International Journal of Technology Management and Sustainable Development: Volume: 7 | Issue: 1

International Journal of

Technology Management& SustainableDevelopment

International Journal of Technology Managem

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evelopment | Volum

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ISSN 1474-2748

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Culture International Journal of Technology Management & Sustainable Development Volume 7 Number 1 – 2008

Articles

3–17 Assessing a rural innovation system: Low-input rice in Central China J. David Reece

19–38 Determinants of the adoption of technological innovations by logisticsservice providers in China

Chieh-Yu Lin

39–58 Innovation and entrepreneurship in Brazilian universities Mariza Almeida

59–70 Knowledge proximity and technological relatedness in offshore oil and gas and offshore wind technology in the United Kingdom

Zahid A. Memon and Roshan S. Rashdi

71–89 Partenariat public-privé en Tunisie: Les conditions de succès et d’échec Amira Bouhamed and Jamil Chaabouni

Event Report

91–93 Global student innovators workshop: Opening the way for product inspiration and sustainability

Caroline Cottrill and Tony Houghton

Book Reviews

95–98 Reviews by James Smith and Julius Mugwagwa

9 771474 274006

ISSN 1474-2748 7 1

The International Journal of Technology Management and Sustainable Development is published with the cooperation of the Association of Commonwealth Universities

The International Journal of TechnologyManagement & Sustainable DevelopmentVolume 7 Number 1

The International Journal of Technology Management & SustainableDevelopment (IJTM&SD) is a refereed academic journal dedicated to publishing high quality, original and research-based papers addressing issues arising from the relationship between technologyand development. It seeks to provide expert and interdisciplinaryinsight into the technology dimension of international development,and by doing so, aims to advance contemporary knowledge about the empirical and theoretical aspects of technology management and sustainable development from the vantage point of developingcountries.

Editorial Advisory Board P. B. Anand University of Bradford, UK John Bessant University of London, Imperial College, UK Ajit S. Bhalla Genève, Switzerland Calestous Juma Harvard University, USAHenry Etzkowitz Newcastle University, UKMichael Gibbons University of Sussex, Science Policy Research

Unit, UK Andrew Hall UNU-INTECH, Maastricht, Netherlands Paul Hyland The University of Queensland School of

Natural and Rural Systems Management, Australia

Eric Hyman African Development Foundation, Washington D.C., USA

John Kirkland Association of Commonwealth Universities, UK Jean-Michel Larrasquet ESTIA – Technopole Izarbel, France John Mugabe NEPAD Science & Technology Commission,

Pretoria, South Africa Lynn Mytelka UNU-INTECH, Maastricht, Netherlands Alejandro Nadal El Colegio de Mexico, Mexico John Rice University of Canberra, Australia Joyce Tait University of Edinburgh, UK Italo Trevisan Universita Degli Studi Di Trento, Italy Judi Wakhungu African Centre for Technology Studies, Kenya David Wield Open University, UKJosé Manoel Carvalho de Mello Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil

The International Journal of Technology Management & Sustainable Development ispublished three times per year by Intellect, The Mill, Parnall Road, Bristol, BS16 3JG. Thecurrent subscription rates are £33 (personal) and £210 (institutional). A postage charge of£9 is made for subscriptions of Europe (outside UK) and £12 for the rest of the world.Enquiries and bookings for advertising should be addressed to the Marketing Manager atThe Mill, Parnall Road, Bristol, BS16 3JG.

© 2008 Intellect Ltd. Authorisation to photocopy items for internal or personal use or theinternal or personal use of specific clients is granted by Intellect Ltd for libraries and otherusers registered with the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) in the UK or the CopyrightClearance Center (CCC) Transactional Reporting Service in the USA provided that the basefee is paid directly to the relevant organisation.

EditorsMohammed SaadUniversity of the West of England, School of Operations Management, Bristol Business School, Bristol BS16 1QY, UKE-mail: [email protected]

Girma ZawdieDavid Livingstone Centre forSustainability (DLCS), University of Strathclyde,Glasgow G4 0NG, UKE-mail: [email protected]

Associate Editor Norman G ClarkAfrican Centre of Technology Studies(ACTS) Nairobi Kenya E-mail:[email protected]

Reviews Editor James SmithCentre of African Studies and ESRC Innogen Research Centre, University of Edinburgh, 21 George Square, Edinburgh, Scotland. EH8 9LD, UK. E-mail: [email protected]

Editorial Assistant Frances JefferiesQuality Assurance Administrator, Bristol Business School, 2C13, University of the West of England,Bristol BS16 1QY, UKTel: + 44 (0)117 328 5204E-mail: [email protected]

Articles appearing in this journal areabstracted and indexed in INSPEC,CAB Abstracts and CAB Healthdatabases.

Printed and bound in Great Britain by4edge, UK

ISSN 1474-2748

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Authors should use British spellings:¬ise endings (as in recognise), labour(instead of labor), etc. Quotations offive lines or more should be indented.Percentages: 10 per cent in text, 10%in notes; numbers should be writtenout in words and not in numeralswhen in single digit – i.e. five per centinstead of 5 per cent.

IJTM&SD uses the Harvard style ofreferencing. References should beindicated within round brackets in thetext including surname(s) of author(s),year of publication and page numberswhere necessary – for example: (Rao2000:11), or in the case of multiplereferences, (Lall 1982, Dahlman et al.1987: 760), etc. Details of referencesshould be given in full in the list ofreferences at the end of the article, andthe list of references should bealphabetically ordered. Full referenceshould include all authors’ names andinitials (i.e. no et als), date of publica-tion, title of paper bounded withinsingle quotes, title of publication(italics), volume and issue number (inthe case of journals), place of publica-tion and name of publisher (in the caseof books and conference proceedings),and page numbers. For example:

Burns, T. and Stalker, G. (1995), ‘TheSocial Context of Innovation,’ in Roy,Robin and Wield, David (eds.), ProductDesign and Technological Innovation,Milton Keynes: Open University Press,pp. 10–17.

Dahlman, C.J., Ross-Larson, B. andWestphal, L.E. (1987), ‘ManagingTechnological Development: Lessonsfrom Newly Industrialising Countries,’World Development, 15:6, pp. 759–75.

Lundvall, B.A. (ed.) (1992), NationalSystems of Innovation and InteractiveLearning, London: Pinter.

Rao, P.K. (2000), Sustainable Development:Economics and Policy, Oxford: Blackwell.

Notes for Contributors

The International Journal of TechnologyManagement & Sustainable Development(IJTM&SD) is a refereed journalpublished three times a year (April,August and December). Articlessubmitted to the Journal should beoriginal and should not be underconsideration for any other publicationat the same time. If another version ofthe article is under consideration byanother publication, or has been, orwill be published elsewhere, authorsshould clearly indicate this at the timeof submission. Previous presentation ata conference or publication in anotherlanguage should be disclosed. Articlesaccepted for publication in the Journalbecome the property of the publisher. Itis a condition of acceptance thatcopyrights of the article belong to thepublisher.

Authors wishing to publish inIJTM&SD should send their articles inthree hard copies (together with a diskcopy where possible) to the Editors ofthe Journal on the addresses shownbelow. Manuscripts should be submit-ted on A4 or similar size paper,typewritten on one side only, double-spaced and with a wide margin on theleft. All pages (including thosecontaining only diagrams and tables)should be numbered consecutively. Alldiagrams, charts and graphs should bereferred to as ‘figures’ and consecu-tively numbered. Tables should be keptto a minimum and contain onlyessential data. Each figure and tablemust be given an Arabic numeral,followed by a heading. Tables andfigures are superfluous if not referredto in the text. Notes should benumbered consecutively throughoutthe article with a raised numeralcorresponding to the list of notesplaced at the end of the article. Notesshould be short and succinct andshould be used only where consideredessential.

There is no standard length for articles,but 5,000 words (including notes andreferences) should form a useful target.The complete typescript should be setin the following order: title; author(s)(footnoting institutional affiliations, fulladdress including emails at the bottomof the page); abstract (indented anditalicised) summarising the mainarguments and conclusions of thearticle in no more than 150 words;keywords in approximately ten words;text; acknowledgements; endnotes; andreferences (alphabetically set). Authorsare responsible for ensuring that theirmanuscripts conform to the styleadopted by the Journal. The Editorswill not retype manuscripts beforepublication.

Following acceptance for publication,articles (revised or otherwise) should besubmitted on high density 3.5 inchdisks in Word or Rich Text Formattogether with two hard copies. Tofacilitate the typesetting process, alltables and figures should be placed atthe end of the file, duly indicatingwhere they should be inserted in thetext. If maps and diagrams cannot beprepared electronically, they should bepresented on good-quality white paper.Each disk should be labelled with theJournal’s name, article title, leadauthor’s name and software used. It isthe author’s responsibility to ensurethat where copyright materials areincluded within an article the permis-sion of the copyright holder has beenobtained. Confirmation of this shouldbe provided upon final submission.

The publisher shall furnish authors ofaccepted papers with proofs for thecorrection of printing errors. Thepublisher shall not be held responsiblefor errors which are the result of theauthor’s oversights.

Authors are entitled to a copy of theissue of the Journal in which theirarticles are published.

Manuscripts and editorial communications:Dr Mohammed Saad, University of the West of England, School of Operations Management, Bristol Business School, Bristol, BS16 1QY, UK. E-mail: [email protected]

Dr Girma Zawdie, David Livingstone Centre for Sustainability (DLCS), University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, G4 0NG, UK. E-mail: [email protected].

Books for review:Dr James Smith, Centre of African Studies and ESRC Innogen Research Centre, University of Edinburgh, 21 George Square,Edinburgh, Scotland. EH8 9LD, UK.E-mail:[email protected]

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International Journal of Technology Management and Sustainable Development

Volume 7 Number 1 © 2008 Intellect Ltd

Article. English language. doi: 10.1386/ijtm7.1.3/1

Assessing a rural innovation system:Low-input rice in Central ChinaJ. David Reece Devon Development Education Centre

AbstractFollowing China’s ‘Green Revolution’, public policy now aims to maintain highyields while reducing the amounts of water and agro-chemicals used by agricul-ture and so to lower costs and minimise environmental damage. This goal ispursued by supporting biotechnology-based research to develop new crops withthe required characteristics, but the innovation systems framework suggests thata range of non-research actors are also essential for these efforts to lead to practi-cal changes. This article therefore examines what the new policy direction meansfor university-based researchers, whether such research is set within an institu-tional context of the kind necessary for effective innovation, and whether thevarious actors involved shared the goals of the new policy. It reports that thestudy area possesses all the elements needed for an effective innovation system;but that the various actors in place lack the agreement on objectives that isrequired for effective innovation.

IntroductionIn the wake of China’s ‘Green Revolution’, the goals of public policy towardsagricultural research have changed. Yields high enough to feed China’slarge population have been achieved (IRRI 2005) but only through theuse of very high levels of agro-chemical inputs (FAO 2005). Researchpolicy has responded to the high environmental and other costs resultingfrom this style of agriculture, and rather than pursuing further yieldincreases, it now aims to find ways to maintain these yields while reducingthe amounts of water and agro-chemicals used by agriculture. These goalsare mainly being pursued by means of agricultural biotechnology, withsubstantial investments in applied genomics and genetic modification(Wang, Xue, and Li 2005; Huang, Wang et al. 2001).

Will this new policy lead to practical change? There is a general con-sensus amongst observers of technical change that effective innovationrequires contributions from a range of diverse actors and institutions, notjust researchers and their organisations (Hall et al. 2001; Sumberg 2005;Spielman 2006). In this case, action is needed from researchers (develop-ing new technologies); from farmers (making use of those new technolo-gies) and also from organisations able to provide the new technologies to

3

KeywordsSustainable

agricultureresearch policybiotechnologyhybrid riceinsect resistancegenetic modificationpublic-private

partnershipuniversity-industry

collaboration

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large numbers of farmers. A useful framework for analysing this kind ofsituation is offered by the Innovation Systems (IS) approach (Hall andRasheed 2002), in which research becomes just one element of a widerprocess of transforming new knowledge into goods and services. Authorsusing this framework have stressed the importance of varied actorsinvolved in innovation and of the relationships that link these actors andhave highlighted the ways in which public policy may modify such rela-tionships. It follows that the new direction in research policy will onlyhave practical results if actors with the appropriate capabilities are presentand are willing to take part in the process of innovation.

The research on which this article is based therefore began by enquiringhow the new direction of research policy was affecting the work of univer-sity-based agricultural researchers. It then sought to establish whether theinstitutional context included actors other than researchers, with the capa-bilities required to complement research and to transform research resultsinto innovations. Finally, it sought to assess whether such actors shared thegoals of the new policy, at least to the extent necessary for them to take partin the related process of innovation. Field research began in three universi-ties (although only two are discussed in this article), all of which hadreceived significant research funding under the policy initiatives in questionand so were engaged in developing new crop varieties that could be used inlow-input agricultural systems. All three are located in the city of Wuhan,which lies at the heart of an important rice-growing region and has a longtradition of applied research. Semi-structured interviews were conductedwith scientists undertaking relevant research in these universities, and inthe course of these interviews, they were asked to identify any off-campusorganisations that played an important part in the practical application oftheir work. Through these and other means, a number of key stakeholderswere identified, and wherever possible, interviews were also conducted withone of their senior managers.

The next section of this article describes relevant work in two of theuniversities studied, exploring the ways in which researchers in contrast-ing environments have responded to objectives set by the government andnoting that the immediate users and beneficiaries of this work have fewopportunities to influence what is done by the researchers. The articlethen explores the ways in which researchers in these universities arelinked to the (intended) users of their work. Universities are not well-placed to disseminate new seeds and related technical information to largenumbers of farmers. This task has traditionally been given to publicly-funded extension services, but policy-makers in China (and in many otherdeveloping countries) have seen the extension service as being ineffectiveand in need of reform. Privatisation and the discipline of market forceshave been widely advocated as a means of improving the performance ofextension services. Within China, agricultural extension is the responsibilityof the government of each province, and so arrangements vary betweendifferent regions. In the province studied, the extension service had in

4 J. David Reece


1977 been divided into a seed company and a regulator. About 160 com-panies compete with each other to sell rice seed in this province, with theregulator ensuring that competition is fair as well as disseminating techni-cal information to farmers.

The transition to a more sustainable form of agriculture is likely torequire complementary actions from these different kinds of actor.However, the evidence presented in this article suggests that the percep-tions and priorities of these stakeholders are markedly different from thoseunderlying research policy, and therefore raises serious doubts as towhether the researcher and other stakeholders jointly possess the coher-ence of objectives required for an innovation system to function.

Applied research in the universities Wuhan UniversityWuhan University houses the Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Educationfor Plant Developmental Biology and Institute of Genetics, College of LifeSciences. Its mission is to undertake fundamental research rather than toapply the results of such research, and this was stressed by interviewees:Professor Yang stated ‘the government also told us to pursue, so manyfunding to support this fundamental research’, while Professor He stressedthat it was ‘really difficult’ for him to do plant breeding because ‘WuhanUniversity is not an agricultural university . . . what’s important is doingthe basic research’.

Despite this institutional orientation to basic research, the KeyLaboratory has responded to the practical needs of China. We shall con-sider two research initiatives: the development of a new form of hybridrice; and the discovery of new genes that enable the rice plant to resistattack by its most serious insect pest. Both of these projects were madepossible by the University’s long-standing interest in wild rice and itsextensive collection of this kind of germplasm.

Hybrid riceThe development of hybrid rice enabled China’s farmers to increase yieldsby up to 20 per cent and so helped to avert the risk of famine. Now,hybrid seed is produced when a female parent is fertilised by pollen from aplant of another line or variety, and so it is vital that the female parentdoes not produce viable pollen (otherwise it will simply fertilise itself).Such lines are rare, and because their male sterility is produced by abnor-malities in the DNA of their cytoplasm they are known as cytoplasmicmale-sterile (CMS) lines. The hybrid rice that was first introduced toChinese agriculture relied on Wild Abortive (WA) CMS lines, but these pro-duced grain of lower quality than conventional high-yielding varieties.A team led by Professor Zhu Yingguo began research on hybrid rice in the1970s (at the time when it was first cultivated on a large scale) anddiscovered a new form of CMS in a wild rice line from the University’scollection. This discovery made possible the production of a different kind

5Assessing a rural innovation system: Low-input rice in Central China


of rice hybrid, which was named Hong Lian (HL), the Chinese words forRed Lotus.

While the HL rice hybrid was initially of purely academic interest (andso an appropriate object of study for a university whose primary missionwas the conduct of basic research), in the 1980s the goals of researchpolicy changed, giving more emphasis to rice quality as well as the quan-tity produced. And HL offered higher grain quality than the more widely-used WA hybrid rice, meaning that farmers could charge higher prices fortheir harvests. It also offered yields that were 5 per cent higher than thosepossible using WA hybrid rice (interview with Professors Zhu and Yang).The development of an HL hybrid that could be cultivated on a large scalewas therefore financed by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST),and this was achieved in 1997 when Honglianyou 6 (Red Lotus number6) was first produced. This line, which MoST described as resulting from across between ‘Hainan Hongmang wild rice and regular hybrid rice’, thenunderwent extensive testing before the certificate permitting its commer-cial cultivation was awarded by the Hubei Provincial Agricultural CropSpecies Assessment Committee (MoST 2002).

Commercial cultivation began in 2001. Initially, the university directlyprovided seeds to farmers, but did not have the capital and other resourcesrequired to produce seeds on a large scale, and was not assisted by the gov-ernment. Large-scale production only became possible after the universityformed a partnership with the private sector to market Red Lotus number 6.This partnership began when the university’s College of Life Sciencesformed a college-business committee and held an open day to show off itstechnologies to prospective business partners. An entrepreneur metProfessor Zhu at this open day, and they agreed to form a new company.

Ownership of the new company was divided between the universityand a group of anonymous investors: even Professor He (interview), whoat the time was the Dean of the College of Life Sciences, did not know thesource of this capital. The university received a 30 per cent stake in thecompany in return for the Honglianyou 6 technology, since Chinese lawspecifies that in such cases the value of the ‘technical investment’ islimited to 30 per cent. The company is run by a professional managementteam, and the university does not interfere in its development, although someacademics serve on its board and provide it with technical consultancyservices. With adequate capital and an excellent product, the companydeveloped rapidly, particularly because it was able to use the university’sreputation to promote its product. In return, it provides additional fundsfor the university (used to support further research, including the develop-ment of new products for the company) as well as professional fees for theindividual academics who provide it with services.

Even as HL CMS rice was being used to develop and commercialise theRed Lotus number 6 hybrid, fundamental research on it continued, nowaided by the molecular tools that have become available since the early1990s. Professor Zhu and his colleagues established that HL male sterility

6 J. David Reece


resulted from the presence of a specific sequence in the mitochondrial DNA,a sequence unique to HL-sterile cytoplasm that they described as a ‘newchimeric gene’ (p744) and named orfH79 (Yi et al. 2002). Knowledge of thissequence enabled them to develop a range of molecular marker systems (firstRAPD, then SSR, now SNP) to predict the presence of HL male sterility. Theythen used these markers to screen germplasm collections to identify newmaterials, with other desirable traits, that also possessed HL male sterilityand so could be used to breed a new generation of hybrids. The traits thatwere of greatest interest included stable disease resistance, particularly toBlast. At the same time, increased yield continued to be a priority and soefforts were made to find suitable germplasm exhibiting traits that wouldmake this possible: these included strong stems and root systems (to reducelodging) as well as enhanced capacity for photosynthesis.

New breeding materials identified in this way, together with new mole-cular tools for breeding (molecular markers), were used to develop thenext generation of their product, Red Lotus number 8. The traits that werechosen for this new product reflect the priorities of Professor Zhu and hiscolleagues, priorities chosen in response to signals from MoST and MoAabout the changing needs of Chinese agriculture. This hybrid thus com-bines high yield with improved quality for the consumer. It reaches matu-rity about seven days earlier than other rice hybrids, a trait resulting fromgamma-ray induced mutation, and it displays some resistance to Blast,although no efforts were made to give it resistance to the Brown Plant-Hopper, an omission that is surprising in view of the university’s expertisein managing resistance to this pest (see below).

Resistance to brown plant-hopperThe Brown Plant-Hopper (BPH) is generally regarded as being the mostserious insect pest of rice: in China, it affects 13 million hectares of rice-lands. It is natural that China’s new research policy, whose objectivesinclude reducing insecticide use, includes support for work that could leadto the development of rice lines resistant to BPH. Professor He’s work onthe genetics of BPH resistance has therefore received official support. Withthis support he succeeded in introgressing two genes for BPH resistanceinto domesticated rice, mapping their loci within the rice genome, anddeveloping markers for these genes.

Professor He was already interested in the introgression of desirabletraits from wild relatives of rice when in 1994 he joined Wuhan University,which already held an extensive collection of the germplasm of wild rela-tives of rice. This collection included accessions of Oryza officinalis, a wildrice species that was known to be highly resistant to BPH. A wide crosshad already been made between an accession of O. officinalis collected inChina and the cultivar Zhenshan 97B, as the first step in transferring theBPH resistance into cultivated rice.1 A number of BPH-resistant lines wereselected from the progeny of this cross, one of which, termed ‘B5’, showedstrong resistance to both biotypes 1 and 2 of BPH.

1 No record was keptof the precise identityof the o. officinalisaccession used, norof where it had beencollected.



In a joint project between Wuhan University and Huazhong AgriculturalUniversity (see below), B5 was crossed with the indica cultivar ‘Minghui63’ to produce a mapping population of 250 hybrid plants (Huang, Heet al. 2001). These plants were exposed to insect attack and the damagesustained by each plant was observed. DNA from highly resistant and fromhighly susceptible plants was compared, and these results indicated theexistence of two BPH resistance genes located on chromosomes 3 and 4,respectively. DNA from each of the 250 hybrid plants was then tested withadditional markers from chromosomes 3 and 4. The results of these testsindicated the positions of two loci at which alleles from B5, the resistantparent, significantly reduced the damage caused by insect attack. Thesetwo loci acted essentially independently of each other in determining BPHresistance and therefore constitute genes. Moreover, they are distinct fromat least nine of the ten BPH resistance genes previously characterised, andso represent a new means of protecting rice from insect damage.

Germplasm including these genes, together with the molecular linkagemap and markers developed in the course of the project, make it possible forbreeders to incorporate them into new rice cultivars by means of marker-assisted selection (MAS). Professor He provided this germplasm and associ-ated markers without charge to prospective users throughout China andlisted seven institutes that were using it in their breeding. However, none ofthese institutes had yet developed a cultivable variety incorporating hismaterial, since a number of obstacles remained to be overcome.

Perhaps the most serious such obstacle was the need, after crossing resis-tant material with an elite rice cultivar, to test each generation of seedlings forBPH resistance so that susceptible material can be removed from the breedingprogramme. In order to do so, it was necessary to maintain a population ofvirulent insects, and special skills are required to keep an insect populationalive through the winter. Again, the BPH only attacks rice under particularweather conditions, and only during one of the four phases of its life-cycle, soskills are required to replicate the relevant weather conditions and ensurethat the insects are virulent prior to conducting tests of resistance. Such skillswere generally not available at the plant-breeding institutes in question.While Professor He and his colleagues did possess the relevant skills, this insti-tute emphasises basic research and is not an Agricultural University, so thatthis team was discouraged from engaging in plant-breeding.

While the task of plant-breeding using the newly-discovered resistancegenes was delegated to institutes for applied research, the team at WuhanUniversity proceeded with fundamental research on the mechanismunderlying BPH resistance in rice. Map-based cloning, they argued, ‘repre-sents the most promising approach to isolating BPH resistance genes andelucidating the molecular mechanism of BPH resistance in rice’ (Yang et al.2004). To this end, they produced a high-resolution genetic map of theregion of chromosome 4 around one of the newly-discovered resistancegenes. This large-scale project involved screening 9,472 plants in order toposition 21 DNA markers in the target chromosomal region. The authors

8 J. David Reece


note in passing that the ‘closely-linked molecular markers developed inthis study should be very useful in marker-aided breeding programsagainst BPH’ (p189), although they make it clear that fundamentalresearch is their main objective.

Huazhong Agricultural University (HAU)Established in 1952 by the merger of a number of agricultural colleges inCentral China, this agricultural university is directly administered by the(national) ministry of education. It has well-established expertise in crop-breeding and genetics, together with strengths in plant molecular biology.It therefore provided a suitable setting for the National Key Laboratory ofCrop Genetic Improvement, which was founded in 1994 by the StatePlanning Commission and partly financed by the Ministry of Agriculture.To this was added the National Centre of Plant Gene Research, which wasfounded in 2005. The work of these two institutes is closely linked, withboth being directed by the same person, Professor Zhang Qifa.

