Ding, "Technology transfer in China: Manufacturers' market dependence and technology pursuit," 1990

Zhong Ding, Ph.D.

Abstract (Summary)
The present study examines technology transfer as organization-environment interaction. From the angle of the recipient system, technology transfer is viewed as an environment-induced and pursuer-initiated process consisting of the pursuing organization's communication with intermediaries and its information exchanges with the supplier system.

The present study draws upon Pfeffer and Salancik's resource dependence theory, the classic theory of economics concerning technology and production and Porter's analytical framework of organizational competitive advantage. The present study concludes that pursuing technological progress is an effective strategy for organizations to handle their resource dependence constraints.

A technology pursuit model emphasizing environmental impact and communication process is thus rationalized and statistically tested by the data from an industrial survey conducted in 1988 in the People's Republic of China.

The present study found that a technology recipient's resource dependence constraint in the environment, operationalized as market dependence in Chinese situation, was a positive antecedent to the recipient's perception of the need for, and to its pursuit of, technology. The present study further found that the recipient's communication with both intermediaries and suppliers played significant roles during the process of technology pursuit. (Copies available exclusively from Micrographics Department, Doheny Library, USC, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0182.)

Advisor: Fulk, Janet