BRIDGING RESEARCH TO INDUSTRY: THE TECHNOLOGY
TRANSFER FROM COMMUNICATION PERSPECTIVE
(A CASE STUDY AT THE CENTRE FOR AGRO-BASED INDUSTRY)
ANINDITA RUMANTI DIBYONO
GRADUATE SCHOOL
BOGOR AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY BOGOR
DECLARATION OF THESIS, SOURCES OF INFORMATION
AND DELEGATION OF COPYRIGHT
I hereby declare that the thesis entitled “Bridging Research to Industry: The Technology Transfer from Communication Perspective (A Case Study at The Centre for Agro-based Industry” is my original work produced through the guidance of my academic advisors and that to the best of my knowledge. This thesis also presented for the award of a degree in The University of Adelaide as a double degree program between Bogor Agricultural University and The University of Adelaide. All of the incorporated material originated from other published or unpublished papers are stated clearly in the text as well as in the bibliography.
I hereby delegate the copyright of my paper to the Bogor Agricultural University.
Bogor, July 2015
SUMMARY
Anindita Rumanti Dibyono, 2015. Bridging Research To Industry: The Technology Transfer From Communication Perspective (A Case Study At The Centre For Agro-Based Industry). (Sukardi, Chairman and Machfud, Member of Advisory Committee).
In the 21st century, countries throughout the world face the need to change their focus on national strategic planning from a resource-based to a knowledge-based economy. Many countries increasingly use public research to generate economic benefit from the technological opportunity and use public research as their broad strategies in industrial development. Consequently, universities and public research institutions (PRIs) become key institutions in the process of economy “catch-up”. As public research conducted by PRIs and universities are increasingly needed, technology transfer and commercialization become critical areas that must be studied to help us understand how the process occurs.
As one of the research institutions under the Ministry of Industry, the Centre for Agro-based Industry (CABI) is responsible to conduct research with a focus on the agro-based products. However, the research at CABI still have a relatively low application rate because most of the research were not commercially implemented in the industry. This research project aims to identify the role of communication in the technology transfer process that occurs in CABI and to suggest a way to maximize the number of CABI’s R&D application to the SMEs.
The research uses a case study strategy, with an interpretive approach. Data collection method uses semi-structured interviews with respondents consist of CABI’s researchers and staff and SMEs. The data were analyzed by coding method. The result shows that there are ten communication channels used by CABI’s staff in technology transfer, namely: research collaboration; scientific publication; research dissemination; “client hunting” program; CABI’s events such as seminar and workshop; exhibition; free trial offer; leaflets or brochures; and Forum Group Discussion. It implies that the bureaucratic characteristic of CABI makes the organization not flexible in their internal communication and in their response to the market and it eventually effects the technology transfer process. The results also show that the interpersonal relationship between staffs in CABI seems to create a set of barriers in the technology transfer process.
The research conclude that to deal with these problems, CABI must take different approach to make its mechanistic organization more organic and encourage daily internal interactions between staffs to increase their engagement toward their job and organization. Moreover, a set of intellectual property (IP) arrangement and incentives policy may avert the reluctance of the researcher in sharing his/her knowledge to other staffs. In term of communication channels. CABI must implement two phase of technology transfer process. The first step is to narrowing down the potential users and focus on one or two of them, and then CABI must maintain a good interactive process with the SMEs to make sure that their technology meets the need and capacity of the SMEs.
RINGKASAN
Anindita Rumanti Dibyono, 2015. Menjembatani Riset kepada Industri: TRansfer Teknologi dari Perspektif Komunikasi (Studi Kasus di Balai Besar INdustri Agro). (Sukardi, Ketua Komite Dosen Pembimbing and Machfud, Anggota Komite Dosen Pembimbing)
Dalam era globalisasi ini, banyak negara mulai menggunakan institusi riset publik sebagai bagian dari perencanaan strategik mereka untuk meningkatkan perekonomian. Lembaga riset public dan universitas menjadi salah satu institusi kunci dalam pengembangan teknologi industri, terutama bagi Industri Kecil dan Menengah (IKM), dengan kegiatan transfer teknologi dan komersialisasi riset mereka menjadi fokus utama. Dua kegiatan tersebut menjadi salah satu area kritis yang harus bisa dikembangkan oleh lembaga riset di Indonesia agar riset-riset yang dilakukan bersifat tepat guna.
Balai Besar Industri Agro (BBIA), sebagai salah satu institusi riset dan pengembangan dibawah Kementerian Perindustrian memiliki tanggung jawab untuk melaksanakan riset dengan fokus kepada produk produk agroindustri. Akan tetapi, sampai saat ini riset-riset yang dihasilkan oleh BBIA masih memiliki tingkat aplikasi yang relatif kurang efektif. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengindentifikasi peranan komunikasi dalam kegiatan transfer teknologi yang dilakukan di BBIA untuk selanjutnya merumuskan rekomendasi dan strategi untuk meningkatkan jumlah aplikasi riset dari BBIA ke IKM.
Penelitian ini menggunakan metode studi kasus dengan pendekatan interpretatif. Data dikumpulkan menggunakan wawancara semi terstruktur dengan responden yang berasal dari peneliti dan staff BBIA serta pelaku industri (IKM).
Hasil menunjukkan bahwa ada sepuluh jalur komunikasi antara BBIA dan IKM, yaitu: Kolaborasi riset; Publikasi ilmiah; Diseminasi riset; Program “client hunting”; Seminar dan workshop; Pameran; Penawaran Uji-Coba gratis; Brosur dan leaflet; serta Forum Group Discussion (FGD). Dalam penelitian ini terlihat bahwa karakter birokratik dari BBIA sebagai suatu lembaga penelitian pemerintah membuat organisasi tidak fleksibel dalam komunikasi internal dan merespon perubahan yang terjadi dipasar, dan pada akhirnya kondisi tersebut menghambat proses transfer teknologi.
