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Halmstad University | School of Business, Engineering and ScienceDoctoral Thesis | Halmstad University Dissertations no. 41

D O C T O R A L T H E S I S

Developing Technology Transfer Processes in rural contexts: The case of Cauca in Colombia

Deycy Janeth Sánchez Preciado

978-91-87045-84-4 (printed)Halmstad University Dissertations, 2018

School of Business, Engineering and Science

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Deycy Janeth Sánchez Preciado is a lecturer in the Department of Inno-vation Management at Halmstad University. She is also a member of the Research Group Regional Models for Competitiveness at the University of Cauca and Production and Innovation Regional Centre -CREPIC- (Colombia). She has 13 years of experience in research projects focused on science and technology for small- scale producers in rural environments in Cauca, Colombia.

Developing Technology Transfer Processes in rural contexts: The case of Cauca in Colombia


D O C T O R A L T H E S I S | Halmstad University Dissertations no. 41

Sanchez Preciado: Developing Technology Transfer Processes in rural contexts: The case of Cauca in Colombia © Deycy Janeth Sánchez PreciadoHalmstad University Dissertations no. 41 ISBN 978-91-87045-84-4 (printed)ISBN 978-91-87045-85-1 (pdf)Publisher: Halmstad University Press, 2018 | www.hh.se/hup

Cover: Project ”Alternative Uses for By-products derivate of the Pisciculture Agro – Industry”

Abstract

This doctoral thesis addresses the technology transfer process in rural develop-

ing economies. Technology transfer refers to the movement of physical arti-

facts and knowledge from a transferor (e.g. a university) to a recipient (e.g. a

cooperative or a producer). Many rural developing economies depend on rural

enterprises engaged in small-scale production. These enterprises usually have

limited market reach, inadequate financial margins, and low value added prod-

ucts. In this context, technology transfer commonly features large information

and knowledge asymmetry between the transferors and recipients, the recipi-

ents’ dependence on government financial support, and the recipients’ under-

developed business skills. According to theory presented in the recent technol-

ogy transfer literature, transferors and recipients must interact if the technology

transfers are to succeed. However, in spite of the importance of technology

transfer for production improvements by enterprises in rural economies, little is

known about how the two sides interact when technologies to fit the small-

scale production context are transferred. To address this knowledge gap, this

thesis focuses on how rural enterprises adapt and use technologies that are col-

laboratively developed with universities with the support of governments and

non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Empirically, the thesis analyses tech-

nology transfer aimed at improving silk, fish, and coffee production in Cauca, a

region in Colombia. The thesis uses Situated Learning Theory, action research,

and case study methodology.

Research question # 1: How do intermediaries influence technology transfer of

intermediate technologies in rural enterprises of developing economies? The

thesis shows that intermediaries broker and facilitate (organise) the interaction

between universities and cooperatives and rural enterprises. Crucial collabora-

tive activities for this research include workshops, fields visits, and training

sessions that involve rural enterprises and universities working to identify and

solving problems related to the use of new technologies.

Research question # 2: Which features of the participants and their relations

affect the transfer of intermediate technologies in rural developing economies?

The thesis identifies the following seven features of technology transfer in rural

developing economies:

i) Absorptive capacity,

ii) Understanding of the technology source and market maturity,

iii) Cultural and geographic proximity between transferor and recipient,

iv) Recipients’ comprehension of the financial implications of the technology

transfer,

v) Intermediaries that connect transferor and recipient,

vi) Institutional networks that adapt the technology to local needs, and

vii) Prior experience in technology transfer projects.

Although the last three features are only dealt with to a limited extent in the

technology transfer literature, this research revealed their relevance to how

participants interact and to the success of the technology transfer.

Research question # 3: How do ‘systems’ of technology transfer evolve in rural

developing economies? The answer to this question contributes to the

technology transfer literature through the explanations (with illustrations) of

how such systems emerge over time. In its analysis of problem formulation and

problem solution as the mechanisms needed for system evolution, the thesis

shows how technology transfer systems for fish production and silk production

in Cauca, Colombia, evolved. The thesis shows the sequential nature of system

evolution in which problem types are identified and acted upon over time so

that the system becomes more technology-related, customer understanding-

related, and market- and distribution-oriented. The thesis also shows how pro-

jects can be used to coordinate system evolution and advance the relevant ac-

tors’ professionalization.

Keywords: technology transfer, process, communities of practice, intermediate

technologies, developing economies, longitudinal technology transfer studies

In memory of my friend Jo-

nas Rundquist and my grand-

parents Josefina Campo,

Eliseo Preciado and Josefina

Sánchez. I wish you were

here to share my happiness.

"Cauca, promise of nature and biodiversity, where springs the

water springs and the mountains and plains emerge. Where the

wind blends the scent of the flowers and flight of the condor.

Cauca, territory of multi-ethnic wealth and multi-cultural en-

counters, in which day-by-day its feeling and the essence of its

people take root.

Cauca, rural communities educated and empowered to promote

sustainable development and the productive and social transfor-

mation of their territories".

Luz Stella Pemberthy Gallo

“Cauca promesa de naturaleza y biodiversidad, donde brotan los

nacimientos de agua y emergen las montañas y llanuras. Donde se

cruza el viento, el aroma de las flores y planea el cóndor.

Cauca territorio de riqueza multiétnica y encuentro multicultural,

en el que día a día se arraiga su sentir y la esencia de su gente.

Cauca, comunidades rurales educadas y empoderadas para im-

pulsar el desarrollo sostenible y la transformación productiva y

social de sus territorios”

Luz Stella Pemberthy Gallo

Acknowledgements

The motivation behind my doctoral studies was my personal and professional

interest in, and passion for, the rural communities in Cauca, Colombia. As a

doctoral student, one must conduct one’s research and write one’s thesis in an

independent and self-motivated way. However, a collective effort is required to

develop the skills needed to complete such an endeavour that requires the co-

operation of many people. Throughout the many stages of my thesis work, I

was very fortunate in my excellent supervision committee that encouraged and

supported me at every stage. I would like to express my immense gratitude to

Magnus Holmén, Daniel Ljungberg, Eugenia Pérez Vico, and David Bennett.

I thank especially Magnus Holmén, my main supervisor for his strong com-

mitment to my work and for his honest and perceptive opinions and criticisms.

Daniel, I very much appreciate all the time and effort you put into my work as

well as your positive attitude that always inspired me when my work seemed

most challenging.

Eugenia, you always motivated me to do good work and helped me discover so

many topics related to my research. Your support and insights helped me im-

prove my work in so many ways.

David, it was the greatest pleasure to work with you. It was a honour to work

with a leading scholar in the field of technology transfer. I benefitted greatly

from your knowledge and experience.

And thank you, Björn Claes. You have been a steadfast friend throughout my

research, especially in times when I was under stress. Your advice and sugges-

tions were always appropriate and much welcomed.

And thank you, Nicholas Theodorakopoulos, for your endless encouragement.

Your generous academic support in writing research papers was remarkable!

I am grateful to the Administrative Department of Science, Technology and

Innovation (COLCIENCIAS) for the scholarship that supported my studies,

and to the Foundation for the Future of Colombia (COLFUTURO) for its ex-

cellent management of the COLCIENCIAS budget.

My time in Colombia collecting data and participating in different projects on

development and implementation of technologies for the rural sector was ex-

tremely important for my research. Thank you, Adolfo Plazas and Luz Stella

Pemberthy, for all the lessons you taught me – in the recent four years and in

the nine years prior to that – when we worked together. I am honored to be

member of the Regional Models of Competitiveness Research Group of Uni-

cauca and CREPIC. We have long dreamt that our research would be useful for

Cauca’s communities. I sincerely hope my thesis will contribute to making this

dream come true.

Thank you, Yury Castillo, Omaira Calvo, Cesar Gómez, María Eugenia

Ledezma, Heydy Pabón, Sandra Rebolledo, and Olga Solis. Your assistance

was essential during my data collection and the other activities with the rural

enterprises. Just as essential was your friendship.

I appreciate enormously all the wonderful people of the rural cooperatives in

Cauca. In particular, I thank the Association for the Production and Commer-

cialization of Agricultural and Piscicultural Products in Silvia (Apropesca), the

Corporation for the Development of Sericulture of Cauca (Corseda), the Farm-

ers’ Federation of Cauca (Federación Campesina del Cauca), the Association of

Coffee Producers from Western of Cauca (Asorcafé), and the Regional Coffee

Federation of Cauca. You represent the very best of rural communities in the

beautiful Cauca Department – my home. Despite the many challenges in Cau-

ca, you always work to improve the lives of its people. It has been a very great

privilege to interact with you, to learn from you, and to view the world from

your perspective.

I also want to express my thanks to the University of Cauca (Unicauca), to the

Production and Innovation Regional Centre (CREPIC), and to Javier Hoyos

and Cesar Echeverry in the Technology Park for Innovation in Coffee and Cof-

fee Growing (Tecnicafé). It has been a great pleasure to share ideas and to be

part of the social movement that makes so many dreams come true for the

communities in Cauca.

Many people have reviewed and critiqued my research papers and thesis. I

have received invaluable feedback from Christian Koch, Héléne Laurell, Jonas

Gabrielsson, Henrik Florén, and Michal Lysek. To all of you, I send my heart-

felt thanks!

It would take many pages to name and thank all my wonderful colleagues who

have journeyed with me during my research. Among them are the following:

Mike Danilovic, Maya Hoveskog, Jasmin Lihua Liu, Joakim Tell, Christian

Norr, Jeanette Gullbrand, Henrik Barth, Fawzi Halila, Leif Nordin, Kristian

Widén, Sabrina Luthfa, Faisal Iddris and Jojo Amos. Together, you created the

perfect environment for rich, intellectual discussions.

Sometimes it seems hard to believe, but a doctoral student has a life outside the

ivory tower of Academia! My life was made so much more enjoyable and

sparkling thanks to the company and friendship of other doctoral students in the

Halmstad Research Student Society (HRSS). We have had so many memorable

times together.

I would like to thank Carlos Cáceres –a true friend who made me feel that Co-

lombia is not so far away, after all.

The only downside of life in Sweden has been the distance from my

beloved family in Colombia. However, the strong ties that bind us have

has never weakened, despite this distance. I would never have been able to

complete this research and my thesis without their moral support. Thanks to

everyone: my father Luis, my mother Luz Mar, my siblings Claudia and

Gardel, my boy-friend Paul, my aunts Melva and Alma, and my uncles Jair,

Vladimir, and El-vert. You are the best of me. My achievements are because of

you.

I dedicate this thesis to my friend and first supervisor, Jonas Rundquist,

who showed me the Swedish culture at its best and most authentic way. I

miss you dearly, but strongly I believe you still are looking after me.

Last but not least, I thank all my friends outside academia who gave me

many opportunities to relax and try new things.

Halmstad, 12th January 2018


List of appended papers

This doctoral thesis is based on the five papers listed below and an introductory

text consisting of 10 chapters.

The five appended papers are the following:

Theodorakopoulos, N., Preciado, D. J. S., & Bennett, D. (2012). Transferring

technology from university to rural industry within a developing economy

context: The case for nurturing communities of practice. Technovation, 32(9),

550-559.

Theodorakopoulos, N., Bennett, D., & Sánchez Preciado, D. J. (2014).

Intermediation for technology diffusion and user innovation in a developing

rural economy: A social learning perspective. Entrepreneurship & Regional

Development, 26(7-8), 645-662.

Sánchez Preciado, D. J., Claes, B., & Theodorakopoulos, N. (2016).

Transferring intermediate technologies to rural enterprises in developing

economies: a conceptual framework. Prometheus, 34(2), 153-170.

Sánchez Preciado, D. J. (2018). Enabling transfer of intermediate technologies

- A rural business project case in rural Colombia.

Submitted to Journal of Rural Studies.

Sánchez Preciado, D. J., Holmén, M. & Ljungberg, D. (2018). Evolution of

systems of technology transfer in rural developing economies.

Submitted to 17th Conference International Schumpeter Society.

Abbreviations

SLT Situated Learning Theory

CoP Community of Practice

NGO Non-governmental organisation

CORSEDA Corporation for the Development of the Sericulture

of Cauca

APROPESCA Association for the Production and Commercializa-

tion of Agricultural and Piscicultural Products in

Silvia

Colombian Coffee Growers Federation

ANTUVENT Association of Producers of Anturios of Ventanas

Caldono

FANAL Rural Federation of Cauca

DANE National Administrative Department of Statistics

ICONTEC Colombian Institute of Technical Norms and Certi-

fications

Contents

1. Introduction .................................................................................................................1

2. Background and motivation of this thesis .......................................................................5

2.1 What is specific about technology transfer in this thesis? .....................................................7

2.2 Research questions, overall research design, and outline .................................................... 13

3. The Rural Economy of Cauca in Colombia ............................................................ 17

3.1 Cauca - Colombia: Empirical context for this study ........................................................... 18

3.2 A brief look at the background of Cauca – Colombia in the last two decades ........................ 19

4. Relevant Concepts used in this Thesis .................................................................... 26

4.1 Intermediate and low technologies .................................................................................. 27

4.2 Innovation .................................................................................................................... 31

4.3 Rural enterprises ........................................................................................................... 32

5. Literature ................................................................................................................... 34

5.1 Technology transfer in rural developing economies: a distinct type of technology transfer ..... 34

5.2 Situated Learning Theory ............................................................................................... 36

5.3 Systems and evolution ................................................................................................... 37

6. Research Design and Methods................................................................................. 40

6.1 Overarching research design ........................................................................................... 40

6.1.1 Case selection ....................................................................................................... 47

6.2 Data collection .............................................................................................................. 49

6.2.1 Case descriptions .......................................................................................... 51

6.2.2 Context of data collection: Programme of projects ............................................ 52

6.3 Data analysis ................................................................................................................ 54

6.4 Reflections on the research process and my role................................................................ 55

6.5 Soundness of my research: Methodological reflections ...................................................... 56

7. Summary of Papers .................................................................................................. 59

7.1 Paper 1 ......................................................................................................................... 59

7.2 Paper 2 ......................................................................................................................... 60

7.3 Paper 3 ......................................................................................................................... 62

7.4 Paper 4 ......................................................................................................................... 63

7.5 Paper 5 ......................................................................................................................... 64

8. Conclusions ............................................................................................................... 70

9. Discussion and Implications .................................................................................... 77

10. Areas for Future Research........................................................................................ 80

10.1 Assessment of the identified enablers in other developing countries .................................. 80

10.2 Effects of technology transfer processes ......................................................................... 81

10.3 Failed technology transfer experiences in developing economies....................................... 82

11. References ................................................................................................................. 83

1

1. Introduction

This thesis contributes to the literature on technology transfer through its

study of technology transfer processes in rural developing economies. The

empirical focus of the thesis is how technology and knowledge are created

and then transferred to rural communities in three industrial sectors in the

Department of Cauca in Colombia. Technology transfer is crucially

important in rural developing economies as it influences recipients’

innovation capacity and their competitiveness (Bennett and Vaidya, 2005;

Cooke and Mayes, 1996 ).

The thesis focuses on how the recipients of technology transfer adapt and

use the technologies and on how they organise and interact in this process.

Improvements from such transfers may occur in many of the recipients’

dimensions such as the financial dimension and the technological dimension

(cf. Klevorick et al., 1995). The thesis also examines how transferors,

recipients, and intermediaries interact before and after the technology is

transferred. The transferors may be universities, policy actors, or

multinational corporations. The recipients may be rural enterprises such as

small-scale producers or cooperatives for small-scale producers. The

intermediaries may be non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as

independent think tanks and research and advisory (service provider)

centres. Technology transfer can be a pecuniary or non-pecuniary transac-

tion of technology from a transferor to a recipient. For rural developing

economies, the recipients rarely pay for the access to the technology. Fur-

thermore, it is typical to find great knowledge asymmetry between the par-

ticipants (transferors and recipients).

For purposes of this thesis, technology transfer refers to the process of mov-

ing established technologies, including tools (technoware), facts (infoware),

skills (humanware), and routines (orgaware) (Smith and Sharif, 2007) from

transferors to recipients. Technology transfer may be said to contribute to

the adaptation and use of new technologies during the flow of activities

from a transferor to a recipient. A major focus of the research in this area is

the transaction between participants with little attention paid to the nature of

2

the relationship (e.g. Williams and Gibson, 1990). However, while some

researchers recognize the importance of the relationship, they treat

technology transfer as as a linear or uni-directional process (Bradley et al.,

2013; Dunning, 1983; Siegel et al., 2004). That is, some literature on

technology transfer analyses the technology transfer process implicitly by

taking a linear approach, such as found in many studies of the transfer from

universities to industry recipients.

Other researchers argue that the linear approach to technology transfer fails

to explain how the participants interact in the process. Among these

researchers, a few study technology transfer using more interactive models

(e.g. Bessant and Francis, 2005). Such researchers argue that in reality the

interaction among the participants is one of mutual learning and adaptation

(Parejo, 1998). These interactive models based on mutual learning are con-

sidered particularly useful for exploring technology transfer in developing

economies where relatively weak national innovation systems negatively

affect technology transfer, leading to slow growth in human capital devel-

opment (Arocena and Sutz, 2001).

One difficulty with the national or regional innovation systems in develop-

ing economies is that their science and technology organisations perform

weakly, at least when compared to similar organisations in developed

economies (Bastos and Cooper, 2005; Bebbington and Thiele, 1993;

Beddington and Farrington, 2007). Despite policy-makers’ recent ambitions

to build ‘triple helix’ cooperative relationships among universities,

governments, and rural industries in developing economies, the links and

interactions among these stakeholders are still tenuous (Beddington and

Farrington, 2007; Cimoli et al., 2005; Kaimovitz, 1993).