Professor Zhang (interviewed December 2005) explained that theresearch agenda of these institutes reflects national policy objectives andso involves finding ways to reduce the environmental impact of agricul-ture while maintaining output. Ultimately, their work is intended to makepossible ‘a revolution which is to reduce the negative impact of the greenrevolution, so we call it a second green revolution’. This will involve devel-oping technologies that are ‘low input, high output, environmentallyfriendly’, and so research targets those traits that make such technologiespossible: disease and insect resistance, drought tolerance, efficient use ofnutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous) to reduce the need for fertiliser aswell as quality and yield.

To implement this research agenda, HAU has the world’s ‘biggest teamin rice research’ apart from the International Rice Research Institute(IRRI), with ‘a structure where people can research, where people can sortof transform, making transitions of technology to breeding, and people todo breeding. So that is why we have such a structure. Actually it is basicallythe structure of a company, a biotechnology company’. However, HAUlacks the skills in production and business management and the access tocapital that a comparable biotechnology company would have.

Research, then, is on three levels: basic research, developing technologyfor improved crops and crop-breeding. ‘One approach is basic research, sothat research addresses the issues behind these [needed] traits’. Thisapproach embraces work on the functional genomics of the desired traits,conducted to identify the relevant genes. ‘So with those traits, so that is onepart of the research. So that is upper-edge. And the middle-edge is the waysfor developing technology for improved crops’. This includes germplasmdiscovery and involves evaluating rice germplasm from a range of sourcesto find breeding lines that exhibit the traits that are needed. This workmakes possible the discovery of genes for the traits in question, and hencethe development of linked molecular markers. Indeed, ‘we have markers



and mappings to identify the genes that might be interesting and we alsohave transformation technology and genes for transformation. So that is amiddle range, we have three people, one person working on germplasm,another on molecular markers, a third on transformation technology’.

HAU thus searches seed collections for desirable genes and does somainly by examining their DNA rather than by studying complete plants.This approach has become feasible over the last decade and makes possiblethe discovery of ‘recessive’ genes. It is forcefully advocated by (Tanksley andMcCouch 1997) Tanksley and McCouch (1997: 1063), who assert that‘there is tremendous genetic potential locked up in seed banks that can bereleased only by shifting the paradigm from searching for phenotypes tosearching for superior genes with the aid of molecular linkage maps’.

‘So there we have breeders. We have a breeder who is breeding, actu-ally field breeding. He has a background in conventional breeding, comesto grasp the technology together with the whole team’. The breeder hadalready developed high-yielding hybrids that had been commercialised byprivate-sector seed companies. He described projects that aimed to improverice quality and to introgress genes for resistance to the diseases blast, rustand bacterial leaf blight (BLB) from wild relatives of rice.

A series of such projects involved work with the parents of Shanyou 63,an elite hybrid prized for its high yield and broad adaptability. The teamused MAS to introduce a pair of genes for BLB resistance into Minghui 63,its restorer line (Chen et al. 2000). Working jointly with IRRI over the sameperiod, they used genetic modification to introduce a Chinese-created BTgene into Minghui 63 to improve its resistance to insect pests. They thenverified that both the transformed Minghui 63 and Shanyou 63 derivedfrom it, showed high resistance to yellow stem borer and to leaf-folderwithout reduced yield (Tu et al. 2000). These two new forms of Minghui 63were then crossed, and the progeny examined at both a whole-plant and ata molecular level to select derived lines that combined resistance to insectsand to BLB (Jiang et al. 2004). Meanwhile, work proceeded on Zhenshan 97,the other parent of Shanyou 63. An allele from Minghui 63 changed itsamylose content and so improved its cooking and eating quality. MAS wasthen used to introgress two genes for blast resistance.

Resistance to the brown plant-hopper (the most serious insect pest ofrice) was then incorporated into both parents, starting with germplasm thathad previously been discovered at Wuhan University (see above). WuhanUniversity supplied introgression lines, together with a fine genetic mapshowing the relevant loci, and so HAU was able to make use of MAS. HAU isnow conducting a series of back-crosses to develop stable parental lines andso produce hybrid rice that incorporates this trait. This work is time con-suming and also requires considerable skills in breeding and selection, sincedurable resistance must be combined with desirable agronomic characteris-tics, and even when the work has been completed, it will be necessary to testthe new hybrid’s field performance and obtain a certificate of good qualityfrom the provincial seed bureau before commercial production can begin.

10 J. David Reece


The development of new varieties and hybrids is constrained by the factthat HAU only has one rice-breeder. Yet, as Professor Zhang explained, ‘ina university you cannot have too many breeders in a single team’. Theuniversity is therefore collaborating with the private sector to expand itsbreeding function and so has set up a seed company using capital providedby its commercial partner.

Links with stakeholdersThis section examines the relationships between the research institutesdiscussed above and their main stakeholders. As we shall see, researchobjectives reflect the priorities of the government (which pays for theresearch). Other stakeholders had different objectives but were not in aposition to influence the research agenda. We shall consider informationabout seed companies, farmers, the provincial seed bureau (regulator) andeven the investors who capitalised HAU’s seed company, none of whomapparently shared the stated objectives of national policy.

Research, both at Wuhan University and at HAU, is almost entirelyfinanced by organs of China’s central government, with some additionalsupport from the Rockefeller Foundation. Provincial government, farmersand the seed industry, the immediate beneficiaries of this work, haveprovided minimal support. Local seed companies do pay royalties in returnfor exclusive licenses to market high-yielding hybrids that the universityhas developed, but the breeder made it clear that the sums involved weretoo small to cover the costs of development: ‘Very little: maybe five to tenpercent of the value to give to the university. How can we get this moneyto do the research’?

Decisions about research objectives reflect the characteristics of theinstitute where it is performed and the way in which the work is funded.Research at Wuhan University was thus presented as being primarily ofacademic interest, while its practical value was downplayed. At HAU,however, the research agenda was driven by public policy. The ricebreeder there explained that information about what new crop varietiesare needed is provided both by seed company managers and by govern-ment officials but that he and his colleagues concentrated on achievingthe goals stated by the government ‘because every year the governmentgives some money to us’. A germplasm specialist confirmed that although‘the information of the demands of the farmer is given by the seedcompany’, when it came to choosing research objectives ‘we are . . . fol-lowing the Ministry of Agriculture, maybe they have some announce-ment for us in some targets that must be focused on’. Seed companies,however, had less opportunity to influence the choice of breeding targets.The breeder described the relationship with seed companies as beingdistant and beginning only once the research is completed: ‘we will inviteseveral company managers to come to see our variety experiment (yieldtrials)’. If the company is interested, a mutually acceptable royalty isnegotiated.



The research agenda at HAU, with its ecological focus, thus reflects theconcerns of the government rather than those of other stakeholders. Thereis little or no evidence that these concerns are shared by farmers or theseed industry. The widespread over-use of agro-chemicals suggests thatthere is very little farmers demand for new crop varieties that wouldrequire lower levels of inputs than at present.2 The university’s germplasmspecialist also doubted whether there would be much farmer interest inthe new varieties that he was working to develop: ‘but for the farmer,maybe they have a low thinking, so they just want to have a high yield,and maybe have a good resistance to the disease . . . is OK’.

Similarly, the main interest of the seed industry seemed to be in traitssuch as high yield, high rates of photosynthesis and rapid growth to matu-rity. A leading seed company (formerly part of the provincial extensionservice) was paying substantial sums of money for the development of newrice hybrids with characteristics such as these.3 The company’s generalmanager, who is also a director of the China Seed Trade Association andso expresses views that are likely to be widely held within the industry,thus stated in interview that all farmers needed high-yielding hybrid rice,even those with poor land. ‘You’re a farmer, . . . you have to make your soilmore nutritious for plants, right, so the farmer has to improve the qualityof the soil to be valuable . . . to be farmed. If you just depend on the naturalsoil without any improvements, of course, the yield will be very, very low’.He is critical of the advocates of low-input agriculture: ‘ecosystem preser-vation is a kind of fashionable term [but] that can only work in America orEuropean countries. They have less population [pressure]’.

Although their priorities differ from those of HAU, both farmers and theseed industry appear to be very interested in the BT rice (genetically modified)that the former has developed. This rice has passed a range of laboratory andfield trials, but permission to commercialise it has not yet been granted.4 Latein 2004, however, Newsweek magazine claimed that a ‘local’ company hadgot hold of some of this seed and begun selling it, so that at that time itwas being grown on more than 100 ha (Simons 2004).5 This disclosureprompted an investigation by the campaigning group Greenpeace, whichlater claimed that 950–1,200 tons of genetically modified rice entered thefood chain in 2004 and that ‘up to’ 29 tons of genetically modified rice seedwould be sold in Hubei in 2005 (Greenpeace 2006). While these estimatesmay well have been inflated for political effect, they do serve to indicate that asubstantial market would exist for this seed if its commercialisation were per-mitted. And it did seem that commercialisation was about to be permitted.Persistent reports indicated that the December 2004 meeting of the BiosafetyCommittee would recommend or had already recommended granting permis-sion (Lei 2004; Robertson 2005), although the proceedings of that meetinghave not officially been disclosed (Keeley 2006). These developments createda climate captured by Chen Zhang Liang, president of China AgriculturalUniversity, who reportedly promised the private sector high returns on invest-ment in GM rice (China Business Weekly 2005).

2 For wheat innorthern China, forexample, it would beoptimal to apply20 kg/ha ofnitrogenous fertiliserat 160 days, butactual applicationrates are 150 kg/ha(Chen et al. 2006).And for rice, Penget al (2006)conductedexperiments infarmers’ fields in fourmajor rice-growingprovinces in Chinaand found that whilefarmers were applying180-240 kg/ha ofnitrogenous fertiliser,maximum yield wasachieved mostly at thesignificantly lowerlevel of 60-120 kg/ha.And fertiliser (over)use varies betweenregions, withinadequate amountsapplied to 40 per centof agricultural landand excessiveamounts applied tothe remaining 60 percent (Zhang 2004).

3 Interestingly, thesepayments were beingmade to individualbreeders working fora number ofuniversities (includingUniversity B), andamounted to annualamounts ofUS$20,000 to eachbreeder during thedevelopment phase, inaddition to royaltieson sales of successfulproducts.

4 Field trials ofgenetically modifiedorganisms must belicensed by theBiosafety Office in theMinistry ofAgriculture.Decisions to permitcommercialisationshould be taken by anInter-MinisterialCommittee withrepresentatives fromthe Ministry ofAgriculture, the State

12 J. David Reece


The decision to permit the commercial cultivation of genetically engi-neered rice can only be taken at the very highest political level (Keeley2006). However, demand for the other environmentally-friendly productsof HAU’s research could be created by policy action at a local level, sincethe Provincial Seed Bureau is well placed to change the priorities of farmersand of seed companies. This agency is responsible for regulating the seedmarket and disseminating practical information to farmers. Rice seed mayonly be offered for sale once the Bureau has tested it and issued a certifi-cate that it is of satisfactory quality. Furthermore, the Bureau advisesfarmers which (certified) seeds are ‘best’, and how they should be grown.However, the criteria that it uses when deciding whether to grant a certifi-cate do not relate to the ecological impact of cultivating the variety inquestion but rather concern the quality of the seed (moisture content; rateof germination; accuracy of labelling) and the yields that it provides for thefarmer. Similar criteria inform the selection of the ‘best’ varieties for pro-motion to farmers throughout the province, while little or no considera-tion is given to the environmental concerns of the central government.

Faced with this apparent lack of interest in practical application ofits research results, as well as the expectation that a large and profitablemarket for its genetically engineered rice was about to open, HAU respondedby forming its own seed company at the end of 2004. This initiative wasinformed by the vision of a seed company unlike any then existing inChina, of a Chinese Monsanto. Implementing such a grandiose visionrequired significant finance, and so HAU turned to the private sector forthe necessary capital. Since China’s seed companies (like seed companiesin most of the world) are generally poorly capitalised, the university had tolook for partners operating in other sectors and so with limited under-standing of agriculture. The relationships that resulted proved problem-atic, mainly as a result of the gulf between the two sides of the partnership.In the first year of the company’s operation, two successive partnershipscollapsed and a third was formed.6

Describing these relationships, which Professor Zhang termed ‘a mar-riage between science and capital’, he explained that ‘we have differentways, different views of development and different interests’. The commer-cial partners did not share the university’s knowledge or its vision for thefuture of the enterprise. As a result of this difference, ‘it’s very difficult toreach a common understanding, although we talk and then it seems wehave common understanding, but in reality, when it comes into practice, itseems we don’t have common understanding’.

In particular, each of the commercial partners wanted an unrealisti-cally quick return on its investment: ‘they don’t have the patience to waitseveral years to get the seed; they want the money before they put downany money’. Financial returns were far less important to the university,since its work was supported by the government. This meant that its staffwould not lose anything if the seed company failed to make a profit,although ‘if the capital makes money, then they may get some money for

Development andReform Commission,the Ministry ofScience andTechnology, theMinistry ofCommerce, theMinistry of Health,the GeneralAdministration ofQuality Supervision,Inspection andQuarantine, and theState EnvironmentalProtectionAdministration(Keeley 2006).

5 The article namedProfessor Zhang asthe source of thisinformation, althoughhe has made it clearthat he wasmisquoted.

6 The first of thesefailed partnershipshad been with acompany selling‘health’ drinks, thesecond with a realestate company.



themselves’. The university’s priority was different: ‘I’m only interested inseeing what we have been doing be useful to agriculture’. Unfortunately,this concern was apparently not shared by its commercial partners.

ConclusionsThis article has confirmed that the universities studied were undertakingresearch that was consistent with China’s new policy for agriculturalinnovation, although the goals of this policy were perhaps at variance withthe ‘mission’ of one of the universities, which was defined in terms of acommitment to fundamental research. More broadly, it examined otheractors that play a part in the process of agricultural innovation and soassessed whether the province studied possesses an innovation systemcapable of implementing the new policy. Two points are immediatelyapparent: the province studied possesses all the elements needed for aneffective innovation system; but the various actors in place lack the agree-ment on objectives that is required for effective innovation.

With regard to the first point, we note the presence of publicly-fundeduniversities performing applicable research and enjoying commercialrelationships with seed companies and venture capitalists. An effective regu-latory regime is in place, with defined standards for seed quality and charac-teristics being rigorously enforced. However, the division of labour that isimplicit in the differing missions of these actors is somewhat puzzling. As wesaw, Wuhan University is supposed to undertake ‘basic’ research; HAU issupposed to apply the results of such research and develop new crops, whichcan then be mass-produced and marketed by the seed industry. However, theexample of BPH resistance showed that the skills required to undertake‘basic’ research (in this case the ability to maintain a viable insect popula-tion) were also essential for breeding crops with this trait, so that such plant-breeding might have been performed more effectively at Wuhan Universitythan in other institutes. Equally, the ‘applied’ work on a new form of hybridrice led directly to fundamental research on the molecular basis of HL malesterility, which in turn provided tools to facilitate the development of newrice hybrids. Turning to the work of HAU, the projects discussed involvegenetic modification and so commercialisation of the crops that they aredeveloping is not at present permitted. In the meantime, their main impacthas been the large number of publications in high impact factor journalsthat they have produced, a measure that is usually more appropriate forassessing ‘basic’ scientific research. These experiences suggest that ‘basic’and ‘applied’ research are so closely related that attempts to separate themat an institutional level are unlikely to prove helpful.

The division between research (in universities) and industry could alsoprove problematic, since it limits the ability of industry to recognise newtechnological opportunities to respond to market demands. This weaknesswas a feature of each of the three models of university-industry collabora-tion that were encountered. Wuhan University had first developed andcommercialised a new product, and then formed a company around it.

14 J. David Reece


The company remains entirely dependent on the university for itsnew product development, and so is not in a position to use customer(farmer) feedback to inform the characteristics of new products. Universityresearchers said that it was a valuable source of finance for furtherresearch but not of information about the traits that should be incorpo-rated into future products. Such technological dependence of the companyupon the university was also a feature of HAU, which not only defines theproducts to be offered by its seed company but even (unlike WuhanUniversity) manages its company’s production and marketing activities.This arrangement contrasts with the practice of the ‘leading’ seed company,which itself decides how to respond to its customers’ requirements and paysfor the development of new crops with the required traits. Virtually all theresearch that it requires is contracted out to university researchers, with itsown in-house breeders concentrating on near-routine activities (describedin interview as ‘production of parental lines’) and not undertaking theapplied research activities that companies in other contexts would performin-house. Working in this way may limit the research that the companycommissions, since it is unlikely to be aware of relevant scientific develop-ments and so may be slow to realise that new opportunities exist forresearch to find solutions to the problems faced by its customers.

HAU continues to rely on venture capital to finance the development ofits company. It is remarkable that in the space of a year three successivecompanies were willing to invest in this venture: the new company did not(yet) have any distinctive new products; its strategic objectives were not aresponse to market demand and not formed by commercial considerations;and the seed sector provides neither the rate nor the rapidity of return oninvestment that these companies expected. The willingness of these com-panies to invest may perhaps be understood as recognition of the scientificprowess of HAU, together with a general faith in technology and a deter-mination to exploit the new opportunities expected to arise from the com-mercialisation of GM rice.

More generally, the relationships between universities and seed compa-nies are ambiguous and require further research. It is curious that whilethe royalties that seed companies pay to universities at an institutional levelare apparently too small to influence their research agenda, the paymentsmade to individual breeders working for universities seem to be sufficientfor the breeders to develop varieties that meet the companies’ needs. It isnot clear how the breeders’ time and other research resources are dividedbetween these two very different research agendas.

With regard to the second point, it is clear that the environmentalagenda of the national government and the universities is not shared by seedcompanies, farmers, or even by the seed bureau (regulator). The positionof the latter is at first sight surprising, since the seed bureau is also a publicagency and so could be expected to implement public policy. However, theseed bureau is an organ of provincial government and so is not linked tothe ministries of the national government. In fact, the powers of the seed



bureau could enable it to play a decisive role in reducing the environmen-tal impact of agriculture, since it could refuse to certify seeds that requiredabove-average levels of agro-chemicals (and so prevent their sale), promoteseeds that performed well with low levels of inputs and so give a commercialadvantage to the suppliers of such seeds, and disseminate information tofarmers about the feasibility and benefits of low-input agriculture. Actionsof this kind would be likely to create demand for the kinds of technologiesthat the national government wishes to be used.

Government policy, however, has acted only to increase the supply ofenvironment-friendly crop varieties and has not included measures tostimulate demand for such technologies. Since these technologies are beingdeveloped for the sake of the environment rather than to meet user needs,demand for them may not develop once they are available to users. Indeed,there is no evidence that such demand exists, and so public policy mea-sures to stimulate demand are essential if these technologies are ever to beput to practical use.

AcknowledgementsThis research was part of the work of the ESRC Genomics Network. I would like tothank my Chinese hosts for their gracious hospitality and my informants and inter-viewees for giving away their time so generously. I am especially grateful to ProfessorZhang Qifa for his considered and thought-provoking comments on an earlierversion of this article and to Gao Lili for help and support throughout the researchprocess. All responsibility for the content of this article must rest with the author.

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Resistance of ‘Minghui 63’, an Elite Restorer Line of Hybrid Rice, by MolecularMarker-Assisted Selection’, Crop Science 40, pp. 239–244.

Chen, X., Zhang, F., Romheld, V., Horlacher, D., Schulz, R., Boning-Zilkens, M.,Wang, P. and Claupein, W. (2006), ‘Synchronizing N Supply from Soil andFertilizer and N Demand of Winter Wheat by an Improved N-Min Method’,Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 74: 2, pp. 91–98.

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Huang, J., Wang, Q., Zhang, Y. and Zepeda, J.F. (2001), ‘Agricultural BiotechnologyResearch Indicators: China’, in Working Paper, Beijing: Center for ChineseAgricultural Policy, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

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Huang, Z., He, G., Shu, L., Li, X. and Zhang, Q. (2001), ‘Identification and Mappingof Two Brown Planthopper Resistance Genes in Rice’, Theoretical and AppliedGenetics 102, pp. 929–934.

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Jiang, G.H., Xu, C.G., Tu, J.M., Li, X.H., He, Y.Q. and Zhang, Q.F. (2004),‘Pyramiding of Insect- and Disease-Resistance Genes into an Elite Indica,Cytoplasm Male Sterile Restorer Line of Rice, ‘Minghui 63’’’, Plant Breeding123: 2, pp. 112–116.

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Robertson, B. (2006), ‘GM Crops Catch China’s Fancy’, Aljazeera, 20 May 2005,http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/81A2FD4E-D8BF-411C-BD73-24CFF50B76B9.htm. Accessed 25 September 2006.

Simons, C. (2004), ‘Of Rice and Men’, Newsweek.Spielman, D.J. (2006), ‘A Critique of Innovation Systems Perspectives on Agricultural

Research in Developing Countries’, Innovation Strategy Today 2: 1, pp. 41–54.Sumberg, J. (2005), ‘Systems of Innovation Theory and the Changing Architecture

of Agricultural Research in Africa’, Food Policy 30: 1, pp. 21–41.Tanksley, S.D. and McCouch, S.R. (1997), ‘Seed Banks and Molecular Maps:

Unlocking Genetic Potential from the Wild’, Science 277: 5329, pp. 1063–1066.Tu, J.M., Zhang, G.A., Datta, K., Xu, C.G., He, Y.Q., Zhang, Q.F., Khush, G.S. and

Datta, S.K. (2000), ‘Field Performance of Transgenic Elite Commercial HybridRice Expressing Bacillus thuringiensis Delta-Endotoxin’, Nature Biotechnology18: 10, pp. 1101–1104.

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Suggested citationReece, D. (2008), ‘Assessing a rural innovation system: Low-input rice in Central

China’, International Journal of Technology Management and Sustainable Development7: 1, pp. 3–17, doi: 10.1386/ijtm.7.1.3/1

Contributor detailsDr. David Reece is a Trustee of Devon’s Development Education Centre. Contact:The Global Centre, 17 St David’s Hill, Exeter, Devon, EX4 3RG, UK.E-mail: [email protected]






Determinants of the adoption oftechnological innovations by logisticsservice providers in ChinaChieh-Yu Lin Chang Jung Christian University

AbstractThe growth of China’s economy hinges to a large extent on the ability of the logis-tics industry to operate more efficiently and effectively in the global supply chainsystem. China’s logistics service providers should pay attention to adopt moreefficient logistics technologies to provide better services for their customers. Thisarticle studies the factors influencing the adoption of technological innovations bylogistics service providers in China and investigates the influences of adoptingnew technologies on supply chain performance. A questionnaire survey is con-ducted to study the adoption of technological innovations by China’s logisticsindustry. Technological innovations are classified into data acquisition technolo-gies, information technologies, warehousing technologies, and transportationtechnologies. The influencing factors include technological, organizational, andenvironmental characteristics. We find that the adoption of technological innova-tions is significantly influenced by technological, organizational and environmen-tal characteristics and that adopting new technologies will increase supply chainperformance for the logistics industry in China.

IntroductionMore than two decades of economic reform and transition to marketeconomy has brought China unprecedented economic growth. With thefast growth in China’s economy and China’s accession to World TradeOrganization (WTO), the demand for logistics services has been growingsignificantly in China, and the logistics industry in China is set to take off.The total logistics value has grown by 29.9 per cent year-on-year (ChinaDistribution and Trading, 2005). New modern facilities such as logisticsparks, distribution centers and warehouses are being built at a recordsetting pace. Many logistics companies have invested extensively in infor-mation and logistics technologies. As China continues to develop into aglobal manufacturing factory, its logistics industry will play an importantrole in the global supply chain. One key to effective supply chain is to makethe logistics function more efficiently (Bowersox, Closs and Cooper, 2002).The globalization of supply chain has prompted many firms to develop

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logistics as a part of their corporate strategy (McGinnis and Kohn, 2002).To deliver products quickly to customers, many companies seek to out-source their logistics activities to logistics service providers. This reflectsthe trend of using logistics service providers to satisfy the increasing needfor logistics services (Lieb and Miller, 2002).

To fully satisfy the diversifying requirements of customers, many logisticsservice providers improve their service efficiency by continuous adoption ofinformation or automation technologies (Mason-Jones and Towill, 1999;Sauvage, 2003). Many studies have found that innovation is the mostimportant tool for enterprises to keep their competitive advantage (Kimberlyand Evanisko, 1981; Damanpour and Evan, 1984). However, most researchabout innovation focused on manufacturing industries, though increasingattention has been paid to innovation in service industries recently (Gallouj,2002; Howells and Tether, 2004; Miles, 2004). The survival of an enterprisein the age of knowledge-based economy depends on how to improve theirorganizational innovation capability. Technological innovation is the keyvariable and the means of differentiation between logistics service providers(Sauvage, 2003). Nixon (2001) suggests that logistics service providersshould employ new information technologies to raise their service capabilityin the e-commerce age. Speakman (2002) proposes that logistics companiescould increase their performance by employing new technologies. Chapman,Soosay and Kandampully (2003) suggest that the logistics industry shouldpay more attention to innovation in logistics service, and the innovation inlogistics can be implemented through technology, knowledge and relation-ship networks. Adopting new technologies might enable logistics serviceproviders to enhance their service abilities.

