Technology Acquisition Strategies Research Articles

Plant foods and the dietary ecology of Neanderthals and early modern humans

One of the most important challenges in anthropology is understanding the disappearance of Neanderthals. Previous research suggests that Neanderthals had a narrower diet than early modern humans, in part because they lacked various social and technological advances that lead to greater dietary variety, such as a sexual division of labor and the use of complex projectile weapons. The wider diet of early modern humans would have provided more calories and nutrients, increasing fertility, decreasing mortality and supporting large population sizes, allowing them to out-compete Neanderthals. However, this model for Neanderthal dietary behavior is based on analysis of animal remains, stable isotopes, and other methods that provide evidence only of animal food in the diet. This model does not take into account the potential role of plant food. Here we present results from the first broad comparison of plant foods in the diets of Neanderthals and early modern humans from several populations in Europe, the Near East, and Africa. Our data comes from the analysis of plant microremains (starch grains and phytoliths) in dental calculus and on stone tools. Our results suggest that both species consumed a similarly wide array of plant foods, including foods that are often considered low-ranked, like underground storage organs and grass seeds. Plants were consumed across the entire range of individuals and sites we examined, and none of the expected predictors of variation (species, geographic region, or associated stone tool technology) had a strong influence on the number of plant species consumed. Our data suggest that Neanderthal dietary ecology was more complex than previously thought. This implies that the relationship between Neanderthal technology, social behavior, and food acquisition strategies must be better explored.

Technological innovation and technology strategy: proposing an interface

There have been more investigations of a general nature of technology strategy rather than that of specific technological dimensions, the objective of this paper is to propose an interface between dimensions of technology strategy and technological innovation. A technology strategy framework proposed by Burgelman and Rosenbloom (1989) that defines technology strategy as an interaction between components of substance and enactment, and review of key literature, have been used to propose an interface between technological innovation and technology strategy. The interface suggested can be used as a tool to make strategic decisions with respect to technologies driving various technological innovations. A structured approach to a technology strategy would help firms with respect to their innovation initiatives. It can set the ground for future research to explore a relationship between technological innovation and the different dimensions of a technology strategy. Clustering of technological innovations on the matrix can help to discover patterns of technology acquisition and deployment strategies for technological innovation.

The impact of technology acquisition strategy on firm performance in Korean Medium size Enterprises

The impact of technology acquisition strategy on firm performance in Korean Medium size Enterprises

P155 Lessons Learned: Applying Grade Methodology To Evidence-Based Health Technology Assessment Within A Managed Care Setting

BackgroundHealth technology assessment (HTA) within the context of a managed care organisation requires rigorous evidence assessment completed in a timely and efficient manner. A modified version of the GRADE evidence...

Bridging the technology gap with limited human capital resources

We study whether restrictions concerning the mode of implantation of multinational firms (MNCs) are desirable for a developing country in terms of its technology acquisition strategy. More precisely, we aim at determining under which conditions domestic equity ownership constraints imposed on MNCs turn out to be beneficial for a country aiming at narrowing its technology gap with the world frontier while facing a limited supply of skilled labor resources. We base ourselves on an extension of the “variety model” of technology-driven growth, and are able to demonstrate that the desirable regulation depends non-monotonically on the overall available amount of skilled human capital. We further find that a positive shock on the pace of technological progress at the world frontier increases the scope of conditions under which ownership constraints become desirable.

Proposition Typology of Technology Strategy for Technological Innovation

How managers take decisions with respect to the acquisition and deployment of technology to promote technological innovation is central to the field of strategic management. The main objective of this research is to explore how technology decisions drive technological innovation in organizations. Technology decisions have been explored through the lens of substance and enactment of technology strategy. The paper reports findings from three Indian Power Distribution Firms that have taken various initiatives to turn around the dilapidated power distribution situation in the country. The study proposes typologies of technology acquisition and deployment strategies

Sustaining Industrial Growth and Trade in Africa

The use of selective industrial policy to reintegrate South Africa’s previously protected automotive industry into the global business is one of the few successful cases on the African continent in recent times. South Africa’s success provides a useful reference point for other African countries in which selective industrial policy is a key part of the national development strategy. Despite the re-integration, the automotive industry has experienced deteriorating trade defi cit since 1995, contrary to what had been envisaged. This paper uses a qualitative system Dynamics (SD) model to explain this apparent contradiction. It is found that the offer of fi scal incentives to the industry had a positive effect on industry investment and exports, but not on longterm competitiveness. The paper argues that for a replica of South Africa’s selective industry support model to sustain industrial growth and subsequent international trade, it has to be implemented in conjunction with a targeted technology acquisition strategy.

Building a national wind turbine industry: experiences from China, India and South Korea

This paper explores the strategies used by the domestic wind power technology companies in China, India and South Korea in order to understand how these countries have acquired and assimilated advanced technologies. It finds that the primary technology transfer and acquisition strategies utilised included licensing arrangements and Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) that resulted in the transfer of technology ownership and partnerships for the joint development of new technology. As technology development becomes increasingly global, firms in the emerging economies can take advantage of their increasing access to technological know-how that was previously developed by and for the developed world.