Various proposals to improve technology transfer in developing economies

include the creation of new organisations, both within universities and out-

side universities (Aroneca and Sultz, 2001). The idea is that such

organisations can act as bridges in a ‘system’ where the poor use of

knowledge and technology for economic growth is the result of ‘structurally

unachieved’ national systems of innovation and the social ‘loneliness’ of

universities (Arocena and Sutz, 2001). To establish institutional

arrangements that can support the interaction among universities,

businesses, NGOS, and government organisations, more independent think

tanks and research and advisory (service provider) centres are needed.

These intermediaries can potentially play a significant role in coordinating

stakeholders and facilitating the technology transfer process in various

3

sectors such as the agri-food industry (Beddington and Farrington, 2007;

Pietrobelli and Rabellotti, 2004; Vorontas, 2002). NGOs also have the

flexibility to interact in the technology transfer process without the having

to follow the restrictions imposed by governmental/industrial regulations

and processes that may impede the interaction. As an example, continued

assistance by government organisations depends on the aims of ever-

changing administrations. NGOs are to a large extent unaffected by changes

in elected government officials.

The structure of this thesis is as follows. Chapter 2 presents the background

and motivation of this thesis and describes its relevance to the thesis aims.

Chapter 3 describes the rural economy of Cauca in Colombia as the

geographical area under study. Chapter 4 explains the relevant concepts

used in this thesis. Chapter 5 presents the literature that guide the analysis of

empirical data. Chapter 6 describes the research design and methods used in

the research. Chapter 7 summarizes the five appended papers. Chapter 8

presents the conclusions of the thesis, with specific reference to the three

research questions. Chapter 9 discusses the contributions and implications

of the thesis. Chapter 10 proposes areas for future research.

5

2. Background and motivation of this thesis

Since 2004, I have worked in 17 development projects in Cauca, Colombia

aimed at implementing policies for rural, small-scale producers.

International and national sponsors have funded these projects that provided

the resources to implement the technologies the producers needed for

production, management, commercialization, marketing, and innovation.

Before 2000, these policies were set without consideration of the producers’

motivations and needs in indigenous communities.1 Many of the projects

undertaken in those years that were intended to help producers sell

improved products failed. The intent of the policies set after 2000 was to

change the nature of the technology transfer.

Arguably, the main difficulties in achieving the goals of the failed projects

were caused by the poor involvement of the government organisations in the

communities. Although the goal of developing the rural sector was sincere,

in hindsight the mechanisms used were unrealistic, given the conditions in

Cauca. For example, Cauca has two parallel governmental systems. One

system is the “normal” national government, elected by the voters, that is

similar to other democratic governments. The second system represents the

indigenous communities. In this system, the government regulates the

communal property of the land and makes the laws in its domain. Because

both governmental systems must approve most projects and programmes,

delays occur. In short, the indigenous and non-indigenous communities,

working with public and private organisations, have to analyse, agree on,

and integrate plans and agendas before work can begin.

After 2000, under the leadership of the University of Cauca, the Regional

Government of Cauca, the Chamber of Commerce, and other organisations,

an agenda for the development of science and technology in Cauca was

1 Community in this thesis refers to a group of people who share values, identity, and sense

of geographic place (James et al., 2012).

6

developed and introduced. A key feature of the agenda was to develop solu-

tions for local needs based on the communities’ priorities for the develop-

ment and use of science and technology.

This thesis takes this newer policy approach to enabling and analysing tech-

nology transfer processes. In particular, this thesis features the following:

i) an analysis of longitudinal studies on development and implementation of

technologies for production;

ii) an analysis of roles that intermediary organisations play in facilitating the

development of the technology transfer processes;

iii) the identification, definition, and empirical assessment of enablers of

technology transfer processes involving participant organisations and their

contexts; and

iv) a study of the gradual evolution in the technology transfer system used

by relevant actors.

Some areas in rural developing economies face a particular dilemma as far

as technology transfers. These economies are often ethnically and/or cultur-

ally diverse, based on small scale production, and their industries typically

produce products using low levels of specialization. In addition, the socio-

economic situation in many rural developing economies is often precarious.

Basic needs (e.g. healthcare, infrastructure, education, etc.) may be barely

met (UNIDO, 2008). Moreover, most rural, small-scale producers lack the

scientific knowledge and financial resources to create technologies by them-

selves. Therefore, the acquisition of new technologies and the access to

international innovation systems for such producers is a critically important

aspect of economic policy (Keller, 2004; Nabin et al., 2013).

Technology transfer is viewed as a key mechanism that can be used to im-

prove the well-being of such rural populations and the performance of their

enterprises (Metz, 2000). Government organisations and NGOs are essential

for the selection and implementation of rural technology transfer pro-

grammes.

7

2.1 What is specific about technology transfer in this

thesis? To understand the main conclusions in my thesis, it is necessary to first

present the findings from the literature on technology transfer in general,

technology transfer in developing countries, and technology transfer in rural

developing economies. The elements that connect these three subgroups of

the technology transfer field contributed to the research reported on in this

thesis. I summarize those elements next.

First, the literature establishes that technology transfer in rural areas is in-

tended to accomplish the following:

i) to satisfy basic human needs such as energy, water, food, and shelter (e.g.

Acker and Kammen, 1996; Barnes, 2012);

ii) to reduce pressure on the environment through the adoption of renewable

energy sources and the use of systems that reduce water pollution, land con-

tamination, and biodiversity damage (e.g. Eakin and Lemos, 2006);

iii) to increase productivity through the use of more efficient technology

(e.g. Dark, 1987; Hyman, 1990);

iv) to promote innovation in the development of new products, services,

business models, and financial models (e.g. Baker and Edmonds, 2004); and

v) to advance productivity initiatives for rural enterprises.

The technology transfer in focus in this thesis is a process that can help rural

enterprises become more productive and profitable. The new technologies

described in this thesis have helped recipients produce products using fewer

natural resources and/or with more desirable customer features. These new

technologies include management practices and procedures, tools and

equipment, manufacturing systems, marketing programmes, and network

management structures. In this respect, the thesis takes a broader view of

technology transfer than is typically described in the literature where mostly

tangible technologies – machines, supplies, and production platforms – are

featured (e.g. Janis, 2003). In short, this thesis deals with both the tangible

and intangible aspects of technology transfer (see Hayami and Ruttan,

1971).

8

Second, many technology transfer studies set in rural areas address the

involvement of the recipients. For example, many studies examine

interventionist approaches to technology transfer in rural agri-food

industries. These are industries in which the technology recipients often take

an active role in developing and adapting technological solutions to meet

their special circumstances (Kinsey, 1987). This thesis also focuses on the

close involvement of recipients in technology transfers.

Third, rural enterprises are featured in this thesis. Such enterprises are

generally small and medium-sized family or community ventures in

developing economies (Martin, 2010). Very few rural enterprises are large

enough to exploit economies of scale or to have international markets or

suppliers. In this thesis, rural enterprises are organisations collectively oper-

ated by small-scale producers2 such as, for example, the township village

enterprises found in China (Dacosta and Carroll, 2001; Li and Karakowsky,

2001), community-based enterprises (Handy et al., 2011; Peredo and

Chrisman, 2006), or community-based cooperatives (Li et al., 2013). What

sets these enterprises apart from technology transfer recipients studied in

much of the literature is that they operate as collectives or collaborative

networks rather than as stand-alone entities or as individuals.

A finding of this thesis is that the assumptions in the general technology

transfer literature are not generally applicable to rural developing economies

in which most recipients (the producers) lack the education needed to

participate in the technology transfer process and to understand the benefits

(financial, market, technical, and managerial) the new technology can

provide. The significant knowledge asymmetry between recipient and

transferor in such economies creates difficulties in the negotiations and

decision-making related to technologies and technology transfer. Table 1

summarizes the different foci of the literature and this thesis with respect to

technology transfer.

2 A producer is an individual, small-scale farmer who, as a member of a cooperative, produces the main product that the rural enterprise sells.

9

Table 1. Differences in technology transfer as presented in the literature

and in this thesis

Common focus of the literature on

technology transfer

Focus of this thesis on technology

transfer

Participants

Type of considered actors

Transferors and recipients are the main actors of the interaction (e.g.

Alessandrini et al., 2013).

In addition to transferors and recipi-

ents, the intermediaries connect transferor and recipient, promoting

division of labour (Baker and Ed-

monds, 2004).

Disposition for changing internal routines.

Recipients can relatively quickly

change their current situation by introducing new routines (e.g. Fitz-

gerald, 1992).

‘Cultural rigidity’ of recipients ham-pers their willingness and ability to

change routines (Ison and Russell,

2000).

Knowledge on the technology of

transfer. Recipients and transferors share

knowledge and have well-

functioning communications

(Lichtenthaler and Lichtenthaler, 2010).

High knowledge asymmetry exists

between recipients and transferors, which makes communication diffi-

cult (Jedlicka, 1977).

Role of recipients

Transferors actively develop the technology for the essentially pas-

sive recipients (e.g. Decter et al.,

2007).

Transferors and recipients work

collaboratively to develop and im-plement technologies (Kunju, 1992).

University and intermediation The university as transferor uses

technology transfer offices to nego-

tiate the legal rights to use the intel-lectual property rights (Siegel et al.,

2007).

The university uses external organi-sations and governmental pro-

grammes to provide financial sup-

port for the development and trans-fer of the technology (Hayami and

Ruttan, 1971; Kaimowitz et al.

1990).

Routine intervention Technology transfer occurs without

intervention in the recipient’s rou-

tines (e.g. Gilsing et al., 2011).

Technology transfer commonly changes the recipient’s routines

(Campbell, 1990).

10

Table 1. Differences in technology transfer as presented in the literature

and in this thesis

Common focus of the literature on

technology transfer

Focus of this thesis on technology

transfer

Participants

Ex ante technological knowledge of

the recipient Recipient decides in advance the

benefits of the use of the new tech-

nology (e.g. Magnusson and Johans-son, 2008).

Recipients lack financial, technical,

and managerial knowledge to decide the benefits of the new technology

(Lilleør and Lund-Sørensen, 2013).

Process

Direction of technology transfer

Uni-directional transfer of artifacts and knowledge from transferors to

recipients (e.g. Cardozo et al., 2011).

Bi-directional transfer of knowledge

(Jedlicka, 1977).

Process view

Structural view of the process based on input-output relationships (e.g.

Teasley and Robinson, 2005).

Process viewed from the perspective

of the interaction among the partici-pants (Baker and Edmonds, 2004).

Determinant of complexity

Technology complexity depends on the R&D level (e.g. Alshumaimri et

al., 2010).

In addition to technological com-

plexity, relational complexity arises from participant interdependencies

(Chatterji, 1990).

Time Cross-sectional view of the process

(e.g. Hayami and Ruttan, 1971).

Longitudinal view of the process (Garud and Nayyar, 1994; Kai-

mowitz et al., 1990).

In developed economies, sophisticated technologies are usually registered,

thereby establishing intellectual property rights. Such registration indicates

that the technology developer has highly specialized knowledge of some

kind. However, less sophisticated technologies are commonly transferred to

recipients as problem solutions in rural developing economies. In such

economies, financial constraints or knowledge constraints mean the use of

sophisticated technologies is impractical, even impossible. This thesis

examines the introduction of less sophisticated solutions when the

participants in the transfer collaboratively create the conditions that allow

for successful adoption of the technologies in spite of the above-stated

limitations.

11

Less sophisticated technologies are identified in this thesis as “intermediate

technologies”. This is a term that developed following Schumacher (1973).3

According to Schumacher, (2011), intermediate technologies would be more

more productive than indigenous technology (which is often in a condition

of decay). Intermediate technologies would also be much cheaper than the

sophisticated, highly capital-intensive technology of modern industry. With

the use of intermediate technologies, many workplaces might be created

within a fairly short time and would be within reach of the more

enterprising minority people in a region, not only in financial terms but also

in terms of their education, aptitude, organising skill, and so forth.

Furthermore, intermediate technologies also take into account people’s

opinions and capabilities and not just the machinery or abstract descriptions.

For example, producers discuss their technology constraints with research-

ers, leading to researcher modifications in the technology so that producers

can use it. This active role of the recipients has a positive effect on the cost

and performance of the intermediate technology.

Intermediate technologies are crucial in the development of rural economies

(e.g. Cimoli et al., 2005; Saad and Zawdie, 2005). Thus, the topic warrants

further investigation. In particular, many authors (e.g. Rodrik, 1999;

Spithoven et al., 2011) argue the factors that facilitate the transfer of tech-

nology to rural enterprises in developing economies merit further study.

In small-scale production activities in rural developing economies, the

producers often operate independently although, at times, organisations

coordinate many of their activities. The producers, governments, or NGOs

may create these organisations.

Box 1 presents an example of an intermediate technology studied in this

thesis.

3 Schumacher (2011, p. 149) wrote: “We can call the indigenous technology

of a developing country-symbolically speaking-a £1 - technology, while that of the developed countries could be called a £1000 - technology. The gap between these two technologies is so enormous that a transition from the one to the other is simply impossible. If effective help is to be brought to those who need it most, a technology is required which would range in some intermediate position between the £1 - technology and the £1000 - technology. Let’s us call it - again symbolically speaking - a £100 -technology.”

12

Why does Cauca, Colombia, offer a relevant setting for the study of

technology transfer processes? Cauca exemplifies the small-scale producer

conditions in rural developing economies where the producers strive to

13

maintain a balance between the traditional means of production with the

new alternatives offered by the government or universities. The Cauca pro-

ducers operate in geographic areas in which the support by institutions at the

national and regional levels, however, is unpredictable because of frequent

changes in policies, human resources, financial plans in the public sector

and civil unrest (or the remnants thereof) that have plagued the region for

the last 50 years. The rural areas in particular suffer from the violence that is

a consequence of the illicit drugs production (Hristov, 2005).

2.2 Research questions, overall research design, and

outline This thesis was designed during the implementation of a technology

programme under the guidance of academic-related research and advisory

centres. The programme was established for intermediate technology

transfer in a rural developing economy (Cauca, Colombia). The programme

sucessfully brought together academic researchers, the local government,

and pisciculture (fishing), silk, and coffee industry stakeholders. The

programme was designed to address the lack of technology transfer to these

owners/managers of rural enterprises. These three industry sectors were

identified as of strategic importance in Colombia, given the country’s need

to increase and support rural industries (Cruz-Casalias et al., 2011).

The three main research questions (RQ) in this thesis are the following:

RQ #1: How do intermediaries influence technology transfer of

intermediate technologies in rural enterprises of developing economies?

This research question is motivated by the fact that the technology transfer

literature claims that intermediaries facilitate communication and support to

recipients, but does not explain how this transfer occurs (e.g. Alessandrini et

al., 2013; Baker and Edmonds, 2004). Much of the literature focuses mainly

on improving the transferor’s business (e.g. Carlsson and Fridh, 2002). This

thesis, in contrast, is concerned with how technology transfer benefits the

recipient’s business in the collaborative process. The role of the

intermediary changes the dynamic of the interaction between transferor and

recipient, and supports improvements to the recipient’s business.

RQ #2: Which features of the participants and their relations affect the

transfer of intermediate technologies in rural developing economies?

The technology transfer literature mainly deals with the interaction between

multinational companies in developed countries and their subsidiaries in

14

developing countries. This literature describes the factors that facilitate

international technology transfer in general (e.g. Rabino, 1989). However,

factors that specifically enable technology transfer in rural developing

economies are insufficiently studied. Moreover, factors that influence the

process in rural areas are not explicitly identified. The extant literature tends

to examine various factors related to technology transfer with little

consideration paid to their evolution. By contrast, the literature on rural

technology transfer reveals best practices (e.g. Röling, 1990) and facilitators

(e.g. Hill, 1964) in the technology transfer to recipients. Yet even this

literature does not offer a framework in which all factors are linked and

discussed.

RQ #3: How do ‘systems’ of technology transfer evolve in rural developing

economies?

The literature does not address the gradual changes in organisational

systems engaged in the technology transfer process (e.g. Garud and Nayyar,

1994). Thus, this research question is motivated by empirical observations

in the literature from longitudinal studies on technology transfer related to

national or local economic change (e.g. Hayami and Ruttan, 1971).

However, to the best of my knowledge, no study examines how technology

transfer evolves through changes in actors, their roles, their relationships,

their knowledge, and their actions. The aim of this research question is to

learn more about the dynamic context of producers in the technology

transfer process.

To answer RQ #1, I refer to Stewart and Hyysalo’s (2008) social learning in

technological innovation (SLTI) framework. The use of Situated Learning

Theory (Brown and Duguid, 1991, 1998, 2001; Lave and Wenger, 1989;

Swan et al., 2002; Wenger, 1998, 2000) supports the creation of an

analytical framework that identifies the role of intermediaries as

organisations capable of facilitating technology transfer through communi-

ties of practice (CoP) (Lave and Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998).

To answer RQ # 2, I review the technology transfer literature in order to

create a framework for technology transfer enablers in developing rural

economies. This framework, which includes intermediaries as participants

in the technology transfer process, is used in a longitudinal case study. The

framework is useful for understanding the interactive technology transfer

model.

15

To answer RQ #3, I analyse the emergence of a system of actors engaged in

technology transfer from an evolutionary perspective. The aim of this analy-

sis is to capture how recipients, transferors, and intermediaries interactively

formulate and solve problems.

In this thesis, I empirically focus on how low and intermediate technologies

are integrated in the technology transfer system and on how they promote

learning and a wider range of capabilities among the participants (recipients,

transferors, and intermediaries) that can be used in more ambitious collabo-

rations. This focus allows the analysis of how technology transfer evolves

from a very low division of labour, little knowledge of management of

technology, few available problem-solving options, and few available

problem-solving resources. This evolution is based on the assumption that

complex problems require complex solutions. Such solutions, which do not

emerge easily, involve changes made over long periods of time.

I chose to study technology transfer using mixed method data collection in

case studies and action research. In addition to conducting semi-structured

interviews with relevant participants, I collected other data from participant

and non-participant observations and from direct interaction with the

participants over extended time periods. In the direct interaction, I observed

participants in workshops and on farm visits.