Based on the above illustrations, it can be concluded that technologicalinnovation is important for China’s logistics service providers. Most opera-tions in China’s logistics service providers are labour intensive and rely onthe input of a large number of service workers. Nowadays, in the age ofknowledge-based economy, how China’s logistics service providers can betransformed from labour-intensiveness into knowledge-intensiveness andhow they can make full use of the market intelligence to create knowledgeand further take advantage of the knowledge to innovate products, ser-vices as well as strategies to promote the competence of organizations, arethe topics worth taking into deep consideration. Continuous technologicaladvancement can assist China’s logistics industry to revolutionise the waythey operate and conduct their business. When logistics service providersdraw up strategies for adopting technological innovations, they shouldknow what factors will influence the adoption of technological innova-tions. However, there is still a lack of empirical research on technologicalinnovation for China’s logistics industry. Therefore, the main purpose ofthis article is to explore the determinants of adopting technological inno-vations by the logistics industry in China.

The next section presents a summary of innovation in logistics tech-nologies and section three introduces the theoretical foundations of the

20 Chieh-Yu Lin


determinants of innovation. Section four gives a description of theresearch methodology, while section five focuses on the analysis of theresults and the discussion of the findings. The final section gives conclu-sions and research’s implications.

Innovation in logistics technologiesDefinition of innovationPorter (1990) said that ‘companies achieve competitive advantagethrough acts of innovation. They approach innovation in its broadestsense, including both new technologies and new ways of doing things’.What is innovation? One of the problems in managing innovation is varia-tion in what people understand by the term. Drucker (1985) defines inno-vation as the specific tool of entrepreneurs, the means by which theyexploit change as an opportunity for a different business or service. It iscapable of being presented as a discipline, capable of being learned,capable of being practiced. Betz (1997) assumes that innovation is tointroduce a new or improved product, process, or service into the market-place. Tidd, Bessant and Pavitt (1997) define innovation as ‘a process ofturning opportunity into new ideas and putting these into widely usedpractice’. Afuah (1998) proposes that innovation is the use of new techni-cal and administrative knowledge to offer a new product or service to cus-tomers. The product or service is new in that its cost is lower, its attributesare improved, it now has attributes it never had before, or it never existedin that market before.

Therefore, we can conclude that innovation relates to any practicesthat are new to organizations, including equipment, products, services,processes, policies and projects (Kimberly and Evanisko, 1981;Damanpour, 1991). The new product or service itself is called an innova-tion, reflecting the fact that it is the creation of new technical or adminis-trative knowledge, or it is new to customers. The new technical oradministrative knowledge that is used to offer the new product or servicecan underpin any of the chain of activities that the firm must perform inorder to offer the new product. It can be in the design of the product orservice or in the way the product or service is advertised.

Past research has argued that distinguishing types of innovation isnecessary for understanding organizations’ adoption behavior and identi-fying the determinants of innovation in them (Knight, 1967; Rowe andBoise, 1974; Downs and Mohr, 1976). Among numerous typologies ofinnovation advanced in the relevant literature, the pair of types of innova-tion, administrative and technological (or technical) innovations, is com-monly used (Damanpour, 1991). Technological innovation pertains toproducts, services and production process technology; it is related to basicactivities and can concern either product or process (Knight, 1967;Damanpour and Evan, 1984). Administrative innovation involves organi-zational structure and administrative processes; it is indirectly related tothe basic work activities of an organization and is more directly related to

21Determinants of the adoption of technological innovations by logistics . . .


its management (Knight, 1967; Kimberly and Evanisko, 1981;Damanpour and Evan, 1984). This article will focus on the technologicalinnovations in the logistics industry.

Innovation in logistics technologiesLogistics is the supply of service or product to the demander or demandingunit at the right time, in the right quantity and quality, at the right costand at the right place. The Council of Logistics Management (currently,Council of Supply Chain Management) in USA defines ‘logistics manage-ment’ as ‘a kind of programming, implementing and controlling processdealing with the flow from the primitive occurring point to the final con-sumption point and the storage efficiency as well as the cost benefit of rawmaterial, half-finished product, finished product and related information,for the purpose of satisfying the customer’s requirement’ (Bowersox andCloss, 1996). Logistics has become an important source of competitiveadvantage (Day, 1994; Olavarrieta and Ellinger, 1997).

Due to the emergence of the concept of supply chain management,logistics management has attracted more and more attention. Logisticsmanagement has become a strategic factor that provides a unique com-petitive advantage (Christopher, 1993). A supply chain includes all theinteractions between suppliers, manufactures, distributors and customers.The chain includes transportation, scheduling information, cash andcredit transfers, as well as ideas, designs and material transfers. Logisticsservice providers play an important role in the supply chain. One of thekeys to effective supply chain management is to make the logistics func-tion more efficiently in the supply chain (Bowersox et al., 2002).

A logistics service provider is a provider of logistics services that per-forms all or part of a client company’s logistics function (Coyle, Bardi andLangley Jr, 1996; Delfmann, Albers and Gehring, 2002). To fully satisfythe increasing requirements of customers for one-stop services, manylogistics service providers have taken initiatives to broaden the scope oftheir services (Murphy and Daley, 2001). In addition to transportationand warehousing functions, logistics service providers can also provideother services such as materials management services, information-related services and value-added services (Berglund et al., 1999). Recently,many logistics service providers try to improve their operation efficiencyby continuous implementation of information or automation technologiesaccording to their business characteristics (Mason-Jones and Towill, 1999;Sauvage, 2003). The operation processes in logistics service providers,such as distribution centers, have their own features and know-howknowledge. It is important for logistics service providers, in this age ofknowledge-based economy, to accumulate and use their skills and knowl-edge efficiently and consistently. In order to keep the competitive advan-tage, logistics companies must make use of knowledge more efficiently tomake them become innovation-based logistics service providers (Chapmanet al., 2003).

22 Chieh-Yu Lin


Technology has traditionally been viewed as the key to productivity inmanufacturing; however, technology has assumed greater significance inservices recently (Bitner, Brown and Meuter, 2000; Howells and Tether,2004). Technology enables service firms to improve service efficiency andeffectiveness. Based on the above discussion about innovation, we thinkthat innovation is a process of turning opportunity into new ideas and ofputting these into widely used practices. According to the logistics activi-ties, technological innovations in the logistics industry can be classifiedinto four categories: data acquisition technologies, information technolo-gies, warehousing technologies and transportation technologies.

Data acquisition technologies Logistics service providers usually deal with a large amount of goods anddata. Data collection and exchange are critical for logistics informationmanagement and control. Good quality data acquisition can help logisticsservice providers deliver customers’ goods more accurately and efficiently.The bar code system and radio frequency identification system (RFID) areacquisition technologies that can facilitate logistics data collection andexchange.

Information technologiesInformation technologies are the devices or infrastructures to make com-munications of business information among several organizations moreefficiently. Many logistics managers see the information technology as amajor source of improved productivity and competitiveness. Informationtechnologies may increase organizational productivity, flexibility and com-petitiveness as well as stimulate the development of inter-organizationalnetworks. The information technologies that are commonly used in logis-tics industry include electronic data interchange (EDI), the Internet, valueadded network (VAN), point of sales (POS), electronic ordering system(EOS), logistics information system, computer telephony integration andenterprise information portals. Electronic data interchange is identified asinter-company computer-to-computer exchange of business documents instandard formats. Recently, extensible markup language (XML) provides amore efficient way for data exchange.

Warehousing technologiesA warehouse is typically viewed as a place to store inventory. However, inmany logistical systems, the role of the warehouse is more properly viewedas a switching facility as contrasted to a storage facility. Warehousingplays an important role in a logistical system. The design of a warehousemanagement system should address physical facility characteristics andproduct movement. The warehousing technologies that are commonlyused in logistics industry include automated storage and retrieval system(AS/RS), automatic sorting system, computer-aided picking system andthermostat warehouse. The automated storage and retrieval system is a



means to high density, hands free buffering of materials in distribution andmanufacturing environments and can offer a quick and efficient way tosearch and move storages from a warehouse.

Transportation technologiesTransportation is one of the most visible elements of logistics operations.Transportation functionality provides the major function of product move-ment. The major objective of a transportation management system is tomove product from an origin location to a prescribed destination whileminimizing costs and damage expenses. The movement, at the same time,must take place in a manner that meets customer demands regardingdelivery performance and shipment information availability. The trans-portation technologies that are commonly used in logistics industryinclude transportation information system, global positioning system(GPS), geographical information system (GIS), radio-frequency communi-cation system and transportation data recorder. The transportation infor-mation system and geographical information system can help logisticsmanagers planning, managing and controlling transportation issues. Theglobal positioning system and radio-frequency communication system cantrack and guide drivers during the transportation of products.

Technological innovations and supply chain performanceInnovation can reinforce competitive advantage for companies in marketswhere customer preferences change rapidly, where differentiation is limited,and where competition is intense (McAfee, 2002). A substantial body ofresearch links innovation and performance for service industries (de Brentaniand Cooper, 1993; Irwin, Hoffman and Geiger, 1998; Johne and Storey,1998; Lynn et al., 1999; Gray, Matear and Matheson, 2000, Harvey, 2000;Li and Atuahene-Gima, 2001). In the logistics literature, it has been shownthat logistics services capabilities, such as warehousing and freight billpayment, are drivers for superior performance (Murphy and Poist, 2000).Customer-focused capabilities including responsiveness and flexibility canenhance performance (Zhao, Droge and Stank, 2001). Lai (2004) suggeststhat a LSP with a better service capability attain a higher service perfor-mance. Based on the above discussions, the following hypothesis is proposed:

Hypothesis H1: Logistics service providers, who are willing to adopt techno-logical innovations, are more attain better supply chain performance than thosewho do not.

Several measures in the evaluation of supply chain performance havebeen identified (Beamon, 1999; Brewer and Speh, 2000; Chan and Qi,2003; Gunasekaran, Patel and McGaughey, 2004; Rafele, 2004). Neely,Gregory and Platts (1995) define quality, time, flexibility and cost asprimary categories of performance measurements. Based on the availableliterature, supply chain performance measurements in this study consist offinancial indices including profit margin, revenue growth, cost per order,cost per unit and return on assets and non-financial indices including

24 Chieh-Yu Lin


order fill rates, order cycle time, delivery time, customer requirements met,number of faults and flexibility.

Determinants of innovationThere is a large body of research done on the determinants of innovation(Kimberly and Evanisko, 1981; Amabile, 1988; Tornatzky and Fleischer,1990; Damanpour, 1991; Wolfe, 1994; Tidd et al, 1997). Kimberly andEvanisko (1981) suggest that the individual factor, organizational factorand contextual factor would influence the adoption by hospitals of techno-logical innovation. Variables affecting technology adoption are classifiedinto individual, task-related, innovation-related, organizational and envi-ronmental characteristics. Tornatzky and Fleischer (1990) suggest thatthe adoption and implementation of technological innovation would beaffected by the technological context, organizational context and theexternal environmental context. Patterson, Grimm and Corsi (2003) indi-cate that technology adoption is affected by organizational size, structureand performance, supply chain strategy, transaction climate, supply chainmember pressure and environmental uncertainty. Scupola (2003) usetechnological, organizational and environmental characteristics to explainthe adoption of Internet commerce. This article will investigate the influ-ence of technological, organizational and environmental factors on theadoption of technological innovations by China’s logistics serviceproviders. Although the individual factor might affect adopting technolog-ical innovations by logistics service providers, this article will not investi-gate each individual’s influence on the company’s innovation.

Technological characteristicsTechnologies can be viewed as one kind of knowledge (Grant, 1996). Tsaiand Ghoshal (1998) found that an organization will have higher innova-tive capability when knowledge can be distributed easily within the orga-nization. The transferability of knowledge or technology will influencetechnological innovation; technological innovation can be advanced whenthe technology has higher transferability. The transferability of technologyis determined by the explicitness of technology. It is more easy to transferor share technological knowledge with higher explicitness (Grant, 1996;Teece, 1996). In addition to the explicitness of the technology, how thetechnology fits with the technologies that a firm already possesses will alsobe another important technological characteristic (Tornatzky andFleischer, 1990; Chau and Tam, 1997). Teece (1996) found that techno-logical innovation usually follows a technological paradigm. The cumula-tive nature of technologies will influence the innovation in technologies.Grant (1996) and Simonin (1999) also concluded that an organizationwith rich experiences in the application or adoption of related technologieswill have higher ability in technological innovation. Therefore, we wouldexpect that explicitness and accumulation of logistics technology mightinfluence technological innovation.



Hypothesis H2a: The more explicit the technology, the more the likelihoodthat China’s logistics service providers will adopt innovation in logistics technol-ogy.

Hypothesis H2b: The more the accumulation of technology, the more likelythat China’s logistics service providers will adopt innovation in logistics technol-ogy.

Organizational characteristicsMuch of the research about organizational behavior has argued thatcertain features of organizations themselves, including structures, cli-mates, and cultures of organizations, will influence the adoption of inno-vation (Kimberly and Evanisko, 1981; Tornatzky and Fleischer, 1990;Russell and Hoag, 2004). Amabile (1988) finds that management skills,organizational encouragement for innovation and support of innovationresources would help the improvement of organizational innovation.Tornatzky and Fleischer (1990) suggest that informal linkages and com-munication among employees, the quality of human resources, leadershipbehavior of top management and the amount of internal slack resourceswould significantly influence the adoption of technological innovations. Afirm with higher quality of human resources, such as better education ortraining, will have higher ability in technological innovation. Therefore,we would expect that organizational encouragement and quality ofhuman resources might influence technological innovation.

Hypothesis H3a: The more the organizational encouragement, the more thelikelihood that China’s logistics service providers will adopt innovation in logis-tics technology.

Hypothesis H3b: The higher the quality of human resources, the more thelikelihood that China’s logistics service providers will adopt innovation in logis-tics technology.

Environmental characteristicsIn addition to technological and organizational characteristics, the exter-nal environment in which a firm conducts its business will also influencethe innovative capability (King and Anderson, 1995). Miles and Snow(1978) found that organizations would pay more attention on innovationwhen they face environments that are vulnerable to instability and chaos.Kimberly and Evanisko (1981) concluded that environmental complexityand uncertainty would influence organizational innovation in the case ofhospitals. Damanpour (1991) found that environments with high uncer-tainties would have a positive influence on the relationship between orga-nizational structures and organizational innovation. Zhu and Weyant(2003) suggest that demand uncertainty tends to increase a firm’s incen-tive to adopt new technologies. Provision of government support isanother important environmental aspect that bears on technologicalinnovation. The government can both encourage and discourage theadoption of innovation in the administration of regulatory mechanisms

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(Tornatzky and Fleischer, 1990; Scupola, 2003). The government canprovide financial incentives, pilot projects and tax breaks to stimulatetechnological innovation for logistics service providers. Therefore, envi-ronmental uncertainty and governmental support can be expected toinfluence technological innovation.

Hypothesis H4a: The more the environmental uncertainty, the more likely thatChina’s logistics service providers will adopt innovation in logistics technology.

Hypothesis H4b: The more the provision of government support, the more thelikelihood that China’s logistics service providers will adopt innovation in logis-tics technology.

MethodologyResearch frameworkBased on the above discussions, the research framework is organisedaround the four main hypotheses, as shown in Figure 1. This researchframework will be verified from a questionnaire survey in China’s logisticsindustry. The questionnaire contains six parts: company’s information,technological context, organizational context, environmental context, theadoption of technological innovations and supply chain performance.There are 61 items in the questionnaire. Besides, the company’s informa-tion, the other items were measured using the five-point Likert scalesanchored by ‘strongly disagree’ and ‘strongly agree’. The willingness toinnovate or acquire new technologies and the utilization of innovative tech-nologies are used as measurements of adoption of technological innovation.

Data collection and sampleThe data to test our hypotheses came from a questionnaire survey of logis-tics service providers in China. With China becoming a global manufac-turing powerhouse, its central and local governments have deliveredseveral policies to reinforce the logistics industry (Jiang, 2002). Moreover,after China’s accession to WTO, the operation of foreign logistics compa-nies in China has boosted the growth of China’s logistics industry. Moreand more logistics companies in China have begun to adopt technological


Figure 1: Research Framework


innovations to increase their logistics service capabilities. However, thelogistics industry in China is still in its infancy compared with its counter-parts in more developed countries. Ta, Choo and Sum (2000) found thatthe logistics barriers to international operations in China include lack ofcargo tracing services, lack of delivery reliability for local carriers, lack ofcarrier selection, complicated customs procedures and geographical frag-mentation of transportation networks.

Generally, logistics service providers are companies which carry outlogistics activities for their customers. Logistics activities associated withlogistics service providers include warehousing, transportation, inventorymanagement, order processing and packaging (Sink, Langley and Gibson,2996; Delfmann et al., 2002).

The sample frame was drawn from members of the Logistics Council inBeijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen regions because the development of logis-tics service providers in these three regions are more mature than in otherregions in China. The Beijing Municipal Government has placed high onthe agenda the establishment of a highly effective logistics platform by2010 in its tenth five-year development plan. The Shanghai MunicipalGovernment has giving priority to the development of three large-scalelogistics parks during its tenth five-year plan period. The ShenzhenMunicipal Government plans to develop logistics services into one of thethree mainstay industries in the 21st century.

Five hundred questionnaires were mailed and/or delivered directly tothe sampled companies in each region from June to August in 2005. Inorder to get a higher rate of response, we also personally administeredquestionnaires to some logistics companies in each area.

In total, we delivered 1500 questionnaires, and 583 completed question-naires were returned: 163 in Beijing, 201 in Shanghai and 219 in Shenzhen.Of these respondents, 26 were excluded because their responses were incom-plete and somewhat suspect. The overall response rate is 37.1 per cent.

The basic information of these companies is shown in Table 1. It wasfound that most of logistics service providers in China do not have R&Ddepartments. Only four per cent of the companies in sample survey haveR&D departments. In China, most logistics companies belong to small andmedium size enterprises.

In this study, the measured scales were submitted to factor analysis.Factors with eigen values greater than 1.0 for each characteristic aresummarised in Tables 2, 3 and 4. Reliability analysis was also conducted.According to the reliability coefficients shown in Table 5, the smallestvalue of Cronbach’s alpha for this study is 0.7915. This implies that thesampling results are reliable. Technological context is factorised by ‘explic-itness of technology’ and ‘accumulation of technology’; organizationalcontext is factorised by ‘organizational encouragement’ and ‘quality ofhuman resources’; environmental context is factorised by ‘environmentaluncertainty’ and ‘provision of governmental support’; supply chain perfor-mance is factorised by ‘financial’ and ‘non-financial’ measures.

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Table 6 shows the correlations among these factors and the innovationin logistics technologies. The correlation matrix gives us initial evidencesof our hypotheses: technological, organizational and environmental areassociated positively with the adoption of technological innovations, andthe supply chain performance is positively associated with the adoption oftechnological innovations. Moreover, the technological, organizationaland environmental factors are not highly correlated.


Category Number Percentage (%)

Company history (years) 0~5 389 69.86~10 123 22.111~20 35 6.3Above 20 10 1.8

Number of employee Below 50 204 36.651~100 186 33.4101~300 103 18.5301~500 43 7.7Above 501 21 3.8

Capital (Million, RMB Yuan) Below 1 133 23.91~5 184 33.05~10 117 21.010~50 76 13.7Above 50 47 8.4

R&D department Yes 534 95.9None 23 4.1

Table 1: Basic information of companies in the sample.

Factor loadings

Items Factor 1 Factor 2

Explicitness of technology (Factor 1)It is easy to find books or other resources about

the technology. 0.818 0.125It is easy to understand the technology. 0.783 0.142It is easy to learn the application of the

technology from the books. 0.762 0.163It does not need too many experiences to learn

the technology. 0.714 0.193Accumulation of technology (Factor 2)

Our company has implemented many related technologies. 0.109 0.821

It is necessary to have experiences in using related technologies. 0.141 0.774

It is easy to integrate that technology with company’s current logistics system. 0.152 0.712

Eigen value 4.175 2.819Variance explained 36.133 % 32.496 %Accumulated variance explained 36.133 % 68.629 %

Table 2: Result of factor analysis for technological factors.


30 Chieh-Yu Lin

Factor loadings


Organizational encouragement (Factor 1)Company’s leaders encourage employees to

learn new information. 0.832 0.131Our company provides supports for employees

to learn new information. 0.816 0.099Company’s leaders can help employees when

they face new problems. 0.776 0.103Our Company provides rewards for innovative

employees. 0.735 0.129Quality of human resources (Factor 2)

Employees possess abilities to use technologies to solve problems. 0.100 0.813

Employees can learn new technologies easily. 0.134 0.788Employees usually provide new ideas for

companies. 0.115 0.746Employees can share knowledge with each

others. 0.197 0.701Eigen value 4.231 2.987Variance explained 36.309 % 32.715 %Accumulated variance explained 36.309 % 69.024 %

Table 3: Result of factor analysis for organizational factors.

Factor loadings


Governmental support (Factor 1)Government helps training manpower with

logistics skills. 0.838 0.091Government encourages companies to propose

projects of logistics technologies. 0.802 0.083Government relieves the regulation for the logistics industry. 0.776 0.071Government provides financial support for the

development of logistics technologies. 0.711 0.096Environmental uncertainty (Factor 2)

Competitors usually provide new logistics services. 0.113 0.819

Customers’ requirements are diversified. 0.103 0.794The advance in new logistics technologies

is quickly. 0.102 0.768Customers’ requirements vary quickly. 0.093 0.708

Eigen value 4.204 2.901Variance explained 36.243 % 32.579 %Accumulated variance explained 36.243 % 68.822 %

Table 4. Result of factor analysis for environmental factors.


Results and discussionUsing the results of the questionnaire survey, we first investigate the adop-tion of technological innovations by China’s logistics service providers, andthen study the influences of technological, organizational and environmen-tal factors on the adoption of technological innovations and the relation-ship between technological innovation and supply chain performance.

Adoption of technological innovations by China’s logisticsservice providersLogistics technologies can be divided into four categories: data acquisitiontechnologies, information technologies, warehousing technologies andtransportation technologies. We asked logistics service providers whatkinds of innovative logistics technologies they acquired during the pastthree years. A summary of the adoption of technological innovations bylogistics service providers in China is shown in Table 7. It was found thatalmost all respondents acquired innovative information technologiesduring the past three years. This could possibly be attributed to the rapid


Factors Cronbach’s alpha

Technological contextExplicitness of technology � � 0.8126Accumulation of technology � � 0.8382

Organizational contextOrganizational encouragement � � 0.8947Quality of human resources � � 0.8164

Environmental contextEnvironmental uncertainty � � 0.8436Governmental support � � 0.9079

Supply chain performanceFinancial � � 0.8291Non-Financial � � 0.7915

Adoption of technological innovations � � 0.8751

Table 5. Results of reliability analysis.

Variables Means Std 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1. Explicitness of technology 3.79 0.89 1.02. Accumulation of technology 3.26 0.93 0.26 1.03. Organizational encouragement 4.01 0.81 0.18 0.25 1.04. Quality of human resources 3.86 0.96 0.25 0.31 0.38 1.05. Environmental uncertainty 3.01 1.05 �0.03 0.06 0.08 0.11 1.06. Governmental support 4.15 0.68 0.09 0.15 0.12 0.08 �0.06 1.07. Adoption of innovations 3.58 1.02 0.41� 0.58** 0.61** 0.66** 0.33 0.71** 1.08. Financial performance 3.37 0.86 0.16 0.21 0.43� 0.51* �0.21 0.33 0.68** 1.09. Non-Financial performance 3.04 0.94 0.13 0.24 0.40� 0.53* �0.18 0.28 0.64** 0.44� 1.0

+p < 0.1. *p < 0.05. **p < 0.01.

Table 6. Result of correlation analysis.


growth in information and communication technologies over the pastdecade and by the urgent needs of logistics companies to deal with a greatamount data. However, only 56 per cent of the respondents acquired inno-vative data acquisition technologies such as bar code or RFID technologies.

Determinants of innovation in logistics technologiesTo find the influence of technological, organizational and environmental con-texts on adoption of the technological innovations, regression analysis wasused. Technological context consists of explicitness of technology and accu-mulation of technology; organizational context consists of organizationalencouragement and quality of human resources; environmental context con-sists of environmental uncertainty and governmental support. We took thesesix factors as independent variables and the adoption of technological innova-tion as the dependent variable, and consequently, employed the method ofregression analysis to determine their relationship. We also take company

32 Chieh-Yu Lin

Logistics technologies Number (N �� 557) Percentage (%)

Data acquisition technologies 312 56.0Information technologies 529 94.9Warehousing technologies 411 73.8Transportation technologies 493 88.5

Table 7: Adoption of technological innovations by China’s logistics service providers.