Untuk mengatasi hal tersebut, BBIA sebaiknya melakukan pendekatan yang berbeda untuk mengurangi kondisi mekanistik yang dihasilkan dari birokrasi dan membuat kondisi organisasi lebih organik. Interaksi internal harian sebaiknya di stimulasi agar meningkatkan keterlibatan dan kemauan karyawan terhadap transfer teknologi. Selain itu, penyusunan, pembagian, dan pengaturan kekayaan intelektual serta kebijakan insentif mungkin akan berpengaruh untuk meningkatkan kemauan peneliti untuk membagi pengetahuan mereka dengan karyawan BBIA dan IKM. Selain itu BBIA sebaiknya menerapkan dua tahap teknologi transfer, yaitu menentukan siapa pengguna potensial dari teknologi dan kemudian memastikan teknologi tersebut bias digunakan oleh IKM.
Copyright ©2015 by Bogor Agricultural University
All rights reserved
1. No part or all of this thesis excerpted without inclusion or mentioning the sources
a. Excerption only for research and education use, writing for scientific papers, reporting, critical writing or reviewing of a problem
b. Excerption does not inflict a financial loss in the proper interest of Bogor Agricultural University
Thesis
Submitted to the Graduate School in Partial Fulfillment of Master Of Science
Degree In
Agroindustrial Technology
BRIDGING RESEARCH TO INDUSTRY: THE TECHNOLOGY
TRANSFER FROM COMMUNICATION PERSPECTIVE
(A CASE STUDY AT THE CENTRE FOR AGRO-BASED INDUSTRY)
GRADUATE SCHOOL
BOGOR AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY BOGOR
2015
Thesis Tittle : Bridging Research to Industry: The Technology Transfer from Communication Perspective (A Case Study at The Centre for Agro-based Industry)
Nama : Aninditar Rumanti Dibyono
NRP : F351137041
Approved by
Advisory Comitee
Prof Dr Ir Sukardi, MM
Chairman
Prof. Dr. Ir. MAchfud, MS
Member
Acknowledged by
Head of Study Program of Agro Industrial Technology
Prof. Dr. Ir. Machfud, MS
Dean of Graduate School
Dr Ir Dahrul Syah, MScAgr
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Praise and gratitude to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala, because of Him, the author can complete this thesis, with the title of Bridging Research To Industry: The Technology Transfer Process from Communication Perspective (A Case Study at The Centre for Agro-based Industry) as a requirement to get a Master Degree in Bogor Agricultural University (IPB).
The writer wants to say thank you, especially for Prof. Dr. Ir Sukardi, MM as a chairman of the advisory committee, Prof. Dr. Ir. Machfud, MS as an advisory committee member, and Dr Allan O’Connor as an advisor lecturer from University of Adelaide whose gave positive criticisms and guidance to shape the outlook of this thesis. This thesis is a product of continuous learning from the author as it came as an approach using different paradigm in seeing the problem existed in most research institution. Therefore, in this section the author would like to express her gratitude and appreciation toward Dr. Barry Elsey, Dr. Allan O’Connor, and Ms. Amina Omarova from The University of Adelaide and thank them for their relentless guidance in writing so that it came up as a structured and thorough thesis.
The author also would like to express her gratitude to mother and father, also for Arie Pratama and Dipta, for being a supportive family, husband, and son. No words can express how grateful she was for having you all. Thank you for the patience and never ending love, support, and trust so that the author can finally finish her thesis.
In this opportunity, the author would also like to express gratitude to all the respondents who have taken their time to conduct an interview. Last but not the least, the author would like to show her gratitude to double degree IPB-Kemenperin friends, namely Nuni, Karim, Tri, Benny, Andar, Farda, Iwan, Nur Aini, Dwi, Syarifa, Aditya, Dickie, Ahmad Rudh, Koko, Danang, and Yani for the togetherness and support throughout the years, especially when we all lived in Adelaide.
Bogor, July 2015
i
TABLE OF CONTENT
LIST OF FIGURES ii
LIST OF TABLES ii
LIST OF APPENDICES ii
I INTRODUCTION 1
Introduction 1
Statement of the Problem 1
Background and Need 2
Purpose of the Study 3
Research Questions 3
Significance and Contribution to the Field 3
Limitation 4
II LITERATURE REVIEW 4
Indonesian R&D: in a glance 5
The Concept of Technology Transfer 6
Mechanism of Technology Transfer 6
Communication in technology Transfer Process 7
Summary 9
III METHODOLOGY 11
Introduction 11
Setting 11
Research Framework 11
Participants 13
Measuremet Instruments and Protocols 13
Data Analysis 14
IV RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 15
Results 15
Discussion 18
Action Plan and Strategies recommendation 23
V CONCLUSION 25
Conclusion 25
Recommendation 26
Implication 26
BIBLIOGRAPHY Error! Bookmark not defined.
APPENDICES Error! Bookmark not defined.
ii
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Linear model of innovation process in Indonesia (source: (Mulyanto
2014)) 5
Figure 2 The technology transfer flowchart (source: (WIPO 2002)) 7
Figure 3 The Berlo’s model of communication (Narula 2006) 8
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 The number of research done by CABI in 2010-2014 periodsa) 2
Table 2 List of data expected from the interviews 12
Table 3 CABI’s communication channels in the technology transfer process 15 Table 4 Organizational factors influencing communication in the technology
transfer process 16
Table 5 Interpersonal relationship influencing communication in the technology
transfer process 17
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix 1 List of Interview Question 32
Appendix 2 Example of the Interview Protocols given in each interviews 33
Appendix 3 Summary of Data Analysis from RQ1 34
Appendix 4 Summary of Data Analysis from RQ2 37
Appendix 5 Summary of Data Analysis from RQ3 39
1
I INTRODUCTION
Introduction
In the 21st century, countries throughout the world face the need to change their focus on national strategic planning from a resource-based to a knowledge-based economy. There is a need to develop a system for improving science, technology, and innovation because these intellectual properties are gradually measured as capital (Cooke and Leydesdorff 2006). The strategy developed in this process involve the institutional arrangement of academic-industry-governments relations and is then called as Triple Helix System. By means of the system, government and academia through their research centres and universities should play a significant role in bringing innovative ideas and inventions to the business (Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff 2000).
