Measuring Technology Transfer Success Empirical Evidence from Malaysian Firms

Abstract

The research tries to answer the management question as to which mode of technology transfer leads to the maximum success among the Northern Malaysian manufacturing firms. The statistical tests employed included one-way ANOVA and multiple regression. One-Way ANOVA was used to test the differences in the mean degree of success for the various modes of transfer. Most significant finding from this study is different modes of technology transfer leads to different degrees of success. FDI would give rise to the highest degree of overall success. This is followed by co-production and lastly, by contractual agreements. Proper choice of technology transfer mode is key since a wrong choice would lead to the company loosing significant market share and could incur heavy losses. Malaysian managers are advised to look seriously into what mode suits their needs best based on the existing situation in the organization and also to ensure that good internal cooperation is maintained among the various functional areas of the firm to achieve high levels of success from the technology transfer. Main limitation is the study was limited only to the Northern Malaysia. Hence the results do not reflect the situation in entire Malaysia. Also, the inclusion of more MNCs, which are mostly FDI-based operations is another limitation. This study provides empirical evidence that will improve the understanding of the modes of technology transfer adopted among the Malaysian SMEs.