From potential to realized technological capability: The case of Indonesian vessel component industry

Abstract

In a supply chain, a supplier has a great role in determining its customer's performance. A firm's innovation is highly influenced by its technological capability (TC). This article analyses TC in Indonesian vessel component firms. Based on the analysis, it can be concluded that the firms possess a TC that has not been utilized to obtain optimum result in an innovation. This lead to a new categorization of TC based on its utilization in innovation process. Two types of TC are proposed — the potential and the realized TC. Using a modified fishbone diagram, there are some interlinked and interrelated factors which inhibit the potential TC to be developed as realized TC. To enable the conversion of potential TC to a realized TC, support from Indonesian government is indispensable.