I also conducted a document review because of the personal characteristics

of some rural enterprise members in indigenous and racially mixed

communities. These characteristics included low education levels and

limited oral and written communication skills. Some members of indigenous

communities have a regional dialect as their first language instead of

Spanish. In addition, the vocabularies of the racially mixed communities are

not sufficiently rich to express complex ideas clearly. Finally, the socio-

economic hierarchy of the members influences their interaction with

producers and other organisations in the technology transfer process.

The research for this thesis was conducted during an interventionist

programme. My role as a researcher was to design and implement activities

that would promote the interaction between the participants and to support

the research teams, the intermediaries, and the rural enterprises with the

introduction of new business technologies. As such, the programme offered

a rich setting for the study because the rural organisations were motivated to

play an active role in the interaction between transferors and recipients. I

argue that this investigation of the collaboration between transferors and

16

recipients requires a close and deep understanding of the situation. An

interventionist approach allows the researcher to participate at different

levels, sometimes as an observer and sometimes as a member of the

transferor organisation.

This thesis reveals the importance of understanding how the setting and the

participants (recipients, transferors, and intermediaries) are important for

organising and facilitating the technology transfer and for its subsequent

adaptation and use.

The research for this thesis derives from 13 interconnected research

projects. The thesis design was developed during the execution of these

projects. Seven of these projects provided the empirical data that resulted in

five research papers (summarized in Section 5 and appended to the thesis).

Papers 1, 2, and 3 were published in peer-reviewed journals. Paper 4 has

been submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. Paper 5 has been submitted to a

peer-reviewed academic conference.

17

3. The Rural Economy of Cauca in Colombia

This section provides an overview of the context of the thesis research in

order to highlight the “situatedness” of the researcher and the team respon-

sible for conducting the seven research projects previously mentioned.

Developing economies are a highly heterogeneous group in terms of eco-

nomic size, population, per capita income, and growth performance in the

recent decade (OECD, 2010 a, b). To create a business environment that

could sustain growth, facilitate further development and diversification, and

at the same time could generate better living conditions for the population in

the short and medium term, governments in developing economies in the

1980s and 1990s have actively sought foreign direct investment (FDI) using

various financial and fiscal incentive schemes (Fu et., al., 2011); import

substitution (Lall, 2004), and trade channel technology transfers (Saggi,

2002). Apart from attracting hard currency, the goal of these FDIs is to de-

velop innovation capabilities through the transfer of technology from the

foreign companies to the local industries. While the results of this process

have been successful in some countries, the benefits for the majority of de-

veloping economies are much less clear (e.g. De Mello, 1997).

Agri-food industries constitute sectors of strategic importance, specifically

in Colombia and more generally in many Latin American countries. Policies

targeting natural resource-based sectors are based on the premise that up-

grading can be fostered by technology improvements and by diffusion of

best practices in technology use. This premise underpins the adoption of

quality and environmental standards that create common assets for the ac-

tors involved and enable access to a global value chain with promising op-

portunities (Bastos and Cooper, 2005; Cimoli et al., 2005; Correa, 1995;

Pietrobelli and Rabellotti, 2004).

To this end, policy-making has been geared towards promoting stakeholder

collaboration in research and in dissemination of technology (e.g. by univer-

18

sities/NGOs/governments/technology recipients), improving the skills and

abilities of existing small-scale producers, and facilitating the entry of pro-

ducers. Importantly, such efforts aim at promoting linkages amongst agri-

food entities for technology dissemination, resulting in collective efficiency.

However, traditional research institutions are not adequately equipped to

meet the challenges related to transferring the technology that Latin Ameri-

can agri-food systems need. Two critical challenges facing universities and

governments in the region are obsolete institutional structures and the lack

of stable funding for agricultural and natural resource management research

(Bastos and Cooper, 2005; Beddington and Farrington, 2007; Cimoli et al.,

2005; Kaimovitz, 1993).

In particular, the economy in Colombia, which is traditionally agricultural,

in general lacks the integral competitive strategies that would allow the

country to reach markets with more added value. In the attempt to mitigate

the effects of globalization, several efforts have been made to consolidate

chains of value focused on productive chains of far-reaching extension with

large-scale producers. In some cases, productive chains of small-scale rural

producers have shown incipient but quite encouraging results. Given this

outcome, it is possible to conclude that it is necessary to develop the techno-

logical innovation across the value chains.

3.1 Cauca - Colombia: Empirical context for this study Cauca is a region of Colombia with an area of 29.308 Km2 and GDP per

capita of US$ 6.855 (2016). Cauca is located in the southwest area of Co-

lombia with a population of 1.379.070 habitants, distributed in the following

way: racially mixed and white - 56.31%, African descendants - 22.19%, and

indigenous peoples - 21.5%. Paeces and Guambianos are the largest indige-

nous groups. There are conflicts over land ownership.

Cauca´s economy is based mainly on agriculture, livestock, forestry, fish-

ing, and trade. Recently, agriculture has been improved and modernized.

The main crops are coffee, sugar cane, cane panela (unrefined whole cane

sugar), conventional corn, rice, corn tech, banana, fique (vegetable fibre

obtained from a leaf), cassava, potatoes, tomatoes, blackberries, asparagus,

coconut, sorghum, cocoa, groundnut, and palm. Cattle husbandry for meat

and milk production is an important economic activity for local consump-

tion.

19

Gold, silver and platinum are extracted in the Pacific region of Cauca. Non-

precious minerals that are extracted are sulphur, asbestos, limestone, talc,

gypsum, and coal. At the same time, illegal exploitation of gold mines gen-

erates financial support for criminal groups and guerrilla groups. According

to the United Nations, this is a region with large land areas dedicated to

cultivation of coca leaves, which is the raw material for cocaine production.

In the past, this activity made Cauca one of the most dangerous territories

for the armed conflict between the government military forces and the

FARC and ELN guerrilla groups. Historically, Cauca is a region in Colom-

bia with a large indigenous population where coca leaves are used as medi-

cine and food and where the use of coca leaves is part of the culture. Coca

production for use in these activities is legal according to the Colombian

Government.

The manufacturing industry in Cauca is primarily located in the cities of

Popayán, Santander de Quilichao, and Puerto Tejada. Production consists of

food, beverages, dairy products, paper, packaging, wood processing, sugar

refining, and paper processing for export.

Around the year 2000, Cauca began to consolidate its institutions, networks,

and processes with the goal of increasing its regional competitiveness.

However, according to the CEPAL report (Ramírez et. al., 2013), the region

still suffers from i) the heterogeneity of productive activities, ii) the relative

poor progress of its competitiveness, iii) the low level of wealth, and iv) the

under-developed science and technology. However, recently there has been

a significant increase in medium-low level infrastructure, advances in medi-

um-low level human capital development, and sustained progress in public

finance management and security. The regional development agenda em-

phasizes economic and research development relative to the natural re-

source-based industries.

3.2 A brief look at the background of Cauca – Colom-

bia in the last two decades In 1999, the regional government in Cauca realized it needed to find alterna-

tives to Neoliberalism as a concrete development strategy for the entry of

the region into the global economy (Prospective Plan Cauca 2020, 2000).4

4 This was a four-year project, using participatory tools, that defined the idea of development

the communities in Cauca wanted to achieve between 2000 and 2020. The project considered

various development areas such as the following: science and technology for solving prob-

20

In particular, local actors explored the opportunities offered by the theories

of the Endogenous Development (Gómez, 2017) and the statements on sys-

temic competitiveness. These theories and statements stress the importance

of networks and social stakeholders as responsible actors in a process of

growth with equity and social inclusion.

The construction of an alternative development model involves a technolo-

gy and knowledge management strategy able to support the dialog with

farmers who have valuable traditional knowledge. Such knowledge is main-

ly tacit among the actors of the local support institutions who work exten-

sively with codified knowledge, especially concerning markets and technol-

ogies, which are critical areas for rural communities in a global context.

The emergence of the global economy has deep implications for the sustain-

ability of small-scale rural producers in Cauca and in Colombia. The re-

definition of the competitive position of the country in the globalization

processes, which have influenced different sectors of the economy, has left

behind a majority of small-scale rural producers. The reasons include the

following: i) reduction of Government support in technical assistance and

research: ii) open competition with foreign products, which are largely sub-

sidized by their countries: and iii) the division and regionalization of the

responsibility necessary to support the rural sector, which means greater

responsibilities with smaller budgets. As a result, there is a deep crisis in the

agrarian economy that especially affects areas of rural majority, such as the

Department of Cauca.

However, globalization has also created new opportunities in new markets

for these small-scale producers, especially for tropical products such as

fruits, vegetables, medicinal and aromatic plants, high quality coffees, and

organic products, among others. Similarly, the local leaders, supported by

institutions and the innovators, have gained greater autonomy and have

developed a significant capacity to define and to put into practice their own

strategies and mechanisms that take advantage of the emerging market op-

portunities.

In many regions of Colombia, and particularly in Cauca, there are examples

of small-scale rural producers who have succeeded in penetrating highly

demanding markets with their innovative and competitive products. The

lems in the communities, participation of the communities in the design of political agendas,

management of the water and other natural resources, and ICT for people.

21

result has been a significant improvement in their quality of life. This is due

to the development of integral strategies that combine an articulated and

coherent institutional support, the organisation and partnership of the pro-

ducers, the offer and appropriation of information about the markets, and a

more accurate technological administration. However, so far, these success-

ful examples are very limited, which makes them unique exceptions to the

reality of the widespread economic crisis among the country’s rural popula-

tion.

Agro-industrial Productive Chains refer to “actors connected along a chain

producing and delivering goods to consumers through a sequence of activi-

ties” (Henriksen et al., 2010). Among the experiences of small agri-chains

(Agro-industrial Productive Chains), one in particular stands out: “The Cor-

poration for the Development of the Sericulture of Cauca, CORSEDA”.

This agri-chain is the result of the effort of more than 300 rural families

dedicated to the activity of breeding silk worms and the production of buds

and handmade silk fabric. CORSEDA is a second level organisation, formed

by local associations of silk producers and artisans. CORSEDA works in

municipalities such as Popayán, Timbío, El Tambo, Piendamó, Morales,

Caldono, Santander de Quilichao, and Caloto. Through this organisation,

the negotiating capacity of the chain has improved and its production pa-

rameters have been unified. Mainly, however, CORSEDA supports the fam-

ilies in important issues such as social security coverage. Today CORSEDA

has the “Hand Made Quality Signature” granted by the ICONTEC5 and or-

ganic fibre certification. These marks of approval for its products allow

CORSEDA to sell products in international markets.

Today, CORSEDA has developed innovative models of associative organi-

sation, commercialization, strengthening of technical attendance, small

credits, social attendance, and promotion of human development. The out-

come is that the chain can now sell highly competitive products in the inter-

national markets. The chain is an example of a highly integrated value

chain.

5 ICONTEC is the Colombian Institute of Technical Norms and Certifications. It is a private,

non-profit organization. The main activity of ICONTEC is the study, adoption, and promo-

tion of technical standards in the different economic and social activities related to the pri-

vate and governmental sectors in the country. ICONTEC is also involved in quality assur-

ance. It is the largest body for certification of management systems and products in the coun-

try, and provides certification for ISO 9001, 14001, 22000, OHSAS 18001 standards, among

others. (https://www.iso.org/member/1644.html)

22

Currently, the silk farmers have a crisis caused by the deterioration of the

genetic materials of the worm and of the mulberry plant. A new project,

using a national government fund to develop research and development

processes from the university, is intended to create new technologies to

solve these and other problems.

Similarly, there are other organisations such as ANTUVENT (Association

of Producers of Anturios of Ventanas Caldono), which won the National

Prize of Ecology BLUE PLANET 2004-2005 in the General Category, and

Federación Agraria Nacional – FANAL- (Rural Federation of Cauca),

which has succeeded in markets in Germany and the United States due to its

immersion in the fair-trade market and the commercialization of special

coffees. The result is the improvement in the living conditions of 560 rural

families in Cauca.

However, coffee production in Cauca and Colombia is the most successful

activity because of its long tradition and the good practices used. Still, it is

difficult locally to establish similar arrangements for other products. The

Colombian Coffee Growers Federation has more than 80 years of experi-

ence with its research centre, its technical assistance process, and its com-

mercialization in international markets. It is a national cooperative organisa-

tion with offices in each region. Unfortunately, the replication of the best

practices in the rural areas has not achieved good results. Each product,

community, and local context faces different challenges.

The above mentioned successful entries into international markets were

followed by other chains of small-scale producers such as the fish producers

that sell products in local markets.

Motivated by the national policies, diverse projects have defined priorities

and actions in Cauca. One project is called the Internal Agenda of Cauca,

which identifies12 productive options prioritized by the Department of Cau-

ca in its 2006 agenda. With support from the national government, the In-

ternal Agenda promotes five options related to rural production: agri-chains,

specialty coffees, cattle husbandry, vegetable-fruit, and forestry. Two addi-

tional chains may adopt similar strategies, given their rural character: rural

tourism and crafts. In addition, the Internal Agenda is consistent with the

agricultural and agro-industrial productive Chains (Agri-chains) in setting a

high-priority on the economic and social development of the Department of

Cauca. This line has been traditionally classified as the primary sector with

a participation in the Gross Domestic Product`s structure that reaches the

23

21.39%6 and in which the agro-industry represents 49% of the exportable

offer.7

According to the DANE8 statistics and projections, Cauca has a population

of 1.404.205 people, of whom 60% live in rural areas.

The general purpose of the national and regional programmes is the creation

of strategies of intervention for the production chains that hope to transform

their chains of value by the following two actions:

i) the appropriation of integration outlines and the productive articulation

supported in the partnership among producers with some elements of com-

petitive intelligence and technological management that allow them to

achieve the demanding requirements of the current markets;

ii) the combined generation of a new model of articulation between rural

producers and the regional institutionalism for support that establishes the

political guidelines for the generation of capacity for self-management in

the rural organisations.

This thesis examines three product sectors in Cauca: fish, coffee, and silk.

Fish farming, coffee cultivation, and silk production are three agri-industry

sectors that have been identified as “key industries’’ in Cauca, which are

targeted for government intervention (Department of Cauca, 2012). This is

consistent with the policy-making rationale that Latin American economies

benefit mostly from inner technology transfer when their national innova-

tion systems focus on strengthening the absorptive capacity of strategic

industries.

The adoption of new technologies among fish farmers and coffee producers

aimed at reducing production and distribution costs, increases the productiv-

ity, quality, and scale of production and helps farmers access large pro-

curement systems. The technologies adopted during the course of this re-

search were novel for both the farmers and the researchers. In line with the

regional agenda of economic development, social cohesion, and sustainabil-

6 Sitec, 2013 7 Proexport, 2010. 8 National Administrative Department of Statistics commonly -DANE- is responsible for the

planning, compilation, analysis, and dissemination of the Colombian official statistics. Every

ten years, DANE conducts the census of the national population, housing, and other studies

(http://www.dane.gov.co/index.php/en/).

24

ity, the adopted technologies are eco-friendly. They also address innova-

tiveness and environmental considerations. With the benefit of hindsight,

the seven projects9 reported on in this thesis were evaluated as successes by

all the stakeholders involved.

9 The different projects differentially contribute to the five appended papers.

26

4. Relevant Concepts used in this Thesis

The use of the concepts in this thesis is strongly influenced by the need to

understand contextual characteristics and the assumption that “technology

transfer process cannot be examined in isolation” (Kunju, 1992). The recog-

nition of the rural community context raises the question of whether science

contributes to problem solving. In this respect, Ison and Russell (2000) ex-

plain the need for a “second-order research and development in which the

role and actions of the researcher are very much part of the interactions

being studied”.

Figure 1 illustrates how main concepts relate to technology transfer. In addi-

tion, concepts such as user-oriented diffusion and appropriation of technol-

ogy are applied.

Figure 1. Main concepts used in the thesis

27

The following section describes main concepts in the thesis.

4.1 Intermediate and low technologies I use a definition of technology suggested by Burgelman et al. (2004, p. 2):

. . . “the theoretical and practical knowledge, skills, and artefacts that can be

used to develop products and services, as well as their production and deliv-

ery systems. Technologies can be embodied in people, materials, cognitive

and physical processes, plant, equipment and tools. Key elements of tech-

nology may be implicit, existing only in an embedded form (like trade se-

crets based on know-how) and may have a large tacit component. Technol-

ogy, thus, is the means to fulfil a human purpose, and as such can include

artifacts or know-how” (cf. Arthur, 2009).

This thesis focuses on technologies that are used and diffused in rural de-

veloping economies. Technology in rural developing economies was intro-

duced to promote development around five decades ago by developed coun-

tries hoping to industrialize agriculture. Subsequently, local organisations

with the government support began to develop solutions using research and

development techniques and solutions (Campbell, 1990).

Box 2 presents examples of technology use in the coffee, fish, and silk pro-

duction in Cauca, Colombia.

Currently, with the diversification of productive activities in rural areas of

developing economies, technologies are diverse. Usually they involve both

a hard and a soft component interacting as a technological package.

A specific type of technology is intermediate technology, which is also

known as appropriate technology. Intermediate technology refers to tech-

nology that is “labour-intensive and will lend itself to use in small-scale

establishments” (Schumacher, 2011, 148). Specifically, in relation to the

rural context, Wood (1984, p. 320) describes intermediate technology as “a

level of technology better than the simple methods used in the rural hinter-

land, more productive than the traditional tools, but far simpler and less

capital-intensive than the modern technology imported from the West”.

According to Wood (1984, p. 321), intermediate technologies are “… rela-

tively small, simple, capital-saving, labour-intensive, and environmentally

less-damaging technologies, suitable for local, small-scale application”.