Many countries increasingly use public research as their broad strategies in industrial development. Consequently, universities and public research institutions (PRIs) become key institutions in the process of economy “catch-up”. As public research conducted by PRIs and universities are increasingly needed, technology transfer and commercialization become critical areas that must be studied to help us understand how the process occurs (Salter and Martin 2001, Cohen et al. 2002, Mazzoleni and Nelson 2007).
Based on a study conducted by Mulyanto (2014), it was shown that the Indonesian R&D performance has relatively low research productivity. One of them is R&D institution beneath the Ministry of Industry. As one of the research institutions under the Ministry of Industry, the Centre for Agro-based Industry (CABI) is responsible to conduct research with a focus on the agro-based products. Up to recent years, the research at CABI still has a relatively low application rate because most of the research were not commercially implemented in the industry. The implication that comes from the small number of research application in CABI is that it affects the performance and credibility of CABI as a research centre in providing assistance and support to the SMEs.
This research focuses more on the communication and relationship that occur during the technology transfer process in CABI, with the overarching questions of what role does communication play in facilitating technology transfer in CABI. This research is necessary to help users understand why the application of research in CABI (to the SMEs) is still underperforming. By exploring factors that influence the technology transfer, we will be able to determine the positive and negative factors and use them to increase CABI’s performance.
Statement of the Problem
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Based on this problem statement, there are three identifiable problem areas in this research: In the first place is the lack of clarity in the process of technology transfer that often occur due to different perspectives and approaches to it. The second issue is about the organizational structure that may influence the hierarchical relationship and cultural change within the organization. And the third issue is the organizational performance that occurs in the process of technology transfer.
The increasing expectation to enhance R&D’s technology transfer and commercialization from R&D institution has become the central issue in the innovation process. Many studies are trying to analyse the effectiveness of the technology transfer process (Bozeman 2000). Other key factors that affect this process beside the policy are people and procedures/processes. This explains the need to understand the performance of organizations in technology transfer activity (O'Shea et al. 2005).
Background and Need
Public R&D is one of the essential aspects of the innovation system. Therefore, commercialization and knowledge transfer should become the main objective to be achieved. Even though many countries and emerging economies may have different strategies, each still share the same concerns and priorities in the governance of innovation system and policy. They also share the same concern on the support to the SMEs in term of innovation and entrepreneurship (OECD 2014).
In Indonesia, the R&D activities still have a relatively low productivity. Based on their funding sources, Mulyanto (2014) mentions that the performance of government-funded R&D institution display less performance than institution with self-sufficient funding. Aside of that, there is also a challenge in technology transfer, as it is found that the level of research collaboration between PRIs and industry in Indonesia is still low (OECD 2014). CABI is one of research institutions under Ministry of Industry. One of CABI’s tasks is to disseminate its research and applied them to SMEs. However, though some attempts in the technology transfer process has been done, the research conducted at CABI still have low successful application rate to the SMEs.
Table 1 The number of research done by CABI in 2010-2014 periodsa)
Year Research Research
Collaboration
IP Right
Application Granted
2010 15 2 3 -
2011 22 3 3 2
2012 14 3 2 -
2013 15 4 2 1
2014 10 7 - -
a)
3
Based on Table 1, the number of IP Rights that produced by CABI is very low. In 2013, there are 10 researchs that conducted in CABI but only one that managed to be patented. The research collaboration activities, however, seems to increase each year. It indicates that CABI has put an attention to research collaboration and started to have a market-demand approach to the creation of research.
Nowadays, the application and use of scientific research is no longer considered as a separate part from the study itself. PRIs are increasingly expected to fulfil their “complementary mission”, which is transferring knowledge and technology to the SMEs (OECD 2014). Consequently, it is becoming crucial for CABI to adjust to this mission by adapting its policy and governance arrangement of technology transfer process.
Purpose of the Study
The objectives of this research project, namely:
1. To identify the role of communication in the technology transfer process that occurs in CABI
2. To suggest a strategy to maximize the number of CABI’s R&D application to the SMEs.
These objectives are expected to provide CABI with the framework of technology transfer process in order to achieve its missions. How to best harness their strengths, overcome their weaknesses and create a sound framework for technology transfer process at CABI.
Research Questions
In this research, there are three main research questions, which are:
1. What are the channels of communication used by CABI’s staff in the technology transfer process?
2. How do organizational structures in CABI influence communication in the technology transfer process?
3. How do interpersonal relationships in CABI influence communication in the technology transfer process?
Significance and Contribution to the Field
4
government funding and policies (Lazear 1999).
Aside of that, there are also limited studies that investigate the process of technology transfer that occurs in developing countries. The developing countries are different from developed countries in many ways. Some of them are shown in their weak innovation systems and low R&D intensity (UNESCO 2010). For instances, most of the SMEs in developing countries are found to have capital constraints, low human capabilities and low technological capabilities (Gibson and Van der Vaart 2008, Tambunan 2008). All of these characteristics may make the SMEs in developing economies to perform less R&D activities than PRIs and therefore, make the need for technology transfer is higher than those in developed countries.
Moreover, there are limited studies that concentrate in the commercialization of agro-based product research. This locus of interest had a very dynamic progress in innovation and technology development. The combination of agro product characteristic such as perishable, seasonal, climate-influenced and scattered production, may become barriers in the implementation of the technology to the SMEs. Therefore, this research may be able to give some insight into other government research institutions, particularly one that deals in the same fields of agro-industrial development.
Limitation
There are several limitations that occur in this research project, namely: 1. This study does not examine in detail the psychological aspect that occurs
in the process of technology transfer. It might have an impact on the entrepreneurial traits that exhibited by the researchers and SMEs. It might also influence the perception of the researchers and the SMEs in seeing the technology
2. The approach that this study uses does not include the motivation of researchers that may affect the engagement of researcher in the technology transfer process.
