DEVELOPING A RECEPTIVE R-AND-D ENVIRONMENT FOR INWARD TECHNOLOGY-TRANSFER - A CASE-STUDY OF THE CHEMICAL-INDUSTRY

The purpose of this paper is to show how certain internal organisation al activities affect an organisation's ability to engage in the extern al acquisition of technology commonly referred to as inward technology transfer. The study focuses on a technology trawling exercise conduct ed by ICI and reveals difficulties in 'receptivity' on the part of the receiving businesses. A conceptual framework is developed which ident ifies four major components of the inward technology transfer process. These are: eness'-'Association'-'Assimilation'-'Application'. Using t his conceptual device separate studies are conducted within two large multinational chemical companies in the North West of England. The fin dings reveal the importance of certain nonroutine activities and indic ate how suecessful organisations are able to manage the tension betwee n the need for creative non-routine assimilation processes to generate a 'receptive' environment for future growth and efficient routine act ivities to remain competitive in the short-term.