28

Intermediate technology was identified as one way to fill the gap created by

the disparate knowledge levels between the participants in developing coun-

tries (Bennett et al., 2002; Schumacher, 2011; Wicklein and Kachmar,

2001).

29

Kinsey (1987) stated that developing countries should develop intermediate

technologies that are intensive in the use of abundant factors (labour and

natural resources) but economic in the use of scarce resources (capital and

highly trained personnel). The abundant factors offer advantages in terms of

employment, improved income distribution, and relief of migration prob-

lems from rural to urban areas. Jedlik (1977) suggested that intermediate

technologies can be indigenously produced through the creation of research

and development institutions that can provide R&D services. Similarly,

Burch (1987) described the need for an indigenous technological capability

that can adapt and develop the technology according to the local conditions,

enabling its assimilation. Strong institutional infrastructure is important for

effective R&D and its use by the recipients.

Another way to approach less sophisticated technologies is based on the

R&D intensity in manufacturing sectors. Low technology differs from high

technology by the less advanced level of sophistication or scientific

knowledge used in operations (Czarnitzki and Thorwarth, 2012; Hirsch-

Kreinsen, 2008). In support of this idea, the OECD (2011) classified manu-

facturing industries into categories based upon Research and Development

(R&D) intensity. According to this classification, food production, one of

the most common activities in rural environments, is considered low tech-

nology. However, in this thesis, low technology is more used in non-

manufacturing industries, such as rural mining, rural construction, agricul-

ture, rural tourism, etc.

Low technologies in this classification are connected to low levels of in-

vestments in R&D. As a consequence, low-technology companies compen-

sate for their lack of R&D by developing other resources and other innova-

tive capacities (Palmberg, 2001).

Box 3 presents examples of intermediate technologies and low technologies

that are analysed in this thesis.

31

4.2 Innovation Technology transfer has great potential for promoting innovation and com-

petitiveness at regional and national levels (Bennett and Vaidya, 2005). In

this thesis, innovation is based on the Schumpeterian defined as “the com-

mercial or industrial application of something new- a new product, process

or method of production; a new market or source of supply; a new form of

commercial, business, or financial organisation”. (Schumpeter, 1934, p.

xix).

This thesis focuses on process innovation “as the outcome of collaborative

networks where information is exchanged and learning processes happen”

(Knickel et al., 2009, p. 883). The examples in Boxes 1, 2, and 3 mostly

show innovation generated in a collaborative way among universities, rural

enterprises, NGOs, and government organisations.

Diffusion of innovation has been characterized “as the process by which an

innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the

members of a social system” (Rogers and Shoemaker, 1971, p. 35). Concep-

tually, diffusion of innovations can be connected with diffusion of technol-

ogies (Williams and Gibson, 1990) and the involvement of the user.

In the attempt to analyse technology transfer processes, this thesis identifies

the development of new products, with embedded technology transfer activ-

ities, that could become innovations. These product development processes

are completed in the R&D phase and implemented for the launch of the new

products. The facts needed to demonstrate which innovations should be

promoted through technology transfer in the rural context can be problemat-

ic. The reasons include, for example, the lack of reliable information about

market impact and the projected revenue for the rural enterprises.

Box 4 presents some examples of potential innovations identified in the

analysed cases.

32

4.3 Rural enterprises

Studies on technology transfer tend to describe the dynamics and behaviours

of individuals such as farmers. However, they usually do not deal extensive-

ly with the nature and role of rural enterprises, which is a family-oriented

production unit immersed in a community-based context. Such enterprises

are often less developed but operate in urban areas. Unfortunately, Henry

and McElwee (2014) argue that the concept of rural enterprise is not well

understood. To deal with this issue, I use the description of rural enterprise

from Kinsey (1987, p. 4):

“Agribusiness and rural enterprises are small-to-medium scale enterprises

located predominantly in non-metropolitan areas. While they typically pro-

cess agricultural raw materials - including food, fibre and forest and live-

33

stock products, many do not produce any product but instead provide mar-

keting, transport or other services.”

The contexts behind this definition are the developing economies in which

interventions that harness the local communities for solving their problems

are emphasized. These interventions are thought to offer opportunities to

rural inhabitants to own their businesses. The interventions include training,

research services, management advisory services, marketing or technical

support, loan programmes, and assistance with the procurement of raw ma-

terials and equipment. The marketing support includes helping with access

to market information and to sales outlets and with subcontracting from

large manufacturers to small enterprises that permits flows of information.

Rural enterprises are collective enterprises that organise economic activity

(Arnold, 1994). In rural cooperatives, trust is the foundation of the coopera-

tion that also reduces internal transaction costs (Liu, 2011). Salavou and

Sergaki (2013) identified some characteristics of agricultural cooperatives

that include production orientation, vertical integration from farming to

after-sales services, maximization of member benefits, limited access to

capital, and low interest in long-term investments. These characteristics

have implications for the technology transfer process owing to the interac-

tion between the rural cooperatives and other organisations. This process

gives the cooperatives access to the new technologies. The recipient of

technology can be explained on two levels of analysis: the farms as produc-

tive units and the cooperative as the organisation that unites the farms.

34

5. Literature

This section describes three types of literature; technology transfer litera-

ture, situated learning theory, and systems and evolution. The thesis draws

on and contributes to the literature on technology transfer. This literature

includes viewpoints such as technology transfer from multinational compa-

nies to subsidiaries in developing countries (e.g. Attaran et al., 2014;

Simango, 2000), technology transfer from university to industry (e.g. Bes-

sant and Francis, 2005; Chugh, 2013) and technology transfer from the gov-

ernment to enterprises or the society in general (e.g. Ahuja, 2012). These

viewpoints are analysed to identify their potential application in rural enter-

prises in developing economies, specifically, when the technologies trans-

ferred are not very intensive in research and development, but solve the

problem that needs to be solved. As mentioned above, some authors call

these technologies ‘low technologies’ (Ockwell, et al., 2008; Scott, 2006)

and others ‘intermediate technologies or appropriate technologies’ (Alme-

kinders and Louwaars, 1999; Jedlicka, 1977).

Situated Learning Theory (SLT) and the evolutionary approach are lenses

that can be used in the analysis of technology transfer processes, the in-

volved actors, and the actors’ interactions. Both take a complementary per-

spective of the technology transfer phenomenon. SLT provides a framework

for understanding collective development of knowledge during technology

transfer processes. The evolutionary approach provides a way to understand

changes over time in the same processes.

5.1 Technology transfer in rural developing economies:

a distinct type of technology transfer While aspects of technology transfers are discussed in the literature (Chat-

terji, 1990; Hess and Siegwart, 2013; Lee, 1997), most of the literature re-

lates to technology transfer between countries or organisations in developed

economies (e.g. Festel, 2013; Parry, 1984). Specifically, by emphasizing

high-technology environments, the technology transfer literature focuses on

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1?ie=UTF8&text=Esha+Ahuja&search-alias=books-uk&field-author=Esha+Ahuja&sort=relevancerank

35

the inputs and deliverables of the transfer process. In contrast, the literature

on low-technology environments is relatively limited. This literature centres

on the dynamics of the process and the interactions between participants

(e.g. Saggi, 2002).

Technology transfers in rural developing economies are mainly documented

in the agricultural sector (e.g. Campbell, 1990; Ison and Russell, 2000; Jed-

licka, 1977; Lilleør and Lund-Sørensen, 2013). However, in this thesis the

rural context also includes activities such as eco-tourism, rural-based manu-

facturing, production of traditional goods and handicrafts, rural service pro-

vision, fishing / forestry production, and small-scale mining. These are often

important sectors in socio-economic terms.

There are multiple viewpoints on the transfer of technology. Ramanathan

(1994), for example, thinks that technology transfer is a two-directional

concept in which a differentiation can be made between vertical and hori-

zontal technology transfers. Vertical technology transfer is explained as the

flow of activities from the scientific research to the invention and commer-

cialization (i.e. the transferor and recipient collaborate in the process be-

cause the technology is imperfectly developed at the beginning). In horizon-

tal technology transfer, the transfer occurs from one unit to another at a time

when the recipient is ready to adopt the technology and the technology is

ready for transfer.

The transfer of technologies to rural environments was first explored in the

second half of the last century. For example, Hayami and Ruttan (1971)

described transfer experiences between multinational companies (MNCs) in

the United States to companies in Japan (regarded as a developing country

at that time). These experiences were mainly related to agricultural practic-

es. Echavarria et al. (1990) studied vertical technology transfer in the agri-

cultural sector in Latin America for the production of cotton, rice, and sug-

arcane. Basu (2010) analysed vertical technology transfers in several Indian

industry clusters (including pharmaceutical, agricultural, handicraft, and

medical clusters), and described the process from the policy design to its

implementation. Moulik and Purushotham (1986) studied vertical technolo-

gy transfers in the agricultural sector in India and detected a failed linkage

between policies in the creation of an effective, decentralized technology

sector.

In contrast, Pogue and Rampa (2006) and Lorentzen and Pogue (2009) have

proposed some alternatives for the study of foreign technology transfer in

36

the mining sector of developing countries using the concept of lateral migra-

tion. One particularly relevant study shows a linear innovation process that

involved researchers, suppliers, manufacturers, and users of hydraulic sys-

tems in the South African mining industry. Two main concerns in this study

were the creation of engineering skills in the recipient country and the need

for a network of local and international organisations that could support the

diffusion of the technology. The term “lateral migration” is used to describe

processes that apply technologies in a different context from the one in

which the technology was developed.

Transferors and recipients are not the only actors in the technology transfer

process. Yet in the literature on technology transfer we find only a few stud-

ies on intermediaries that connect transferors and recipients (e.g. Hervas-

Oliver et al., 2012; Spithoven et al., 2011). Furthermore, the studies on the

role of such intermediaries have, by and large, focused on firms that operate

in high-technology clusters. Relatively little attention has been paid to how

third-sector research and advisory centres, such as technology intermediar-

ies, facilitate technology transfer and user innovation in low-technology

rural clusters of small-scale agribusinesses in developing economies. Nota-

bly, although various typologies of technology intermediaries have been

developed (Bessant and Rush, 1995; Howells, 2006; Spithoven et al., 2011),

the modus operandi of such organisations is still not well understood. This

is a serious deficiency given the strategic importance of the agribusi-

ness/traditional sectors to the socio-economic development of many less

industrialized countries.

5.2 Situated Learning Theory

Situated Learning Theory (SLT) has recently gained popularity as a theory

because it offers an alternative to conventional approaches for analysing the

diffusion of ‘know-how’. Its primary tenet is that learning is fundamentally

a social phenomenon that reflects the social nature of human beings who are

capable of knowing. The central construct in this theory is the notion of

communities of practice (CoPs). According to Wenger et al. (2000, p. 4):

“Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern, a set of

problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and

expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis.”

For Wenger, the construct of a ‘community of practice’ represents the point

of entry into a broader conceptual framework, thereby underscoring the

37

importance of community, practice, learning, meaning, and identity as ele-

ments that “are deeply interconnected and mutually defining” (Wenger,

1998, p. 5). These components illuminate the process of learning to diffuse

or absorb a new technology, of pointing out what matters about learning,

and of emphasizing the tacit component of knowledge.

Situated Learning theorists (Brown, 2004; Brown and Duguid, 1998, 2001;

Snyder and Wenger, 2010; Wenger, 1998, 2000; Wenger et al., 2002) argue

that the ability of a CoP to create new meanings about what matters in pur-

suing an enterprise or in learning new competencies (in this instance, opti-

mizing diffusion and/or receptivity of a new technology) depends on three

factors. The first factor is the strength of the community as evidenced by the

cohesion of its members. The second factor is the quality of its ‘boundaries’

(the spaces where different CoPs interface). The third factor is the health of

the communal identity that supports the creation of new meaning and learn-

ing. The strength of a CoP refers to how well its members engage and par-

ticipate socially in the community’s efforts to achieve a common goal. It

also relates to how well a CoP can coordinate perspectives, interpretations,

and actions so that higher goals are realized.

Leadership that promotes connectivity, active membership, and artifacts --

such as symbols, roadmaps and tools -- enhance the strength of a CoP. The

quality of the boundaries on which different CoPs interact socially is deter-

mined by the function of ‘brokers’ (i.e. mediators with an understanding of

the interacting CoPs), the presence of common ‘boundary objects’ (e.g.

agendas, action plans, and frameworks in use), and the potency of boundary

encounters (i.e. how well these events allow for meaningful interaction

among interfacing CoPs). Healthy identities are characterized by connect-

edness (i.e. uniting members), expansiveness (i.e. allowing space for new

perspectives), and effectiveness (i.e. enabling participation and action). In

SLT terms, stakeholders (such as universities, regional government agen-

cies, and chambers of commerce) concerned with the supply side of tech-

nology transfer to rural industries, belong to different networks (Knorr-

Cetina, 1999).

5.3 Systems and evolution The evolution in innovation processes required different models to represent

the sequence of activities (Rothwell, 1994). Consequently, several concep-

tions were included in the different approaches to innovation such as the

national innovation system (Freeman, 1974, 1987, 1997; Lundvall, 1992;

38

Nelson, 1993), sectoral or technological innovation systems (Malerba, 2002;

Carlsson and Stankiewicz, 1991), and regional innovation systems (Cooke,

1992; D’Allura, Galvagno and Li Destri; 2012), with the intention of organ-

ising the innovation process from a systemic point of view. In fact, the men-

tioned system theories are based on the connections among actors that deal

with the creation, diffusion, and use of innovation. The main focus of the

open-ended innovation system theories is networking and ‘meeting places’.

The evolution of a system is determined by major changes in the system

over time (e.g. Malerba, 2004). This may consist of changes in how the

actors are connected, the major problems or opportunities that they perceive,

and how they attempt to deal with the problems or opportunities. The evolu-

tion of systems may be exogenous, where, for example, changes in policy or

markets may affect the actors in the system, or endogenous, where the activ-

ities or decisions of one of the actors affect the activities, motivations, and

resources of other actors.

There are different ways to portray evolution, but perhaps the best known is

the model that consists of three mechanisms: variety creation, selection, and

retention (Campbell, 1960). The first mechanism concerns the generation of

variety. Variety creation generates novelties in the system, which may be

the creation of a set of formulated problems or alternative solutions to the

identified problems or to the number or types of actors, products, or process

innovations. This variety creation can either be deliberate or “blind” (Al-

drich 1999): Variety is deliberately created when an actor searches for solu-

tions to a problem, while it is “blind” when alternatives reveal themselves

over time independent of environmental or selection pressures.

In the selection process, variety is reduced by the selection regime, consist-

ing of, for example, the market or policy. Other examples include the reduc-

tion of problems by the use and diffusion of solutions, which in turn may be

further eliminated when the least promising generated alternative solutions

is removed until one or a few selected solutions remains. In this process, the

generated alternatives have two, not necessarily independent, selection

mechanisms: internal and external selection (cf. Aldrich 1999). Internal

selection occurs when an actor evaluates the alternatives against each other,

and against some explicit or implicit evaluation criteria, weeding out the

unfavourable solutions and selecting the preferable ones. External selection

occurs through pressures from the actor’s environment, affecting the attrac-

tiveness or practicality of solutions, and may appear in the form of, for ex-

ample, culture, norms, and competition. The external selection mechanism

39

can naturally be part of shaping the evaluation criteria against which the

actor weighs the differing alternatives. The final mechanism concerns the

retention in which the previously selected solution is preserved by being

embedded in the technology transfer system as new or reconfigured physical

or social technologies, such as gadgets, recipes or blueprints, routines, rela-

tionships, or organisational structures that form the overarching system over

time.

40

6. Research Design and Methods

This chapter has five sections. Section 6.1 outlines the research design and

case selection. Section 6.2 describes the data collection methods and the

sources of data. Section 6.3 describes the data analysis methods. In Section

6.4, I reflect on my role as a researcher during the entire research process.

Finally, Section 6.5 discusses the soundness of the research process.

As stated in Chapter 1, the research questions of this thesis are:





RQ #3: How do ‘systems’ of technology transfer evolve in rural developing

economies?

Marshall and Rossman (2014) specify how a research question has implica-

tions for the research design, data collection, and data analysis. Using their

criteria, RQ #1 and RQ #2 relate to the explanatory purposes in the quest to

identify relationships and patterns in the technology transfer process. RQ #3

relates to the exploratory purpose in the quest to analyse how technology

transfer systems evolve.

6.1 Overarching research design The research questions were addressed using qualitative research methodol-

ogy with embedded longitudinal case studies (Silverman, 2013). Interven-

tions in silk, fish, and coffee production in Cauca, Colombia, complemented

the case study research design. The choice of a qualitative methodology was

motivated by the need to acquire an overview perspective and a contextual

understanding of the interactions among transferors, recipients, and inter-

mediaries in the technology transfer process. This is related to the character-

41

istics of the empirical setting presented in the Chapter 1 such as: small scale

production, developing economies, technology transfer of intermediate

technology, recipient perspectives, and rural enterprises.

The thesis is based on three research design phases. The first phase explored

the technology transfer activities in different rural sectors. During this

phase, when I and my research team prepared the case studies, I began to

collect and analyse data with the intention of exploring and guiding the next

activity that was the creation of thick descriptions of the cases (Siggelkow,

2007). This phase was inductive and, apart from the data collection, was not

systematic in its analysis of the three sectors because the intention was to

conduct a pre-study mainly focused on understanding the phenomenon. One

important outcome of this phase was the realization that more systematic

studies of the transfer literature were warranted and that systematic inter-

ventions followed by studies of the results were required.

During the second phase, I examined the literature related to technology

transfer in my particular context. By forming “rudimentary” hypotheses

based on a contextual understanding of the situation in the cases of fish,

silk, and coffee production, as a member of a team conform by researchers

and staff of governmental and non-governmental organisations, I designed

and implemented interventions, and followed up on the results. The team I

was working with used action research in the interventions (Marshall and

Rossman, 2014). Our follow-up consisted of interviews, observations, and

discussions with producers and other participants. The focus of this phase

was the role of the intermediaries in technology transfer.