Dependent variable: Adoption of technological innovations

Predictors Coefficient � t

Control variablesCompany history 0.024 0.748Number of employee 0.038 0.385Capital size 0.101 1.597+

Technological contextExplicitness of technology 0.159 1.701+

Accumulation of technology 0.162 2.733*

Organizational contextOrganizational encouragement 0.201 2.909*

Quality of human resources 0.199 3.521**

Environmental contextEnvironmental uncertainty 0.131 1.158Governmental support 0.216 3.711**

R2 0.683adj R2 0.579F 9.284**

+p < 0.1.*p < 0.05.**p < 0.01.

Table 8: Standardised regression results for the determinants of technologyinnovation.


history, number of employee and capital size as control variables in the regres-sion analysis. Table 8 shows the results of regression analysis.

Table 8 shows that the capital size of logistics service providers may havepositive influences on the adoption of innovative logistics technologies. Thisimplies that logistics service providers with a larger scale may have morewillingness to adopt innovative logistics technologies. However, the positiveeffects are not significant. It can also be found that the technological, orga-nizational and environmental contexts have positive influences on the adop-tion of technological innovations by China logistics service providers.Explicitness of technology, accumulation of technology, organizationalencouragement, quality of human resources and governmental support allhave significant influences on the adoption of technological innovations.This means that the hypotheses H2a, H2b, H3a, H3b and H4b are not rejected,but the hypothesis H4a is rejected. Therefore, we can conclude that forChina’s logistics service providers, higher explicitness of technology can helpthe transfer of technological knowledge within the organization and, there-fore, raise the willingness to adopt technological innovations. Logistics com-panies with rich experiences in the application or adoption of related logisticstechnologies will have higher willingness to adopt technological innovations.Organizational encouragement can give employees motivation and supportto adopt technological innovation. High quality of human resources meansthat employees are capable of innovation in technologies. Governmentalsupport can encourage and guide logistics service providers to innovate in-logistics technologies. The government can draw up public policies toencourage private sector performance improvements through trade andinter-modal policies, infrastructure investment and development, creativefinancing arrangements, tax incentives, safety regulation, public/privatepartnerships and special programs and projects (Morash and Lynch, 2002).

Although environmental uncertainty does not have significant influ-ence on the adoption of technological innovations, the positive effectreveals that China’s logistics service providers still want to adopt innova-tive logistics technologies to overcome the challenges of environmentaluncertainties. Moreover, because most logistics companies in China aresmall and medium in size and have their strength in providing flexible ser-vices to customers’ varying requirements, environmental uncertainty is tosome extent common to them. This appears to be the reason why environ-mental uncertainty does not feature as a significant influence on theadoption of technological innovations by China’s logistics industry.

Innovation in logistics technologies and supply chain performanceThe influence of adopting innovative logistics technologies on supply chainperformance is investigated using regression analysis. Company history,number of employee and capital size are also taken as control variables inthe regression analysis. The results of the regression analysis are shown inTable 9 below.



We find that the adoption of technological innovations exhibits signifi-cant and positive influences on both financial and non-financial supplychain performances. This means that the evidence at hand does notwarrant rejection of the hypothesis H1. Indeed, the evidence appears tosuggest that China’s logistics service providers with favorable attitudetoward and keen to adopting innovative logistics technologies wouldachieve better supply chain performance.

ConclusionsWith the Chinese government actively engaged in formulating policies topromote China’s participation in the global economy, China has becomean important investment destination for a growing number of multina-tional corporations which are located in China to take advantage of lowlabour costs and the potentially huge market that China offers. However,many foreign investors have faced several logistics problems with respectto the transportation of materials or products and the flow of information.The logistics cost in China is still high compared to many developed coun-tries. Hence the logistics bottleneck on the growth of inward investment inChina, and hence, the Government’s concern to promote the developmentof the logistics industry.

Many logistics companies in China have started adopting innovativelogistics technologies with the view to enhancing their services. Advancedtechnologies and innovations play a critical role in expediting the growthof the logistics industry in China. However, there is a lack of empiricalresearch on the adoption of logistics technologies in China. This articlehas attempted to fill the knowledge gap by investigating the determinantsof technological innovations in China’s logistics industry. It is found that mostof China’s logistics service providers in China tend to rely on information

34 Chieh-Yu Lin

Dependent variables: Supply chain performance

Financial Non-Financial

Predictors Coefficient � t Coefficient � t

Control variablesCompany history 0.023 0.930 0.021 0.994Number of employee 0.019 0.602 0.038 1.003Capital size 0.039 1.038 0.047 1.106

Adoption of technological innovations 0.213 4.041** 0.201 3.835**

R2 0.617 0.601adj R2 0.561 0.553F 8.935** 8.214**

�p < 0.1.*p < 0.05.**p < 0.01.

Table 9: Standardised regression results for the supply chain performance.


technologies to enhance their supply chain management. It is also foundthat China’s logistics service providers with a more favorable attitudetoward adopting new logistics technologies achieve better supply chainperformance. Technological, organizational and environmental factorssignificantly affect the adoption of technological innovations by China’slogistics industry. It is found that higher explicitness and accumulation oftechnology can help the transfer of technological knowledge within theorganization and can raise the capability to adopt innovative technologies.China’s logistics companies can increase their technological innovationcapabilities by encouraging or supporting their employees to adopt newtechnologies and by training and educating their employees. Moreover,policy can stimulate the adoption of innovative logistics technologiesthrough the provision of financial incentives, pilot projects and tax breaks.

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Contributor detailsChieh-Yu Lin is Associate Professor, Department of International Business, ChangJung Christian University, Taiwan. Contact: 396, Sec 1, Chang Jung Rd, Kway Jen,Tainan 71101, Taiwan, Republic of China.E-mail: [email protected]

38 Chieh-Yu Lin





Innovation and entrepreneurship inBrazilian universitiesMariza Almeida Augusto Motta University Centre

AbstractThis article is concerned with the analysis of university-based initiatives inBrazil, emphasising activities directed at enhancing innovation and entrepreneur-ship. The Triple Helix thesis is utilised here to probe the nature of the changestaking place in Brazilian universities, reflecting the characteristics of the changestaking place in the wider economy. The article begins by reviewing some of themodifications introduced in the Brazilian innovation system and by explaininghow universities have been incorporating entrepreneurial activities. Three univer-sity case studies are presented in order to identify different models of entrepre-neurship and innovation activities. The article shows that different structureshave arisen in universities in order to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurialactivities. Government support for these initiatives has been increasing at thefederal, regional and local levels.

IntroductionIn the configuration of a new economic model, known as ‘the learningeconomy’, where knowledge is understood to be the key driver of growthand wealth, issues relating to change and learning assume a progressivelymore important role, making skill-building and innovation fundamentalto economic health and well-being. At the same time, a general perceptionhas taken hold in the world that technological factors are important tocompetitiveness and economic growth.

In the modern knowledge economy, growth depends extensively on thepresence or the formation of a network, which provides a favourable envi-ronment for innovation based on the development indigenous capabilities.Even though firm-specific factors are important determinants of innova-tion activity, technological opportunities and a favourable entrepreneurialenvironment also have a positive effect.

The evolution of the relationships among the institutions from thethree separate spheres, namely, university, industry and government,shows different patterns according to the level of development and to thehistorical and institutional traditions of individual countries (Senker2003). In the international context, developing countries in general areobserved striving to see their economies evolve from one based on low

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Keywordstriple helixentrepreneurial

universityinnovationBrazil


TMSD-7_1-03-Almeida.qxp 5/16/08 7:16 PM Page 39

technology use aimed at resource exploitation to a position associatedwith high technology-based economic growth. The desire to free economiesfrom their dependence on natural resources and other limiting factors thatinhibit growth is at the heart of this transformation. No less important fordeveloping countries is the need to identify and address the range of factorswhich are of fundamental significance for technology-based growth.

For the past two decades, Brazil has been undergoing a transition froma top-down innovation system to an innovation system which operates atvarious levels: municipal, regional, national and multi-national. In thisnew innovation structure, initiatives arise from diverse actors, hithertoinactive in the field, most especially universities and industrial associa-tions. Universities not only play their traditional roles, but also take onsome of the roles of other institutional spheres – industry and government,in particular – in helping to put knowledge to use, both by establishingorganisational mechanisms to transfer knowledge and technology and byplaying a strategic role in regional innovation (Etzkowitz and Mello 2004).

The first academic revolution, the incorporation of research as a broaduniversity mission, took place in Brazil in the 1970s, expanding the tradi-tional support role of the university in society to one directly linked tonational priorities. Although this transformation took place under a mili-tary regime, the universities were left with some autonomy that enabledthem to provide a space for the nurturing and articulation of new initia-tives aimed at transferring knowledge produced at the universities toindustry. These initiatives were originally implemented outside of the uni-versities’ formal structure. They were not the result of academia incorpo-rating economic and social development as a mission, for such a missionwould have made universities fragile and vulnerable without support fromthe other institutional spheres of the Triple Helix. Recently, however, fundingagencies such as CNPq (National Research Council), Finep (Projects andStudies Financing Agency) and others at regional and municipal levelshave been increasing the support for university-based knowledge transferprogrammes.

The results of the ‘Research into Technological Innovation in Brazil(PINTEC)’ published by the Brazilian Agency for Geography and Statistics(IBGE), revealed that, between the years 2003 and 2005, only 33.4 per centof the country’s industrial firms renewed their technology base. High-techintensive companies, such as those involved in telecommunications andcomputing, had higher rates of innovation: 45.9 per cent and 57.6 per cent,respectively. These numbers reveal a low level of dynamism in the compa-nies in question, because product innovation occurs at an annual rate of6.5 per cent in the industrial sector, 8.4 per cent in telecommunicationsand 15.5 per cent in the computer industry.1

With R&D activities being concentrated in public institutions such asuniversities, the interface between these institutions and companiesobviously becomes of prime importance. Here, we find activities which canbe considered to be examples of Triple Helix interactions as well as the

1 The R&D sector wasexcluded from thedata cited above,given that in Brazil,basic, applied andexperimental/developmentalresearch is generallyconducted by publicinstitutions. Many ofthese produce servicesspecialized inintensive knowledgegeneration,particularly in thefields of energy,agriculture, medicineand information andcommunicationstechnology. They tendto work for both thegovernment and theprivate sector throughcontracts which sportconfidentialityclauses.

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transformation of teaching and research universities into entrepreneurialuniversities (Etzkowitz and Zhou 2007).

According to a 1968 law, institutions of higher education in Brazil areclassified as either public or private. Public institutions are sub-classified asfederal-supported and managed by the Federal Government; state-sup-ported and managed by state governments; and municipal-supported andmanaged by municipal governments. Private institutions, on the otherhand, can be sub-classified as non-profit or pro-profit. Finally, non-profitprivate institutions can be communitarian, confessional (religious orienta-tion) and philanthropist. The 1968 law categorises institutions of highereducation as universities; specialised universities and university centres;centres for technological education; isolated schools; extensive schools;and institutes of higher education. The INEP Educational Census (2005)gives a comprehensive picture of the state of the Brazilian higher educa-tion with 2,165 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), distributed amongfive categories as shown in Table 1 below.

No study has yet been made regarding the entrepreneurial activities inthese institutions of higher education in Brazil, so it is difficult to evaluatehow the set of actions and programmes promulgated by these institutionshave contributed to the country’s economic development.

Article 207 of Brazil’s 1988 post-military Constitution stipulates thatresearch, teaching and extension are, in principle, inseparable activities ofuniversities in Brazil. Universities, however, are not directly charged withthe task of making contributions to economic development.

The Technological Innovation Law No. 10.973/2004 was an importantwatershed as it established innovation incentive measures and situatedscientific and technological research within a productive environment,seeking to create technological autonomy and industrial development inBrazil. This law aimed at encouraging strategic partnerships between uni-versities, technological institutes and companies; stimulating the partici-pation of science and technology institutes in the innovation process; andcreating incentives for innovation within companies.

After the establishment of the Technological Innovation Law, Andifes(National Association of Federal Higher Learning Institutes), an organisation

41Innovation and entrepreneurship in Brazilian universities

Spe.Univ/ Ext.Schools/ Center HEIs type Universities Univ.Center Institutes for Tech. Total

Federal 52 – 8 37 97State 33 – 26 16 75Municipal 5 7 47 – 59Total Public 90 7 81 53 231Pro-Profit 25 155 1213 127 1520Non-Profit 61 69 280 4 414Total Privates 86 224 1493 131 1934Total HEI 176 231 1574 184 2165

Source: INEP (2005) Census.

Table 1: Higher education institutions in Brazil, 2005.


which includes 58 federal universities, created a Commission for Science,Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship with the remit to evaluatethe extent of the commitment of the university system to the developmentof entrepreneurship through teaching and research. According to theCommission’s report, only some 9 per cent of the participating universitieshad incorporated entrepreneurship in their undergraduate courses beforethe 2004 law was passed; 82 per cent got involved with it consequentupon the enforcement of the law; and a further 9 per cent still had nocourses or dealing with entrepreneurship in their undergraduate pro-grammes. Results for graduate level courses were even more extreme, asnone of the universities involved had dealt with the topic prior to the 2004law, as shown in Table 2 below.

The data in Table 2 show that programmes in a good number of federaluniversities do not address the issue of entrepreneurship head on, and thatthose universities which already deal with the issue would need to expandtheir course offerings throughout all their departments. Where companiesgenerate little innovative activities on their own and R&D activities arelargely concentrated within the university system and in research insti-tutes, the significance of incorporating entrepreneurship studies in under-graduate and postgraduate programmes cannot be over-emphasised.

In this article, we consider the involvement of three Brazilian universitiesin activities directed towards disseminating entrepreneurship behaviour andinnovation practice in accordance with local conditions and internal andexternal influences. The remainder of the article is seven parts. Part two pre-sents the methodology of the study. Part three discusses the conceptual basisof the research. Part four looks into the changes which have occurred in tech-nological development policies in Brazil. Part five deals with the beginning ofthe teaching of entrepreneurship as a subject in Brazilian universities. Part sixpresents the results of our three case studies; and the seventh part concludeswith a discussion of our findings and future recommendations.

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Activities linked to Level entrepreneurship Percentage

Undergraduate Departments with One department: 27%courses dealing with Several departments: 64%Entrepreneurship All departments: 9%

Activities Lectures: 30%Optional or complementary

classes: 20%Activities integrated into the

curriculum: 50%Graduate Departments with One department: 14%

courses dealing with Several departments: 57%Entrepreneurship All departments: 29%

36% still have no courses

Source: Andifes (2006).

Table 2: Entrepreneurship activities at federal universities.


MethodologyThe research presented below is exploratory in nature. Its goal is to providean overview of the extent to which universities in Brazil have effectivelyincorporated entrepreneurship and innovation studies in their programmesusing the case study approach, which is considered appropriate as it canprovide ideal typifications that would allow a better understanding of thecharacteristics of a more general problem.

For the purpose of this study, three cases have been chosen from the pop-ulation of Brazilian universities that have developed entrepreneurial-relatedactivities. These choices were made on grounds that the three cases are atdifferent stages in the course of implementing entrepreneurial activities.

The questions which this research seeks to answer include the following:

• Can these universities be considered to be entrepreneurial according tothe definition provided by Etzkowitz and Zhou (2007)? Are entrepre-neurial activities accepted and systematically supported? Do interfacemechanisms, such as technology transfer offices, exist? Do a significantnumber of staff members create companies which generate funds tosupport university research and other activities?

• What internal or external factors influenced these institutions to takeon board entrepreneurship as a mainstream concern?

• How was the process of incorporating entrepreneurial activities under-taken in each institution and what is its significance for the extensionprojects proposed by the universities in question?

Different approaches were used for eliciting data for the study, includingrecourse to published and unpublished sources, semi-structured interviewswith professors and/or university directors, and participation in eventswhere university representatives presented information regarding theirinstitutions and programmes.2

Brief survey of Triple Helix experienceThe Triple Helix thesis provides a useful framework for us to examinethe inter-relationships between the three main actors in the innovationchain: university-industry-government (Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff 2000).The interaction among these players in the innovation process is centralto policy initiatives aimed at improving the conditions for innovationand knowledge generation. The model explains new and complex inter-institutional relationships where innovations occur in a process of contin-uous exchange of ideas among the three spheres. Institutional overlappingcreates a new environment, leading to increased interaction which, inturn, results in new innovation strategies. The emergent entity – theTriple Helix – constitutes a new synthesis between university, industry andgovernment (Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff 2000).

Research directed towards innovation, which was previously limited tocompany R&D laboratories, is now increasingly being conducted within

2 Part of this researchwas conducted whilethe author wasworking on herdoctoral dissertationin 2001/2004, andthe rest in2006/2007.



universities. This has led to the development of an entrepreneurial culturewithin universities and has had an impact on both teaching and researchactivities. New organisational structures appeared, in the form of officesfor the transfer of technology, spin-off companies, technology parks, incu-bators and other entities (Etzkowitz et al. 2000).

The Triple Helix perspective is based upon the presupposition that therelationships between university, industry and government create condi-tions for the production of technological innovations and that specificgroups inside the three helices meet in order to address new problemsarising in a constantly changing economic, institutional and intellectualworld (Shinn 2002).

The creation of an entrepreneurial university involves the culturaltransformation of academia, so that this plays a more active role in societyat several levels. Research and teaching activities need to be developed anddirected to contribute to economic and social development as well as to theeducation of students and the advancement of knowledge. Such a univer-sity, which is committed to promoting entrepreneurial attitudes and iscapable of creating initiatives at various levels (among faculty, studentsand administrators, for example), is considered to be an entrepreneurialuniversity (Etzkowitz 2006).

The entrepreneurial university develops distinct activities within a creativetension and possesses three primary characteristics: (1) entrepreneurialactivities are accepted and systematically supported; (2) interface mecha-nisms, such as technology transfer offices, exist; and (3) a significantnumber of staff members create companies, which generate funds forresearch and other university activities (Etzkowitz and Zhou 2007).

Cultural and national factors evidently have an impact upon thischange. Many studies have been conducted regarding entrepreneurialexperiences inside universities in countries with different economic andpolitical conditions. For example, the study by Saad, Zawdie and Derbal(2005) looks into the triple helix experience in developing countries withparticular reference to experiences in Algeria, Malaysia and Ethiopia.There is also Nanal’s work (2007) regarding the importance of an ethicalculture based upon public transparency.

The types of entrepreneurial activities also vary. Lee and Chen (2007)have looked into the stimulus given to undergraduate student entrepre-neurship at the Multimedia University in Malaysia. The generation of spin-offs at the Universidad Autônoma de Barcelona was facilitated by thegrowth in research activities, internal changes in the institution itself andin the surrounding environment (Gonzalez 2007). Marques (2007) hasalso described a university entrepreneurial model in Portugal based on thecooperation between university and industry through the construction ofbusiness incubators associated with and/or promoted by universities.Jacob, Lundqvist and Hellsmark (2003) have described the transforma-tions of the Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. In Brazil,several studies regarding experiments in transforming the universities and

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research institutes have been undertaken, emphasising different perspec-tives. Zouaim and Sousa (2005) have analysed the effects of managementchanges at the Instituto de Pesquisas em Energia Nuclear em São Paulo(IPEN) and Mello and Renault (2006) have described the bottom-up initia-tives taking place in civil society which have created the so-called commu-nity universities which seek to develop the surrounding communities andregions, particularly in the country’s southern states. Etzkowitz, Mello andAlmeida (2005) have analysed the creation and development of the incu-bator movement. Finally, Lahorgue, Mello and Santos (2005) haveresearched technology transfer offices.

Brazilian political change and new proposals for technology transferThe military government that took power in 1964 continued to apply thesame science and technology (S&T) policies adopted after the Second WorldWar. These were directed towards national security, technological autonomyand the development of institutional infrastructure and human resourcesfor universities and state-owned companies.

Some good results were obtained in developing indigenous technologiesin fields such as energy (off-shore technologies), telecommunications,information and aviation. However, the technological autonomy projectwas mainly directed towards state industries in strategic sectors. Theprivate sector, as a whole, was left outside this project and did not benefitfrom technology transfers from universities and public laboratories. Shortof R&D policy of their own, the companies of this sector were generallyreduced to acquiring mature technologies from sources outside thecountry (Coutinho and Ferraz 1995).

The need for the role of government in technological developmentbegan to be felt in the mid-1970s, when CNPq, an agency created to supportacademic research, was expanded to include technology (although itretained its original name). Another important issue that dominated S&Tpolicy in the 1980s was university–industry relationships. The main pointdebated in this respect was how to create new policies and new mecha-nisms to improve the transfer of knowledge from universities to industry.CNPq, normally more interested in supporting academic science, began totake actions focused on technological innovation programmes beginningwith the creation of a technological innovation office in 1980. As a firststep, twelve Technological Innovation Centers (NITs) were set up inresearch institutes and universities across the country. The NITs’ goalswere to promote innovation in universities and research institutes, encour-age knowledge transfer to industry and conduct technological forecast-ing.3 The NIT programme was closed at the end of the 1980s, in part dueto the severe economic crises affecting Brazil at that time (Medeiros, Staland Souza Neto 1987). A second programme, however, the ‘Program forthe Establishment of Science Parks’, was introduced in the mid-80s byCNPq under the direction of the Technological Innovation Office. Difficulties

3 Mello, J.M.C. andAlmeida, M.Interview with: 1)Maurício Guedes,Director of FederalUniversity of Rio deJaneiro Science Park,on December 12,2001; RicardoPereira, COPPETEC,Federal University ofRio de Janeiro, onJanuary 7, 2003.These people weremembers of the NITat the FederalUniversity of Rio deJaneiro.



apparent in these science park initiatives included insufficient resources,absence of venture capital and lack of academic leadership.

In 1986, the military government came to an end and Brazil returnedto democratic rule. The re-democratisation process began with electionsfor state governments in 1982. This made state governments more recep-tive to academic proposals in general and to science and technology initia-tives in particular (Etzkowitz, Mello and Terra 1998). Regional developmentbased on contributions from science and technology thus began to occurat the state level. State secretariats for Science and Technology were estab-lished from 1984 onwards, and these began to develop into regionalS&T plans.

The emergence of this space in civil society, associated with the S&Tinfrastructure built by the military regime, propitiated conditions for theestablishment of new types of university-based organisations in line withthe Triple Helix model of overlapping spheres. The reorganisation of civilsociety allowed for a whole new set of policies to be developed. In a climateof increased political freedom, following the debate over the transfer oftechnology from universities to industry, it was proposed that incubatorsbe established. As civil society learned to express itself and the bottom-uppolicy for creating incubators was consolidated, different kinds of institu-tions became involved in the their organisation.

The entrepreneurial university was introduced in Brazil through teach-ing and the development of research as a highly organised activity. Newuniversity initiatives based upon the Triple Helix model were introduced ina bottom-up fashion in conjunction with industrial organisations andnon-governmental organisations and received the support of municipal,state and federal governments. From this emerged new types of university-based organisations – the hybrid organisations. Academic entrepreneurshipalso takes place through innovation in incubation, science parks, technol-ogy transfer offices and junior company projects.

The beginning of entrepreneurship teaching in BrazilThe first ‘Information Technology Law’ No. 7,232/84, was a significantmilestone, which guaranteed a market in the IT area for Brazilian compa-nies. As a result, an investment strategy was developed for both the gov-ernment and the private sectors. This strategy focused on the developmentof human resources, with the view to allowing the transfer and assimila-tion of technologies and R&D. The ultimate goal was the assembly ofmicroelectronics and hardware architecture and the development of basicsoftware and parallel support for first applications.4 This strategy of creat-ing a niche market had both defenders and critics; and although its termi-nation in 1991 was criticised by some as the abandonment of the strugglefor technological independence, this change also brought about a pro-found transformation in both national policy and in the configuration ofthe IT economic sector. At the level of government policy, the focusswitched from hardware to software development.5

4 http://www.memoria.cnpq.br/areas/sociedadeinformacao/softex/softex_2000.pdf, accessed onOctober, 21, 2007.

5 Idem.

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In 1991, the Brazilian Software Engineering Symposium formed theconcept of creating a national software producing and exporting industry.University computer scientists drew up the proposal with contributionsfrom the Computer Sciences Advisory Committee, the Brazilian ComputerSociety, ASSESPRO (Association of Brazilian Information Technology,Software and Internet Enterprises), AUTOMÁTICA and important nationalleaders in this field.6

As a result of this involvement of institutions from all three spheres ofthe Triple Helix, a programme was established in 1992 to stimulate thecreation of software companies, and the National Export Software Program(Softex) was founded by CNPq. Other steps were also taken later to com-plement this initiative. Table 3 presents the chronological development ofthese activities, the institutions which lead them, the programmes or pro-jects which were created, the impact of these upon the teaching of entre-preneurship and, finally, the results achieved.

