Role of government research and development organisations in technology transfer efforts of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) : case studies of Thailand National Metal and Materials Technology Center (MTEC) | |
| Author | Natchamon Pansmai |
| Call Number | AIT RSPR no.SM-04-31 |
| Subject(s) | Small business--Technological innovations--Thailand Technology transfer--Thailand |
| Note | A research study submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration. School of Management |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Research studies project report ; no. SM-04-31 |
| Abstract | Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a vital role in overall economic development. Even though they are one of driving forces for innovation, most SMEs in Thailand generally have low technological capabilities and their technological learning has been very slow and passive. They typically face barriers to access to new technologies due to lack of technological capabilities, financial resources, expertise, and the right information. These also result in difficulties to identify and negotiate collaborative agreements with foreign suppliers. The survival and competitiveness of SMEs lay in collaboration with government research and development organizations and through reverse engineering as a viable policy option for their improvement and upgrading their technologies and human resource development. Thailand National Metal and Materials Technology Center (MTEC) as a special kind of government research and development organization plays important role in developing, promoting and support materials science for both public and private firms and institutions in Thailand. This research is intended to study the role of MTEC as a research and development organization suppo11 for SMEs and to analyze and identify important issues in contract research process, reverse engineering and technology transfer process and SMEs' exploitation of technology to compete within the industry by conducting high-level analysis of all contract research projects and in-dept case study analysis of three selected contract research projects which MTEC developed product and process technologies for SMEs. From case analysis, it is found that reverse engineering applications are not only for imitation of the known products, but also for problem solving of existing products and processes and new product designs. These result in substitution and cost reduction of foreign product, product quality improvement and solving production problems of existing products, and lower R&D cost and shorter time to market of new product and process technology for SMEs, completion of its mission, well known to industry, financial gain, industrial knowledge gain, applying theory with experience in practice and opportunity to defense the organization's budget in the future for MTEC, and enhance technological knowledge for MTEC researcher and SMEs. In addition, the difficulties in contract research projects are: less experience in practice of MTEC researchers, insufficient recognition and non-financial rewards for MTEC researchers and industrial liaison officers from MTEC, insufficient original product information, technological capability, facilities and non-financial resources, lack of long-term strategic perspectives in technological development, and slow decision making and less focus point from SMEs, and communication gap, delays, and less mutual trust from MTEC and SMEs. The successful contract research projects developed by reverse engineering need matching between SMEs and industry needs and MTEC's research and development capabilities, interest and ability to contribute complementary resources, complementary expertise, technology knowledge base, human resource capabilities, industrial practice experiences of both MTEC and SMEs, sufficient and updated information, characterization equipments, good cooperation and communication between MTEC and SMEs, and proximity. 1 |
| Year | 2004 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Research studies project report ; no. SM-04-31 |
| Type | Research Study Project Report (RSPR) |
| School | School of Management (SOM) |
| Department | Other Field of Studies (No Department) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Master of Business Administration (MBA) (Publication code=SM) |
| Chairperson(s) | Islam, Nazrul |
| Examination Committee(s) | Do Ba Khang ;Donyaprueth Krairit |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Royal Thai Government |
| Degree | Research Studies Project Report (M. Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2004 |