An important outcome of this phase was the realization that I needed to

increase the scope and the transferability of the research by enlarging our

focus. The identification of the intermediary in the technology transfer pro-

cess creates the possibility of finding new aspects that could configure a

more defined framework to understand technology transfer processes. Thus,

during the third phase, I used participatory observation and subjective opin-

ions to reconstruct the history and the evolution of technology transfer in

two sectors: silk and fish production.

Data were collected from individual technology transfer recipients, transfer-

ors, and members of governmental and non-governmental organisations.

The analytical focus remained on the rural cooperatives or networks, sup-

plemented by studies of individual producers. This was the result of a

choice between descriptive breadth and depth in terms of the data it was

42

possible to collect and triangulate (Flick, 2014). The multiple cases provid-

ed a better basis for theory application by obtaining the reflections of the

participants in the cases. The use of more than one case allowed the compar-

ison of different results among the cases, thus enabling the researchers to

compare potential contextual and specific reasons for these differences (Par-

tanen et al., 2008).

As stated above, the cases were complemented with interventions where I

was an observer or participant. My role in the interventions was to design

and implement practices to facilitate the interaction and participation of all

the organisations in the technology transfer process. At the beginning, my

role was active as discussed in Papers 1 and 2. In Papers 4 and 5 my role in

the intervention was less active. My participation in the interventions gave

me a deep understanding of the signals, codes, and hierarchies in the cases.

Perhaps most importantly, I visited the farms to follow up on the results of

the technology transfer. I also drew on multiple sources of data (See Table

2). In addition, I found that the on-going discussions, observations, and

interviews with the actors were valuable for understanding the specific

component of technology transfer and for identifying connections between

this component and other aspects of my research.

Next, I describe the main characteristics of the thesis from the research de-

sign point of view: the use of cases studies, action research, Situated Learn-

ing Theory, and intermediate technologies.

Action research, in this thesis, is used to describe, understand, and explain

social reality as well as to improve the method of acquiring the habits need-

ed to cope with reality, especially in complex, dynamic systems (Ottosson,

2003; Ottosson and Bjork, 2004). The Action Research focus was the main

feature of the interventionist activities such as the workshops and follow-up

visits.

In this process, I was not solving a problem alone. In fact, I joined with

others in a joint learning exercise aimed at acquiring knowledge in action.

Thus, the method and the object of study are interdependent. The advantage

of Action Research over other research methods is that it allows the re-

searcher to see how a phenomenon can be shaped in practice, in real time,

often over a long period (e.g. when conducting an experiment).

43

Table

2.

Met

ho

ds

use

d i

n t

he

five

pa

per

s

P

rim

ary d

ata

S

econ

da

ry

da

ta

Com

men

ts

Fis

h

Par

tici

pat

ion

in

six

fun

ded

inte

rven

tion

ist

tech

nolo

gy

tran

s-

fer

pro

ject

s bet

wee

n t

he

Univ

ersi

ty o

f C

auca

, re

gio

nal

go

v-

ern

men

tal

off

ices

, co

op

erat

ives

wh

ich

mem

ber

s ar

e sm

all-

scal

e pro

duce

rs

and

support

org

anis

atio

ns

from

C

auca

.

20

04

-2017.

Th

e n

um

ber

of

univ

ersi

ty p

eop

le v

arie

d b

etw

een

ten

to f

ifte

en a

nd a

t le

ast

200 f

amil

ies

wer

e in

volv

ed.

3

6 v

isit

s to

pro

duct

ive

unit

s fr

om

20

05 t

o 2

01

7. [2

]

Par

tici

pat

ion in

m

eeti

ngs

to des

ign fo

ur

rese

arch

pro

ject

s

(20

06

– 2

015).

6 W

ork

shops

dev

eloped

duri

ng t

he

exec

uti

on

of

3 p

roje

cts

to

con

nec

t te

chn

olo

gic

al d

eman

ds

of

the

pro

du

cers

wit

h s

up

-

pli

ers

of

the

tech

nolo

gy

(Res

earc

h t

eam

s fr

om

Colo

mbia

n

un

iver

siti

es).

2008 –

2009,

2011

-2012

.

5 f

ull

day

work

shops

wit

h A

PR

OP

ES

CA

to c

oll

ect

info

r-

mat

ion ab

out

the

his

tory

of

the

asso

ciat

ion

(c

oop

erat

ive)

. 2

01

0-2

012. [1

]

4 r

etro

spec

tive

inte

rvie

ws

tog

eth

er w

ith

AP

RO

PE

SC

A w

ith

key

act

ors

lik

e pro

duce

rs a

nd m

ember

s of

sup

port

org

anis

a-

tion

s to

coll

ect

info

rmat

ion

about

the

his

tory

of

the

asso

cia-

tion

(co

op

erat

ive)

. 2010

-2012. [1

]

6 T

ech

nic

al r

eport

s of

pro

ject

s.

Web

site

o

f th

e as

soci

atio

n an

d

its

pro

ject

s.

Pu

bli

c d

ocu

men

ts

of

AP

-R

OP

ES

CA

.

2 B

ach

elor

thes

es

Docu

men

tary

of

rura

l bu

sin

ess-

es a

s to

uri

st a

ttra

ctio

ns.

1 p

rin

ted

bo

ok

on

in

tegra

l st

rat-

egy

to

atte

nd ru

ral

smal

l-sc

ale

asso

ciat

ion

s.

2

dig

ital

bo

ok

s p

rod

uct

of

re-

sear

ch p

roje

cts

wit

h r

ura

l sm

all-

scal

e as

soci

atio

ns.

[1]

Th

e dat

a w

as

col-

lect

ed

in

dif

fere

nt

ses-

sion

s to

sy

stem

atiz

e

each

ass

oci

atio

n’s

exp

e-

rien

ces.

[2]

Th

e vis

its

wer

e

dev

elop

ed i

n t

he

exec

u-

tion

of

dif

fere

nt

pro

-

ject

s.

44

Table

2.

Met

ho

ds

use

d i

n t

he

five

pa

per

s

P

rim

ary d

ata

S

econ

da

ry

da

ta

Co

mm

en

ts

Sil

k

4 w

ork

shops

wit

h s

ilk p

roduce

rs t

o c

oll

ect

info

rmat

ion

ab

ou

t

the

his

tory

of

the

asso

ciat

ion

s (c

ooper

ativ

es).

20

13

-201

6. [1

]

3 r

etro

spec

tive

inte

rvie

ws

to C

OR

SE

DA

wit

h k

ey a

ctors

lik

e

pro

duce

rs a

nd m

ember

s of

support

org

anis

atio

ns

of

CO

RS

ED

A

to c

oll

ect

info

rmat

ion a

bout

the

his

tory

of

the

asso

ciat

ion

s (c

o-

op

erat

ives

). 2

005

-2016. [1

]

7 v

isit

s to

CO

RS

ED

A p

roduct

ive

un

its

from

20

05 t

o 2

01

7. [2

]

Par

tici

pat

ion i

n m

eeti

ngs

to d

esig

n 3

pro

ject

s. 2

00

6 –

201

6. [3

]

Work

shops

and v

isit

s dev

elop

ed d

uri

ng t

he

exec

uti

on

of

3 p

ro-

ject

s to

conn

ect

tech

nolo

gic

al d

eman

ds

of

the

pro

du

cers

wit

h

sup

pli

ers

of

the

tech

nolo

gy

(Res

earc

h t

eam

s fr

om

Colo

mbia

n

un

iver

siti

es).

2008 –

2009,

2011

- 20

12.

Docu

men

tary

th

at

show

s

rura

l bu

sin

esse

s as

to

uri

st

attr

acti

ons.

1 p

rin

ted

book

on

in

tegra

l

stra

teg

y to

at

ten

d

rura

l bu

sin

esse

s.

2 D

igit

al b

ook

s p

rod

uct

of

rese

arch

pro

ject

s w

ith

rura

l

smal

l-sc

ale

asso

ciat

ion

s.

3

Tec

hn

ical

re

port

s of

pro

ject

s.

2 B

ach

elor

thes

es

Post

ers

and p

rin

ted

pu

bli

c-

ity.

Web

site

of

the

asso

ciat

ion

and

its

pro

ject

s.

[1]

Th

e dat

a w

as c

oll

ect-

ed i

n d

iffe

ren

t se

ssio

ns

to

syst

emat

ize

each

ass

oci

a-

tion

’s e

xper

ien

ces.

[2]

Th

e vis

its

wer

e dev

el-

op

ed in

th

e ex

ecuti

on of

dif

fere

nt

pro

ject

s.

[3]

Th

e dat

a co

llec

tion

was

mad

e by

a co

llea

gue

wh

o w

ork

ed i

n t

he

asso

-

ciat

ion

ar

ound

5

year

s

and

support

s th

em

in

pro

ject

s 4

year

s m

ore

afte

r le

avin

g C

OR

SE

DA

.

45

Table

2.

Met

ho

ds

use

d i

n t

he

five

pa

per

s

P

rim

ary d

ata

S

econ

da

ry

da

ta

Co

mm

en

ts

Coff

ee

4 w

ork

shops

wit

h c

off

ee p

roduce

rs t

o c

oll

ect

info

rmat

ion

abou

t

the

his

tory

of

the

asso

ciat

ion

s (c

ooper

ativ

es).

20

13

-201

6. [1

]

3 r

etro

spec

tive

inte

rvie

ws

to c

off

ee a

sso

ciat

ion

s w

ith

key

act

ors

lik

e pro

duce

rs a

nd m

ember

s of

supp

ort

org

anis

atio

ns

to c

oll

ect

info

rmat

ion a

bout

the

his

tory

of

the

asso

ciat

ion

s (c

oop

erat

ives

).

20

05

-2016. [1

]

15

vis

its

to c

off

ee f

arm

s pro

duct

ive

un

its

from

20

05 t

o 2

01

7. [2

]

Par

tici

pat

ion i

n m

eeti

ngs

to d

esig

n 2

pro

ject

s. 2

00

6 –

201

6. [3

]

Work

shops

and v

isit

s dev

elop

ed d

uri

ng

th

e ex

ecu

tion

of

4 p

ro-

ject

s to

co

nn

ect

tech

nolo

gic

al dem

and

s of

the

pro

du

cers

w

ith

sup

pli

ers

of

the

tech

nolo

gy

(Res

earc

h

team

s fr

om

C

olo

mbia

n

un

iver

siti

es).

2008 –

2009,

2011

- 20

12.

1 D

igit

al b

ook

th

at i

den

-

tifi

es

the

pote

nti

al

of

coff

ee

farm

s as

to

uri

st

attr

acti

ons.

4

Tec

hn

ical

re

port

s of

pro

ject

s.

1 B

ach

elor

thes

es

Web

site

o

f th

e N

atio

nal

Coff

ee F

eder

atio

n a

nd i

ts

pro

ject

s.

[1]

Th

e dat

a w

as c

oll

ect-

ed i

n d

iffe

ren

t se

ssio

ns

to

syst

emat

ize

each

ass

oci

a-

tion

’s e

xper

ien

ces.

[2]

Th

e vis

its

wer

e dev

el-

op

ed in

th

e ex

ecuti

on of

dif

fere

nt

pro

ject

s.

[3]

Th

e dat

a co

llec

tion

was

mad

e usi

ng d

iffe

ren

t

sourc

es a

nd c

ooper

ativ

es,

con

sider

ing

this

is

th

e

most

im

por

tan

t busi

nes

s

in r

ura

l ar

eas

in C

auca

.

46

Situated Learning Theory was used as an application lens for understanding

the technology intermediation from a theoretical position (Eden and Hux-

ham, 2002; Greenwood et al., 1993; Hendry, 1996). Action Research was

used to integrate low and intermediate technologies into packages. The in-

tervention was used to implement them based on encouraging the partici-

pants to increase their engagement in the technology adoption through net-

work creation (Hervas-Oliver et al., 2012).

The case study research design is appropriate for the thesis research ques-

tions because there are few process perspective studies in the technology

transfer literature. This means longitudinal cases studies can be useful for

revealing new aspects of technology transfer. The embedded case research

design was important as a way to understand the individual characteristics

of each case (Davidsson et al., 2004; Ireland et al., 2005).

During the execution of the programme of projects to improve the

performance of rural enterprises, Action Research was used. The analysis

units I chose offered an opportunity to analyse and compare different re-

search design and collection methods related to the participants, organisa-

tions, and systems. Because the participants are interconnected, it was pos-

sible to observe their interactions.

Table 3 describes the research design, the data collection methods, the data

analysis methods, and the unit of analysis for each of the five papers in this

thesis.

Table 3. Research methodology used in the five papers

Paper Research

design

Data collection

methods

Data analysis meth-

ods

Unit of analysis

1 Longitudi-

nal case

study,

Action

Research

Participant

observation

Non-participant

observation

Workshops

Meetings Interviews

Follow-up visits

Initial categories

creation.

Coding.

Data source triangu-

lation

“Audit trail”, main-taining a database

documenting data

collection and analy-

sis procedures, for re-

analysis and replica-

bility purposes.

Actors and network

(community of

practice)

47

Table 3. Research methodology used in the five papers

Paper Research

design

Data collection

methods

Data analysis meth-

ods

Unit of analysis

2 Longitudi-

nal case study,

Action

Research

Participant

observation Non-participant

observation

Workshops

Meetings

Interviews

Follow-up visits

Brokering of themes

in categories. Coding.

Triangulation using

different stakehold-

ers.

“Audit trail”, main-

taining a database

documenting data

collection and analy-

sis procedures, for re-


bility purposes.

Actors and network

(community of practice)

3 Conceptu-

al, litera-ture analy-

sis

Search strings,

data bases

Synthesis of main

common elements and discussion with a

group of experts.

Enabler for tech-

nology transfer process

4 Case

study,

longitudi-

nal ap-

proach

Participant

observation

Non-participant

observation

Workshops

Interviews

Follow-up visits

to fish and

coffee farms

Brokering of themes

in categories.

Coding.

Triangulation using

different participants’

point of view.

“Audit trail”, main-

taining a database

documenting data

collection and analy-sis procedures, for re-


bility purposes.

Project

5 Case

study,

longitudi-

nal ap-

proach

Participant

observation

Non-participant

observation

Interviews

Coding.

Triangulation using

different methods to

collect information.

Problem formula-

tion and solving

6.1.1 Case selection

The previous chapters introduced the technology transfer process. The par-

ticipants described the technology transfer phenomenon as very dynamic

48

and complex. This situation is the result of the information asymmetry, the

knowledge barriers, and the participant interactions. To study this dynamic,

I selected case studies that were suitable for the interventionist approach I

had chosen. In this section, I explain how I selected the cases, and then de-

scribe them.

Miles and Huberman (1994) describe different ways to choose a sample in

qualitative research. In this thesis, I used the following selection criteria.

Rural enterprises in developing economies: These are enterprises in which

producers work together. The foci of the thesis are organisations; single

farmers or rural entrepreneurs are not in focus.

Rural enterprises in which recipients, transferors, and other organisations

are involved in then transfer of intermediate technologies: These are partic-

ipants involved at some level in technology transfer. All participants had to

have at least some experience in at least one technology transfer.

Access to the participants and other sources of information: The partici-

pants in technology transfer had to be available for study, and secondary

information had to be obtainable.

Technology transfer was developed using the interventionist approach: The

technology transfer process assumes engagement in the development of the

activities and ‘a sense of teamwork’ among the participants.

Much of the literature on technology transfer in rural developing economies

centres on agriculture. This means other rural activities receive less atten-

tion. Therefore, this thesis takes an original perspective in its focus on the

activities of silk, fish, and coffee production.

At the beginning of the thesis, my case selection was motivated by the op-

portunity to participate in technology transfer projects. Given funding by the

regional government in Cauca I therefore selected the coffee and piscicul-

ture industries. However, in addition to the selection criteria stated above,

the cases were also selected by referring to replication logic. The goal was

to choose cases as similar as possible. Nevertheless, the participants in each

case are quite diverse. The fish case has many indigenous communities

while the silk and coffee cases have few indigenous communities. Coffee

has a national cooperative while silk and fish only have members from Cau-

ca. However, other contextual aspects of the cases are very similar in their

history and evolution. The international actors initiated the technology

transfer processes. Because production is the main concern from the techno-

49

logical point of view, technology transfer projects that develop new prod-

ucts and markets are few.

The selected cases presented a rich source of data about all participants in

the technology transfer process.

6.2 Data collection Primary data for the thesis consist of workshops, semi-structured interviews,

and observations (e.g. farm visits) of the key actors in the rural enterprises,

government organisations, and universities, plus selected industry experts.

The snowballing sampling technique was used to select, for example, pro-

ducers in remote areas, experts for interviews, and the farm visit sites. To

ensure the reliability (dependability) of the findings, the research procedures

were documented (Silverman, 2012). Thus, all the interviews and work-

shops at each case with producers were recorded and transcribed. The inter-

views with experts were recorded and transcribed. Interviews were face-to-

face with individuals. In the workshops, the interviews were with groups.

Secondary data were collected from various sources, including internal doc-

uments such as business plans, project reports, memos, collaborative con-

tracts, brochures, presentation materials, newspapers, and industry magazine

articles as well as publicly available information and statistics, such as busi-

ness reports or company web sites. The richness and multi-dimensionality

of the data support the analysis and contribute to the validity of the interpre-

tations. In brief, data were collected in the following four ways.

1. Meetings: Sessions with leaders of the rural organisations and/or

members of institutions (approximately six people) to discuss the

results of workshops and interviews. The meetings followed the

progress of the programme and of the research. The purposes were

to clarify information that could be confusing in the workshops, vis-

its, or interviews, to receive feedback on the results of each activity,

to plan data collection, and to organise the other activities in order

to meet the expectations of the participants.