The Softex programme was national in scope, but sensitive to regionalcharacteristics. Its goal was to carry out a series of coordinated steps,

6 Ibid.


Institution Year Programme Influences Results

National 1992 SOFTEX Programme Stimulates the foundation Institutions acting together Research of a Brazilian software with local Softex agents Council industry geared to in 15 states, supporting (CNPq) exportation more than 1000 software

development companies(a)

1995 Generation of New Organise regional A total of 21 units were Enterprises in nuclei geared towards selected, by means of Software, Information stimulating creation public notices issued in Technology and of new companies in 1996 and 1997, to host Services (Genesis the software sector the local nuclei(b)

Project)1996 Softstart Project It aimed to set up an Create entrepreneurship

entrepreneurship courses in 200 of the courses at universities country’s technical and

higher education establishments(c)

Softex nuclei 1998 To transform Softex Widen actions designed Contributed the experience Forum nuclei into to create companies and knowledge acquired

incubators and entrepreneurs in in the process of creating order to meet the businesses and in the project’s initial goals teaching of entrepreneurs and to participate to Anprotec(d)

in Anprotec

Sources:(a) http://www.softex.br/portal/_asoftex/agentes.asp, accessed on October, 21, 2007.(b) http://www.memoria.cnpq.br/resultadosjulgamento/softex_2001_result.htm, accessed on October, 21, 2007.(c) Dolabela (1999).(d) Interview with José Alberto Sampaio Aranha, director of the Brazilian Association of Science Parks and BusinessIncubation (Anprotec) and Director of the Genesis Institute at PUC-Rio, on October, 09, 2001.

Table 3: Softex programme.


involving government agencies, universities and industry with the view topromoting the technological capacity of software and information technol-ogy companies, as well as the creation of new companies. The programmeinvolved measures which encouraged the development of software for exportas a source of foreign revenue (Prochnik 1998; Valdés and Furiati 1994).

The creation of new businesses in the high technology software sectorwas planned by Softex to stimulate recently graduated professionals tostart up businesses based on their knowledge of software and services.This idea led to the Genesis Project in 1995. The Genesis Project aimed toinject university students and recently graduated professionals with theentrepreneurial ‘bug’ and equip them with the necessary knowledge, suchas management and entrepreneurial skills, tools and methods (Silva andAraújo 1996).

In 1996, CNPq created the Softstart project, which was linked to Genesis.This groundbreaking initiative covered basic entrepreneurial training rightthrough the monitoring of ensuing start-ups during their initial phase.During this period, industry – university relations were hardly in evidence inthe majority of Brazilian universities, and because of this, entrepreneurshiptraining was originally implemented outside of the academic sphere withno direct linkages to universities and without the direct involvement of thefederal and state educational ministries and institutions (Dolabela 1999).

Entrepreneurship was introduced as a theme within universities throughinitiatives which were directed by institutions and bodies that were notformally part of Brazil’s educational sector. This may explain the incon-gruities in the data presented above regarding the diffusion of entrepre-neurship in the undergraduate and post-graduate programmes.

Towards an entrepreneurial universityThree case studies are presented here involving Brazilian universities thatintroduced entrepreneurship. The cases look into local contexts and exter-nal interference and opportunities to establish the factors have been crucialin widening activities relating to entrepreneurship in Brazilian universities.

The Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio)PUC-Rio was chosen as one of our three case studies because it undertakesinnovation and entrepreneurial activities as part of its mission and as amatter of an institutional policy. PUC-Rio is a private, non-profit Catholicuniversity based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s second largest city. It wasfounded in 1941 by the Jesuits in order to develop knowledge based onhumanistic values. Over the years, the university has gained experiencethat has made it an exemplar for higher education, research, social projectsand entrepreneurship. PUC-Rio has approximately 10,000 undergraduatestudents, 2,500 graduate students and 5,000 extension students.These have at their disposal a first-rate educational structure, containing29 undergraduate programmes which participate in several differentdiploma-orientated and certificate courses. The university also has 50

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postgraduate programmes divided into 26 masters’ degree and 24 doctoratedegree courses.

Table 4 below presents, in chronological order, the internal and exter-nal factors which favourably impacted PUC to introduce entrepreneurialactivities.

Until the 1990s, PUC-Rio was mainly a basic education and researchuniversity with financial support from Finep for its science and engineer-ing programmes since the 1960s. The University had established severallaboratories and has a good reputation for research.7

The changes which led PUC-Rio to institute entrepreneurial activitieswithin its campus came about in the 1990s, as can be seen in Table 4.These changes were the result of external pressures and internal leader-ship which used an immediate crisis to visualise new opportunities. Theexternal pressures came in the form cuts in federal resources dedicated tohigher education. This led to financial instability for PUC-Rio that posed athreat to its established institutional prestige. Faced with this problem, theUniversity sought alternative financing strategies to reduce its dependencyon the federal government. Consequently, PUC created its TechnologyTransfer Office as a first attempt to create ties with industry (Guananys2003; Aranha et al. 1998).

In 1995, Finep created the REENGE, which aimed at improving engi-neering education with the aim to enhancing interaction between the pro-ductive and research sectors. This created an opportunity for an internaldebate regarding engineering education in a post-industrial context of rapidtechnological change and economic globalisation (Aranha et al. 1998).

Elective classes on entrepreneurship dealing with behaviour, simula-tion and planning were offered to graduate students for the first time in1997 as a consequence of Softex and Softstart Project. These classes werepioneered by PUC-Rio’s Entrepreneurs Formation Program (EFP).

CET (Coordination of Entrepreneurship Teaching) is an agency of theGenesis Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneur Action created in 2000 topromote educational activities, research and extension in the area of entre-preneurship. The entrepreneurship programme includes 14 classes: com-mercial and social enterprises; venture capital; business plan; issues relatedto the creation of technological, cultural and design firms; and creativity.

According to Guananys (2003), PUC-Rio’s establishment of an incuba-tor also resulted in changes in laboratories and researchers, transformingseveral groups into what can be described as quasi-companies. A series ofexternal pressures and internal debates combined to create new opportu-nities; but what really turned PUC into one of the most successful cases asan entrepreneurial university in Brazil is the internal consensus, particu-larly among its Directors, that established entrepreneurship and develop-ment as an integral component of the University’s mission. Consequently,the focus on entrepreneurship covered all areas of the University’s pro-grammes and a research environment was created to attend to the needsof industry. Finally, institutional space was built for students, researchers

7 Research reputationas measured byresearchers’publications(Guarannys 2003)



50 Mariza Almeida

Institution Year Decision Influences Result

Federal 1994 The federal government Resources for Brazilian Puc-Rio develops an Government changes public universities, including adjustment process

policies for the PUC-Rio, quickly and create the CTC promotion and decline and are Development Office(a)

subsidy of practically technological areas extinguished in 1994

Finep 1995 REENGE program PUC-Rio starts an Engineering course aimed at improving internal debate curriculums are engineering education regarding engineering modified in order to by enhancing education renew engineers’ interaction between professional profile the productive and in the new research sectors economy(b)

CNPq 1992 Softex Project launched – –CNPq 1995 Genesis Project launched – –CNPq 1996 CNPq invites Puc-Rio submits a The PUC-Rio proposal is

universities to present proposal selected, giving new proposals for the impulseto the establishment of construction of an Genesis project entrepreneurial culturenuclei in the university(c)

CNPq 1997 Softstart Project Elective entrepreneurship Those classes were launched classes in behaviour, pioneered by PUC-Rio’s

simulation and Entrepreneurs planning, are offered Formation to undergraduate Program (EFP)(d)

students for the first time

PUC-Rio 1998 Infogene Nuclei InfoGene Nuclei The Technological participates in the becomes a Gênesis Incubator could receive Softex nuclei Forum Technological 20 firms to incubate(e)

Incubator and is associated with Anprotec

2000 Puc-Rio decides to New teaching programs CET becomes an agency of evaluate its experience were adopted in the the Genesis Institute for in teaching second semester Innovation and Entrepreneurship of 2001 Entrepreneur Action(f)

From Genesis Institute for Institute aims to Institute has been 2000 Innovation and promote educational focusing its actions on on Entrepreneur activities, research three major areas:

Action active and extension in the entrepreneurial entrepreneurship education; outreach

activities with entrepre-neurs; and entrepre-neurial research

Sources:(a) Guarannys (2003).(b) Aranha, Pimenta-Bueno, Carmo and Silveira (1998).(c) http://www.cin.ufpe.br/~genesis/historico.html#edital96, accessed on October, 20, 2007.(d) Salim 2001.(e) Almeida, M. interview with José Alberto Sampaio Aranha, Director of Genesis Institute at PUC-Rio, on October, 09, 2001. (f) Salim 2001.

Table 4: External and internal influences and their impact on PUC-Rio.


and professors to create companies based upon research conducted inincubators linked to the Genesis Institute.

Federal University of ItajubáThis case involves a university with an entrepreneurship project under devel-opment. The University’s Dean, who had been an incubator manager, pro-posed to transform the University’s isolated entrepreneurial activities into aninstitutionalised and cohesive university mission that introduced innovationand entrepreneurship as a common element to all courses in the University.8

The Federal University of Itajubá, located in a small town in MinasGerais state, was founded in 1931 as the Instituto Eletrotécnico e Mecânicode Itajubá (IEMI). In 1968, the school, renamed as the Itajubá FederalEngineering School (UNIFEI), started to expand its engineering under-graduate courses. In 1994, the university began to offer masters coursesand in 1998, seven additional undergraduate courses were added. In2002, UNIFEI became the Federal University of Itajubá.

UNIFEI offers eleven undergraduate, six MA and two PhD programmes,with a total enrolment of 2,200 students. Table 5 presents, in chronologicalorder, the internal and external factors which have had an impact uponUNIFEI, as well as the changes which have been wrought in terms of theintroduction of entrepreneurial activities.

UNIFEI became entrepreneurial in focus influenced partly by internalfactors and partly by the new pedagogical project designed during2004–2008. Other than reinforcing its research and teaching activities,UNIFEI also sought greater participation in local development projects andon the international scene. The new pedagogical project considers localdevelopment activities as a socially responsible part of the University’sextension mission.

UNIFEI’s entrepreneur and entrepreneurship training programme cutsacross all departments, encouraging innovation and generating newenterprises (both within and outside of its incubators).

One of the first activities of the ‘entrepreneurial university’ project wastransfer of the management of the university restaurant and snack bar tothe students’ organisation in February, 2005. The Dean proposed thischallenge and it was immediately accepted by the students, who had alreadypresented a business plan working out the costs of the restaurant, thefinancial viability of the business, meal prices and so forth. In the Dean’sopinion, the restaurant has thus become a management lab for the stu-dents from business and industrial engineering courses.9

Another objective of the programme is the dissemination of entrepreneur-ial culture through the university environment by promoting discussions,business plan competitions and by recommending that entrepreneurshipcourses be open to students from across the University.

There are three incubators at the University. One is dedicated to thesupport of technological firms. The second, which was established uponagreement with the local government, incubates firms in traditional

8 Renato Aquino FariaNunes, Dean ofFederal University ofItajubá. Presentationat XVI SeminárioNacional daAnprotec. Salvador,October, 20, 2006.

9 Almeida. M. interviewwith Renato AquinoFaria Nunes, Dean ofFederal University ofItajubá, onSeptember, 19, 2007.



economic sectors. The third is a cooperative incubator, which was estab-lished to organise enterprises that create jobs for marginalised social sectors.

The project of transforming UNIFEI into an entrepreneurial universityis not yet complete. The changes to date have nonetheless kept pace with

52 Mariza Almeida

Institution Year Decision Influences Result

Escola Federal de 1995 Cefei (Centro Promote the teaching of Creation of entrepemeurialEngenharia de Empresarial de Entrepreneurship in classesItajubá Formação the School of

Empreendera de EngineeringItajubá) created(a)

1998 Business Department Promote the teaching Creation of creates Entrepre- of Entrepreneurship entrepreneurial classesneurship classes(b) in the Business School

2000 Establishment of the Create high tech 14 companies supportedEmpresas de Base companies by the incubatorTecnológica de Itajubá Incubator(c)

Ministério da 2002 Transform the Federal Strengthens and expands Strengthens school’s roleEducação Engineering School the university in the region

onto the Federal University of Itajubá

Universidade 2004 Professor Renato New pedagogical model Entrepreneurial researchFederal de Aquino, creator of is defined for the and local development Itajubá the incubator, is university in gets a big boost

named as Dean(d) 2004–20082005 Entrepreneurial Widening of Entrepreneurial content

activities included entrepreneurial in 17 of the 25 in the school’s teaching to other undergraduateprogram graduate and programs; lectures on

undergraduate the theme in programs post-graduate programs

Technological park Installed at the university Under constructionCreation of the Centro Incubator directed Incubates 6 companiesGerador de Empresas towards traditional

de Itajubá (CEGEIT) economic sectors2007 Creation of the University started to Incubates 5 groups

Cooperativas contribute to social Populares Incubator inclusion

New campus is built Installed in neighbouring The university amplifies itscity of Itabira in activities and partnership with local partnershipsmunicipal government and the Vale do Rio Doce Company

Sources:(a) Araújo, Lago, Oliveira, Cabral, Cheng and Fillion (2005).(b) Leite (2002).(c) Ribeiro Jr and Silva (2006).(d) Almeida.M. interview with Renato Aquino Faria Nunes, Dean of Federal University of Itajubá, on September, 19, 2007.

Table 5: External and internal influences on UNIFEI.


the growing interest in entrepreneurship in the context of an expandinguniversity system in Brazil.

Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG)The Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), situated in Belo Horizonte,offers 44 undergraduate programmes, currently catering for over 35,000students. It has also about 6,000 students enrolled in masters and PhDprogrammes.10 Unlike in the two cases discussed above, at UFMG, entre-preneurial activities have not been implemented in a top-down fashion.Entrepreneurship is an isolated activity here and depends on the activitiesof a handful of professors and colleges.11 In spite of this, some collegeshave been able to create successful spin-offs, such as the IT course, whichsome professors used to create the Akwan company. Google bought thisfirm which is now its laboratory in Latin America (Deutscher, Renault andZiviani 2005). UFMG has promoted various internal entrepreneurial activ-ities in the University, and has also forged partnership with external insti-tutions to do the same. Some examples are mentioned in Table 6 below.

The Computer Science course at UFMG was a pioneer in Brazil in intro-ducing entrepreneurship classes to undergraduate students in 1993. Thiswork was initiated by two professors at the University (Silva and ColenciJr 2002).

In 2003, the CIM incubator and Inovatec decided to merge andbecome a new incubator named Inova-UFMG. The unification of the twoprojects, which was led by the UFMG Dean, joined the better physicalstructures of Inovatec with the incubation know-how of CIM.12 In 2006,another incubator was established by the UFMG’s Business School.13

The absence of a centralised project at UFMG allowed considerable flex-ibility in the creation of an entrepreneurial environment, albeit withoutany commitment that the institution of formal academic programmeswould have warranted. As shown in Table 6, several initiatives have takenplace at UFMG over the years in order to promote entrepreneurship.However, the University still lacks a unified policy geared towards imple-menting these activities, which have for the most part resulted from iso-lated and ad hoc initiatives.14

DiscussionThe state of entrepreneurial activities within the Brazilian University systemraises two key issues. The first is university autonomy. This allowed activitiesrelated to entrepreneurship to be conducted, new courses to be offered tostudents, innovative companies to be created, incubators to be established,local development networks to be contacted, and so forth, as a result of theformation of local contacts and agreements. Incubators assumed a leader-ship role in different areas, disseminating the concept of entrepreneurshipand – on a wider scale – interacting with and convincing institutions, uni-versities, research centres and governments (federal, state and municipal) totake part in the movement and support the incubators and entrepreneurial

10 Ronaldo Tadeu Pena,Dean of FederalUniversity of MinasGerais, presentationat XVII SeminárioNacional daAnprotec, BeloHorizonte, October,18, 2007.

11 Ibid.

12 http://www.inova.ufmg.br/portal/modules/wfchannel/index.php?pagenum=62, accessed on June,15, 2007.

13 http://www.face.ufmg.br/servicos/sub_ser_cei_his.php,accessed on June, 06,2007.

14 Ronaldo Tadeu Pena,Dean of FederalUniversity of MinasGerais, presentationat XVII SeminárioNacional daAnprotec, BeloHorizonte, October,18, 2007.



54 Mariza Almeida

Institution Year Decision Influences Results

Federal 1993 Introduction of UFMG was a pioneer in This experiment created University of Entrepreneurship Brazil 30 new IT Minas Gerais class in the Computer companies(a)

Science DepartmentCNPq 1992 Launching of the – –

Softex ProjectCNPq 1995 Launching of the – –

Genesis ProjectCNPq 1996 CNPq invites universities Founding of a Softex In 11 years of functioning,

to present proposals nucleus in Belo 29 companies have for the establishment Horizonte, the been benefited or are of Genesis project Sociedade Mineira de still receiving the nuclei Software (FUMSOFT) upport of the

UFMG professors sincubator(b)

participate in the project

CNPq 1997 Softstart Project Elective subjects in As these classes alreadylaunched entrepreneurship in existed in the

areas of behavior, Computer Sciences simulation and Department and the planning, were Softex nucleus was offered to established beyond undergraduate the university’s walls,students for the first there wasn’t muchtime of an impact

Federal 1997 Physics Department Interdisciplinary focus Students are taught toUniversity of includes Entrepre- with the participation present projects for theMinas Gerais neurship in their of undergraduate future incubator(c)

curriculum students from both the Physics and Engineering Departments

1999 Physics Department An external network of The multidisciplinarycreates the university’s institutions is character of the first incubator, the established to support incubator has favored Multidisciplinary the incubator the formation of mixedInnovation Center teams within the(CIM) resident companies(d)

2001 The Coordenadoria de Undergraduate Classes implemented inTransferência e programs which 10 undergraduateInovação Tecnológica want to receive programs(e)

organises a support in order to competition for the implement their owndiffusion of EntrepreneurshipEntrepreneurship classes are selected

2002 Engineering School Helps academic Develops pre-incubationdecides to organise a community elaborate phase(f)

Technological technical and Entrepreneurship and economic viability Innovation Center studies regarding the (Empreende) results of research

Table 6: External and internal influences and their impact over UFMG. (continued)


activities inside the university system. The second issue relates to the expan-sion of this process inside each university, while university autonomy ismaintained. This has often depended on the existence of internal consensusthat is crucial for welding isolated initiatives into a cohesive action proposalthat can be incorporated into the university’s mission.

Table 7 shows the different stages in the evolution of entrepreneurshipin the three universities discussed in this article and the similarities anddifferences thereof. Developments at UNIFEI and UFMG are still inchoateand it is not yet clear as to how they would respond subject to internal andexternal pressure. Although the three universities are different in size andlegal mandate, we can see that at both PUC-Rio, the non-profit privateuniversity, and UNIFEI, which is a federal university, an internal consen-sus can be achieved for the adoption and development of entrepreneurship


Institution Year Decision Influences Results

2002 A second incubator: Systematically Successful creation ofthe Enterprising implements activities various spin-offs(g)

Center of which permit the Technological DCC to improve and Innovation (Inovatec), expand the is created by the technology Computer Sciences generation and Department transference project

2003 The CIM and Inovatec Improvement in the 28 companies are incubators are merged, capacities of the served(h)

forming a new incubated companiesincubator (INOVA)

Source: (a) Silva and Colenci Jr (2002).(b) http://www.fumsoft.softex.br/insoft/insoft.php?m�0.1&s�0, accessed on June 13, 2007.(c/d) Valadares and Cabral (2002).(e) http://www.ufmg.br/prpq/EditalCTIT2001.doc, accessed on June 13, 2007.(f) Cheng, Drummond and Mattos, 2004.(g) http://www.face.ufmg.br/servicos/sub_ser_cei_his.php, accessed on June 15, 2007.(h) http://www.inova.ufmg.br/portal/modules/wfchannel/index.php?pagenum�62, accessed on October 31, 2007.

Table 6: External and internal influences and their impact over UFMG.

Entrepreneurial university Pontifical Catholic Federal University Federal University of characteristics according University of Rio de of Itajubá (UNIFEI) Minas Gerais (UFMG)to Etzkowitz and Zhou (2007) Janeiro (PUC-Rio)

Entrepreneurial activities are Yes Proposal in progress Isolated activitiesaccepted and systematically supported

Interfaces are present Yes (Incubator, TTO) (Incubator) Yes (Incubator, TTO)Spin-off creation and Yes No Yes

generation of resources for the university

Source: Based on the definition of entrepreneurial university by Etzkowitz and Zhou (2007).

Table 7: Case study comparison.


programmes. On the other hand, even where a university-wide consensusdoes not exist and entrepreneurship activities are limited to one or a fewdepartments, as in the case of UFMG’s Computer Sciences Department,these departments came into being largely as a result initiatives drivenfrom within the university.

The creation of an entrepreneurial environment in a university is a steptowards transforming it into an entrepreneurial university, depending,among other things, on the extent of participation of the university’s variousdepartments and networks to which the university is linked. Isolated initia-tives, like those which occurred in PUC-Rio towards the mid-90s, can findinstitutional space to grow and become university-wide policy. This hasencouraged the creation of new opportunities for students and staff in teach-ing activities and participation in the foundation of spin-offs.

The entrepreneurial activities which are reshaping the Federal Universityof Itajubá have created new possibilities for the University. Universities havestarted to develop the ethos of commercial entrepreneurship, and a new trendis emerging making way for the culture of social entrepreneurship to evolve.This has already occurred, if to a limited extent, in teaching and researchand in incubator activities, and is reflected in the growing number ofcooperative incubators in recent years.

ConclusionThis article has attempted to show the importance of internal and externalfactors that influence the role of universities in economic developmentthrough the development of entrepreneurial culture. There is, however, nosingle road towards the development of entrepreneurial university. Thereare many outstanding differences, even within the Brazilian environment,between universities and institutions, such as the three cases discussed inthis article.

A major feature in the process of building an entrepreneurial univer-sity is the complementary interaction between university, industry andgovernment (the three helices), which inevitably widens the original goals.For example, the Softex programme originally sought to create new com-panies, but in order to facilitate its goals, it needed to create a secondprogramme – Sofstart – which introduced the teaching of entrepreneur-ship in different institutions. Likewise, other institutions came up with ini-tiatives that increased the number of incubators in Brazil, specifically withthe aim to reduce social inequality by shifting the teaching of technologi-cal entrepreneurship towards the realm of social intervention activities.

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International Journal of Technology Management and Sustainable Development 7: 1,pp. 39–58, doi: 10.1386/ijtm.7.1.39/1

Contributor detailsDr Mariza Almeida is Assistant Professor at the Augusto Motta University Centrein Brazil. Contact: Avenida Paris, 41, Bonsucesso, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, CEP21041-020. Tel: 0055 2138 829752; Fax: 0055 2139 778943E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

58 Mariza Almeida





Knowledge proximity and technologicalrelatedness in offshore oil and gas andoffshore wind technology in the UnitedKingdomZahid A. Memon Mehran University of Engineering

and Technology

Roshan S. Rashdi Mehran University of Engineering

and Technology

AbstractThe United Kingdom (UK) has a strong base of offshore oil and gas (O&G) indus-try and possesses enormous offshore wind power (over 40 per cent of the total inEurope). The skills and technological resources of the O&G industry could possi-bly be applied to develop offshore wind farms to generate electricity. In thisarticle, the core capabilities and competencies of offshore O&G industry arestudied to see if they can supplement the emerging offshore wind industry, whichis likely to be one of the future renewable energy sources for the United Kingdom.The fact that the United Kingdom will turn out to be energy importing country inthe future against its current position as energy exporting country, prompts theneed to explore avenues for alternative sources of energy. The authors perceivethis threat to offshore O&G sector as an opportunity for the offshore wind indus-try, and investigate, through a survey of views, the proposition that the offshorewind industry offers a future market opportunity for the offshore O&G industryin the United Kingdom.

IntroductionThe purpose of this article is to investigate the extent to which the offshoreoil and gas (O&G) sector in the United Kingdom can diversify its operationsto build renewable energy plants (offshore wind farms),1 in addition to pro-ducing fossil fuels – the main area of its operation. The article looks into thecore capabilities and core competencies of offshore O&G firms that can beadapted to construct offshore wind farms to generate renewable energyfrom offshore wind. The United Kingdom has an abundant resource of off-shore wind, which could be exploited to produce electrical energy (DTI2003). This goal can be achieved, inter alia, by establishing more wind

59

Keywordscore competence and

capabilitiesoffshore O&G

installationsoffshore wind farmsdiversificationtechnological

discontinuities


1 Wind turbinesconcentrate airflowenergy to drivegenerators to produceelectrical energy.

TMSD-7_1-04-Memon.qxp 5/16/08 7:16 PM Page 59

farms on commercial basis. This would call for, among other things, thedevelopment of wind turbine manufacturing and related technologies.

Consideration of renewable options is inescapable in view of the declineof the stock of oil, gas and coal deposits (ICEPT, 2003) and the growingconcern with climate change arising from the use of fossil fuels (DTI,2002). After Canada, the United Kingdom has been the only net energyexporting country of the world following the successful development ofNorth Sea O&G reserves (The UK Energy White paper 2003). But this sce-nario is fast changing. By 2020, it is projected that the United Kingdomwill depend on imported energy for about 75 per cent of its total primaryenergy needs (The UK Energy White paper 2003).

