Strategic alignment of technology: Organising for technology upgrading in emerging economy firms

Abstract

Technology upgrading plays a crucial role in the catching-up process of emerging economy firms (EEFs) that aim to develop technological capabilities and move from imitation to innovation. The literature on emerging economies has mainly focused on how EEFs overcome the lack of technological knowledge at initial stages of catching-up while neglecting organisational issues that arise at later stages. The purpose of this study was to explore organisational activities performed by EEFs that are innovating at advanced stages of catching-up. Two Brazilian firms, namely Petrobras and WEG, were selected to be studied and to provide evidence for the research. The results indicate that both firms have systematically monitored their environments to look for windows of opportunity and have consistently invested in learning mechanisms to overcome shortcomings in knowledge. Furthermore, an activity for aligning strategy and technology was found to be key for optimising the technology upgrading process and for maximising its results.