2. Workshops: Sessions with approximately 15 participants in sub-

groups for discussions related to the technology transfer. An auxilia-

ry researcher attended each workshop to record the group consen-

sus, to tape-record the session, and to take photographs of the work

team’s conclusions. A facilitator (a researcher) also attended each

workshop.

50

3. Follow-up visits: Trips to the farms, sometimes with members of in-

stitutions and other times with producers. The purpose of the visits

was to complement information from the workshops, interviews,

and meetings, and to obtain new theoretical and practical infor-

mation related to the technology transfer activities.

4. Interviews: Sessions with individuals (producers or members of in-

stitutions) to ask questions related to their personal experiences,

perceptions, and ideas on the technology transfer process. Some in-

terviews were used to produce documentaries and to design new

workshops and meetings.

To illustrate the field activities with the participants (e.g. workshops, visits)

I present sample photographs below and a YouTube link.

Photos: María Eugenia Ledezma

Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ys6WPq34WZI&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ys6WPq34WZI&feature=youtu.be

51

6.2.1 Case descriptions

Fish Case: About 25 years ago, the Colombian Government promoted fish

production of introduced species. Rainbow trout and tilapia are cultivated

for local and inter-regional markets. Rural cooperatives supply equipment

and tools and provide pellet cultivation and technical assistance to the

members. Currently, there are five cooperatives, each with an average of

160 families as members. Although this is not a representative productive

activity in Cauca, the cooperatives are well connected with public and pri-

vate organisations in the region. Prior to the start of my research, local uni-

versities, government offices, and NGOs with experience working in differ-

ent project supported the producers with production and management topics.

Coffee Case: Coffee has been produced for more than 100 years in Cauca. It

is the Department’s most important product. Indeed, around 90% of the

rural families produce coffee. There are several coffee cooperatives in Cau-

ca. This thesis studies the producers that belong to the Colombian Coffee

Growers Federation (FNC) - Cauca Region. This cooperative, which is the

largest in the country, supports research and development for coffee produc-

tion for international markets through grants to local universities and

through its sponsored research institute, known as Cenicafé. The FNC,

which monitors production to ensure export quality standards are met, is

very active in all areas related to sustainability. In brief, the FNC monitors

the universities, government offices, and NGOs so that they operate under

its oversight.

Silk Case: In 1982, the Colombian Government, through the National Cof-

fee Federation, began promoting silk production farms as an alternative crop

to coffee (as the response to a crisis in coffee prices worldwide). Today

there are three rural cooperatives that produce clothes and fibre as raw mate-

rials for the manufacture of dental floss for international markets. This ac-

tivity, which employs around 500 families, currently is the only silk activity

in Colombia.

Silk production involves producers who cultivate the mulberry bushes, feed

the silkworms, and harvest the silk fibre. Artisans use the fibre to knit cloth-

ing such as ponchos, scarfs, sweaters, shirts, vest, skirts, belts, eye masks,

etc. Both producers and artisans are members of the cooperatives that inter-

act with local and national universities, government offices, and NGOs.

52

6.2.2 Context of data collection: Programme of projects

The three research questions in the thesis closely relate to the seven research

projects used to obtain data. Table 4 shows the relationship between the

three research questions, the seven projects, and the five papers of this the-

sis.

Table 4. Relationship among research questions, projects, and papers

53

To understand the logic of the projects, I must explain that from 2006 to the

present the Department of Cauca, in its policy agenda (Regional Govern-

ment Agenda), included five sectors that were to benefit directly from the

results of the projects. The five projects were Agro-industrial Productive

Chains (agry-chains), specialty coffees, cattle husbandry, vegetable-fruit,

and the forest value chain. In addition, tourism and handicrafts could adopt

similar strategies because of their rural character. Furthermore, the Internal

Agenda of Cauca (National Government Agenda) joined in defining the

Agricultural and Agri-chains as a high-priority line in the economic and

social development of the Department. The research reported on in this the-

sis was conducted mainly during the execution of the seven projects (Table

5).

Table 5. Projects underlying this thesis

Title of the project Project execution

period and dura-

tion

Activities for the thesis

Integral Strategy for Improving

Competitiveness of Agry - chains

of Small-Scale Rural Producers of

the Cauca Department

25 April 2006-

25th April 2007

12 months

Monitoring period: 6 months

Workshops: 5

Interviews: 26

Meetings: 3

Follow-up visits to fish and coffee farms: 189

Characterization of Innovation

Management Processes in Firms

of Competitiveness Strategic

Sectors in Cauca Department

8th March 2010 –

8th March 2011

12 months


Workshops: 7

Interviews: 18

Meetings: 3

Follow-up visits to fish and

coffee farms: 208

Business Conference: Alliance

University – Industry- Govern-

ment for Cauca and Nariño

16th June to 16th

February 2012

8 months


Workshops: 3

Meetings: 2

Interviews: 33

Follow-up visits to fish farms:

75

Transactional Communication for the analysis of the relevance of

the social appropriation of

knowledge in Open Innovation

Processes in the Rural Small-

Scale Association APROPESCA

1st March 2012 – 1st July 2013

16 months

Monitoring period: 10 months Workshops: 3

Meetings: 4

Interviews: 20


125

54

Table 5. Projects underlying this thesis

Title of the project Project execution

period and dura-

tion

Activities for the thesis

Creation of innovation clusters based in Knowledge Management

to promote the development of

innovative products in Cauca

20th September 2013 – 20th Sep-

tember 2015

24 months

Monitoring period: 1 months Workshops: 5

Interviews: 15

Follow-up visit to fish and

coffee farms: 46

Alternative Uses for Subproducts

derivate of the Pisciculture Agro –

Industry

June 2013-May

2017

54 months


Workshops: 5

Interviews: 16


22

Business Models for Rural Enter-

prises

January 2014-

January 2018

48 months


Workshops: 5

Interviews: 8

Follow-up visits to fish, coffee

and silk farms: 13

6.3 Data analysis Papers 1 and 2 use an initial set of categories based on Situated Learning

Theory, such as activities that relate to boundary objects. The analysis took

the shape of a visual representation of activities and of thick case descrip-

tions. Progressively, we collected and analysed the data over a period of 41

months. This amount of time was essential in order to capture the communi-

ties of practice and the technology transfer process throughout its growth

phases and transitions.

Paper 3 analyses the literature on technology transfer. I identified studies by

using keywords to search for articles and to select relevant articles by read-

ing abstracts. Relevant factors and facilitators or enablers were selected and

described. The most common factors related to the improvement of technol-

ogy transfer. I found other factors not explicitly discussed in the technology

transfer literature. I identified these factors using the keywords and project

experiences.

Paper 4 uses the conceptual framework of Paper 3 to code the data accord-

ing to the various enablers previously identified.

55

Paper 5, in order to create thick descriptions of the cases, uses coded data

from interviews, informal conversations, presentations, and workshops

combined with secondary data such as internal documents. This procedure

gave us an overview of the sequence of events. As recommended for the

creation of data structure, we retained the respondents’ formulations of the

cases’ problems from the interviews. We were careful to retain quotations

and to assemble all data using the evolutionary approach that focuses on the

entry, transformation, and exit of different types of actors over time, their

perceptions of problems, their interactions, and their problem solutions.

6.4 Reflections on the research process and my role Initially, the idea for this research was to understand the interaction between

participants in the technology transfer process in rural developing econo-

mies and to show how a NGO over the years connects transferors and recip-

ients, specializing and redefining its role. However, during the course of the

research, more aspects emerged. Consequently, the thesis reflects research

on these other aspects (e.g. the evolution of technology transfer systems.)

In the first research stage, I identified two cases, coffee production and pis-

ciculture (trout), as possibilities for exploring step by step how actors create

better conditions for the development and transfer of intermediate technolo-

gies. These cases helped to answer RQ1. At the same time, the analysis of

these two cases indicated that the participation of intermediaries was not the

only aspect of the technology transfer of importance. It became evident that

the literature provided no clear descriptions.

Therefore, in the second research stage, I conducted a review of the litera-

ture to answer RQ #2. This was the start of the formulation of the seven

enablers that were adapted from a literature review on technology transfer.

The literature provided a definition of enablers and a description of their

role in rural developing economies. This led to the selection of a third case:

silk production.

At this point, I could devise a framework based on three cases: fish, coffee,

and silk. After I established connections between the enablers, I could begin

the next stage of my research. It became obvious that, over time, there was

much more to technology transfer than a new division of labour among dif-

ferent organisations -- the transferors, the recipients, and the intermediaries.

I observed, first, that the actors interacted in a systemic way. I saw, second,

that this system could not have emerged at the start of the technology trans-

56

fer process. An evolutionary study was needed. Thus, in the third and last

stage of my research, I explored the changes in the participants and their

interactions in a period of several decades when the technology transfer

processes were implemented. I chose two cases -- silk and fish -- to explain

how ‘technology transfer systems’ evolve.

In this thesis, the results were scrutinized by the organisations that partici-

pated. This was achieved mainly through my participation in two commit-

tees with members of the participant organisations. The first committee, the

“participatory monitoring and evaluation committee”, held meetings every

three months. The purpose of these meetings was to evaluate the steps in the

research, to examine raw data, and to reach findings. The second committee,

which was a multidisciplinary team, was the technical team responsible for

the training processes. In weekly meetings of this committee, I compared

the data I had obtained with other colleagues to receive new points of view

and feedback.

6.5 Soundness of my research: Methodological reflec-

tions This thesis is based on a longitudinal case study research design. Case stud-

ies are often criticised as being difficult to replicate. Even more problematic

for this thesis, when an intervention occurs, the chain of events in each case

study and the situation of the activities are not easily replicated. This may

question the transferability, credibility and dependability of my research. I

will briefly reflect upon these issues.

In this thesis, the quality of the research process is explained in terms of

validity (Patton 2001) or what other authors may refer to as called credibil-

ity. Others, like Seale (1999) who described the “inquiry audit”, emphasize

that qualitative research should triangulate data collection methods and

sources. Thus, in this thesis, I triangulated my data using multiple data col-

lection and data analysis methods. For data collection, I used workshops to

obtain the collective consensus of the participants, interviews to understand

the individual point of view, and participant observations to identify ele-

ments that are not possible using the other methods (e.g. hierarchies in the

social interaction). Finally, I visited farms to verify if the technology trans-

fer practice were effectively adopted.

For data analysis, the coding was socialized through systematization of ex-

periences and workshops with participants. This confirmed that the docu-

57

ments agreed with the analysis of the data, that the workshops were identi-

fied as “knowledge fair”, and that the participants in the technology transfer

provided feedback on the interpretation of the data.

However, being ‘socially embedded’ with my research context may be

problematic. A risk for a researcher in my situation is the possibility of

overstating the findings or creating affective relationships, leading to misin-

terpretations of the data. In particular, my role in the interventions raises the

possibility of bias in the research process in that I oversaw and developed

activities that supported the technology transfer practices as a member of

organisations acting as transferors and intermediaries. This may lead to

poorly formulated findings and conclusions. I admit that the relationships

created with the participants during my 13 years of work in technology

transfer processes may lead to bias. For example, the producers might ex-

press favouritism toward other participants who manage the projects. These

producers might expect to acquire equipment or infrastructure as part of the

technology transfer project. On the other hand, my proximity to the partici-

pants helped me gain access to all participants and to receive good quality

information.

I managed this risk by using feedback from other members in the research

projects and the committee for assessment of the projects’ results. Perhaps

most importantly, in order to mitigate the problems of bias, I visited the

farms to follow up on the results of the technology transfer. Thus, I did not

just design interventions ex ante and intervene during the process. I also

followed up on the results by empirical observations rather than rely on

‘just’ interviews. Indeed, I drew on multiple sources of data (see Table 2).

In addition, I need to stress I found the on-going discussions, observations,

and interviews with the actors were valuable for understanding the specific

component of technology transfer and for finding connections between this

component and other aspects of my research.

All in all, I argue that my efforts have led to a high validity of my research.

Transferability (Given, 2008) in this thesis could be related to the possibility

of using the findings in similar contexts and in analysing the aspects that are

inapplicable. The nature of the technology transfer process embedded in a

social and organisational context does not suggest it will be the same in

regions, industries, or cultural contexts like the ones analysed in this thesis.

More precisely, the findings from the three case studies in this thesis may be

applied in similar contexts. Aspects like the role of intermediaries, the role

of enablers, and the evolution in the role of actors in technology transfer

58

systems can be described and analysed in other technology transfer process-

es in rural developing economies. While I do not claim that the findings of

this thesis are transferable without further research, I argue the framework

and processes described in the thesis could lead to a better understanding of

the same phenomena in similar settings. While this may mean some adapta-

tion and redefinition of the characteristics in the new context, some findings

in the new settings may support the findings from this research.

Reliability (Silverman (1993) or dependability (Lincoln and Guba 1985) can

be explained by the fact that, as in other qualitative research projects, repli-

cability may be difficult or impossible. The situations that surrounded the

technology transfer in the empirical setting I have worked in are influenced

by national, regional and municipal policies, market conditions for the

commercialization of products, environmental regulations, and even a civil,

low-intensity war in Cauca. The same setting cannot be found if someone

wants to repeat the study. However, given the extensive use of triangulation,

I argue that the reliability of the study is quite good.

59

7. Summary of Papers

This chapter summarizes the five papers that comprise this thesis (Table 6)

and describes my role in their preparation (Table 7).

7.1 Paper 1 Title: Transferring technology from university to rural industry within a

developing economy context: The case for nurturing communities of prac-

tice

Technovation, Vol. 32, Nos. 9–10, September–October 2012, Pages 550–

559.

Authors: Nicholas Theodorakopoulos, Deycy Janeth Sánchez Preciado, and

David Bennett

The aim of Paper 1 is to demonstrate how academic-related research and

advisory centres may affect technology transfer from a university to a rural

industry. By applying Situated Learning Theory, this paper analyses a learn-

ing process comprised of academic actors, regional government officials,

and small-scale producers. Specifically, drawing on a longitudinal action

research study on technology diffusion and productivity, Paper 1 examines

how an intermediary research and advisory centre nurtures and bridges

communities of practice (Lave and Wenger, 1991) among recipients of

technology, academic actors, and government organisations charged with

the implementation of new technologies. Evidence from an Action Research

programme for two small-scale rural industries (fish farming and coffee

production) in Cauca, Colombia, illustrates the design elements and out-

comes of the intervention. The findings reveal how barriers to technology

transfer can be overcome.

The action research focus is on the key components of the programme, that

is, on the steering group and the workshops with the fish farmers and coffee

producers, in conjunction with the follow-up. The steering group was a type

of committee designed to nurture the community of practice that was com-

60

prised of advisors from the intermediary, the academics, and the officials

from three government bodies. Several communities of practice were fol-

lowed: one with coffee producers, a second with fish producers, a third with

governmental and non-governmental organisations, a fourth with fish and

coffee producers and governmental and non-governmental organisations.

The workshops and the follow-up visits were designed to create boundary

interfaces between the steering group and the fish farmers and coffee pro-

ducers in an effort to strengthen the two communities of practice.

The knowledge of how to improve the steering group operations and work-

shops with the fish farmers and coffee producers was essential for achieving

future success with the technology transfer process.

Taking a Situated Learning Theory perspective, Paper 1 identifies two key

aspects of the intermediation of technology transfer. The first component,

which relates to the supply side, refers to the role of the intermediaries as

brokers who nurture a coalition aimed at transferring technologies to rural

industry. Such communities of practice may unite all key stakeholders.

Intermediaries should engage in brokering as they strive to devise a bal-

anced membership structure, establish agreed-upon accountabilities, and

create common agendas and goals, action plans, and technology diffusion

assessment frameworks. The second component, which relates mainly to the

demand side, refers to the role of intermediaries as brokers in the develop-

ment of a community of practice for technology recipients. Paper 1 argues

that brokering should involve the administration of effective workshops and

assistance visits in which the intermediary’s advisors are the coalition inter-

face with potential technology recipients.

7.2 Paper 2 Intermediation for technology diffusion and user innovation in a developing

rural economy: A social learning perspective

Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, Vol. 26, Nos. 7–8, 2014,

Pages 645–662.

Authors: Nicholas Theodorakopoulos, David Bennett, and Deycy Janeth

Sánchez Preciado

Paper 2 examines effective end-user intermediation in low-technology, de-

veloping economies. Technology intermediaries can be vehicles for address-

ing perennial problems in transferring technology from university to indus-

try. However, studies on the role of intermediaries tend to focus on compa-

61

nies that operate in high-technology clusters. Relatively little attention has

been paid to how third-sector research and advisory centres facilitate tech-

nology transfer and user innovation in low-technology environments such as

the rural clusters of small-scale agribusinesses in rural developing econo-

mies.

Paper 2 documents the importance of the role of academic-related research

and advisory centres as intermediaries in brokering, facilitating, and config-

uring technology against the backdrop of a group of small-scale pisciculture

businesses in a rural area of Colombia.

Paper 2 describes and analyses three intermediary functions of academic-

related research and advisory centres. The first function is brokering, which refers to gaining support from transferors for the technology transfer

process. Some brokering activities relate to features and functionalities of

new technologies and to the communication of user needs, requirements and

the conditions of the supply side. The second function is facilitating, which refers to providing opportunities to users to adopt technology through edu-

cation, distribution of resources, and establishment of local rules. Facilitat-

ing involves creating such as social communities and networks for transfer-

ring know-how. The third function is configuring, which refers to arranging

and transforming the content of technology, setting rules on use, prioritizing

production means, and shaping the goals and expectations of the partici-

pants.

A longitudinal ‘engaged scholarship’ approach was taken in an intervention

programme aimed at improving fish production, the unit of analysis. This

approach is a participatory form of research used to acquire key stakehold-

ers’ views on a complex social problem. Data on the programme’s broker-

ing, facilitating, and configuring functions were drawn from multiple

sources – NGO consultants, the pisciculture business owners, and key repre-

sentatives from regional government agencies. These data were collected

through participant and nonparticipant observations of the programme func-

tions, as well as in personal interviews with various stakeholders, including

the intermediaries’ consultants, government officials, and business owner-

managers.