5
II LITERATURE REVIEW
Indonesian R&D: in a glance
The economic challenge that the globalization brings has made many businesses fail to thrive in the international market. To deal with this issue, Indonesian Government has pay more attention in the productivity of government-funded research, in the hope that the technology transfer will support SMEs in their innovation process (Mulyanto 2014). Research productivity in public research institution (PRIs) has always become the concern of many nations as loads of investment is given to the public R&D centre. People want to see that their money is well spent and not wasted. Therefore, the pressure for PRIs to produce applicable research is increasing (OECD 2014). Small number of research application to the SMEs has long been the concern of CABI and this study focuses on the communication that occurs during technology transfer process in CABI. In the next section we will discuss about research areas that are related to the statement of the problem mentioned in previous chapter.
Based on Mulyanto (2014), Public R&D Institutions (PRIs) in Indonesia are categorized into 4 types which are: Universities; Non-Ministerial Government Research Institution (GRI-NMs); Ministerial Research and Development Agencies (R&D-Ms); and State-owned Enterprises R&D Agencies (R&D-SOs). The linear model of innovation process in Indonesia as well as the role of each type of PRIs can be seen in the Figure 1 below
Figure 1 Linear model of innovation process in Indonesia (source: (Mulyanto 2014))
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The Concept of Technology Transfer
Technology transfer is defined in many different ways, referring to the purpose and discipline to which the research applies. This interdisciplinary dimension of technology transfer allows the definition and concept of technology transfer to be described from many perspectives. Most definitions of technology transfer viewed technology as something that does not change during the transfer process. One of the first definitions of technology transfer was introduced by Rogers (2010), who describe technology transfer as a process of innovation adoption that occurs between two organizations. In addition to that, Bozeman (2000) describes technology transfer as:
“the processes by which ideas, proofs-of-concept, and prototypes move from research-related to production-related phases of product development.”
However, other researcher studying the technology transfer process argue that the technology transfer process is essentially a communication process. Autio and Laamanen (1995) suggest that technology transfer is:
“ intentional, goal-oriented interaction between two or more social entities, during which the pool of technological knowledge remains stable or increases through the transfer of one or more components of technology.”
Both of the researcher see technology transfer as an interactive process between two entities. Other definition of technology transfer is coming from Rogers (2002) that sees technology transfer as
“a two-way, interactive process with messages flowing in both directions.”
It implies that in the process of technology transfer, individuals may become a receptor organization if he actively seek for answers about their problem from R&D organizations or other source of information.
Mechanism of Technology Transfer
Technology transfer and commercialization is a multidisciplinary area of study and forms a complex system of networks. One study aims to understand the connection between each involving factor of the technology transfer process and it divides technology transfer into five factors, which are transfer agents; transfer medium; transfer object; transfer recipient; and demand environment. (Bozeman, Rimes, & Youtie, 2015).
7
Figure 2 The technology transfer flowchart (source: (WIPO 2002))
The success of research transfer depends on the very nature of its research type and technology. Each field may have a different level of risk as well as chance to be successfully implemented in the industry. The supporting policies and regulation, organization, and market context may also be influential in the technology transfer and commercialization process of research (Lowe, 1993; Markman et al., 2008).
Communication in technology Transfer Process
Communication is a process of conveying information from one person to another. Based on Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of communication is:
“a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior; exchange of information”
There are 3 types of communication. The first one is verbal communication where the method to convey the message or information is oral. The second type is written communication where the messages are conveyed by written words, such as memos, emails, proposals, manuals, etc. The third type is the non verbal communication that is often delivered through gestures and voice intonations.
8
There are several theories of communication model offered by scholars. Among the first is the communication model proposed by Shannon and Weaver. In this model, they divide the communication into three primary parts, which are a sender, channels, and a receiver. This model is originally used for mathematical theory of communication, but due to its simplicity, generality, and quantifiability, it became an attractive model to human communication and information theory. However, as it is a mathematical communication theory, it did not take into account the feedback given by the receiver during the process. The second famously known model is a model proposed by Wilbur Schramm, which divided the communication process into four parts, namely: Source (S), Message (M), Channel (C), and Receiver (R), each with different factors that may affect the communication process (Narula 2006). Below in Figure 3, we can see the factors of Belo’s communication model:
Figure 3 The Berlo’s model of communication (Narula 2006)
Communication has been found to be one of the most essential factor in the success of technology transfer (Williams and Gibson 1990, Kremic 2003). With uncertainty and complexity that follows the technology transfer process, the increasing expectation in enhancing technology transfer from R&D institution had become one of the issues in the innovation process. During the technology transfer process, there are two communication linkage that are important to the successful process of technology transfer. These factors comprise functional linkages between the internal organization and its networks linkage with other organizations. Both linkages are correlated to the communication patterns that exist in the organization and play an important role in understanding the value of intangible organizational assets. (Tidd 2001, Ritter 2003, Hargie and Tourish 2009).
According to Allen (1984), internal communication within the organization is very important in technology transfer since it can help increase technical performance of the technology being transferred. There are two criteria in choosing communication channels. The first one is accessibility, which reflects how easy it is to contact and approach the channel. The second criteria is technical ability, which reflect the reliability of the channel in generating information. Each
Source
Message
Channel
Receiver
9
criterion is equally important in communication and is chosen based on the individuals’ perception towards his environment.
Within each organization, there are two types of organizational structure and its communication, which are formal and informal organizations. Formal organizations represent the organizational design and occurs in a form of hierarchy, regulations, rules, and formal communication. Aside of that, there is also an informal organization. An informal organization often indicates the actual system of how the organization works. This informal organization is not designed by the management and it exists through informal communication and arrangements, based mainly on personal relationships and norms (Eunson 2005). Government agencies are known for the bureaucracy and hierarchy that exist within the organization. The issues that often occurs in this type of organization are the presence of deep bureaucratic structures, weak change culture, and high-powered incentives. This kind of company tends to be internally focused and has a slow response to the market changes (Teece 1996).
