Customizing Technology Transfer: Lessons to be Learned from Comparative Cross Cultural Studies
(2006) In Journal of Industrial Relations 48(5). p.677-689- Abstract
- This article highlights the old wisdom that technology is socially constructed. By using examples from a study of how German machinery manu-facturing firms and North American user industries act and think while developing and implementing advanced technology, and reflecting on these examples to elucidate Swedish manufacturing culture, the study highlights how knowledge about industrial behaviour can only be made visible by comparative studies, since only in relief - in contrast with something different - can the ‘taken for granted’ behaviour be identified. It is argued that identifying the prevailing industrial behaviour in a region opens up the possibility not only of identifying different strategies in inter-firm contacts but also of... (More)
- This article highlights the old wisdom that technology is socially constructed. By using examples from a study of how German machinery manu-facturing firms and North American user industries act and think while developing and implementing advanced technology, and reflecting on these examples to elucidate Swedish manufacturing culture, the study highlights how knowledge about industrial behaviour can only be made visible by comparative studies, since only in relief - in contrast with something different - can the ‘taken for granted’ behaviour be identified. It is argued that identifying the prevailing industrial behaviour in a region opens up the possibility not only of identifying different strategies in inter-firm contacts but also of mastering them. Engineering that could ‘customize’ not only technology but also the interaction with customers and differentiate the service for different markets would have a competitive advantage. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/166127
- author
- Bäcklund, Ann-Katrin LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2006
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- work practice, manufacturing, Sweden, Germany, comparative, customized technology
- in
- Journal of Industrial Relations
- volume
- 48
- issue
- 5
- pages
- 677 - 689
- publisher
- SAGE Publications
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:84992850756
- ISSN
- 1472-9296
- DOI
- 10.1177/0022185606070111
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 54f17b47-f56c-49a4-accc-d72f238e5dfd (old id 166127)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 16:26:17
- date last changed
- 2022-01-28 19:44:55
@article{54f17b47-f56c-49a4-accc-d72f238e5dfd,
abstract = {{This article highlights the old wisdom that technology is socially constructed. By using examples from a study of how German machinery manu-facturing firms and North American user industries act and think while developing and implementing advanced technology, and reflecting on these examples to elucidate Swedish manufacturing culture, the study highlights how knowledge about industrial behaviour can only be made visible by comparative studies, since only in relief - in contrast with something different - can the ‘taken for granted’ behaviour be identified. It is argued that identifying the prevailing industrial behaviour in a region opens up the possibility not only of identifying different strategies in inter-firm contacts but also of mastering them. Engineering that could ‘customize’ not only technology but also the interaction with customers and differentiate the service for different markets would have a competitive advantage.}},
author = {{Bäcklund, Ann-Katrin}},
issn = {{1472-9296}},
keywords = {{work practice; manufacturing; Sweden; Germany; comparative; customized technology}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{5}},
pages = {{677--689}},
publisher = {{SAGE Publications}},
series = {{Journal of Industrial Relations}},
title = {{Customizing Technology Transfer: Lessons to be Learned from Comparative Cross Cultural Studies}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022185606070111}},
doi = {{10.1177/0022185606070111}},
volume = {{48}},
year = {{2006}},
}