62

7.3 Paper 3 Transferring intermediate technologies to rural enterprises in developing

economies: A conceptual framework

Prometheus, Vol. 34, No. 2, 2016, Pages 153-170.

Authors: Deycy Janeth Sánchez Preciado, Bjorn Claes, and Nicholas Theo-

dorakopoulos

Paper 3 examines the enablers that drive the transfer of low-technology

solutions from transferors to recipients in rural developing economies.

While many of the enablers that were identified in the literature are useful,

they may require some modification or development if they are to have rel-

evance in this research setting. To address this shortcoming, Paper 3 re-

views the technology transfer literature to identify and evaluate the factors

that are explicitly highlighted as enablers that facilitate the technology trans-

fer process. Where their relevance to technology transfers in rural develop-

ing economies falls short, additional enablers are proposed.

Paper 3 proposes a framework of a specific set of features that facilitates

technology transfer of intermediate technologies in rural developing econo-

mies. The seven identified features of the framework are the following:

i) Absorptive capacity;

ii) Understanding of the technology source and market maturity;

iii) Cultural and geographic proximity between transferor and recipient;

iv) Recipients’ comprehension of the financial implications of the technolo-

gy transfer;

v) Intermediaries that connect transferor and recipient;

vi) Institutional networks that adapt the technology to the local needs; and


The last three features are dealt with only to a limited extent in the

technology transfer literature.

63

The seven features described in Paper 3 were reviewed for their relevance in

facilitating the technology transfer to low-technology recipients in rural

developing economies. These features are different from many of the tradi-

tional features in several ways.

i) Several of them emphasize aspects of the transfer process that are close to

the daily reality of the recipients and the way these recipients interact with

the technology;

ii) They highlight the experiential learning aspect of the transfer process and

the degree to which acquired skills from previous and on-going transfers are

likely to support actual and future transfers of technology; and

iii) They focus on aspects of the technology transfer process at different

organisational levels (ranging from individual to institutional).

Thus, these features address an important gap in the literature on technology

transfer in this specific, but increasingly important, socio-economic context.

7.4 Paper 4 Enabling transfer of intermediate technologies - A rural business project

case in rural Colombia

This paper was submitted to Journal of Rural Studies, 2018.

Author: Deycy Janeth Sánchez Preciado

Paper 4 addresses the poor understanding of the importance of the transfer

of intermediate technologies in rural developing economies. Paper 4 empiri-

cally evaluates features that enable technology transfer of intermediate

technologies in a rural developing economy. Because intermediate technol-

ogies are less technically sophisticated than advanced technologies, they are

more affordable and more understandable for many rural business owners-

managers.

Taking a qualitative research approach, technology transfer processes are

analysed in the context of a new product development project involving

small-scale rural enterprises, universities, NGOs, and government organisa-

tions in Cauca, Colombia. Drawing on rich longitudinal data, Paper 4 exam-

ines the enablers of technology transfer processes in the context of a project

64

in which waste products from fish production are used as raw materials in a

new product – a pellet to feed trout and tilapia in rural Colombia.

The main findings of Paper 4 concern the enablers of technology transfer

processes, including the relationships among the enablers. Paper 4 reveals

that three enablers – those enablers that are less prominent in the literature

on technology transfer – could compensate for the deficiency in partici-

pants’ capabilities. These enablers could facilitate the efficient transfer of

technology.

Paper 4 contributes to the literature on technology transfer with its empirical

analysis of a theoretical enabler framework for rural developing economies.

From the practitioners’ point of view, Paper 4 reveals certain areas of inter-

est in the use of enablers for transferring intermediate technologies in rural

developing economies.

7.5 Paper 5 Evolution of systems of technology transfer in rural developing economies

Paper submitted to the 17th Conference International Schumpeter Society,

2018

Authors: Deycy Janeth Sánchez Preciado, Magnus Holmén, and Daniel

Ljungberg

Paper 5, which is a longitudinal study of technology transfer, addresses an

under-investigated area in the literature. Paper 5 analyses how systems of

technology transfer evolve. Paper 5 describes case studies of technology

transfer in rural developing economies. Much of the extant literature on

systems of actors takes an evolutionary perspective on how value is created

through the development, distribution, and assimilation of knowledge

through the actions of, and relationships among, actors. However, much of

this literature avoids the analysis of how the micro-foundations in this

process unfolds or how the systems evolve over time.

The originality of Paper 5 is that it addresses the evolution of ‘systems’ of

actors of technology transfer by analysing changes in the focal actors and in

their problems, activities, and implemented solutions. Empirically, Paper 5

analyses fish and silk production in Cauca, Colombia, a rural region charac-

terized by a low level of education among the farmers.

65

Paper 5 shows how two technology transfer systems evolve among produc-

ers (recipients), the university (transferor), and the intermediaries. While

production was initiated by national and international organisations, these

policy programmes failed to create viable production and a successful tech-

nology transfer. The failure was attributable to a lack of producer commit-

ment and to transferor and government short-sightedness.

The evolution of the systems of technology transfer was sequential as the

problems were identified and solutions were proposed and acted upon. The

main organising principle of these problems was the projects, which means

the evolution can be characterized by sequences of projects that address

specific and changing problems over time. The major problems that

emerged sequentially were technology-related, customer understanding-

related, and market- and distribution-oriented.

Paper 5 describes how the problems evolved and new problems arose.

Gradually, the technology transfer process was professionalized in terms of

its design and operations, supported by the improved educational level of

the intermediaries. The case studies presented in Paper 5 are consistent with

evolutionary theory. Paper 5 concludes with general lessons for technology

transfer from an evolutionary perspective.

66

Table

6.

Sum

ma

ry o

f th

e fi

ve p

ap

ers

of

the

thes

is

Pap

er

Pu

rpose

M

eth

od

olo

gy

T

heo

ry(i

es)

Co

ntr

ibu

tio

n

PA

PE

R 1

:

Tra

nsf

erri

ng

te

chn

olo

gy

from

un

i-

ver

sity

to

ru

ral

indust

ry

wit

hin

a

dev

elop

ing

econ

om

y co

nte

xt:

T

he

case

fo

r n

urt

uri

ng

com

munit

ies

of

pra

ctic

e.

Pu

bli

shed

in

Journ

al:

Tec

hn

ova

tio

n

Vol.

3

2,

Nos.

9–

10,

Sep

tem

ber

–

Oct

ober

20

12,

Pag

es 5

50

–559

.

Th

e ai

m o

f th

is p

aper

is

to d

emon

stra

te h

ow

tech

nolo

gy

tran

sfer

fro

m

univ

ersi

ty t

o r

ura

l in

du

s-

try

can

be

affe

cted

by

usi

ng a

cad

emic

-rel

ated

rese

arch

an

d a

dvis

ory

cen

tres

as

inte

rmed

iari

es.

Qu

alit

ativ

e re

sear

ch.

Inte

rven

tion

ist

ap

-

pro

ach

.

Un

it o

f an

alys

is:

two

Com

mun

itie

s of

Pra

c-

tice

(C

oP

), in

fis

h

farm

ing a

nd

coff

ee

pro

du

ctio

n.

Sit

uat

ed

Lea

rn-

ing

Th

eory

Org

anis

atio

nal

lear

nin

g

ap-

pro

ach

.

Th

is

pap

er

de-

scri

bes

th

e ro

le

of

inte

rmed

iari

es

as

bro

ker

s in

nurt

uri

ng

a co

alit

ion

CoP

con

cern

ed

wit

h

dif

fusi

ng

tech

nolo

-

gy

to r

ura

l in

dust

ry.

PA

PE

R 2

:

Inte

rmed

iati

on

for

Tec

hn

olo

gy

Dif

-

fusi

on

an

d U

ser

Inn

ovat

ion i

n a

De-

vel

op

ing

R

ura

l E

con

om

y: A

S

oci

al

Lea

rnin

g P

ersp

ecti

ve

Pu

bli

shed

in

Journ

al:

En

trep

reneu

rship

and R

egio

nal

De-

velo

pm

ent

Vol.

26,

Nos.

7–8, 2014

Pag

es 6

45

–6

62

.

Th

e pap

er d

ocu

men

ts t

he

role

th

at a

cad

emic

-

rela

ted

res

earc

h a

nd

advis

ory

cen

tres

can

pla

y as

inte

rmed

iari

es in

bro

-

ker

ing, fa

cili

tati

ng,

and

con

figu

rin

g t

ech

nolo

gy.

Qu

alit

ativ

e re

sear

ch.

Par

tici

pat

ive

form

of

rese

arch

.

Lon

git

udin

al

sin

gle

ca

se

stu

dy,

fi

sh

farm

-

ing

net

work

.

Sit

uat

ed

Lea

rn-

ing

Th

eory

Org

anis

atio

nal

le

arn

ing

ap

-

pro

ach

.

Th

is

pap

er

dem

on

-

stra

tes

how

te

ch-

nolo

gy

inte

rmed

ia-

tion

acti

vit

ies

are

impro

ved

in

th

e

dom

esti

cati

on

and

dif

fusi

on

of

tech

-

nolo

gy

amon

g e

nd

-

use

rs.

67

Table

6.

Sum

ma

ry o

f th

e fi

ve p

ap

ers

of

the

thes

is

Pap

er

Pu

rpose

M

eth

od

olo

gy

T

heo

ry(i

es)

Co

ntr

ibu

tio

n

PA

PE

R 3

:

Tra

nsf

erri

ng

in

term

edia

te

tech

nolo

-

gie

s to

rura

l en

terp

rise

s in

dev

elop-

ing

eco

nom

ies:

A c

on

ceptu

al f

ram

e-

work

.

Pu

bli

shed

in

Journ

al:

Pro

met

heu

s

Vol.

34,

No. 2

, 2016

Pag

es 1

53

-170

.

Th

is p

aper

rep

rese

nts

an

ef

fort

to r

evie

w t

he

tech

-

nolo

gy

tran

sfer

lit

erat

ure

and a

sses

sin

g e

nab

lers

that

are

ex

pli

citl

y h

igh

-

lighte

d a

s fa

cili

tato

rs o

f

the

tech

nolo

gy

tran

sfer

pro

cess

.

Con

cep

tual

p

aper

bas

ed o

n t

he

sear

chin

g

and an

alys

is of

pap

ers

on

tec

hn

olo

gy

tran

sfer

.

Tec

hn

olo

gy

tran

sfer

li

tera

-

ture

.

Fra

mew

ork

of

sev-

en en

able

rs fo

r th

e

tech

nolo

gy

tran

sfer

pro

cess

to

ru

ral

ente

rpri

ses

of

de-

vel

opin

g

econ

o-

mie

s.

PA

PE

R 4

:

En

abli

ng

Tra

nsf

er o

f In

term

edia

te

Tec

hn

olo

gie

s -

A R

ura

l B

usi

nes

s

Pro

ject

Cas

e in

Rura

l C

olo

mbia

Pap

er p

rese

nte

d a

t th

e D

oct

ora

l C

on

-so

rtiu

m, M

ay,

2017, S

pai

n.

Th

is p

aper

was

subm

itte

d t

o J

ourn

al

of

Ru

ral

Stu

die

s.

Th

e pap

er b

uil

ds

on

pri

or

lite

ratu

re

per

tain

ing

enab

lers

for

the

tech

nol-

og

y tr

ansf

er,

spec

ific

ally

the

pap

er

stu

die

s th

e im

port

ance

of

tech

nolo

-

gy

tran

sfer

en

able

rs.

Qu

alit

ativ

e re

sear

ch.

Par

tici

pat

ive

form

of

rese

arch

.

Sin

gle

cas

e st

ud

y: f

ish

pro

ject

.

Fra

mew

ork

of

seven

en

able

rs

for

the

tech

nol-

og

y tr

ansf

er

pro

cess

.

Des

crip

tion

of

ena-

ble

rs f

or

tech

nolo

gy

tran

sfer

pro

cess

es

and t

he

rela

tion

ship

bet

wee

n t

hem

in t

he

anal

ysis

of

a si

ngle

case

stu

dy i

n a

rura

l

con

text

of

dev

elop-

ing e

con

om

ies.

68

Table

6.

Sum

ma

ry o

f th

e fi

ve p

ap

ers

of

the

thes

is

Pap

er

Pu

rpose

M

eth

od

olo

gy

T

heo

ry(i

es)

Co

ntr

ibu

tio

n

PA

PE

R 5

:

Evolu

tion

of

syst

ems

of

tech

nolo

gy

tran

sfer

in

ru

ral

dev

elopin

g

econ

o-

mie

s

Pap

er

subm

itte

d

to

the

con

fere

nce

17

th

Con

fere

nce

In

tern

atio

nal

Sch

um

pet

er S

oci

ety.

Th

is p

aper

an

alyse

s h

ow

te

chn

olo

gy

tran

sfer

evolv

es i

n r

ura

l d

evel

op

-

ing e

con

om

ies.

Qu

alit

ativ

e re

sear

ch.

Lon

git

udin

al

mu

ltip

le

case

stu

die

s of

fish

an

d

silk

pro

du

ctio

n.

Evolu

tion

ary

fram

ework

,

pro

ble

m

form

u-

lati

on

an

d

-

solv

ing

Expla

nat

ion

of

an

evolu

tion

ary

se-

quen

ce

of

stag

es

that

im

pro

ve

the

oper

atio

n of

a sy

s-

tem

of

acto

rs i

n t

he

tech

nolo

gy

tran

sfer

pro

cess

.

69

Table

7.

Sum

ma

ry o

f m

y ro

le i

n t

he

pre

pa

rati

on o

f th

e paper

s

Pap

er

Lit

eratu

re

stu

die

s

Res

earc

h

des

ign

Data

co

l-

lecti

on

An

aly

sis

Wri

tin

g &

pre

sen

tati

on

Co

mm

en

ts

1

Sh

ared

S

ole

re

spon

-

sibil

ity

Sole

re

spon

-

sibil

ity

Sh

ared

S

har

ed

I w

as in

volv

ed in

th

e se

lect

ion

of

the

Sit

uat

ed

Lea

rnin

g

Th

eory

, dat

a co

llec

-

tion

, dat

a an

alys

is,

and pre

senta

tion

of

the

resu

lts.

2

Sh

ared

S

ole

re

spon

-

sibil

ity

Sole

re

spon

-

sibil

ity

Sh

ared

S

har

ed

I w

as in

volv

ed in

th

e se

lect

ion

of

the

Sit

uat

ed L

earn

ing T

heo

ry a

nd d

ata

col-

lect

ion

, dat

a an

alys

is,

and

pre

sen

tati

on

of

the

resu

lts.

3

Sole

auth

or

Sole

re

spon

-

sibil

ity

Sole

re

spon

-

sibil

ity

Sole

au

-

thor

Sh

ared

I

was

res

pon

sible

for

the

des

ign

of

the

stu

dy,

rev

iew

of

the

lite

ratu

re,

syn

thes

is

of

the

info

rmat

ion

, an

alys

is

of

the

in-

form

atio

n,

pre

sen

tati

on o

f re

sult

s, o

rgan

-

isat

ion

of

the

docu

men

ts,

and t

he

par

tic-

ipat

ion

of

the

co-a

uth

ors

duri

ng

the

pro

cess

.

4

Sin

gle

-auth

ore

d p

aper

.

5

Sh

ared

S

ole

re

spon

-

sibil

ity

Sole

re

spon

-

sibil

ity

Sh

ared

S

har

ed

Sh

ared

re

spon

sibil

ity

for

the

anal

ysis

and

wri

tin

g o

f th

e pap

er.

70

8. Conclusions

This doctoral thesis addresses the technology transfer process in rural

developing economies. In particular, it focuses on the technology transfer

process in small-scale production in rural developing economies.

I argue that the literature on technology transfer offers many useful insights

although they are insufficient for fully developing a well-functioning pro-

cess between rural enterprises and universities or other types of organisa-

tions. In the attempt to complement and adapt the existent literature empiri-

cally, I posed and addressed the three research questions of this thesis.



The focus in this research is on a specific type of organisation -

intermediaries - that facilitate the interaction between recipients and

transferors in rural developing economies. In my research, I show that

intermediaries are important actors in the interaction between recipients and

transferors. Empirically, for two of my three case studies, the intermediaries

played two major roles. The first role was as a broker between the producers

and the transferor, supporting the packaging and adaptation of the new

technology, and ensuring that the technological expectations and the

practical implementation were aligned. The second role was as an

independent advisor to the producers and transferors, thereby supporting the

connection between the various participants.

Papers 1 and 2 describe the experiences of fish and coffee producers during

the transfer of enviromentally friendly technologies. Based on the empirical

material of this research, the use of external organisations as intermediaries

seems to be more effective than when rural enterprises did it by themselves.

It is can be costly for the recipients in terms of time and effort, and can

attract financial support from the government. More generally, the findings

of this research show that the use of intermediaries has great potential for

decreasing transaction costs between transferors and recipients.

71

In addition, I suggest that intermediary organisations in some cases, such as

fish and coffee, seem to be relevant. The following section explains the

major role that intermediaries play in the technology transfer process and

describes the types of organisations that could be intermediaries.

Brokering function of the intermediaries

Intermediaries may act as brokers by trying to ensure that the other partici-

pants’ expectations and the practical implementation of the technology are

aligned. This can be understood in terms of the negotiations between trans-

ferors and recipients intended to adapt the technology according to the con-

text of the producers (i.e. the recipients). Through their participation, the

intermediaries contribute to the development and implementation of tech-

nology by facilitating innovative adaptation at the collective level of the

producers. From a Situated Learning Theory perspective, the intermediation

involves the management of clear boundary objects (technology types) in

boundary events (workshops and technical assistance visits).

