Some problems of technology transfer into industry: Examples from the textile machinery sector

Since the Second World War the textile machinery industries in the advanced Western countries have undergone a technological revolution. Not only has the pace of technical change increased, but much of this change has become technically more radical than before, often embodying techniques from other sectors. This paper outlines the attempts of a number of machinery manufacturers to import technology and technical expertise from a variety of external sources including universities, Government laboratories, and technical consultants. It shows that while the characteristics of the various donor and recipient organizations might differ greatly, the factors associated with the success or the failure of the transfer attempts are often similar. More importantly it shows in almost all the failure cases described, that with proper management they could have been transformed into successful transfers leading to successful innovations.