The technology transfer conducted by government research institution usually differs than of the corporation technology transfer in term of motives and method. Government agencies perform technology transfer as an obligation to the legal mandates that are given to them and often these motives do not well-disperse within the organization. It makes the research output from government R&D laboratories is rarely at the level desired by the firms. Aside of that, the technology transfer conducted by government agencies are intended to be widely disseminated to as many SMEs as possible. That is why the methods used in the process are very general and “distant” (Kremic 2003).
In addition, the presence of particular independent organization that handles commercialization process is important to foster the relationship between the university and the industry in technology transfer and commercialization. Liaison offices or units are needed because not all of the researchers have the ability in marketing and management area, all of which are important in the commercialization of research. Furthermore, other factors such as the existence of well-defined incentive policy also give researchers good motivation to commercialize their ideas (Debackere and Veugelers 2005, Raine and Beukman 2002).
It is important to gain commitment from upper management in the process of technology transfer. _ENREF_27Siegel et al. (2003) suggest that the productivity of the institution in technology transfer depend on the organizational practices, with the most critical organizational factors that occurs in university-industry technology transfer (UITT), which are rewards systems, compensation and HRD systems on TTO, and action taken by management to terminate informational and cultural barriers. Full support from management is essential in the development of a suitable structure for the technology transfer process (Lam 2011).
Summary
10
the communication process will affect the effectiveness of the technology transfer process. Aside of that, organizational factors and interpersonal relationship is also important in the process of technology transfer as both can affect the communication pattern that exist in the inter-organizational and intra-organizational linkage.
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III METHODOLOGY
Introduction
As stated in the previous chapter, in order for the research institution to be well performed in R&D activities, it should be able to effectively deliver applicable research and being actively involved in innovation system. In the current state of CABI’s research section, the implementation of research to the industry is still considered low. Therefore, there is an attempt to increase the performance of CABI’s R&D using an effective technology transfer process.
This chapter focuses on the design and methodology of this research project, how to collect and analyse the data, and provide answers to the research questions mentioned above. In order to holistically understand the phenomenon that occurs in a real-life event, this study uses a descriptive single-case study approach. A case study is often used as a tool in social science to describe a complex process or phenomena. This approach helps the researcher to obtain the whole characteristic and pattern that occurs in real- life event (Yin 2013). Even so, the researcher also aware of the limitation that occurs in case study approach. A case study approach can only provide a limited basis for scientific generalization because it is only specific to the environment of the sample being investigate. Aside from that, the other limitation that occurs is the theoretical framework that is being used in the case study that often builds a specific perspective for the researcher to see the phenomenon (Yin 2013).
Setting
This study was conducted in Bogor Regency, with Centre for Agro-based Industry (CABI) as a case study. CABI is one of research institutions under The Ministry of Industry that provides research and technical services to the industrial community, particularly agro-industry community.
CABI’s organizational structure consists of one director that supervises the entire organization with the help of five division heads. There are five divisions in CABI’s organization, which are: HRD and Administration Division, Technical Service Development Division, Research and Standardization Division, Competency Development and Technology Transfer Division, and Testing, Certification, and Calibration Division. Each division has specifics task, serves to increase the institution’s research quality and public services.
Research Framework
12
Figure 4 Research framework
The data expected to collect during the interviews are shown below:
Table 2 List of data expected from the interviews
Research Questions Data Expected Sources
What are the channels of communication used by CABI’s staff in the technology transfer process?
•List of communication channels used by CABI’s staff in the technology transfer process.
•List of communication channels perceived by the SMEs in the technology transfer process.
•Issues arising from the communication process that occur during the process of technology transfer
•CABI’s staff
•SMEs
How do organizational structures in CABI influence communication in the
technology transfer process?
•Current condition regarding the procedures in technology transfer process
•Relationship between divisions involved In the technology transfer process
•CABI’s staff
How do inter-personal
relationship in CABI influence communication in the
technology transfer process?
•Relationship between
individuals involved In the technology transfer process
13
The data expected during the interview (Table 3) will provide the scope of the research and each of them then translated to interview question lists
Participants
Sampling
This study seeks to explain about the current situation in the technology transfer process and understand better about its performance. Based on this reason, the sampling approach that is chosen in this study is single case study with interviews as a way to collect the data. Yin (2013) mentions that case study allows researchers to explore complex social phenomena holistically. The participants are chosen using purposive sampling. All of the respondents are chosen for their experience in technology transfer process. The researchers and staff are chosen based on their activities in delivering research result to the SMEs, while the SMEs are chosen based on their current experience in research collaboration with CABI.
Participant Descriptions
There are seven participants that involved in this study as respondents. Four researchers and two officers are from the CABI whereas two other respondents are from the SMEs. These four researchers are chosen out of eighteen researchers because of their experience in technology transfer. Currently, their research projects are chosen in science park projects funded by government. The aim of the project is to build a scale up version of the research. Each of their experience will be explained more in the appendices. One other of CABI’s respondent is a head section of marketing division and he is responsible in the research dissemination program. Two other respondents are from SMEs’ side, and both of them are selected for their experience and involvement in contract research.
Measuremet Instruments and Protocols
Measurement instrument being used in this study is the interview question list. The data were collected through a semi-structured interview where 6 sets of open-ended main questions and 11 subset of questions were prepared. Semi-structured interview was chosen to explore new ideas and perspectives that might be brought up by the interviewees during the interview. This method allows the researcher to probe the information and clarification provide by the interviewee’s answers. (Louise Barriball and While 1994).
14
Data Analysis
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IV RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
This study attempts to elaborate the condition that exist in technology transfer activities at CABI with special concern to the communication perspective. In this study, the researcher tries to investigate how the communication affects the technology transfer process in Indonesian government research institution, with a case study at CABI. Using methodology mentioned in the previous chapter, this study has collected data through interviews. During the interviews, it is found that communication is influential in the success of technology transfer, with both organizational factors and interpersonal relationship is affecting the internal communication linkage. This chapter is dedicated to report and discuss the finding generated from the analysis.