How Do Engineering Managers Evaluate Technologies for Acquisition? A Review of the Electronics Industry

:This article presents technology evaluation and acquisition practices in the U.S. electronics manufacturing industry. Through these results a process of technology evaluation and acquisition for engineering managers is explained. The results are acquired through a survey of the U.S. electronics manufacturing industry. An engineering manager can use this article to develop a technology evaluation and acquisition strategy based on the goals of his/her company.

Best Project Management and Systems Engineering Practices in the Preacquisition Phase for Federal Intelligence and Defense Agencies

The analysis of several government defense and intelligence agency large-scale acquisition programs that experienced significant cost and schedule growth shows that several critical factors need to be addressed in the preacquisition phase of the acquisition cycle. These include overzealous advocacy, technology readiness levels, life-cycle cost, schedule details, requirements maturity, acquisition and contract strategy, program office personnel tenure and experience, risk management, systems engineering, and trade studies. The results of this study–which incorporated data from industry responses, government and industry executive interviews, numerous studies, and reports–indicate that early preacquisition activities executed in a rigorous fashion can significantly reduce the risk of cost and schedule growth. In this paper, the root causes of the cost and schedule growth are discussed as well as techniques and alternatives to improve program performance.

Exploring technology acquisition in Oregon, Turkey and in the U.S. electronics manufacturing companies

This paper presents the results of the research projects on technology acquisition in the electronics industry of Oregon, in several industries of Turkey and in the U.S. electronics manufacturing industry. The objective of the projects was to identify the alternative channels used for technology acquisition for companies and to explain the implications of the various alternatives. This study is filling an important gap that has been a challenge for many decision makers who implement technology acquisition strategies in their organizations. The missing link has been the determination of which acquisition strategies to use to achieve the goals of the organization. This paper is presenting the key relationships between a company's background, goals, and technology acquisition strategies.

Technology Acquisition Strategies in the Pharmaceutical Industry in Mexico

Firms in developing countries are characterized by weak technological capacities, insufficient human capital, and limited R&D. Consequently, these countries also produce fewer patents. Considering these disadvantages, companies in developing countries cannot rely on their in-house R&D efforts; they must import nonincorporated or soft technologies (license and technical-assistance agreements, and tacit knowledge transfer). In the pursuit of technological improvement, firms attempt to adopt an optimal technology acquisition strategy. This essay examines the use of in-house R&D and technology transfer in the Mexican pharmaceutical industry between 1994 and 2000 by using two econometric models. Unlike the pharmaceutical industries of other developing countries such as India and China, this study indicates that there is a low probability of complementarity between R&D and technology transfer in the Mexican pharmaceutical industry. This is a strategy that has been adopted only by some larger firms and multinationals.

Policy Issues for R&D Investment in a Knowledge-Based Economy

The “Internet Revolution” induced an unbalanced perspective on future economic growth strategies. Because information technology (IT) largely constitutes an infrastructure upon which other economic activity is based, its economic role is to facilitate the productivity of investment in a wide range of products and services that meet final demand. Other economies around the world can and are investing in the same infrastructure, so the efficiency advantages now being realized by the U.S. economy will be fleeting unless U.S. R&D efforts produce a new and broad range of innovative products and services that take advantage of this infrastructure. A deep and diverse technology-based manufacturing sector must be a core objective of a national R&D strategy. United States’ manufacturing contributes $1.5 trillion to GDP, employs 20 million workers, accounts for more than 70% of industrial R&D, and constitutes the main source of technology for the larger service sector. While knowledge-based services are the largest source of economic growth for the U.S. economy, their long-term performance is highly dependent on synergies with a domestic manufacturing sector. These synergies will be even more important in the future because services are increasingly exposed to foreign competition. Knowledge-based services can be supplied from anywhere in the world—as long as these foreign sources can rapidly access and assimilate the necessary technology components. This caveat is the critical point for economic growth policy. Considerable research supports the argument that hardware and software components are most efficiently supplied to services by a manufacturing sector that is geographically close and institutionally integrated with the service applications. Policy debates have raged for decades over the nature and magnitude of underinvestment in manufacturing R&D. The need to resolve the relevant policy issues has increased, as industry is funding less of the long-term, high-risk research that creates the technology platforms supporting new industries and future economic growth. Unfortunately, only about a third of U.S. manufacturing is high-tech by conventional definitions. Some of the remaining industries develop technologies internally, but most purchase a large proportion of their technology from the high-tech sector. Because a technology acquisition strategy can be more easily imitated by foreign competitors, traditional industries are much more susceptible to exchange rate variations, global economic cycles, and secular shifts in foreign competition. Thus, with global technological capabilities relentlessly increasing, the long-term prospects for the moderate and low R&D-intensive portions of U.S. manufacturing are not good. This paper presents a conceptual framework and available data as inputs for the analysis of Federal R&D investment strategies. Such strategies must recognize the full range of public and private technology assets constituting a national innovation system. A developed and efficient innovation system has characteristics making imitation by foreign competitors difficult and thereby enables sustained competitive advantage.

