Title: Technology offsets: structuring a new strategy for industrial benefits

Authors: J. Alex Murray, Frank Horwitz

Addresses: Dean of the School of Business and Economics, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Canada. ' President, Uni-Source Global Corporation, New York, USA

Abstract: The changing structure of reciprocal trade practices or industrial benefits has received increased attention over the past five years by managers of advanced technology companies. In particular, technology offsets are being used by newly industrialized countries to forge a bold new trade strategy in order to become major players in this costly competitive game. The consequence of these compensatory arrangements has placed increased emphasis on developing strong linkages through licences, coproduction, turnkeys and marketing know-how. The principal focus of this paper is to examine technology offsets, a form of industrial benefits, in light of the dynamics of negotiating contracts from the international manager|s perspective. In addition, an agenda for technology offset undertaking is examined in which influencing variables are separated in order to understand the competitive behaviour of the principal actors. The authors have researched and interviewed 25 high-technology companies which provide excellent case studies to support the theme of the paper.

Keywords: technology offsets; industrial benefits; offset management; offset strategy; high technology; high tech companies; advanced technology; technology management; trade strategy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.1988.025979

International Journal of Technology Management, 1988 Vol.3 No.4, pp.427 - 438

Published online: 26 May 2009 *

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