Results
Based on the data analysis, there are several themes that emerge during the interviews. Those themes then categorized based on research questions. The finding of this study can be seen in the table below:
Table 3 CABI’s communication channels in the technology transfer process
RQ1. What are channels of communication used by CABI’s staff in the technology transfer process?
Researcher
Channels Cited Sample text
Seminar/Workshop 3 “The promotion is done by dissemination, seminar, exhibition…”
(R3)
program to visit the industry…we promote our services, including R&D services…” (R2)
Research dissemination
4 “..involved in research dissemination and promotional activities of
research services” (R5)
free or not. If it is free and he/she can increase the product quality, he/she will gladly accept the offer” (R3)
Scientific
Research and Technology (MoRT) and PT. Tama Coklat…” (R2) Table 3 CABI’s communication channels in the technology transfer process
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RQ1. What are channels of communication used by CABI’s staff in the technology transfer process?
SMEs
Channels Cited Sample text
Seminar/Workshop 2 “the second time is when I was invited to cocoa convention in
Bogor. One of the speaker is CABI director” (SM1) Research
Collaboration
2 “I have had a research collaboration with CABI about coffee from
dates seeds” (SM2) Consultation
services
2 “The idea came from me. It occurs because I saw my housemaid
throwing kilos of dates seeds and I wonder whether we can make something from it and not just waste it away …then I came to CABI and consult about it, we agree to make some research on it…” (SM2)
Based on Table 3, the analysis of interviews suggests that there are ten communication channels used by CABI’s staffs in the technology transfer process. All of them represent the attempt CABI has made to introduce research to the SMEs. However, from the perspective of SMEs, they mentioned only three channels of communication that lead them to the technology transfer process. Those are seminars/workshops; research collaborations; and consultation services. The latter is perceived by the SME as a way of how they know about CABI’s R&D services for the first time.
Table 4 Organizational factors influencing communication in the technology transfer process
standard procedure on it….the research itself comes from R&D section while the commercialization, promotion, and marketing technology are the responsibility of Technical Services Division; and Competency Development and Technology Transfer Division. They work individually… (R1)
and they have overlapping tasks…relationship and internal communication in technology transfer still “knotty”..” (R2)
Table 4 Organizational factors influencing communication in the technology transfer process (Cont.)
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has divided attention and concentration…” (R1) The enforcement
In these findings it is found that the organizational factors that influence the communication are heavily related to the bureaucratic characteristic that CABI has. There is a tendency for each division to work individually even though they have an overlapping task in the technology transfer process. There is also no clear SOP for technology transfer process as it is shown in Table 4.
Table 5 Interpersonal relationship influencing communication in the technology transfer process
RQ3. How do interpersonal relationship in CABI influences communication in the technology transfer process?
and they have overlapping tasks. There is a “grey zone” that is made each section thought that other is taking over their job..” (R2)
Individualistic behaviour
4 “..researcher seems to be very individualistic since they
demand to be involved in every training program that use their research finding…sometimes they don’t have time, therefore another person is assigned to coach. However, if
1 “..the difficulty encountered in the making of the modules is
some of the researchers are reluctant to give their knowledge for fear that everyone will have access in the training and consulting activities of the research
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Discussion
Communication Channels in the Technology Transfer Process at CABI Technology transfer is a process of moving knowledge from the originators’ place to the recipients’ place. As the knowledge is mostly seen as a tacit form, the transfer process requires a ‘bridge’ to be able to connect the knowledge from the donors’ side to the recipients’ side. The result shows that during the interaction between SMEs and CABI in the technology transfer process, there are ten communication channels used by CABI. However, from all of the channels, only research collaboration and seminar/workshop are mentioned by the SMEs as communication channels in the technology transfer process in addition to consultation services.
Communication channels are often chosen based on their accessibility and technological ability. Seminars/workshops, consultation services, and research collaborations are mentioned by the SMEs because they see that these channels are more accessible for them compared to the other channels. SMEs are tend to see the problem they have as the most crucial part. Therefore, they come to CABI and ask for consultation and training programs before deciding to take participation in research collaboration. Using these three channels, they have easier access to approach the researcher and ask about their problem. These activities create a good interactive process between both parties so that the researcher knows better about the SMEs’ need and that will benefit the technology transfer process.
Based on this finding, it is implied that the existence of consultation and training program is essential in accelerating the process of technology transfer from CABI to the SMEs. These programs help create opportunities for CABI’s researchers to share their research to the SMEs. It confirms previous research, which states that training and consultation program are necessary to the success of technology transfer process. These mechanisms must exist at the early stage of technology transfer until the company start-up stage, where the technology is then transferred to the customer (Matsumoto 1999, Mittelman and Pasha 1997, Perez and Sánchez 2003).
As implied by all of the respondents, the technology transfer process is an interactive process that occurs between actors and it requires various communication activities. Seeing the technology transfer process as a communication phenomenon, we have to take into account the importance of identifying the barriers in a communication process.
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In contrast, some of the researchers mentioned about the importance of having a research that can potentially lead to scientific publication. It means that in conducting a research, the economic perspective of the research does not become their main focus. For them, research is seen more as a scientific area of study. This condition probably occurs because of a certain obligation given to the researcher by the government that the researcher must be able to publish their research. Based on the technical instruction and manual for researcher number 2 year 2014, issued by Indonesian Institute of Science, it is stated that the proportion of credit ratings figures for researcher’s performance in terms of technology transfer is equal, if not lower than the appraisal credit ratings for research publication in scientific journal. It may be can explain why the researcher think of their research more to the scientific perspective compare to the economic perspective and the applicability of their research to the industry.
Other factor that may contribute to the researcher’s scientific perspective is the strategic plan and research’s road map given to each research institution under the ministry. There are five and ten years strategic plan made by the ministry to be developed as a research road map by the research institution below it. The strategic plan and road map are then become the guidelines for the researchers to choose the idea for their research project. These two guidelines may, at some point make the researcher difficult to continue and develop their previous research so that the research result still far from being applicable to the industry.
