Technology Importation, Corporate Strategies, and the Rise of the Japanese Semiconductor Industry in the 1950s
During the 1950s, the Japanese semicon - ductor industry rose from nothing to a level that was roughly on par with that of the United States. It is undeniable that this was due in large part to the importation of advanced technology from lead - ing U.S. firms. In the process of technology transfer from the Unit- ed States to Japan, previous scholars have emphasized the impor - tance of the role played by the highly restrictive government tech - nology-importation policy during this period. The aim of this arti - cle is to analyze this story from the perspective of Japanese com - panies, which exhibited divergent strategies for acquiring foreign technology. These strategies were shaped by complex calculations that took into account firms' organizational capability and U.S. li- censing practices and antitrust policy, as well as the technology- importation policy of MITI (Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry). In short, this article argues that Japanese firms were not passive receptors, but active agents in shaping the pattern of technology importation.
Innovation in China’s Defense Technology Base: Foreign Technology and Military Capabilities
ABSTRACT China’s defense science, technology, and industrial system has been undergoing a far-reaching transformation over the past two decades and the single biggest factor behind this turnaround is the role of external technology and knowledge transfers and the defense industry’s improving ability to absorb these inputs and convert into localized output. China is pursuing an intensive campaign to obtain defense and dual-use civil–military foreign technology transfers using a wide variety of means, which is explored in this article.
Linking international technology transfer with strategy and management: a literature commentary
Abstract This article represents an attempt to link literature from diverse but fundamentally related areas: research on international technology transfer as well as on technology strategy and management. It argues that these literatures need to be linked because both treat problems inherent to managing technology development that must succeed at the level of the firm, not the level of the nation state or government facilities. The discussion here focuses on issues that frequently appear in recent writings on international technology transfer: the relationship between international technology transfer and cultivation of indigenous capabilities within the technology recipients; organizational options and their effectiveness for international technology transfer; the influence of external factors on the outcomes of international technology transfer process for technology recipients; and policies of host-country governments concerning transfer of foreign technology. We examine these issues from the viewpoints of both international technology transfer and technology strategy and management. The objective is to identify perspectives from research on technology strategy and management that might help solve basic problems in international technology transfer.