In two cases (coffee and fish), the intermediaries acted as brokers by nurtur-

ing a coalition as a network of organisations concerned with diffusing tech-

nology to rural industry. The coalition consisted of a group of people repre-

senting the participants in the technology transfer who worked as communi-

ty of practice. In the fish and coffee cases, they brokered a balanced mem-

bership structure, established agreed-upon accountabilities, set common

agendas and goals, and developed action plans and technology diffusion

assessment frameworks. The intermediaries helped the producers and trans-

ferors negotiate their relationships, connect their perspectives, and develop

communal identities that were effective. The intermediary clearly articulates

the rationale, requirements, and opportunities in technology adaptation,

diffusion, and innovation.

I argue that brokering should involve the staff of participant governmental

and non-governmental organisations as the intermediary’s advisors who

represent the coalition’s interface with the potential recipients of the tech-

nology. Specific instruments for this may include, but are not limited to, the

administration of effective workshops and assistance visits. The coalition,

which I theoretically described as communities of practice (CoP), identified

demand-side needs. My research shows that working inside CoPs enables

the communities to develop effective identities and competencies related to

adapting and using technology innovatively. Notably, the intermediary’s

prior experience in the provision of similar services, its ability to recruit

72

other powerful brokers, and the structures that foster the adoption of new

technology (e.g. certification requirements) have considerable influence on

the efficacy of this process.

None of the five papers of this thesis explains why brokering is needed in

the first place. From a “world perspective,” the problems that producers face

may not be intrinsically complex. However, because of the background and

the context of the producers, the problems are complex for them. This im-

plies that the producers cannot solve the problems by themselves; they need

others to contribute a different and knowledgeable point of view.

Intermediaries as independent research and advisory centres

The main responsibility of the intermediary is to diffuse technologies that

are adapted to address specific needs of producers (in this thesis, rural en-

terprises), through mass-technology customization activities. This is possi-

ble because intermediaries act independently of other organisations but are

still strongly connected with their individual goals. They coordinate the

different roles of the participants.

The role of the intermediaries in part depends on the extent to which they

understand the transferred technology. Over time, intermediaries acquire

specialized knowledge that increases their ability to interact with other or-

ganisations and to reconfigure the actions they perform. The new

knowledge and capabilities give the intermediaries the legitimacy to operate

as independent actors. The intermediaries reveal the problems that must be

solved by the technology transfer process and address the solutions that

must respond to the interests of all participants.

Collective implementation of the technologies is discussed, in many cases,

by innovative adaptation. As the fish production case demonstrates, adapta-

tion, diffusion, and innovation through brokering, facilitating, and configur-

ing of technology can result in cost savings as well as substantial improve-

ments in quality and productivity for the local pisciculture businesses. Such

improvements are essential for rural enterprises in the local production sys-

tem. These improvements may also achieve the intended goals of develop-

ing new products and in gaining access to international supply chains. If

these goals are achieved, the rural enterprises have the potential to improve

the competitiveness of the local system significantly.

Research and advisory centres are a particularly significant type of technol-

ogy intermediary and a key feature of regional development policy in many

73

Latin American countries. They can identify approaches and instruments for

the technology diffusion in intervention programmes.

This thesis develops a new application of Situated Learning Theory (SLT)

through its use as a perspective in the analysis of technology transfer

processes. SLT offers ways to explain the importance of NGOs and research

and advisory centres in coordinating stakeholders and in facilitating the

technology transfer process from university to industry sectors. This has

been recognized in Latin American as well as in Western countries. Howev-

er, the relatively unexplored role of these intermediaries in the extant litera-

ture points to an important gap in the theory and practice literature on tech-

nology transfer.

The thesis uses SLT as a lens to reveal how the function of such intermedi-

aries in university-to-rural industry technology transfer can be optimised.

This highlights the finding that the use of intermediaries for this kind of

technology transfer involves nurturing and bridging CoPs that deal with

both the supply and demand sides of technology transfer. Improvements in

the activities of these CoPs and their interfaces positively influence the in-

novative adaptation and use of new technology.

The CoPs analysed in the three cases of my research reflect the main fea-

tures described in the literature on SLT (Wenger, 2000). The producers are

experts in production although their academic knowledge is much less than

that of the researchers. In their CoPs, the producers could solve problems

using their local knowledge. In the same way, the CoP members in other

organisations, such as universities, NGOs, and government offices, had the

expertise to solve technological and other problems.



Based on a literature analysis and empirical analysis, this thesis identifies

the following seven enablers:

i) Absorptive capacity,

ii) Understanding of the technology source and market maturity,

iii) Recipients’ comprehension of the financial implications of the technolo-

gy transfer,

iv) Cultural and geographic proximity between transferor and recipient,

v) Intermediaries that connect the transferor and recipient,

74

vi) Network of organisations that adapt the technology to the local needs;

and


The first three enablers are associated with the characteristics of the tech-

nology recipients. The following three enablers are associated with the na-

ture of the relationship between transferor and recipient. The seventh ena-

bler relates to a characteristic shared by recipient and transferor.

To assess the enablers, my thesis, which uses the framework of the enablers,

analyses the case of technology transfer in a project in pisciculture in Cauca,

Colombia. Some enablers are intermediaries that connect the transferor and

recipient. Some are networks of organisations that adapt the technology to

the local needs with prior experience in technology transfer projects. They

are different from the enablers traditionally referred to the technology trans-

fer literature for the following reasons:

i) They emphasize aspects of the transfer process that are close to the daily

reality of the recipients and the way these recipients interact with the tech-

nology;

ii) They highlight the learning based on the experience of the transfer pro-

cess and the degree to which acquired skills from previous and on-going

transfers are likely to support actual and future transfers of technology; and

iii) They focus on aspects of technology transfer process from individual to

organisational levels.

The enablers thus address an important and under-researched area in the

literature by explaining how, in technology transfer, they contribute to my

knowledge of the particularities in each experience, the role of the actors,

and the influence of the interactional context.

This thesis reveals that three characteristics of the context and the partici-

pants – those that are less prominent in the literature on technology transfer

– were particularly important in compensating for the lack of the partici-

pants’ capabilities and thus in facilitating an efficient transfer of technology.

These characteristics are the following: 1) the presence of intermediaries

connecting transferors and recipients; 2) the institutional networks that

adapt the technology to the local needs; and 3) the participants’ prior expe-

rience in technology transfer projects.

Technology transfer is considered a highly relevant activity that promotes

learning and creates capabilities by introducing and stimulating recipient

75

innovation (Breznitz, 2011; Cooke and Mayes, 1996; Van Zwanenberg and

Arza, 2013). This study finds that the technology transfer in these cases

initially is more oriented to improving production processes than to devel-

oping new products for new markets. However, when the improvement is

substantial, technology transfer is focused on the development of new prod-

ucts. In this sense, this study demonstrates that measurement of changes in

the market or economic variables using new technologies in silk, coffee, and

fish production are difficult, if impossible, owing to the lack of systematic

information.

RQ #3: How do ‘systems’ of technology transfer evolve in rural

developing economies?

This analysis of technology transfer processes in silk and fish production

over a period of several decades shows that the evolutionary sequences in-

cluded two important categories of problem sources that act as mechanisms

for variety creation and selective retention. The first category concerns

sources external to the emergent technology transfer system. In the two

cases, external sources refer mainly to governments, which in both cases

acted as the igniting force behind the setup of the system. Governments

were thus the formulator of the original problem that the rest of the evolu-

tionary process built on. For instance, in the case of fish farming, the evolu-

tionary process towards a functioning system of technology transfer had its

starting point in the Colombian Government’s identification of the malnutri-

tion problem in the targeted rural regions and its initiation of programmes

for local fish production as an overarching solution.

The second category concerns what may be called endogenous problems

sources, (i.e. problems that result directly from the problem-solving activi-

ties of the recipients, transferors, and intermediaries). In this way, solutions

by themselves may endogenously create new problems that actors may or

may not perceive and decide to act on. An important example is the creation

of producer cooperatives, which, in both cases, were created to receive gov-

ernmental funding and to mitigate the problem of small-scale production by

the individual producers. This implies that the creation and selection of va-

riety normally is an iterative process, where alternatives are generated and

eliminated until a favourable (and satisficing) solution is identified.

Over time, there was an increase in the number of intermediaries by the

creation of a formal organisation that managed the negotiations on behalf of

the recipients. Each intermediary, in a specialized role, could guide the pro-

76

ducers in different aspects of the negotiation. The creation and increased

sophistication of a specialized intermediary that was competent in orches-

trating interventions allowed the recipients to use the new technology suc-

cessfully.

Two conclusions are particular important. First, there is a process of profes-

sionalization or ‘scientification’ in the technology transfer process. In this

process, the practical skills for transferring and intermediating increasingly

draw from research studies. Second, the actors became increasingly sophis-

ticated and specialized. Thus, given the increased sophistication and the

greater division of labour, the two cases developed as systems of technology

transfer.

In the future, the analysis conducted in this thesis can be compared with

other system approaches as a way to understand technology transfer pro-

cesses.

77

9. Discussion and Implications

This thesis contributes to the technology transfer literature with its focus on

the interaction among participants. The thesis shows that technology trans-

fer can be improved by taking contextual aspects into consideration. These

aspects include the huge knowledge asymmetries between transferor and

recipient, the dependence on the government for funding technology trans-

fer processes, and the use of cooperatives as collaborative networks. I will

now briefly discuss the main aspects based on my findings.

With important exceptions (e.g. Madu, 1989; Schneider et al., 2008), the

literature on technology transfer does not spend much time investigating the

process from the perspective of the involved actors. This thesis takes the

actor perspective in describing the technology transfer process. The trans-

ferors described in the case studies of this thesis are the university research

teams and the research centre teams. In general, research teams are able to

conduct research or study the research on their topics of interest. However,

as demonstrated in this thesis, given the context of this thesis, they likely

need to improve their ability to identify the needs of the rural enterprises.

The intermediaries identified in this thesis were NGOs and offices inside

rural cooperatives. Recipients of the technology were the cooperatives and

the cooperative networks that consisted of several farms that belong to a

cooperative but developed a technology transfer process as a network.

This thesis shows that intermediaries can and do play important roles but

cannot comment on how well their results travel. However, I suggest that

intermediaries, when they are needed, play an important role in the follow-

ing ways:

i) Brokering builds a coalition of members of communities of practice

(CoP) to form learning networks to enable collective capacity building and

process innovation among different participant concerned with technology

diffusion. Brokering, as an intermediation function, involves building a

balanced membership structure of a coalition of stakeholders concerned

with technology diffusion and the pursuit of a clear agenda, well-informed

78

action plans, agreed-upon assessment frameworks, and technologies in a

coalition of stakeholders,

ii) Facilitating improves the interaction between participants and configur-

ing advances the new technology. The intermediaries need to promote the

participation of the rural enterprises in the selection the technologies most

likely to be adopted. Workshops, technical training sessions, and assistance

visits are needed to make this facilitation work.

The role of the intermediary implies that the technology transfer considered

interacts between the participants. The transfer reveals a process with more

actors in which the interaction requires more activities such as workshops

and meetings intended to achieve cohesion among the participants. This

might require additional resources, but would also decrease the transaction

costs and increase the coverage for all the members in the rural enterprises.

The interaction between transferors and recipients seems to be easy to de-

velop, but does not necessarily promote coordination in the system of actors

that supports the rural enterprise. Then, the recipients have almost the entire

responsibility for the decisions related to the process.

With only a few exceptions (e.g. Hervas-Oliver et al. 2012; Spithoven et al.,

2011), studies on the role of such intermediaries have mainly focused on

companies that operate in high-technology clusters. Relatively little

attention has been paid to how research groups and advisory centres, such as

technology intermediaries, facilitate technology transfers and user

innovation in low-technology, rural clusters of small-scale agri-businesses

in developing economies. Notably, although various typologies of

technology intermediaries have been developed (Bessant and Rush, 1995;

Howells, 2006; Spithoven et al., 2011), the modus operandi of such

organisations is still not well understood.

This study contributes to the technology transfer literature by expanding the

analysis of barriers created by low technical knowledge among recipients in

relation to technology transferors. The study also explains how the asym-

metry between the transferors’ and recipients’ knowledge is mitigated. A

practical contribution is the development of a framework to support

technology transfer in rural developing economies and in the evolutionary

stages of the technology transfer process.

Reflecting on my previous empirical research, it is clear that an important

aspect of this thesis is that even so-called simple technology transfer pro-

79

cesses are difficult, cumbersome, and time-consuming – for both recipients

and transferors.

In my previous research, I described the technology transferred to the fish

farming and coffee producer communities as a simple process technology,

oriented toward the needs of small-scale suppliers and appropriate for rural

conditions. Using the Leonard-Barton (1990) typology, all types of technol-

ogy adopted fall under the category of ‘simple diffusion’. This means they

are characterised by a narrow technology scope with a large number of users

per technology application. These technologies are transferred in packages

that include soft and hard components.

However, in the second stage of the thesis, I realized that technology trans-

fer processes, in this context, are complex and not easily understood or

promoted, at least from the perspective of the involved actors. The analysed

cases show that rural enterprises achieved technology transfer processes

despite the difficulties in following the desired operation of enablers. A

deep analysis of each enabler demonstrates that some enablers were more

relevant than others in each case.

Traditionally, the success of transfers of technology has mostly been ex-

pressed in quantitative terms (e.g. number of patents or licences that are

transferred, or the number of new products or services that are developed

using those patents or licences). In this research, however, such quantitative

data were rarely available, were difficult to collect, or were unreliable.

80

10. Areas for Future Research

10.1 Assessment of the identified enablers in other de-

veloping countries Although the implications for theory and practice from this research are not

strictly delimited to this particular setting, more technology transfer inter-

ventions need to be examined. Such research could be conducted in other

countries, other industrial sectors, and other cultures. This research could

provide real-world laboratories for improving or customising new technolo-

gies as well as for shedding light on the role that different contexts and

structures may play in facilitating or inhibiting intermediation in university-

to-industry technology transfer.

This research could also enhance the understanding of how research and

advisory centres as technology transfer intermediaries can mobilise different

stakeholders and deal with different institutional arrangements as they seek

to make improvements in a variety of industries. Such an approach might

advance the adoption of a much-needed and balanced view of agency and

structure in the current analyses.

A better understanding of how technology intermediaries function effective-

ly may benefit all stakeholders in participatory technology transfer and de-

velopment. This includes academics, policy-makers, public administrators,

support service providers, and technology recipients. The findings in this

thesis may promote further research that stimulates the scrutiny of new ele-

ments and considerations pertinent to the transfer of intermediate technolo-

gies to developing rural economies.

Knowing “what works” is instrumental in designing interventions (Pawson,

2006; Pawson and Tilley, 1997; Sanderson, 2000). In the setting of the re-

search for this thesis, it was significant that the technology intermediation

initiatives were taken in a way that addressed deficiencies and promoted the

enhancement and innovative activity of rural production systems. I suggest

that Stewart and Hyysalo’s (2008) three main intermediation functions

81

(brokering, facilitating, and configuring) in technology adaptation, diffu-

sion, and innovation can be improved by optimizing the intervention com-

ponents identified in this thesis.

10.2 Effects of technology transfer processes The sheer number of organisations classified as small rural enterprises in

regions of developing economies, and their paramount significance in socio-

economic terms, suggest that the enablers that facilitate technology transfer

to such organisations merit further research.

Economic and social perspectives have been addressed in the literature on

international technology transfer at a country level. However, in the domes-

tic technology transfer, when the intermediation and interaction among par-

ticipants does not as it does a in international technology transfer, a new

way of analysing social and economic aspects must be defined. How do

intermediation and interaction in the technology transfer affect socially and

economically rural enterprises?

Future studies might analyse additional aspects of the results following

technology transfers in terms of local economic, social, and environmental

performance. Such research could provide us with a more integrated under-

standing of the relationship between intervention outcomes and rural devel-

opment at the local level (Baumgartner et al., 2013). Given that prior re-

search points to some adverse effects on local social capital resulting from

such interventions (Atterton, 2007; Phillipson et al., 2006), future studies

should consider both positive and negative effects.

The enablers investigated in this study can be assessed using qualitative

methods in addition to quantitative measures. This qualitative evaluation

can contribute to a better understanding of the transfer process and its de-

terminants. Given the scarcity of the literature that focuses on technology

transfer for communities with different cultures in rural areas (e.g. Figueroa

et al., 2013; Kovic, 2010), the strategy adopted by many developing econo-

mies generally follows the trend in developed countries. However, this

strategy often lacks a thorough appreciation of how suitable such prescrip-

tions are to their context.

82

Notwithstanding the value of demonstrating “what works” in intermediation

initiatives that deliver positive outcomes, such outcomes should eventually

be linked to social and economic effects.

I suggest that future research on this subject should consider variations in

the type of intermediation, as well as the effect of such interventions, in

different countries and in different industrial sectors. Such research could

address theoretical replication and advance technology domestication and

diffusion in different contexts, especially in less-developed countries.

10.3 Failed technology transfer experiences in develop-

ing economies This thesis reports on cases in which technology transfer was achieved and

which demonstrated a gradual increase in the participation of the actors

involved. However, there are not many studies set in developing economies

that describe the failures with technology transfer programmes and projects.

In some cases, although such analyses might dramatically decrease foreign

investment in rural developing economies, the analyses might also increase

our understanding of why such programmes and projects fail in terms of

individuals, enterprises, and regional systems for technology transfer.

Using the framework of enablers for technology transfer, future studies

could analyse failures of technology transfer projects. These analyses could

explain why these projects failed, and if, at least, partial improvements were

evidenced in the participants’ knowledge. Such studies should address the

possible “dark sides” of the various actors’ interests in the process. The

approach taken in this thesis does not analyse the changes in the actors’

interactions when the technology transfer is unsuccessful.

83

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