This different perception create a gap between researchers and SMEs since there will be no exchange taking place if there is no benefit for both parties and it makes the technology unsuccessfully transferred to the SMEs. In dealing with this issue, the researchers must ensure that their research topic is desired and eagerly anticipated by the SMEs and at the same time, it has to be in line with the institution’s road map, so that the research have the opportunity to be developed further in the years ahead.
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Based on the finding, it is implied that the communication channels conducted by CABI in technology transfer still intended for broad consumers, as seen from the selection of communication channel, such as: scientific publication, research dissemination, and seminar/workshop. There are also still less efforts to monitor the extent to which SMEs can use a given technology. This particular stage is the stage where the technology transfer process often fail to deliver. It is known that government approach in technology transfer process is often very general and unfocused, due to their obligation to deliver the research to as many SMEs as possible (Kremic 2003). There are two issues that arise in this condition. First is that CABI must be able to identify potential users for their research and choose few of them so that CABI can focus its attention and also control the process. The second is CABI should built a good communication/relationship with the receptor to be able to successfully transfer the technology.
Consistent with all the findings mentioned above, Williams and Gibson (1990) state that the communication barriers in technology transfer occur in different ways, such as different vocabularies used by individuals; different individual motives; how individuals represent the organizations with different cultures; and how the transfer process represents a variation of highly abstract concepts to concrete products. As stated by Johnson et al. (1997), it is very important for the researchers to communicate with the SME to understand better about the problem that the SMEs have and to understand how far the capacity or capability that the SMEs have in order to accept the technology. That is why CABI as an R&D institution should start to use an upward communication approach to communicating with the SME.
This approach is actually has been used by CABI in the hope that both CABI’s researchers and SMEs have same views about the value and the potential use of the technology. Started from two years ago, CABI conducts a “client hunting” program to better understand the need of the industry and to offer to solve the problem together through research collaboration, providing training and consultation programs during the process, and conducting yearly evaluation to the SMEs. However, how effectives this program is as a communication channel in the technology transfer process has not been measured yet. It will be best for CABI to pay more attention in this process because this channel seems to be the best approach for CABI to understand the need of SMEs.
Organizational Structure and Inter-unit Relations in The Technology Transfer Process
CABI is a large institution and it has established four agency services that conducted certification, testing laboratory, calibration, consultation, and training services. Based on the Regulation of the Ministry of Industry number 39/M-IND/PER/6/2006 (article 1 until 3), it is said that few of CABI’s tasks are to conduct research and provide services in technical training, consultation, technology transfer and incubation, as well as to conduct marketing and collaboration in the development ans use of informational technology.
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dissemination, and “client hunting” program) are collaborative programs between these divisions mentioned above. The relationship that occurs between them will be discussed in this section.
The main finding for the second research question is that there is no clear SOP in the process of technology transfer at CABI, as mentioned by most of the researchers. The absence of SOP means that there is no fixed, clear, systematic procedure in the technology transfer process that can guide the staff in conducting the transfer process. Conversely, the absence of clear SOP could also means that the inter-unit relationship in the organization can flows in a flexible condition and the process can be arranged to be adapted to many different situations that might occur in each case of the technology transfer process.
From the previous discussion, it is known that in technology transfer, there are three most important activities included in it. The first one is the research itself, the second one is the marketing of the research result, and the third one is the consultation, training, and transfer process to the SMEs. These three activities are the main task from three division mentioned above. The first one is R&D division, which is responsible to conduct the research activities; the second one is Technical Services and Marketing (TSM) division, which responsible for promotion and marketing of research results; the third one is Competency Development and Technology Transfer (CDTT) division, which is responsible for the technology transfer and commercialization. These tasks given to each division are in line with article 09 until 24, the Regulation of the Ministry of Industry government institution, therefore, it still has a bureaucratic organizational structure and chain of command that is very influential in every daily work activities. These organizational structures represent the formal communication that exists in CABI. Aside of the formal communication in a form of chain of hierarchical regulation, the informal communication will not work well in a cross-division project without a decree that declares the authority and responsibility of each team member. It is clear that there is some informal networking that actually occurs in CABI, however, it is not maximally perform because there is a “hierarchical” mind-set that often inhibits the informal communication. This mind-set acts as the impediment because of the staff must make their communication through formal channels and it eliminates all the advantages of the original informal communications.
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respondents said that other divisions already have their own responsibility and this suggest that most of the researchers perceive that there are some rules and regulation that they have to follow if they want to work across-sections. These regulations act as fixed, inflexible rules that sometimes are not suitable in certain circumstances.
The absence of a clear, specific procedure in technology transfer may, at some point, have an influence in intra-organizational relationship where each division then work individually in the technology transfer process to achieve their own target performance.
“ The communication between division is not effective. This condition related to the coordination and material readiness. Most of the time, the research that is going to be disseminated is not yet ready to be implemented.” (R5)
“..some people only care about research collaboration and would not give other opportunities to other sections. If we want to see us as a whole institution, we should also consider other services like training as one process (in technology transfer)” (R3)
Based on the interviews, it is implied that each division thinks that their division had already performed their task successfully and other divisions play bigger part in the failure in the technology transfer process. It seems that they are unaware that even though each of the division has its own task and target performance, in the process of technology transfer, these three divisions actually have an overlapping tasks and functions. This issue may be related to the unit autonomy, a condition where each unit focuses on its primary activities and neglects everything outside its own boundaries (Verhoest et al. 2004).
As a government institution, CABI still applied a mechanistic (bureaucratic) type of organization that relies heavily on the structural communication and have a rigid perception of tasks given to each division. These characteristics make the organization inflexible in their internal communication because it has certain chain of command that must be followed by CABI’s staffs. However, as mentioned in previous section, the promotion; research collaboration; training; and consultation activities must be present in each technology transfer process. It means that each division must be willing and able to work together as a solid team and the fragmented views that occur in each division must be changed.