Diversification is one of the options for energy policy in the UnitedKingdom (DTI’s Report on Diversification). Technological diversificationwould allow certain skills in the offshore O&G sector to be transferred tooffshore wind industry for effective application. This sort of diversificationof the O&G sector into offshore renewable industry may possibly be aresponse to the threat posed by the dwindling O&G reserves in the UnitedKingdom. It is also necessary for the UK O&G sector to keep its skill basefrom withering away and also to keep its operations in UK waters. Theexperience of the UK offshore O&G industry spans over three decades (DTI,2003). Its knowledge, technological capabilities and access to offshorewind resource could provide a viable basis for offshore wind farm con-struction in the United Kingdom, as this article shows.

Diversification and core competenciesFirms generally tend to diversify as they grow and mature. The specific con-ditions that enhance firms’ decision to diversify and the extent of the bene-fits to be derived from diversification are probed here in the context of therelationship between innovation and diversification, which occur as majortechnological traits. Also raised as a point of discussion here is the impact ofchanges (innovations) arising from diversification on the competencies orcapabilities of firms. The core competence is the collective learning in theorganization (Prahalad and Hamel, 1990). The core competence of O&Gfirms may be their seabed survey expertise, offshore installation and con-struction skills and overall marine experience of their manpower andmachine tools at their disposal to carry out such operations.

DiversificationIt is in the nature of firms in a competitive environment to evolve adaptingto changing market and resource conditions. In order to compete andretain its market share, a firm must innovate, introducing changes in thecharacteristics of the goods and services it supplies. Sometimes innovativeactivities enable firms to extend their operations into more than one tech-nology, that is, to be ‘technologically diversified’ (Breschi, Lissoni andMalerba 2003). So, it can be inferred that it is actually innovation thatprompts a firm to diversify and broaden its base. It can also be argued that

60 Zahid A. Memon and Roshan S. Rashdi


technological diversification pre-empts product and service diversificationand leads to service and product innovation as a result.

Innovation refers to change. If change occurs in multi-faceted ways, itforms the basis for diversification. Change of this kind can take two forms– change in products and services supplied (product innovation), andchange in the ways in which the goods and services are created and deliv-ered (process innovation) (Tidd, Bessant and Pavitt 2002). The changes inproduct and process characteristics could sometimes be minor, slow andgradual; and sometimes they could be of radical nature resulting in tech-nological paradigm shifts.

There has been a growing body of research over the years on corporatediversification (Granstrand et al. 1990). They have further explained thatthe pioneering research was done by Nelson (1957) followed by hisvarious contemporaries like Patel and Pavitt (1994). Much of the researchso far has, however, been on product rather than market diversification orfirms’ expansion into a broader range of product areas’ (Granstrand et al.1990). Technological diversification, on the other hand, is defined byKodama (1986) and Pavitt et al. (1989) as extension of the competence ofindustry into various technological areas (Granstrand et al, 1990).Technological diversification is analogous to technological transition in amanner that cellular phones experienced transition from analogue todigital technologies. Technological competence of a firm evolves over timeand is even transformed with the accumulation of knowledge and theapplication of it. The pace at which technological competence and capabil-ities are transformed depends on the opportunities and incentives that areopen to firms (Patel and Pavitt 1994).

Competence and technological discontinuitiesAfter an extensive study of different firms for the pattern of technologicalchanges, Tushman and Anderson (1996) note that firms may go throughchanges of ‘discontinuous’ nature and that technology is a crucial elementin shaping the firms’ environmental conditions. They argue that whilefirms innovate in a gradual and incremental manner, sometimes certainmajor ‘breakthroughs’ (discontinuities) occur that may either enhance ordestroy the competence of the firms that innovate. They identify two dif-ferent forms of technological discontinuities: competence-destroying dis-continuities; and competence-enhancing discontinuities.

Competence-destroying discontinuities (radical innovations), destroythe traditional competence of firms in the production of goods and ser-vices, and introduce novel ways of doing things. This is akin to whatJoseph Schumpeter would refer to as ‘creative destruction’ to show thatthe new way of doing things is radically different from the old or existingway. Competence-enhancing discontinuities (incremental innovations)are, on the other hand, based on the existing skills and capabilities offirms. Tushman and Anderson specify that while competence-destroyingdiscontinuities occur in new firms and cause drastic changes and major

61Knowledge proximity and technological relatedness in offshore oil and gas . . .


shake-ups in the environmental conditions of the firms, competence-enhancing discontinuities are initiated by existing firms and result in less‘environmental turbulence’. Indeed, competence-enhancing advancespermit existing firms to exploit their competence and expertise andthereby gain competitive advantage over smaller or newer firms. However,they argue that both types of discontinuities create uncertainty in theorganization, albeit in varying degrees and with varying implications forthe organisation and management of the firm and production and market-ing strategies.

Role of ‘knowledge proximity’ in diversificationOne important aspect of the concept of ‘knowledge proximity’ in diversify-ing firms relates to geographical nearness and neighbourhood, whichresults in learning and knowledge spill over from one firm to another(Breschi et al. 2003). Another important aspect relates to the genericnature of knowledge used in multiple technologies and activities. Firmsmay also diversify in related technologies keeping in view the lowerswitching costs in terms of locally available opportunities of diversification.This way, high capital costs incurred on R&D and human resources maybe avoided. Diversification could in this case be seen as a two way processin which the firms at the diversification and acquisition ends share com-monalities and proximities. In the words of Breschi et al. (2003):

firms follow a coherent pattern of technological diversification, which clus-ters around groups of technologies that share a common or complementaryknowledge base, rely upon common scientific principles or have similarheuristics of search.

Diversification of offshore O&G industry into offshore renewable industrywill depend upon the nature of both industries and the ability of O&G firmsto diversify and of wind industry to absorb the technology. This may callfor a close look into the capabilities of both industries to be able to seewhether the ‘R&D outlays’ have really been beneficial for the industry atsource and the industry at use.

The concepts of ‘prior knowledge’, ‘knowledge proximity’ and ‘techno-logical relatedness’, have resulted in the transformation of one technologyinto another sharing commonalities. Thus, diversification opportunitymay very well be available to the offshore O&G industry; it may also be thecreation of offshore renewable energy through wind and tidal and wavetechnologies.

Diversification in O&G sector: future prospectsIn a report produced by DTI/PILOT (Sustainability Through Diversity2003), it has been identified that over 850 companies in the UnitedKingdom are operating in the O&G environmental market. Over half areprimarily product suppliers. The report further suggests that the UK O&G



supplier industry, which covers more than half of the environmentalmarket, has considerable strengths, assets and capabilities (unique to off-shore environment), which are transferable into other market sectors. Italso outlines a number of potential opportunities for new business in threemain markets where there is an outline fit with supplier strengths andcapabilities.

Table 1 below provides an insight into the various supplier opportunitiesof offshore O&G firms that can be used to strengthen marine wind industryin addition to other sectors like onshore wind and tidal and wave technolo-gies, and shows the scope for successful diversification of one sector intoanother, sharing knowledge similarities and complementarities.

O&G firms’ experiences, skills, facilities and equipment used in provid-ing construction support to complex offshore projects can be directlytransferable for use in the construction and installation of offshore windfarms. O&G companies have extensive experience in areas such as supply


Source: DTI/PILOT Study - Executive Summaries, available on CD-Rom. Acquired onpersonal request.

Table 1: (Matrix): Prospects for the UK O&G supplier industry.


chain co-ordination, manpower and equipment supply, procurement,planning and logistics support.

Survey of dataViews expressed by different people from the renewable energy sector, theO&G sector and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)2 – the threemajor stakeholders – are analysed and discussed here. Data used in thisarticle were obtained through the administration of questionnaires, tele-phone interviews and face to face meetings. The overall survey results arefound to be very satisfactory as far as amount and quality of informationare concerned.

Transferable skillsInterestingly, views on transferable skills are similar across all stakehold-ers. There is consensus that the offshore O&G industry has skills, facilitiesand equipment that the wind industry requires. Some emphasised that theexperience of the offshore O&G industry in installing structures of all kindsworldwide. The UK offshore industry has been at the forefront of this tech-nology, particularly the engineering and management skills. Installationof small structures such as wind farms would be a relatively straightfor-ward project for the ‘techno-rich’ O&G industry.

The O&G industry has capability to undertake construction activities inadverse conditions. It has also marine expertise as in cable laying, liftingand installation; marine equipment like sub-ploughs; and knowledge ofmarine legislation and control. All these are important for building thesupport structures of offshore wind farms like that of Scroby Sands, UnitedKingdom’s largest offshore wind farm inaugurated in March, 2005.

According to a business executive associated with an O&G suppliercompany and involved in the engineering and management, the mostobvious areas where the offshore industry prior experience can be usefulare fabrication and installation. There have been many structures placedoffshore in all kinds of environments and in all sizes – from the very small(wind turbine scale) to structures weighing thousands of tonnes. Thehardware required is available from a number of installation specialists.Crane vessels exist in O&G operator companies that are capable ofinstalling single piece structures weighing from a couple of hundred up to12,000 tonnes.

The skills in engineering and marine engineering are also usable.Inspection and maintenance are areas for which the wind industry wouldneed support in the future. These skills and expertise do lie in the O&Gsector. Moreover, the operations and maintenance (O&M) expertise of theO&G sector is potentially transferable. For instance, an existing O&Gproduct manufacturing company was involved in the North Hoyle off-shore wind farm.3

As a Project Engineer in a renewable energy firm noted, the role of O&Gproject management expertise could be significant when multi-million

2 DTI is responsible forgiving consent for thewind projects in theUK.

3 Interview with DTIpersonnel. A numberof respondents alsoreferred to thecompetence of O&Gfirms in theconstruction of therecently built NorthHoyle offshore windfarm in the UK. Thisled to the transfer ofcertain skills fromO&G industry to theNorth Hoyle offshorewind project.



contractual arrangements with weather risk and high vessel costs is some-thing the wind industry is not yet familiar with. O&G companies also havegood experience in foundation construction and installation – particularlyfor tripods in deeper water. For O&M, there is already a skill base, but fortransfer to happen, the skills of O&G technicians would need to be directedby experienced wind turbine engineers.

The O&G skills suitable for offshore wind farm industry indicated byvarious people covered in the survey are shown in Figure 1 below.

The Technical Manager of an offshore O&G operator4 company revealedduring the telephone interview that their company had involvement inwind projects in Spain, especially in the area of tightening bolts/joints. Heconsidered the joint tightening know-how in O&G firms critical to thewind turbines to withstand vibration/stress and maintain torque/tensionduring turbulent weather. Also, knowledge and experience in bridge con-struction, like assembling large structures, are transferable to the windfarm construction, which means that civil engineering and constructionfirms have scope of work in turbine construction and related activities.

LimitationsNot all respondents are agreed on the extent of effectiveness of O&G firmsin strengthening offshore wind-farm development, and hence on the scopefor diversification of O&G firms into the offshore wind industry. Differentviewpoints are expressed by respondents from O&G companies, renewableindustry (offshore wind farm) and DTI with respect to the limitations onoffshore diversification.

O&G companies’ viewsA respondent from an O&G company said that offshore wind offers a diver-sification opportunity, but only to those companies that are prepared to

4 Operator companiesare the oil companies,which explore,develop and producehydrocarbonresources.


Figure 1: Transferable skills from O&G to offshore wind as per survey results.


adapt to the needs of an industry with a different cost structure andprospect of long term recovery of investment. Another respondent saidthat the scope for diversification was not as large as it is often made out tobe. This is largely because, he argued, the costs associated with offshorewind power are scarcely competitive without subsidy and the facility pro-vided to trade renewable obligation in view of the safety and environmen-tal impact of the industry that would have unfavourable consequencesparticularly for the shipping and fishing industries.

There is also the view that the O&G business in United Kingdom isdecreasing and that diversification into the renewable offshore wind sectorwould hardly feature as a matter of priority in the circumstances. Rather,relocation of business to other potential overseas sites like Singapore,Russia and Brazil would be a sound option for the O&G business in theUnited Kingdom.

According to the manager of a fabrication and engineering company,their company relied on the major contractors in the oil industry, as theirmain source of work recognised some years ago that the volume of workfrom the oil industry was on the decline. The company’s turnover was 85per cent oil related in 1999. The traditional workload of the company dis-appeared fast consequent upon the closure of the Ardersier ConstructionYard, the decline of the Nigg Yard and the decline of drilling activity in theNorth Sea. By 2003, the business turnover had fallen by 50 per cent andthe company was in dire straits. It was felt that diversification could be theway forward for an O&G company in such a difficult situation. However,diversification into markets, which are new and volatile, such as offshorewind, involve investment risks in the sense that immediate returns arehardly in sight. The decision to diversify is not therefore straight forwardin such cases.

Renewable industry’s positionRespondents from the offshore wind sector were less sceptical than thosefrom O&G companies over the issue of diversification. Diversification isgenerally perceived here as more of an opportunity than a risk for O&Gcompanies; and respondents maintained the view that insofar as the skillsand scale of facilities required for the manufacture of towers and mono-piles are similar to O&G yards, there could be good market in the offshorewind sector to warrant provision of enough work that would keep at leasta small team in an O&G company permanently occupied in offshore wind.Respondents are not however unaware of the limitations of diversificationopportunities for O&G companies.

A major constraint on O&G diversification is the scale of the offshorewind industry which, being small, cannot fully support the scale of thecurrent O&G activities. Yet another problem militating against technologytransfer across sectors the cultural difference between the O&G and off-shore wind sectors. Moreover, profit margins in the wind sector are cur-rently small unlike the margins afforded by many in the O&G sector.



These, it was generally acknowledged, would act as a disincentive for O&Gcompanies to diversify into offshore wind.

DTI’s positionThe majority of respondents from DTI agreed with the idea of offshorewind offering a sustainable opportunity to O&G firms to diversify into off-shore wind business; but they also expressed concern about the economicviability of such diversification.

These views are broadly reflective of the DTI Gap Analysis which high-lights cost and market factors as constraints on the diversification of O&Ginto offshore wind industry. Although the O&G industry has the skills andexpertise to be able to diversify into offshore wind, the exercise would notbe cost-effective. Moreover, offshore wind business is much more standard-ised and based on much lower margins than O&G. Regarding the marketconstraint, as mentioned elsewhere above in this article, offshore windwould not be commercially viable without Government support. This situ-ation would hardly make offshore wind business in the United Kingdoman attractive proposition for O&G to diversify into. O&G is very profitablebusiness, whereas offshore wind has yet to demonstrate such profitability.It would therefore make more economic sense for multinational oil com-panies to continue to exploit hydrocarbon resources in other parts of theworld rather than diversifying into UK offshore wind that would givethem, if at all, very modest returns.

DiscussionThe offshore O&G sector in United Kingdom constitutes a mature industry.Offshore wind, on the other hand, is a growing industry. A major challengethat the O&G sector has to contend with is the decreasing fossil fuelreserves and the uncertain prospects for further explorations. It is as suchsteadily heading towards stagnation and decline. In the circumstances, itwould need to take necessary steps to diversify its operational capabilitiesand respond to the needs expressed in the emerging environmental market.

The competence of the O&G industry and its business and technologi-cal environment appear to favour transition to offshore wind business. Themajor incentive offered by transition is that the O&G sector would remainin the forefront as a provider of renewable energy and thus avoid the riskof stagnation and decline. It is apparent from the survey, however, thateven after recognizing offshore renewable sector as a potential area ofdiversification, the O&G sector is rather reluctant to diversify into offshorewind business. This could be due to the problem of technological uncertaintytransition and diversification would bring in train for O&G firms.

ConclusionThe survey conducted by the authors of this article has provided enoughevidence to suggest that offshore O&G industry skills are transferable tooffshore wind farm construction. But, given that the UK offshore wind



industry is inchoate and offering only modest profit margins, it is consid-ered by the offshore O&G industry only as a residual opportunity. However,there is good reason to believe that the two sectors could work together toprovide substantial support to offshore wind farm development in theUnited Kingdom.

The core competence areas that are of common usefulness to bothO&G and offshore wind industries involve material and manpower skills. Itis apparent from the survey that the transferable manpower skills of O&Gtechnicians would need to be directed by experienced wind turbine engi-neers, whereas the material skills can be transferred with much ease.

The offshore O&G sector is diversifying into offshore renewable sector,but not to the extent required to achieve renewable targets. This is mainlydue to the investment risk and uncertainty that would militate against thepossibility of achieving smart returns. However, government subsidy isseen by many as an important factor to considerably increase the scale oftransfer of technology from O&G sector to wind farm construction.

The UK O&G industry recognises the decline in its activity could be coun-tered by diversifying into offshore wind industry. However, as discussed inthe article, this opportunity is not considered commercially serious enoughto be taken on board with total commitment. Rather, the industry wouldprefer to relocate its businesses to oil rich countries overseas.

The survey shows project management, inspection and maintenance,construction of foundations and installation expertise as the top four areasin offshore wind farm development where offshore O&G prior competenceis transferable. They are in total consonance with DTI matrix shown inTable 1.

AcknowledgementThe authors acknowledge the help and guidance offered by Dr. Jim Watson of theScience and technology Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at the University of Sussex,United Kingdom.

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Technological Diversification’, Research Policy Journal, 32: 1, pp. 69–87.

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Suggested citationMemon, Z.A. and Rashdi, R. (2008), ‘Knowledge proximity and technological

relatedness in offshore oil and gas and offshore wind technology in the United



Kingdom’, International Journal of Technology Management and SustainableDevelopment 7: 1, pp. 59–70, doi: 10.1386/ijtm.7.1.59/1

Contributor detailsZahid A. Memon is Assistant Professor at Mehran University Institute of Scienceand Technology Development (MUISTD), Jamshoro, Pakistan. Contact: MehranUniversity Institute of Science and Technology Development (MUISTD), Jamshoro-76062, Pakistan. Tel: +92 22 2772430-31; Fax: +92 22 2772432E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

Dr. Roshan S. Rashdi is Professor at Mehran University Institute of Science andTechnology Development (MUISTD), Jamshoro, Pakistan. Contact: MehranUniversity Institute of Science and Technology Development (MUISTD), Jamshoro-76062, Pakistan. Tel: +92 22 2772430-31; Fax: +92 22 2772432E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]





Article. French. doi: 10.1386/ijtm7.1.71/1

Partenariat public-privé en Tunisie: Les conditions de succès et d’échecAmira Bouhamed Université de Sfax

Jamil Chaabouni Université de Sfax

RésuméLes changements qu’a subi le contexte politique, économique et social ont suscitéle développement des accords de partenariat public-privé. La présente recherche amis l’accent sur les différentes conditions favorables et défavorables susceptiblesd’influencer la réussite de la relation de sous-traitance des services publics. Larecherche empirique menée auprès de dix-huit établissements universitaires enTunisie (Sfax) ainsi qu’auprès de leurs fournisseurs a permis de relever que: lesévaluations pré et post contractuelles et le climat de confiance représentent desvoies porteuses pour le succès de la relation de sous-traitance. Les conflits d’in-térêts et l’asymétrie d’information entre les partenaires constituent des condi-tions qui entravent la réussite d’une telle relation.

AbstractChanges in the political, economic and social environments may spark the devel-opment of the public-private partnerships agreements. The article notes that arange of favourable and unfavourable conditions are likely to influence the rela-tionships of suppliers with the public sector in Tunisia. This empirical researchfocuses on eighteen academic establishments in Tunisia (Sfax) and their suppli-ers. The investigation highlights the impact of determinants such as trust andpre- and post-contract evaluation on successful suppliers relationships. The con-flicts of interests and the asymmetry of information between the partners arefound to be examples of inhibitors to the success of such relationships.

IntroductionDepuis quelques décennies, la crise qui a affecté la légitimité de l’organisa-tion publique, son rôle et son fonctionnement a été à l’origine de l’émer-gence de la réflexion sur le new public management (Yaya 2005: 5). Né enGrand Bretagne, depuis les années 80, sous le gouvernement de MargaretThatcher et dans bien d’autres pays de tradition anglo-saxonne, le newpublic management est un mouvement de réforme du secteur public. Ilconsiste à favoriser la transposition de modèles de gestion du secteur privé

71

Mots cléspartenariat

public-privésous-traitance des

services publicsétablissements

universitairesconditions de succèsconditions d’échec

Keywordspublic-private

partnershipsubcontractingpublic sector

organizationssuccess and failing

factors


TMSD-7_1-05-Bouhamed.qxp 5/16/08 7:19 PM Page 71

sur le secteur public (Pettigrew 1997: 113). Moderniser l’Etat, le réinven-ter, moderniser les services publics, améliorer la gestion des organisationspubliques et instaurer des contrats de performance sont les objectifs de cemouvement (Yaya 2005: 6). L’approche de l’administration publique rela-tive à la façon de fournir ses services à ses ‘citoyens-clients’ a changé. Laculture bureaucratique fait place à l’innovation, l’imputabilité selon lesrésultats et le management des affaires. La prudence et la stabilité sontremplacées par l’entrepreneurship, la flexibilité et la créativité (Morin1998: 17).

Assurer de nouvelles missions et dépasser le simple statut de prestataireunique des services publics représentent aussi des défis lancés par les insti-tutions internationales. Les exigences internationales sont considérées parles grands bailleurs de fonds multilatéraux–notamment par la BanqueMondiale (BM) et le Fond Monétaire International (FMI). - comme unecomposante indissociable des programmes d’ajustement structurel (Medeb2003: 1). Pour répondre à ces défis, la Banque Mondiale a proposé undécoupage du secteur public en trois domaines distincts: les entreprisesstratégiques, les entreprises non indispensables au processus de développe-ment candidates à une procédure de liquidation juridique et les entreprisesnon stratégiques mais viables candidates désignées à des opérations de pri-vatisation (Guillaumont et al. 1997: 275).

La privatisation peut être totale ou partielle (partage des responsabilitésentre les acteurs publics et privés) (Medeb 2003: 1–2). Cette dernière caté-gorie pouvant être mise en oeuvre au moyen du partenariat public-privé(PPP). A cet égard, le paradigme impliquant l’intervention de l’Etat-nationpour délivrer les services cède la place au nouveau paradigme de parte-nariat (Fisbein et Lowden 1999: 69). Le PPP a été défini par Choe, (2002:281) comme suit: «Les PPP rassemblent un large éventail de talents et deressources provenant aussi bien du secteur public que du secteur privé. Ilsproduisent des résultats qui profitent à tout le monde et qui sont dans laligne des intérêts et des problèmes généraux de la Société». Ce qui carac-térise le partenariat public-privé (PPP) des autres types de partenariat con-cerne la spécificité de ses parties contractantes (partenaires public et privé).

Cependant, s’engager dans un partenariat est une décision stratégique.Elle peut avoir des effets aussi bien positifs que négatifs sur les partenairesmais aussi sur certaines parties prenantes telles que le consommateur.L’objectif de cet article est d’analyser les conditions qui favorisent le succèsd’un PPP et celles de l’échec de telles relations inter-organisationnelles.L’intérêt est porté sur une forme particulière de PPP à savoir la sous-traitance des services publics. Ce type de partenariat a été développé dansplusieurs pays tels que: le Royaume-Uni, l’Australie, la Turquie, les Etats-Unis et la Nouvelle-Zélande (PUMA, Note de Synthèse N°2, 2004: 2-4). EnTunisie, la sous-traitance des services publics est considérée comme étantl’une des formes les plus courantes de la privatisation. Elle est fréquem-ment utilisée par les autorités locales et les services de santé (Rapport del’ISP 2004: 18).

72 Amira Bouhamed and Jamil Chaabouni


Afin d’évaluer le succès du PPP, une revue des critères développés à ceteffet est présentée dans la première partie. Nous proposons, dans la deux-ième partie, un aperçu théorique sur les conditions de réussite et d’échecde ces partenariats. L’étude de la littérature débouche sur la propositiond’un modèle conceptuel qui est testé sur la relation de sous-traitance entreles institutions universitaires rattachées à l’université de Sfax (Tunisie) etleurs prestataires (entreprises de services).

Les critères d’évaluation du succès du PPPLe succès du partenariat peut être évalué par le degré de réalisation desobjectifs stratégiques des parties contractantes (Lambe et al. 2002: 149) enl’occurrence les partenaires public et privé. Par ailleurs, un des principauxenjeux des PPP est d’améliorer le bien-être collectif. C’est au consomma-teur des services publics d’apprécier l’atteinte de cet objectif (Rapport dedéveloppement dans le monde, 1994: 78).

Les objectifs du partenaire publicLes objectifs de l’organisation publique sont multiples et ne sont pas toujoursharmonieux (Guillaumont et al. 1997: 272). A cet égard, la recherche del’intérêt général n’est plus à elle seule suffisante, faut-il encore que l’or-ganisation publique apporte la preuve de son efficience et de son efficacité(Chevallier 1997: 31).