Reconsidering technology transfer

Technology transfer is a misnomer; this popular phrase and the studies from which it originates often suggest passivity and inertia on the part of developing country recipient firms. This paper, which uses the technological capability building system (TCB) approach as a conceptual framework, suggests that firms in developing countries exercise constrained agency in technological acquisition processes. The evidence discussed here is taken from a study of technological capability accumulation by twenty-six firms in the telecommunication sector of four developing countries: Uganda, Ghana, Tanzania and South Africa. Important insights into technological acquisition by firms in a service sector in developing countries emerged from that study, such as: the existence of specific boundary management capabilities for managing relationships with suppliers; confirmation that firms use different mechanisms for acquiring codified and tacit knowledge; and support for the view that technical change and industry features have significant effects on technology acquisition strategies and their effectiveness.

Technology development and acquisition strategy

There are various modes with which research-intensive firms can develop or acquire technologies, including internal R&D, technology licensing, cooperative R&D, minority investments in other firms, and acquisitions of other firms. This paper attempts to present a model that explains the key determinants of technology development and acquisition modes. It is theorised that time pressure and the strategic importance of the technology are the key factors that affect technology development and acquisition modes. In addition, a firm needs to consider the availability of an alliance partner or an acquisition target as well as internal resources including capital or the price of its own equity, and internal R&D capability. It is also suggested that as the strategic importance of the technology or time pressure to develop or acquire such technology changes, a firm needs to shift technology acquisition modes. Thus, the presented model incorporates the dynamic nature of competition in research-intensive industries.

Technology acquisition strategy in an internationally competitive environment

Abstract This research empirically examines the technology strategies of multinational firms operating in the US market. The findings suggest that external reliance on product and process technologies has a negative impact on firm success. Furthermore, geographic distance between key activities moderates the role of technology strategy on international firm success. Also, the complementary assets, dominance of the product design, and the degree of appropriability have a direct impact on firm performance.

Organizational and technological antecedents for knowledge acquisition and learning

This paper examines the factors affecting the decision to acquire external technology and the relative importance of different technology acquisition strategies pursued by British and Japanese firms. The paper draws on a study of 38 firms, consisting of 23 UK‐based and 15 Japanese firms. This is not a comparative study of British and Japanese technology acquisition strategies. Rather, we aim to identify common factors affecting the decision to acquire external technology and the means by which firms attempt to do this. We identify two clusters of variable which appear to affect the decision to acquire technology. Firstly, an organization's inheritance, which includes corporate strategy, competencies, culture and what we refer to as management's ‘comfort’ with the technology. Secondly, the characteristics of the technology to be acquired, specifically, its competitive impact, complexity, codifiability and what we refer to as ‘credibility’ potential. Together, these factors will determine the degree and nature of technology acquisition strategy. We find that contrary to the present academic preoccupation with alliances and joint ventures, the firms examined ranked universities, research consortia and licensing as the most important sources of external technology.

Determinants of Inward Technology Licensing Intentions: An Empirical Analysis of Australian Engineering Firms

This article empirically examines the factors that affect Australian engineering firms' propensities or intentions to adopt inward technology licensing (ITL) as a new product development method. Kwaku Atuahene‐Gima reports results indicating that the major factors that influence the firm's propensity to adopt ITL are previous ITL experience, perceived relative costs and benefits of ITL, awareness of ITL opportunities, and the firm's internal new product development and R&D capabilities. The findings afford managerial insights into the firm's technology acquisition and marketing strategies.

Determinants of inward technology licensing intentions: An empirical analysis of Australian engineering firms

This article empirically examines the factors that affect Australian engineering firms' propensities or intentions to adopt inward technology licensing (ITL) as a new product development method. Kwaku Atuahene-Gima reports results indicating that the major factors that influence the firm's propensity to adopt ITL are previous ITL experience, perceived relative costs and benefits of ITL, awareness of ITL opportunities, and the firm's internal new product development and R&D capabilities. The findings afford managerial insights into the firm's technology acquisition and marketing strategies.

Managing international construction projects for competence development within local firms

The paper presents two methods for competence development: the Institution Building Model and Technology Transfer packages. The latter analyses relationships between project-management teams, technology-acquisition strategies and project organizations. Twelve projects executed in developing countries were used for data collection. Chi-square tests and rank-correlation coefficients were used to analyse the data. The results suggest that the composition of the project team impacts on technology-acquisition strategies. Project organizations are influenced by local firms' participation and funding. Clear formulation of clients' objectives and the establishment of control mechanisms are necessary. Local involvement is a major factor in relation to competence development.