Title: Synthesis of research issues in technology acquisition – a literature review and Indian field study

Authors: Arvind Bhardwaj, Sushil, S.K. Sharma

Addresses: Department of Industrial Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, Punjab, India. ' Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, Haryana, India

Abstract: With the liberalisation and globalisation of today|s economy, a lot of pressure has come on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries, especially in India. This is because of the pressure which has come on the SMEs due to the protected environment in which they were earlier operating. Firms are trying to raise their technological status by entering into joint ventures or licensing agreements. However, this has brought a lot of hurdles and difficulties. The present work was taken up to look into the issues concerning technology acquisition. Issues have been presented in two sections. In the first section, the issues from existing literature have been reviewed and synthesised and in the second section the issues related with technology transfer, as applicable to the automotive industry in particular, have been brought out through a field study wherein interviews were conducted with 22 persons in the managerial cadre in eight different Indian organisations from the automotive sector. Conclusions from the literature review and field study have also been presented.

Keywords: FDI; foreign direct investment); less developed countries; LDCs; multinational companies; MNCs; small and medium enterprises; SMEs; technology acquisition; technology adaptation; automotive technology transfer; vendors; India; automobile industry.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTTC.2005.006107

International Journal of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation, 2005 Vol.4 No.2, pp.206 - 230

Published online: 04 Feb 2005 *

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