دیدگاه مدیریت تکنولوژی درباره همکاری در صنعت خودرو سازی هند: یک مطالعه موردی

A study was conducted to analyze technology management practices of firms in the automobile industry in India. The case studies of three firms which collaborated in post Indian independence (i.e. after 1947) period and after the economic reforms began (i.e. after 1985) have been presented. The cases were prepared using interviewing and observation techniques. Profitability, liquidity, and turnover ratio analyses have been carried out to assess the firms’ financial health. Input from the questionnaire survey has been presented to compare the perception of the firm’s performance compared to industry on select variables. The situation–actor–process–learning–action–performance (SAP-LAP) paradigm was used to analyze the cases. Learning issues have been synthesized.

The Asia-Pacific region is considered by many scholars, practitioners, and investors to be one of dynamic and rapidly growing economic regions in the world. Countries included in this region are Japan, China, Taiwan, South Korea, North Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam and India. The region is a voracious importer of new technologies and an innovative user of existing technologies. Many of these countries have undergone major economic reforms to be able to facilitate the domestic firms to compete in the global market. Many strategic alliances, joint ventures (JVs), and collaborations came into existence. Lately, many of these firms expanded their operations in other countries to evolve into multinational companies. In India, the process of economic reforms started in 1983, which was followed by fierce liberalization in 1991. Indian market was opened up for foreign firms and Indian organizations were allowed to compete in the overseas markets with local and multinational organizations. In the wake of globalization of trade, commerce and industry, and liberalization of economies of the various countries of the world, it has become mandatory for all the players to have a sound technology base, without which accomplishing operational and strategic goals would become not only uneconomical but almost impossible. The increasingly demanding global business environment calls for a separate management function which looks after corporate interests on the technology front. Many strategic alliances came into existence across a variety of industries to make Indian firms compete not only in domestic but also in international market. The industries which could attract direct foreign investments and maximum number of JVs include electronics, communication, information technology, and automobile. Several Indian organizations have acquired state-of-art technology from their foreign collaborators and JV partners. Though technology has been the basis for such emerging collaborations and JVs, the technology management function does not de-emphasize finance, marketing, personnel and other traditional functions of an organization. At the global level, there are perceived advantages of technological collaborations that are taking place all over the world. Developed and developing countries stand to gain from legislative and economic reforms. Technology transfer is now taking place in India with organizations from many developed countries like US, Japan, UK, Germany, etc. Our discussion of a global scenario does not mean that India is only at the receiving end and technology has to flow only in one direction. There can be a market for the technologies which India has developed in many core areas in recent years. Competitiveness of an organization can be assessed from various parameters, the most important of them being technological innovations and breakthroughs which the organizations realizes or has the potential to realize over a period of time. It may be difficult to measure the impact of adopting an innovation or rejecting the same, but over a period of time overall financial and marketing results can definitely help in drawing conclusions regarding technology-based decisions. Technological changes and decisions to adapt to changes in the environment can make or break an organization. Examples of the significant impact of commercializing a technology on the overall performance of the organization are numerous, from the invention of the steam engine to intelligent cars. In the changing global scenario, those organizations that integrate technology related decisions into business strategies have considerably improved their chances of reaping benefits from technological innovations. There is always an element of risk associated with adoption of a new technology. This indicates that technological innovations cannot be adopted without prior analysis in context to a particular organization. Technology involves moderate to high investments, and it also has an effective lifetime, after which the same technology may not remain commercially viable and hence, needs either upgrading or total replacement. Under the circumstances, where total replacement is called for, the previous technology which was in use must generate enough revenues so that the investment for the new one may be either totally or partly funded from operations. New organizations must consider all these factors quite carefully, and the choice of technology becomes an extremely crucial decision for them. For existing organizations, a watchful approach will help not only in survival and growth but also in taking and maintaining technological leadership in their respective industries. For those organizations that are already technology leaders of their respective industries, technology management strategy becomes a more crucial weapon by which they can sustain their positions in their existing businesses and also explore new markets, thereby restricting the entry of competitors and exit of customers in different parts of the world. By evolving suitable technology strategy leading firms can identify and cultivate core competencies (Prahalad and Hamel, 1990) in the businesses they are in. The study reported in this article covers three cases of Indian automobile firms which involved themselves in collaborations for technology acquisition in the late 1950s, 1960s, and early 1980s and addresses the issues related to strategic management of technology in developing countries in general, and within Indian industry, in particular. The objective of the study was to assess technology management practices in the Indian automobile industry with special emphasis on clarity in technology acquisition, developing capabilities to adopt, adapt, and implement new technologies, indigenization, competitiveness, and effectiveness of technology alliances. The study also examines the nature and impact of flexibility in technology management decisions. During the course of study the following issues were also addressed: • technology strategy of the firm, • technology transfer model followed, • technology as a powerful tool for competitive advantage, • innovation culture in the organization, • technology development, • vendor development, • research productivity, • building core competencies, • technology strategy framework being evolved and followed. The study also aims at ascertaining the perception of the corporate world about the strategic management of technology. What do the top and middle management of technology-based or technology intensive organizations expect from technology management function? What instructions, directives, and guidelines are desired in pursuit of a technology management strategy? How can a corporation maintain its technological supremacy? How helpful can the technology strategy be in promoting the innovation culture in an organization? Apart from strategic technology management, are there other applicable strategies for surviving in the competition? The study also addresses many of these questions. Being an area of recent origin, relatively scant literature is available about the Indian context. The research conducted on technology management in developed countries does not provide much insight into the technology management practices in developing or under developed countries in general and in India in particular.

Collaborations are very effective when the local firm has the competence to absorb the acquired technology within the period already decided by both the parties. JVs have the advantage of attracting the foreign investments and therefore have the commitment of the technology providers towards market success. In view of the fact that no technology provider transfers state-of-the art technology to a JV located in the same or different country, the technology acquired in JV is either in the late maturity stage of technology life cycle or an obsolete one. In JVs, the process of transfer of out of use technology continues and JV becomes the dumping ground for old technologies. As long as the products succeed in the market, technology borrowers do not mind such an arrangement. The concept of leapfrogging (Sharif, 1989) cannot be applied in the case of JV if it affects the interests of technology providers. In case of collaboration, the short term or one time arrangement succeed only when the firm has enough experience of technology acquisition and subsequent absorption. When the hand holding part is over, the firm is free to acquire-state-of-the art technology and stand in front of its earlier collaborators in the international market. The analogy of a young child comes across very well with respect to collaborations and JVs. In JVs, the child attains the physical age but remains mentally undeveloped because it depends on technology providers for future support. While in the case of long term (for about 10–15 years) active collaboration the child (the firm) develops both physically (commercially) and mentally (technologically). Active long term collaborations are essential for building technological strengths in the firms of developing countries.