La politique de PPP a été reconnue comme étant profitable pouraméliorer l’efficience et l’efficacité de l’organisation publique. Elle met enplace de nouveaux mécanismes gouvernementaux et une coopération(Choe 2002: 283). Cette coopération contribue à accroître la mobilisationde l’ensemble des ressources complémentaires (matérielles et immatérielles),à améliorer l’efficience et l’efficacité de leur utilisation et à réaliser un effetde synergie (Fisbein et Lowden 1999:16; 86).

Le PPP permet aussi de dépasser les difficultés de juger la performancede l’organisation publique. En effet, cette dernière ne peut pas définir l’effi-cience et l’efficacité de son action en fonction de critères simples, quantita-tivement mesurables et objectivement partagés. Ces critères influencésessentiellement par la logique marchande existent plutôt, dans le secteurprivé (Favoreu 2004: 8). Le PPP permet aussi de remédier à la dilution desresponsabilités. En effet, l’acteur public a un unique interlocuteur qu’ilpeut responsabiliser (Landier et Benayoun 2003: 26).

De ce fait, l’amélioration de l’efficience et de l’efficacité du partenairepublic peut être considérée comme étant un critère d’évaluation du succèsdu PPP.

Les objectifs du partenaire privéLa coopération avec le secteur public permet à l’entreprise privée de générerune «rente relationnelle» (Dyer et Singh 1998) sur la base des ressourcespartagées. En effet, selon l’approche relationnelle, la performance de l’en-treprise est liée au réseau de relations que celle-ci développe et entretient

73Partenariat public-privé en Tunisie: Les conditions de succès et d’échec


avec l’ensemble des acteurs présents dans son environnement. Ce réseaude relations permet de créer et de coordonner des ressources relationnellesqui dépassent les frontières de l’organisation (partager des connaissanceset des savoir-faire, exploiter des compétences complémentaires, etc.)(Donada et Garrette 2001: 21).

Le sous-traitant développe aussi, une capacité à travailler avec desclients non traditionnels ce qui permet l’expansion de son marché (Fisbeinet Lowden, 1999: 34) et par conséquent de se faire voir, se ménager despositions (Damon 2002: 39) et se créer une réputation (Fisbein et Lowden1999: 33), ce qui participe à la réalisation de profits.

Ainsi, nous pouvons considérer que le succès du PPP est évalué par laréalisation des objectifs du partenaire privé tels que la création d’un réseaurelationnel, l’accès à de nouveaux marchés, la réputation et la réalisationde profit.

Les objectifs des bénéficiairesLe PPP ouvre la perspective d’une mobilisation des compétences et desressources complémentaires susceptibles d’être utilisées pour trouver dessolutions harmonieuses aux problèmes économiques et sociaux et pourassurer le bien-être de la communauté (Choe 2002: 281). Il s’agit essen-tiellement de la réduction des coûts de prestation des services, l’élargisse-ment de la gamme des services offerts, l’amélioration de la qualité, etc.(Aubert et Patry 2004: 5).

Le citoyen participe directement ou indirectement au financement duPPP et il est le bénéficiaire des biens et services qui sont produits par lepartenariat. Il peut mieux évaluer la qualité des services rendus et l’amélio-ration du bien-être social (Rapport de développement dans le monde 1994:78). La satisfaction du bénéficiaire est supposée être l’objectif ultime dupartenariat (Aubert et Patry 2004: 5) dans la mesure où le citoyen estdevenu de plus en plus exigeant (Morin 1998: 19). La satisfaction des béné-ficiaires constitue donc un critère important d’évaluation du succès du PPP.

Quels référentiels théoriques d’explication des conditions desuccès et d’échec du PPP?La théorie des coûts de transaction (TCT) (Coase 1937; Williamson 1975,1985) est le paradigme dominant pour l’analyse du dilemme «faire oufaire faire». Elle a été utilisée par nombreux travaux empiriques portantsur la sous-traitance (Barthélémy 2004). Or, la TCT ne permet pas de cap-turer certaines caractéristiques de la relation entre le donneur d’ordres etson prestataire à savoir: l’asymétrie d’information et le conflit d’intérêts.Pour introduire ces deux dimensions, il semble pertinent d’analyser lasous-traitance aussi, sous l’angle d’une relation entre un principal et unagent, comme l’indique la théorie de l’agence (TA) (Chanson 2003). Pourcette raison, nous mobilisons aussi bien la théorie des coûts de transactionque la théorie de l’agence afin d’appréhender respectivement les condi-tions de succès et celles de l’échec du PPP.



La théorie des coûts de transaction et les conditions de succès du PPPSelon la TCT, les acteurs ont des comportements opportunistes (Williamson,1975). L’objet des contrats de partenariat est de formuler les engagementsbilatéraux de manière à réduire ces risques d’opportunisme (Calvi et al.,2000: 10). Or, les contrats réels sont relativement incomplets et ne sontpas strictement appliqués (Nogatchewsky 2003: 174).

Les contrats ne sont pas les seules garanties contre l’opportunisme. Ilspeuvent être complétés par d’autres mécanismes de gouvernance qui sontliés à l’auto-exécution de l’accord (self-enforcing agreement) dans laquelleaucune tierce personne ne participe pour déterminer si une violationintervient (Dyer 1997). Dyer, (1997) et Dyer et Singh, (1998) distinguententre les garanties formelles et les garanties informelles.

Les garanties formellesDans la littérature, les économistes mettent l’accent sur les mécanismesformels et sur la rationalité dans la relation de gouvernance (Poppo etZenger 2002: 710). Les garanties formelles peuvent prendre deux formesdans la sous-traitance: l’évaluation ex-ante et l’évaluation ex-post de larelation (Calvi et al. 2000: 7).

L’évaluation ex-ante permet d’estimer la qualité marchande ou potentielledu fournisseur (évaluation de l’organisation): compétitivité prix, respect desnormes de qualité, réputation, etc. (Neuville 1997: 302; Baudry 1999: 65;Aubert et Patry 2004: 9). Dans le cadre du PPP, la sélection du prestataireprivé peut s’effectuer soit par négociation directe ou par le recours à l’appeld’offres. La négociation peut faire baisser le coût global et améliorer l’offre enpermettant la mise en place de solutions innovantes (Viau 2003). L’appeld’offres met en place des procédures écrites et formelles favorisant la trans-parence, la crédibilité, la responsabilité, la mise en place de la concurrence etla diffusion large de l’information (Viau 2003; Jost et al. 2005).

La phase du choix du fournisseur privé s’avère, alors stratégique pourle client public. Il s’agit essentiellement d’évaluer les compétences du sous-traitant et d’estimer sa capacité à être fiable. Parallèlement, le sous-trai-tant s’assure de la transparence des procédures de sélection et du respectdes engagements du donneur d’ordres (Trégan 2004). L’évaluation ex-ante contribue alors à la réalisation des objectifs des partenaires public etprivé et à la satisfaction des bénéficiaires.

Proposition 1: le recours du donneur d’ordres publics à des mécanismes d’évalua-tion ex-ante de son sous-traitant privé, augmente la probabilité de réussite du PPP.

L’évaluation ex-post mesure la qualité effective du partenaire privé(évaluation de sa production). Elle concerne aussi bien la quantité que laqualité de ses prestations et sa conformité aux cahiers des charges (Neuville1998: 19).

Les dispositifs de contrôle mis en place permettent au partenaire publicde lutter contre l’opportunisme du fournisseur privé, de s’assurer qu’il se



comporte conformément à ses attentes (Nogatchewsky 2003: 182) etd’agir sur les futures phases de sélection (Calvi et al. 2000: 7). Ils permet-tent aussi, de coordonner les activités, leur donner un ordre, compte tenudes intérêts divers et potentiellement divergents des acteurs de la coopéra-tion (Nogatchewsky 2003: 173). Cette évaluation post-contractuellereprésente une condition favorable à la réalisation des objectifs des parte-naires et à la satisfaction des bénéficiaires.

Proposition 2: le recours du donneur d’ordres public à des mécanismes d’évaluationex-post de son sous-traitant privé, augmente la probabilité de la réussite du PPP.

Les garanties informellesPour les sociologues, la relation d’échange est basée sur une composantesociale représentée par la confiance (Poppo et Zenger 2002: 710; Calvi2000: 7). Neuville (1997: 303) et Zaheer et al. (1998: 142) distinguententre deux types de confiance qui peuvent s’instaurer dans la coopération:la confiance inter-organisationnelle qui règne entre les organisationspartenaires et la confiance inter-personnelle entre les membres des deuxorganisations.

Le climat de confiance permet de réduire la perception du risque associéaux comportements opportunistes en diminuant leur probabilité d’appari-tion (Brulhart 2002: 56) et de suspendre en partie les incertitudes. Laconfiance est un réducteur d’anxiété qui permet aux individus d’entrer eninteraction et de s’engager dans l’action collective (Giauque 2004: 14).Elle permet à chacun de se concentrer sur les bénéfices à long terme de larelation plutôt que de vérifier au jour le jour l’engagement du partenaire,ce qui permet de réduire les coûts de transactions (Trégan 2004). Ainsi, laconfiance contribue à assurer l’amélioration du bien-être collectif enlivrant des services publics de qualité et à mieux satisfaire les attentes despartenaires public et privé.

Proposition 3: la confiance entre le donneur d’ordres public et le sous-traitantprivé accroît la probabilité de réussite du PPP.

La théorie d’agence et les conditions d’échec du PPPSelon Montmorillon (1989: 18), «il y a relation d’agence, quand un agentappelé principal ou mandant délègue tout ou une partie de son pouvoir dedécision à un autre agent dénommé mandataire. La notion d’agence amême été étendue à toutes les formes de coopération qui se nouent entredeux partenaires». Dès que s’établissent de telles relations, des coûts spéci-fiques apparaissent. Les coûts d’agence proviennent de la nécessité decontrecarrer les comportements opportunistes inévitables dès qu’il y aasymétrie d’information et conflits d’intérêts entre le principal et l’agent(Voisin 1995: 485). Baudry (1993: 55) distingue deux caractéristiques dela relation d’agence: l’asymétrie dans la distribution de l’information et leconflit d’intérêts entre le principal et l’agent.



L’asymétrie d’informationLa TA suppose une situation d’asymétrie d’information ce qui est le cas dansla sous-traitance. En effet, les firmes sous-traitantes sont mieux informéessur les conditions de la demande et des coûts que le donneur d’ordres. Enoutre, la réalisation des projets publics ou la prestation des services publicssont soumises à l’opportunisme éventuel des différents acteurs (Martimortet Rochet 1999: 48).

Fabbe-Costes et Brulhart (1999: 37) suggèrent que cette situationd’asymétrie d’information constitue une incitation à la méfiance. Par contre,le partage d’informations permet d’anticiper, coordonner et planifier lesactions, de mesurer les résultats, de détecter les non-qualités et de mettreen place un processus d’apprentissage partagé ou collectif pour stimuler lechangement dans le partenariat (Kanter 1994: 107).

L’asymétrie d’information est plus accentuée dans le PPP dans lamesure où les partenaires poursuivent des logiques différentes dans le mana-gement de leurs systèmes d’informations (degré de confidentialité [Huat1980: 188], disponibilité des données, nature des informations [Nutt 2000:81]). L’asymétrie d’information peut alors, entraver la réalisation des objec-tifs des deux partenaires publics et privés et la satisfaction des bénéficiaires.

Proposition 4: Plus l’asymétrie d’information entre les partenaires est élevée,plus la probabilité d’échec du PPP s’accroît.

Les conflits d’intérêtsEn général, les objectifs des partenaires ne peuvent pas toujours s’aligner.Plus particulièrement, lorsqu’il s’agit de partenaires appartenant à dessecteurs différents (public et privé), les objectifs peuvent être encore plusconflictuels (Huat 1980: 187).

L’organisation publique est plutôt dominée par l’intérêt général(Chevallier, 1997: 26). Il s’agit d’objectifs économiques généraux et desobjectifs non économiques qui sont des obligations sociales (Boyne 2002:100). Cette situation est due au fait que la propriété des organisationspubliques est commune et que ces organisations sont soumises à des con-traintes du système politique (Boyne 2002: 98; Nutt 2000: 81). Par contre,l’entreprise privée est influencée par les contraintes économiques (Boyne2002: 98). Ses propriétaires ou ses actionnaires sont plutôt intéressés par laréalisation des objectifs économiques (Bonnafous 2002: 180).

La différence de logiques et de valeurs prédominantes dans les deuxorganisations augmente l’écart entre les objectifs poursuivis par les partiesengagées dans le PPP (Huat 1980: 187). Cette condition est à l’origined’un état conflictuel, provoquant, ainsi, la non-réalisation de leurs objec-tifs et la dégradation du bien-être social.

Proposition 5: un niveau élevé de conflits d’intérêts entre les partenaires accroîtla probabilité d’échec du PPP.

Le modèle de recherche peut être schématisé comme suit:



Méthodologie de la rechercheLa recherche menée sur le terrain vise à tester les propositions théoriquesdans le cadre de la sous-traitance des services publics au sein des établisse-ments universitaires. Il s’agit d’une recherche plutôt exploratoire menéedurant l’année 2004, auprès de 19 établissements de formation rattachésà l’université de Sfax (Tunisie), ainsi qu’auprès de leurs fournisseurs (dixentreprises de services).

Deux principales méthodes de collecte de données ont été retenues,à savoir l’analyse documentaire et l’entrevue semi-dirigée. Les textesréglementaires et les cahiers de charges ont été des sources pour l’analysedu contexte de la relation. En outre, nous avons réalisé, au début de larecherche, une première pré-enquête auprès d’un établissement grâce àun entretien approfondi couvrant les différents aspects de l’externalisationde certains services. Une deuxième pré-enquête a été menée, par la suite,auprès d’une entreprise privée de services concernant ses activités surle marché public et en particulier, au sein des institutions universitaires.Les informations collectées ont permis d’élaborer les questionnaires (semi-directifs).

Le questionnaire destiné aux établissements comporte les parties suiv-antes: les objectifs des institutions et des bénéficiaires, L’évaluation ex-ante,l’évaluation ex-post, la confiance, l’asymétrie d’information et les conflitsd’intérêts. Le deuxième questionnaire destiné aux entreprises traite lesaspects suivants: les objectifs des entreprises de services, l’évaluation ex-post, la confiance, l’asymétrie d’information et les conflits d’intérêts.

Dix-huit institutions universitaires ont accepté de participer à cetterecherche. La collecte de données a été effectuée auprès des responsablesde la gestion des contrats de sous-traitance. Ces derniers occupent diversesfonctions: secrétaire général (7), responsable financier (7), administrateurconseiller (2), secrétaire principal (1) ou chef de service personnel (1). Sixprestataires privés de services ont fourni des informations exploitablespour l’étude. L’enquête a été menée auprès des gérants (5) et un respons-able administratif.

La méthode de traitement des données est celle de l’analyse ducontenu. Cette méthode repose sur le postulat que la répétition d’élémentsde discours révèle les centres d’intérêt et les préoccupations des acteurs(Thiétart 1999). En outre, la méthode du tri simple a été retenue afind’analyser les données quantitatives.


Figure 1: Le modèle de recherche.


Résultats et discussionDans les institutions universitaires, le nettoyage et le gardiennage demeurentles services les plus souvent sous-traités (17). La pratique de sous-traitancea démarré depuis à peu près 20 ans. Cependant, elle a marqué récemmentune évolution qui nous a amené à l’étudier.

Les critères d’évaluation du succès de la relation de sous-traitanceLa mesure du succès du PPP réfère à trois critères: la réalisation des objec-tifs des partenaires public et privé et la satisfaction des bénéficiaires.

Les objectifs des établissements universitairesLes institutions ont deux objectifs: le premier est lié à l’amélioration de laqualité des services sous-traités (88,9% des interviewés) et le second con-cerne la réduction des coûts [les charges du personnel (classées en deuxi-ème position par 50%) et les autres coûts de l’activité (matériaux, lessives,etc.) (classés en dernière position par 61,1%)].

Avec le passage au mode du marché, les institutions visent ‘l’améliora-tion de la qualité des services avec un minimum de coûts’ (Secrétaire général del’Université de Sfax). Confrontées à ce dilemme, les institutions n’atteignentpas toujours leurs objectifs. Alors que 55,6% des répondants indiquent queles attentes de leurs établissements sont satisfaites, 33,3% mentionnentqu’ils sont peu satisfaits voir totalement insatisfaits (5,6%).

Ce résultat corrobore les résultats de l’étude menée par la BanqueMondiale portant sur 6 cas de contrats de concession dans le secteur dedistribution de l’eau en Amérique Latine: certains opérateurs privés ontété capables d’améliorer la qualité du service, comme à Buenos Aires et àSantiago. Par contre, d’autres expériences ont un faible impact comme àCancun (Ideloviteh et Ringskog 1995: 25).

Les objectifs des sous-traitantsLes objectifs des sous-traitants sont d’abord appréhendés par la part demarché public dans le chiffre d’affaires total de l’entreprise. Pour troisentreprises, les marchés publics participent à plus de 50% dans leurs chiffresd’affaires. La focalisation sur la clientèle publique s’explique par la solva-bilité de ce type d’organisation.

Les sous-traitants s’attendent, aussi à tirer d’autres avantages du parte-nariat: le développement de relations multiples au niveau de l’admini-stration et une bonne réputation. Ces deux types d’avantages ont été aussireconnus par Fisbein, et Lowden, (1999, p.34) dans une étude concernantle PPP en Amérique Latine, en particulier, en Colombie et au Venezuela.

Par contre, les compétences techniques (classées en 3ème position) et lesrelations pour pouvoir recruter (classées en 4ème position) restent des gainsfacultatifs. Les entreprises poursuivent deux principaux objectifs: celui duprofit et celui du développement de relations multiples au niveau de l’ad-ministration et de l’amélioration de leur réputation.



Les objectifs des bénéficiairesLa catégorie des bénéficiaires regroupe les étudiants, les enseignants et lepersonnel de l’institution. Vu la durée limitée de la recherche, la collectedes données concernant le niveau de satisfaction des bénéficiaires n’atouché qu’une seule catégorie, à savoir les administratifs (18).

Les résultats de l’enquête montrent qu’au sein de certaines institutions,les bénéficiaires des services sous-traités ont gardé le même niveau de sat-isfaction (55,6% des répondants). 38,9% des interviewés ont mis l’accentsur les avantages tirés en terme de consolidation du bien-être collectif.

Ce résultat rejoint ceux publiés par le rapport de développement dans lemonde, (Banque Mondiale 1994) qui mentionne que la participation dusecteur privé dans la fourniture des services d’infrastructure a induit desgains en termes de bien-être collectif, dans certains pays (par exemple,dans le secteur de télécommunication au Chili, au Mexique, et auRoyaume-Uni).

Les conditions de succès de la relation de sous-traitanceL’évaluation ex-anteL’évaluation précontractuelle des sous-traitants privés a été formalisée, con-formément aux articles 30 et 38 du décret n°2002-3158 par une procédured’appel d’offres (9 établissements) ou par une consultation (9). L’analyse aporté sur les critères d’évaluation et les sources d’information utilisés par lesinstitutions universitaires pour sélectionner leurs sous-traitants.

La sélection des prestataires se base sur des critères qui sont souvent objec-tifs: la situation financière du titulaire du marché [la conformité des docu-ments exigés par la loi (décret n°2002-3158) et le chiffre d’affaires (63,6%pour l’appel d’offres et 35,7% pour la consultation)], les cautionnements, lespièces justificatives portant sur les employés (100% pour les deux procédures)et la réputation du sous-traitant [ses expériences passées avec l’institution enquestion (57,1% pour la consultation) et/ou avec d’autres institutions (72,7%pour l’appel d’offres et 71,4% pour la consultation)].

L’utilisation de ces critères augmente la probabilité de choisir unprestataire apte à améliorer la qualité des services et à mieux satisfaire lesbénéficiaires.

Le choix effectué sur la base du critère «offre du moins-disant» (100%pour l’appel d’offres et 85,7% pour la consultation) entraîne la satisfactiondes attentes du donneur d’ordres relatives à la diminution des coûts. Cecritère permet aussi de garantir l’égalité et la transparence dans la procédurede sélection et de limiter la corruption. Toutefois, dans la plupart des cas, laprise en compte du prix le plus bas sans respect du salaire minimum légalpayé aux employés provoque des difficultés dues à l’incapacité du sous-traitant à remplir ses obligations ce qui conduit à la dégradation de la qualité.Or si l’on admet, comme l’a relevé Maréchal et Morand, (2002: 107), dans lecas de la France, que l’objectif de la puissance publique ne se limite pas à larecherche du coût le plus faible, mais intègre la volonté de garantir la péren-nité financière des entreprises, alors le critère de choix ci-dessus évoqué serait



insuffisant. Ceci pourrait expliquer pourquoi un nouveau décret a substitué laprocédure d’adjudication où seul le critère de prix est retenu par la sélectionde l’offre économiquement la plus avantageuse.

En outre, les institutions essaient souvent de s’assurer de la fiabilité desinformations recueillies afin de choisir un sous-traitant apte à accomplirles exigences des cahiers de charges. Ainsi, l’offre du soumissionnaire con-stitue la principale source d’information, particulièrement pour les appelsd’offres. Pour la consultation, 42,9% des enquêtés affirment que leursinstitutions consultent aussi l’université de Sfax et les autres institutions.

Par ailleurs, l’attribution du marché se réfère souvent aux textes régle-mentaires qui incitent les donneurs d’ordres à respecter des principescomme la sincérité, la transparence des procédures et le recours à la con-currence entre les soumissionnaires. Néanmoins, ces principes ne sont pastoujours respectés, surtout dans la procédure de consultation. A cet égard,la législation tunisienne a limité les conditions du recours à la consulta-tion aux marchés dont le montant de la commande est inférieur à 30 000dinars (décret n° 2003-1638).

Certes, l’évaluation précontractuelle basée sur des procédures et descritères en vue de sélectionner le soumissionnaire qui répond au mieuxaux divers objectifs des parties contribue à la réussite de la relation desous-traitance, néanmoins elle est insuffisante pour satisfaire toutes lesattentes.

L’évaluation ex-postUne fois l’accord conclu, un système de contrôle est instauré par l’étab-lissement et son prestataire. Afin de vérifier l’impact de cette évaluationpost-contractuelle, les critères et les sources d’informations utilisés ont étéétudiés.

Les critères d’évaluation réfèrent aux aspects suivants: le déroulementsatisfaisant des prestations (88,9% pour les établissements et 83,3% pourles entreprises); la présence des employés (94,1% pour les établissements et83,3% pour les entreprises); la disponibilité des fournitures et des matéri-aux (70,5% pour les établissements et 83,3% pour les entreprises) et lasatisfaction des bénéficiaires (60,6% pour les établissements).

Les institutions n’accordent pas la même importance au contrôle desconditions de travail des employés. Un premier groupe d’interviewésaffirme que la satisfaction des employés (53%) ainsi que les problèmesqu’ils rencontrent (47%) sont fréquemment suivis. Un second groupementionne que ce suivi est rarement réalisé. Ainsi, le système existant d’évaluation post-contractuelle de la relation s’intéresse principalement àla qualité et aux coûts des services. Ce résultat rejoint celui trouvé parCalvi et al. (2000: 12–13), dans le cadre d’une recherche réalisée auprèsdes responsables achats dans des entreprises de divers secteurs d’activités.

Pendant cette phase, les institutions font appel à diverses sources d’in-formation. La majorité des informations provient des constats de ceuxchargés de procéder au contrôle et appartenant à l’institution (100%), des



réclamations des bénéficiaires (61,1%) ou des remarques du personnel del’institution (55,6%). Les sources d’information internes occupent alorsune place primordiale. Calvi et al (2000: 12) ont constaté que lesacheteurs se servent généralement des informations provenant du systèmed’information interne (66%).

La mise en place de ce mécanisme de suivi, incorporant des indicateurset des sources d’information en rapport avec les activités sous-traitéesposséde des avantages. Il donne à l’institution une image proche de l’étatréel des prestations. Ceci permet d’assurer la réalisation des objectifs del’institution en termes d’amélioration de la qualité et de satisfaction desbénéficiaires. Aussi, le système de contrôle instauré par le titulaire dumarché permet de détecter les défaillances avant qu’elles ne soient trans-mises à l’administration de l’institution. Ce système permet au sous-trai-tant d’être plus fiable, de construire une réputation afin de pouvoir élargirpar la suite sa part de marché public.

Néanmoins, cette évaluation présente des limites. La difficulté résidedans la méconnaissance des services comme le nettoyage ou le gardien-nage «qui n’ont pas de caractéristiques techniques. La qualité ne peut pasêtre alors déterminée avec précision» (Secrétaire général de l’Université deSfax). Par ailleurs, l’intégration de la dimension de responsabilité socialedans les mécanismes de contrôle est faible. Ces défaillances peuvent avoirdes répercussions perverses sur le bien-être social et ensuite sur la qualitédes services.

