from the conceptualisation of technology transfer, are discussed in detail. The paper concludes by presenting a case in which the introduction of new technology enforced large-scale learning processes.

Keywords: change; learning; learning organisation; organisational development; technology transfer.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.1997.001725

International Journal of Technology Management, 1997 Vol.14 No.2/3/4, pp.297-308

Published online: 18 Aug 2003 *

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