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Interpersonal Communication and the Technology Transfer Process Based on the interviews, it can be seen that there are three interpersonal relationship observed during the technology transfer process, which are competing behaviour, individualistic behaviour, and knowledge sharing behaviour. These behaviours may affect their involvement during the transfer process. All of the interpersonal relationships mentioned by the respondents, unfortunately, reflect barriers to the implementation of the technology transfer process. Reluctance to share knowledge (knowledge donating) with other researchers is often seen among researchers. This behaviour is perceived by some of the respondents as one of the barriers to the technology transfer process at CABI and it leads to several other behaviours that negatively influence the transfer process such as competition, individualistic behaviour, and poor knowledge sharing.
The individualistic behaviour in CABI is seen as the tendency from staffs to communicate only with those to whom they are assigned. This condition may occurs because of the organizational structure which divides individuals into divisions. It confirms the study conducted by Allen (1984), whose mentions that the individualistic behaviour may occur because the structure of the organizations that assign each staff into different division. In this situation, the organizational structures determine the communication pattern that occurs between individuals.
To reduce this grouping tendency, in one of their study, Lombardi and Sarti (2012) suggest that it is critical for organizations to provide organizational structure and open communication channels that can encourage teamwork. Similarly, another study conducted by Vakola and Nikolaou (2005) suggests that lack of socially supportive work environment was found to be the strongest predictor of negative attitudes towards change because bad work environment increases stress level of employee. Therefore, good work relationship will avert the stress level and individualistic behaviour of staffs as well as influence the organizational engagement from staffs within the organizations because communication is very important facet in organizational performance as it is help to build common understanding, motivation, and perceptive pattern.
Other factors that can avert the individualistic behaviour of employee is a reward system. In regard to the reluctance of researcher in sharing his/her knowledge, a set of intellectual property (IP) arrangement and incentives policy may encourage the knowledge sharing to happen. The compensation and incentives for R&D activities may increase researchers’ motivation in transferring their research into the industry. This study, however, did not explore the connection between motivation and a reward system but it can be a good topic for further research study.
Action Plan and Strategies recommendation
Based on the finding and discussion above, the recommendation for strategies that can potentially increase the technology transfer rate are:
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increase the researcher’s considerations on the existing knowledge gap with the recipient and help to assist the transfer process. Based on Kremic (2003), government technology transfer should be done in two stages. The first stage is by narrowing the potential users. The second stage is by building a good transfer relationship with all the stakeholder involved in the process.
2. In regards to organizational issues, it is important for CABI to strengthen cross-functional and cross-departmental network to make the mechanistic type of its organization become more organic. Establishing a taskforce or business development team that consist of people from those three divisions can be a solution. This team will become a liaison unit in technology transfer process by combining all the skills that are needed in the process of technology transfer such as scientific research, marketing activities, consultation, and training program. This boundary spanning team should work across organizational design and boundaries. Thefore, the team should be given the authority to work cross-section and cut the chain of command. The authority given will help create the flexibility within the organizational structure in dealing with technology transfer and it is hoped this condition will improve CABI's response to the problems surrounding the transfer of technology. Consistent with the finding, a study conducted by Raine and Beukman (2002) suggests that the existence of a liaison unit is needed because of the researchers’ lack ability in the marketing and management area that is essential for the technology transfer process. Moreover, a flexible organization will respond more quickly to environmental changes and value employees’ opinions more than hierarchical ones. In this kind of organization, the employees will engage more to the organization and perform the best of their ability (Albors-Garrigós et al. 2013).
3. It is recommended for CABI to conduct two phases of activities in each process of technology transfer. First stage is to approach the potential users using “client-hunting” program. After the target is confirmed, the next stage is to ensure that the technology being transferred could be used by the SMEs using intensive consultation and training monitoring and evaluation program. It will be better if CABI can assign the relevant staff to stay in the receptor organization to monitor and evaluate the transfer process.
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V CONCLUSION
Conclusion
Based on the discussion above, it is known that the role of the communication in the technology transfer process at CABI is essential. It provides accessibility for the information flow from CABI to the SMEs and vice versa. It also helps to build common understanding and motivation among staffs that involved in the technology transfer process. However, it is also discovered that the hierarchical characteristic of organizational structures in CABI as well as the inter-personal relationship are somewhat inhibit the inter-unit communication that occurs in the technology transfer process. Each issue will be explained in the following paragraphs.
The first research question is about the channels of communication used by CABI’s staff in the technology transfer process. The finding indicates that there is a difference perception between SMEs and CABI in seeing the accessibility of each channel. SMEs tend to choose a channel based on their easiness to contact the researcher and consult about their problem. In addition, it is also found that the role of consultation in technology transfer is important to create opportunity and facilitate the process of technology transfer.
Aside of that, there is implicit information that the trustworthiness/reliability of CABI in the eyes of SMEs become one of the issues that makes the marketing of technology often failed to reach the SMEs. The issue of trustworthiness may relate to the quality of research that is being produced by CABI as it is found that most of CABI research still in basic level, therefore, most of them are inapplicable. To deal with this difference, it is necessary for CABI to include the consultation and training in each of the technology transfer program and also provide a thorough research roadmap that can ensure the quality of the prospective research result.
The second research question points out the role of organizational structure in influencing the communication in the technology transfer process. The results implied that the bureaucratic characteristic of CABI makes the organization not flexible in their internal communication and in their response to the market and it eventually effect the technology transfer process. The formal organization within CABI may provide a structured communication pattern between staffs, but at some point it is also inhibit the communication process between divisions. Therefore, it is important for the organization to encourage teamwork through open communication channels, rewards system, and flexible organizational structure. A task force or business development team can be a good option to handle the technology transfer process in the hope that this team will cut the chain of command and make the hierarchy more flexible. In order for this boundary spanning team to be able to work, the support from upper management is essential. This team must be supported with special authority to work cross section and the upper management should be able to support their cross-sectional activities.
