Venturing with Chinese (PRC) firms: technology transfer negotiation

The exchange of information between a technology supplier and a technology user in different countries is examined from the perspective of social exchange in which social and cultural rather than economic factors exert an influence on the eventual outcome. Field data derived from three studies of international technology transfer (ITT) between US and Chinese firms are considered. The ITT exchanges are analyzed in terms of six elements-rewards in relation to costs (reckoned in terms of strategic or tactical advantage or disadvantage), possession of power to make things happen, expectations vs. consequences, and conflict. It is concluded that the social exchange approach should enable participants in an ITT to get a better understanding of what is happening and why. The authors list useful leverage points which a technology supplier firm can use to increase its benefits from an ITT