Sustainable technology transfer for small to medium enterprises in developing countries

Technology transfer has been well recognised as a means to advance technology capability. Numerous organisations world-wide have been involved in technology transfer programs. Transnational and domestic technology transfer programs have been encouraged in developed and developing countries as a means for government agencies, non-profit organisations and businesses to improve their technology.In developing countries, small to medium enterprises (SMEs) are regarded as being a valuable source of economic growth; however, SMEs are often thought to have insufficient resources for advancing their in-house technology development. Therefore, SMEs need technology transfer programs to increase their technology capability. It is contended that for the best results, technology transfer should not be performed in one off programs, rather it must be performed on a sustainable basis. Otherwise, in the absence of a transferee capacity to maintain, repair, operate and develop a technical system encompassing the new teclmology, technology transfer becomes a short-term intervention. Once the transferor leaves, the project will eventually be left to failThe overall research aim of this thesis was to provide theoretical and empirical support for the key factors of sustainable technology transfer for SMEs in developing economies. The research has sought to identify the primary factors that can lead to sustainability of knowledge and technology transfer, their impacts and how they are interrelated. The key factors of the model were rigorously constructed. The underlying theories of key factors to build the sustainable technology transfer model were extracted from the available relevant literature and preliminary research findings. This theoretical model was conceptually analysed with respect to how well they addressed a system based model comprising of identifiable inputs-transformations-outputs. This theoretical model was then empirically tested using a confirmatory approach. Using data from 250 Javanese metal based SMEs, a statistically-sound version was developed. Based on common characteristic of many SMEs, it is suggested that the findings are relevant to SMEs in many other countries. The results suggest policy directions for governments to support local industry in developing countries