L’évaluation ex-post permet ainsi d’atteindre les objectifs de certainesparties de l’accord mais au détriment de la satisfaction d’autres attentes.

La confianceAfin d’étudier le rôle de la confiance dans le succès du partenariat étab-lissements universitaires-entreprises de services, l’analyse a été basée surla typologie proposée par Zaheer et al. (1998: 149) distinguant entre:

a. La confiance inter-organisationnelle: A ce niveau deux phénomènessont analysés: la durée de la sous-traitance dans les établissements et l’in-tention des prestataires concernant le développement de leurs activités surle marché public. La durée de sous-traitance s’étale sur une année (uneinstitution), sur deux ans (9) ou sur trois ans (8). La majorité des institu-tions optent pour le renouvellement des contrats de sous-traitance. Cechoix est fondé sur trois critères classés comme suit:

a. La crédibilité du sous-traitant (66,7% des répondants)b. Le suivi quotidien des prestations par le gérant (55,6%)c. La réactivité (66,7%): l’aptitude du sous-traitant à agir à temps pour

résoudre les problèmes.

La complémentarité entre ces trois critères permet aux prestataires de sus-citer la confiance des établissements et de les inciter à étendre la durée dela relation. En étant constamment associées, les deux parties peuvent



bénéficier d’un investissement idiosyncrasique qui correspond au faitqu’elles aient appris à travailler ensemble (Trégan 2004).

Selon la théorie du capital social, les individus travaillent ensemble demanière efficace et efficiente lorsqu’ils se connaissent, se comprennentmutuellement, se font confiance et s’identifient les uns aux autres (Nkakleu2003). Le renouvellement des contrats permet aussi de diminuer les coûtsde transaction ex-ante tels que les coûts de recherche d’informations et lescoûts associés à la négociation et l’élaboration du contrat (Williamson1985). Cette situation conduit, d’une part, à la réduction des coûts des ser-vices et d’autre part, à l’augmentation du profit pour les entreprises.

Toutefois, cette stabilité contractuelle apparente ne signifie pas l’élimi-nation de toute concurrence puisque annuellement, chaque prestataire estremis en compétition avec d’autres entreprises. Une telle remise en con-currence agit comme un stimulant de l’effort fourni par les prestataires(Baudry 1993: 53–59) pour mieux satisfaire les attentes de l’institution etdes bénéficiaires en termes d’amélioration de la qualité.

En outre, le sous-traitant qui a pu susciter la confiance des établisse-ments est en mesure de se construire une réputation et multiplier lenombre de ses clients publics. Dans une autre perspective, les institutionsont pu susciter la confiance de certaines entreprises (trois) qui désirentdévelopper leurs activités sur le marché public, vu la solvabilité, la trans-parence et la crédibilité des organisations publiques. Les autres entreprisesont plutôt l’intention de réduire leurs activités sur ce marché. Elles mettentl’accent sur le manque d’organisation qui caractérise le marché publiccomme la concurrence déloyale et le choix de l’offre du moins-disant.

L’intention des entreprises privées de développer leurs activités sur lemarché public augmente le nombre des soumissionnaires. La multiplicitédes offres permet aux institutions de choisir le prestataire qui répond aumieux à leurs attentes.

b. La confiance interpersonnelle: Décrivant la dimension relationnelle ducapital social, Tsai et Ghoshal, (1998) considèrent que la confiance interper-sonnelle facilite la communication, l’échange d’informations, de connais-sances et des ressources entre les acteurs. A cet égard, l’étude a porté sur lerôle des rencontres entre les représentants des organisations partenaires.

Ces rencontres représentent, en fait des occasions pour échanger desinformations. La conformité des prestations, l’organisation du travail et lesréclamations des bénéficiaires sont souvent discutées. Viennent ensuite, lasatisfaction des employés et les problèmes rencontrés par ces derniers.

Ces rencontres permettent également de remédier aux défaillances etd’améliorer la qualité pour mieux satisfaire les attentes des institutionset des bénéficiaires. Elles offrent un certain nombre de solutions pourdévelopper les relations interpersonnelles et diminuer la distance culturelleet sociale des parties contractantes (Fabbe-Costes et Brulhart, 1999: 38).Ces conditions peuvent à terme induire des relations d’attachement entreles membres partenaires, élargir le réseau relationnel des entreprises etleur construire une réputation.



La confiance interpersonnelle permet aussi de réduire les coûts detransaction grâce à une meilleure circulation de l’information et à un con-trôle social exercé par les membres (Tsai et Ghoshal, 1998).

Les données collectées permettent de reconnaître que la complémen-tarité entre la confiance inter-organisationnelle et la confiance interper-sonnelle participe à l’achèvement des objectifs des divers acteurs impliquésdans le PPP.

Les conditions d’échec de la relation de sous-traitanceL’asymétrie d’informationAfin d’étudier le phénomène d’échange des informations, cette recherches’est intéressée à la qualité des informations fournies par chaque parte-naire. Les informations fournies par les sous-traitants sont considérées parles donneurs d’ordres comme étant peu crédibles (77,7% des interviewés),incomplètes (72,2%), peu conformes à leurs obligations (55,5%) et rarementfournies à temps (77,7%).

Par contre, les entreprises disposent d’une information de qualité.La plupart des interviewés affirment que les informations transmisespar leurs partenaires publics sont généralement crédibles (83,3%), com-plètes (66,7%), conformes à leurs obligations (66,7%) et fournies à temps(83,3%).

Les partenaires publics disposent alors, de moins d’informations surl’état réel des prestations que leurs associés privés, ce qui conduit à ceque Voisin (1995, p. 490) appelle ‘un avantage informationnel du mandatairesur le mandant sous la forme d’une rente informationnelle’. Cette situationd’asymétrie d’information mène à une observabilité imparfaite des com-portements opportunistes du sous-traitant qui apparaissent souvent enphase post-contractuelle. A cette phase, les prestataires profitent de la«rente informationnelle» qu’ils détiennent et réduisent les coûts de l’activitéafin d’accroître leurs marges bénéficiaires. Ceci entrave l’amélioration dela qualité et la satisfaction des bénéficiaires.

L’asymétrie d’information a des effets distincts sur la réussite de la sous-traitance. Elle entrave, d’une part, la réalisation des objectifs du partenairepublic et des bénéficiaires et représente, d’autre part, une opportunité pourles sous-traitants en augmentant leurs profits, à court terme. Toutefois, lescomportements opportunistes peuvent à long terme, influencer négative-ment leurs réputations et réduire leurs parts de marché.

Les conflits d’intérêtsLa majorité des interviewés (77,2% des établissements et 66,7% pour lesentreprises) mentionnent qu’ils rencontrent souvent des désaccords avecleurs partenaires. Ces désaccords sont d’origines diverses.

Pour les établissements universitaires: L’insatisfaction des employés dusous-traitant (soucis relatifs au paiement des salaires, à l’assurance contreles accidents de travail, etc.) est la première cause (58,8%). Les problèmesde communication sont classés en 2ème position (52,9%). L’opportunisme



du sous-traitant (41,2%) est la 3ème raison des désaccords entre les partiescontractantes.

Les failles de la réglementation tunisienne représentent la principalecause de ces différends. Les défaillances sont liées à «l’inexistence d’organ-ismes de suivi des entreprises, de leurs pratiques et de la validité des docu-ments justificatifs qu’elles fournissent» (Responsable financier) et au choixdu fournisseur le moins-disant (Décret n° 2002-3158).

Pour les entreprises de services: Le conflit sur les délais de paiement estle premier motif indiqué par la plupart des répondants (66,7%). Il estsouvent dû «à la dispersion de la responsabilité, de la prise de décision et del’information entre plusieurs acteurs, au sein des organisations publiques»(Gérant/entreprise de services). Les conflits liés aux aspects sociaux con-cernent principalement le personnel du partenaire public qui se déchargede certaines de ses activités qui se voient effectuées par les employés del’entreprise (83.3%).

Ces conflits d’intérêts provoquent, d’abord, la dégradation de la qualitéet l’insatisfaction des bénéficiaires. Ils engendrent aussi, des coûtsd’agence trop élevés augmentant les coûts des services. En outre, ilspeuvent influencer négativement la santé financière de l’entreprise et sacapacité à couvrir ses charges. En effet, les PME sous-traitantes qui déga-gent de petits fonds de roulement sont souvent dans l’incapacité de gérerdes impayés (Trégan, 2004: 11).

Ces conflits peuvent s’amplifier jusqu’à bloquer la relation. Toutefois, lerèglement amiable demeure la modalité la plus souvent utilisée pourrésoudre ces problèmes (83,3% pour les institutions et 100% pour lesprestataires). Baudry (1994: 44) a constaté, dans son échantillon, que leslitiges sont toujours résolus à l’amiable. En dehors des clauses con-tractuelles, des accords entre les établissements et leurs partenairespeuvent constituer des arrangements de convenance en rapport avec lesrelations de pouvoir. Chaque participant à la transaction trouve un intérêtà la poursuite de la relation (Baudry 1993: 59).

Malgré les comportements opportunistes des prestataires, les acteurspublics ne peuvent pas réagir puisque ces sous-traitants aboutissent à desrésultats plus satisfaisants en termes de qualité, coût et délai. Ils permet-tent de remédier à la lourdeur dans la gestion publique des ressourceshumaines. Selon Pochard (2000: 7), la gestion de la fonction publique està dominante bureaucratique et administrative. Le monde de l’entreprisemultiplie plutôt les efforts demandés au personnel. Même si certains con-flits persistent, le sous-traitant accepte de maintenir une relation stableavec ses clients publics pour ne pas subir les représailles du partenairepublic qui peut allonger les délais de paiement et/ou appliquer les pénalitéset les sanctions financières.

Certes, les conflits entravent, la réussite de ce PPP. Toutefois, dans laplupart des cas, la relation est maintenue puisqu’elle permet de dépasserles faiblesses de chaque partenaire. La coopération est parfois dictée par unbesoin (Derbel et Ben Ammar Mamlouk 2003).



ConclusionLe PPP est l’une des alternatives qui marque la redéfinition du rôle del’Etat. L’objectif de ce travail de recherche est de cerner les différentes con-ditions de succès et d’échec de cette relation. La revue de la littérature apermis de dégager les critères d’évaluation du succès du PPP à savoir laréalisation des objectifs des partenaires public et privé et des bénéficières.

Pour cerner les différentes conditions susceptibles d’influencer l’atteintede ces objectifs, deux corpus théoriques ont été mobilisés. Selon la théoriedes coûts de transaction, les évaluations ex-ante et ex-post et la confiancereprésentent des mécanismes augmentant la probabilité de réussite du PPP.La théorie de l’agence met plutôt l’accent sur l’asymétrie d’information et leconflit d’intérêts entre les partenaires en tant que conditions d’échec du PPP.

La recherche empirique a été menée auprès de 18 institutions universi-taires ainsi qu’auprès de leurs prestataires (6 entreprises). Les résultatsmontrent que cette coopération n’aboutit pas toujours aux objectifs visés.Plusieurs facteurs peuvent expliquer ce résultat. Les évaluations ex-anteet ex-post et la confiance permettent de favoriser la réalisation de certainsobjectifs du partenariat et d’entraver l’atteinte d’autres. Dans le mêmeordre d’idées, l’asymétrie d’information et le conflit d’intérêts perturbent ledéroulement du PPP, sans toutefois rompre la relation qui reste, malgrétout, profitable pour les différentes parties.

Cette situation paradoxale peut s’expliquer par le fait que les acteursrespectent les prescriptions des organisations internationales et le nouveaucadre de la gestion publique, mais en gardant la même philosophie degestion dans l’administration publique et dans l’entreprise privée.

Selon Gosse et al. (2002) la sous-traitance induit une forme d’organi-sation paradoxale qui se définit par certains attributs des nouvelles formesorganisationnelles, tout en présentant des similitudes avec les caractéris-tiques du taylorisme. La question qui se pose alors, comment les opérateurspublics peuvent-ils adopter les prescriptions des institutions internationalesde façon à ne pas heurter la capacité de changement de l’organisation? Cecireprésente un défi au niveau de la théorie et de la pratique que d’autresrecherches devraient examiner.

Si les intérêts certes différents des parties en collaboration peuventinciter à l’opportunisme, des aménagements réglementaires conjugués avecun renforcement du processus d’apprentissage récent relatif à la coopéra-tion entre le public et le privé pourraient améliorer les chances de succèspartagé du PPP. A cet effet, une plus grande autonomie dans la gestionpublique combinée avec la mise en place de mécanismes d’imputabilitéserait d’un apport substantiel.

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Suggested citationBouhamed, A. and Chaabouni, J. (2008), ‘Partenariat public-privé en Tunisie: Les

conditions de succès et d’échec’, International Journal of Technology Managementand Sustainable Development 7: 1, pp. 71–89, doi: 10.1386/ijtm.7.1.71/1

Contributor detailsAmira Bouhamed is Researcher and Lecturer at the Faculty of Economics andManagement of Sfax in Tunisia. Contact: Chercheur, Faculté des SciencesEconomiques et de Gestion de Sfax, BP 1088, 3018 Sfax, Tunisie.E-mail: [email protected]

Jamil Chaabouni is Professor in Management Studies at the Faculty of Economics andManagement of Sfax in Tunisia. He leads a Reseach Unit on Management Studies. Hisresearch interests include governance, strategy and organisational structure, organi-sational change and information management. Contact: Professeur, Faculté desSciences Economiques et de Gestion de Sfax, BP 1088, 3018 Sfax, Tunisie.E-mail: [email protected]



Event ReportInternational Journal of Technology Management and Sustainable Development


Report. English language. doi: 10.1386/ijtm7.1.91/4

Global student innovators workshop:Opening the way for product inspirationand sustainabilityCaroline Cottrill British Telecom (BT)

Tony Houghton British Telecom (BT)

IntroductionA major responsibility of industry is not only to innovate but also tounderstand and address evolving need profiles and technological trends inthe light of the global objectives of sustainability. How do school age chil-dren view tomorrow’s world and to what extent are such views seriouslytaken on board by corporate business in the innovation design process?

As a leading provider of communication solutions with a long trackrecord in research and development through partnership with Universitiesand technology companies, British Telecom (BT) has recently taken the ini-tiative to understand the needs and potentials of student innovators rangingfrom 6 to 18 years of age. The initiative went global with the launch of thefirst ‘Global Student Innovators BT Design Hothouse Challenge’ in December2007. This initiative would allow BT to incorporate the views of those repre-senting the mindset of the next-generation of customers into innovationdesigns for communication services. It is significant that BT has one of thelargest technology research centres in the United Kingdom, which received£727 million in R&D investment in 2005–2006. The Design Hothouse ini-tiative also gives gifted school children the opportunity to be able to tap theircreative potentials at an early age.

The remainder of this brief aims to highlight the significance of BT’sresearch and innovation programmes in the light of its recently launchedGlobal Student Innovators BT Design Hothouse Challenge.

The initiativePrior to the Hothouse, about thirty schools in the United Kingdom and thosearound the globe were invited to participate in the following challenge:

• Design creative IT/communications technology implementations thatcan positively impact education as well as local and global communities.

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For example, what might be the next cool, ultra cheap mobile device?How might we best include older members of the local community?How might we use communications technology to reduce the carbonfootprint?

• Use the most effective communication and collaboration methods indesigning the technology. For example, a technology-rich school mightdiscover a free on-line collaborative working tool which they can usewith their partner schools, or a technology impoverished school mightenlist the support of the local Internet café, and a school might explorehow tin cans can enhance a WLAN.

After months of activities, eight winning teams and their global ‘twin’, fromcountries such as India, United States and Uganda, were chosen by BT totake part in the first Global Student Innovators Hothouse on 3 December2007 in London.

The Hothouse featured selected students and BT people workingtogether in teams to develop and present the existing ideas, prototypes andsolutions taking into account originality of idea and the feasibility of theirideas from business and technical perspectives.

The participants undertook an intensive hot-house product prototypedesign activity with BT business and technology experts with the possibil-ity of taking the idea through to delivery, that is, BT will support the devel-opment of the idea. BT is already doing this with the free open sourceBECTA compliant learning platform easiAPP, which was a result from pre-vious Understanding the Young Customer work. The project Wiki is anongoing log of just how far these ideas have come – over 50 percent of pro-jects are now real.

Hothouse outcomesThe judges voted Gorseland Primary School, Ipswich, first for their innov-ative project ‘iCook’, http://www.icookbook.net/. Gorseland collaboratedwith their twin school Kudawella, in the Hambantota district of Sri Lankato develop ‘iCook.’ This collaboration offered many possibilities to exploreand contrast healthy eating, global differences and to learn local people’srecipes. Pershore High School, South Worcestershire came second (fabu-lous variety of five ideas with a common theme) and Katha school, India,third. Details of all the schools projects can be found on www.easicop.org

ConclusionsThe workshop presented a learning experience that would help young stu-dents shape their perception of corporate responsibility for innovation inthe light of future needs and prime them into being prospective innovators.The workshop was also significant for BT, as champion of the initiative, interms of feeling the way forward into the future with respect to marketresearch and development trends, as school children are frequently theentry point in households for new technology-based services or devices.

92 Caroline Cottrill and Tony Houghton


Moreover, students studying computer science today could become thetechnology entrepreneurs of tomorrow. Even though IT is playing anincreasingly important role in everyday life, the number of students pursu-ing engineering degrees and IT careers is stagnating. Initiatives such as BTDesign’s Global Student Innovators Hothouse is expected to encouragestudents to consider a career in technology by giving them valuable real-world experience in problem-solving, team dynamics, public presentationsand other career-building skills.

Suggested citationCottrill, C. and Houghton, T. (2008), ‘Global student innovators workshop: Opening

the way for product inspiration and sustainability’, International Journal of Technology Management and Sustainable Development 7: 1, pp. 91–93, doi:10.1386/ijtm.7.1.91/4

Contributor detailsCaroline Cottrill is an internal communications manager and project leader in BT.Contact: PP 3/3, Telephone House, Charter Square, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S1 1BA.E-mail: [email protected]

Dr Tony Houghton is head of the Global Student Innovators BT Design HothouseChallenge. Contact: PP 3/3, Telephone House, Charter Square, Sheffield, SouthYorkshire S1 1BA.E-mail: [email protected]

93Global student innovators workshop: Opening the way for product inspiration . . .


Book ReviewsInternational Journal of Technology Management and Sustainable Development


Reviews. English language. doi: 10.1386/ijtm7.1.95/5

Science and Citizens: Globalization and the Challenge of Engagement, Melissa Leach, Ian Scoones and Brian Wynne (eds.) (2005)London: Zed Books, 295 pp., ISBN 1 84277 550 2 (hbk); 1 84277 550 0 (pbk), £19.99.

Science and Citizens represents one of the first attempts to broadly ‘engagewith engagement’ in the context of science, technology and development.This edited collection presents a series of case studies of engagement fromcountries in both the North and South, including South Africa, China,India, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone as well as countries such as the UKand USA. The book attempts to segue a range of concerns regardingscience, for example, the role of indigenous knowledge, what we mean bycitizenship, how participation shapes policy and how risk is perceived andwhat role this plays in decision-making. These debates, amongst others,key into the heart of debates around the development, or construction, ofnew knowledge in context.

The book focuses on case studies from many different contexts, andwhile case studies are both Northern and Southern, developed and devel-oping, I believe the importance of the book lies in the representation of theSouth. There is a massive literature on how citizens engage with science inthe North where the discipline of science and technology studies has beenwidely deployed. For various reasons the discipline has been much lesswidely engaged in the South. One of the strengths of the book, then, is thisattempt to tissue together such diverse case studies and draw insights fromacross both development studies and science and technology studies.

The book, primarily drawn out of work organised by the Institute ofDevelopment Studies at Sussex, is organised and linked together into foursections: ‘science and citizenship’ and ‘beyond risks: defining the terrain’set the conceptual scene, whilst ‘citizens engaging with science’ and ‘par-ticipation and the politics of engagement’ encompass around a dozen casestudies that represent a variety of technologies, contexts and continents.The editorial team are particularly noteworthy, Melissa Leach and IanScoones have a long history of looking at the role knowledge plays inshaping development, and implicit in that is, understanding how knowl-edge is produced, negotiated and contested. The final member of the edito-rial triumvirate, Brian Wynne, is interesting in that he brings his own

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discipline of science and technology studies to the book, in particular hisexpertise in the relationship between expert and lay knowledge. Many ofus would argue that science and technology studies has a lot to offerdevelopment studies, and indeed the opposite can be argued too, and thisbook represents an important first step in acknowledging the possibilitiesof engaging across disciplines in this way.

The book provides an excellent introduction to thinking about partici-pation, science and society. There is a clear and concise theoretical intro-duction that leads into a deeper debate about science, risk and regulation.The book then introduces a series of rich case studies examining issues asdiverse as HIV/AIDS in South Africa, biotechnology regulation in develop-ing countries, occupational health in India, farmers’ citizens’ juries inZimbabwe and radioactive waste management in the UK. A strength of thebook is that the authors include not only academics, but also policymak-ers, practitioners and activists. The book is very grounded. An almostinevitable weakness of this is that I feel participation is treated in a nor-mative, slightly uncritical way. Participation is seen as a fairly universalgood, and in some chapters at least there is a certain sense that the moreparticipation the better. The book undoubtedly moves far beyond partici-pation as simply an instrument, or a means to co-opt but one is left withthe feeling that the more critical perspectives on participation (as ‘tyranny’to paraphrase Cooke and Kothari) are somewhat absent. Nevertheless,Science and Citizens provides much critical insight alongside its empiricalbreadth. It helps us think about not only the implications of participation,but how it might occur in relation to science, technology and development.

The focus of Science and Citizens is very much on engagement but onewould hope that other lines of enquiry, for example understanding theways in which technologies are socially embedded in developing countrycontexts and how meaningful innovation can be promoted in developingcountry contexts can be energised by this explicit and relatively systematictreatment of the relationship between science, technology and participa-tion. I have always had the sense that technology, which has long beencritiqued as potentially inappropriate or too central to the project of devel-opment is seen as somehow ‘inert’ by development studies. Science and Citi-zens, however, uncovers the living reality of engagement, politics, processesand platforms that attempt, at least, to shape debate, development anddecision-making in a range of contexts.Reviewed by James Smith, University of Edinburgh.

ReferenceCooke, B. and Kothari, U. (2001), Participation the New Tyranny? London: Zed

Books.

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Biotechnology Policy in Africa, Clark, N.G., Mugabe, J. and Smith, J. (2007).Nairobi: African Centre for Technology Studies, 137 pp.,ISBN 9966-41-148-8.

This book is a compilation of papers by researchers with wide-ranginghands-on experience in many aspects of science, technology and develop-ment in Africa and at the global level. The book brings out rich empiricaland theoretical viewpoints and should therefore serve as a good source ofinformation for researchers/scholars, civil society, policy makers, donorsand many other actors with an interest in both practical and theoreticalaspects of issues in science, technology and development in Africa. Issuesof technology governance, institutions, innovation systems, public engage-ment and science policy studies are covered to commendable breadth anddepth in the book. In particular, the book clearly brings out some of the‘contested boundaries’ in development and regulation of technologies asamply covered in science and technology studies (c.f. Jasanoff 1987).

The aim of the book, according to the authors, is to ‘generate andprovide knowledge and information to improve policy processes in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)’; and from the quality of its content, there is goodreason to believe that the book can go a long way in achieving this. Allregions of SSA are covered in the book, except Central Africa. The booksets the scene by building the story from the basics of biotechnology, itspotential and challenges, the global debates around the issue, as well asthe specific context of SSA with respect to the technology. As the authorsaptly put it, the questions and issues around biotechnology are ‘as muchabout decision-making, as they are about the technology’. Their recogni-tion of the bigger contextual issues overarching the policy processes in thearea of biotechnology in SSA testifies to this and is also reflected in theimportance they play not only on the contemporary global debates onscience, technology and innovation but also on the importance of histori-cal and future dimensions of current policy endeavours (c.f. Sociology ofExpectations in Science and Technology). The presentation of differentnational experiences around biotechnology policy processes and the link-ages with other sectors of the economy sets the stage for bringing out therealities that countries are facing, furnishing parallels and comparisons forthe reader. Most importantly, the different experiences are presented in away that not only explains the prevailing circumstances but also aims topredict future responses based on experiences. The challenges for this andfor the entire policy processes are presented and explained.

As with many projects focusing on Africa, this book sets out with mul-tiple objectives, and in many ways this reflects the interrelationshipsbetween the various issues addressed and their complex intercalations onthe ground. It also reflects the multiple challenges facing the continentand the quests to step up and address the issues. On the other hand, the

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grand setting also brings out the possibility of some grand statementsbeing made – for example, ‘the policy processes are only in response tointernational policy and law’ (Page v). This downplays the local policyinnovations and the socio-economic imperatives driving some of theprocesses or the interface between the external and internal influences.The book also seems to marginalise the increasingly important and promi-nent role of cross-national, regional and extra-regional technology devel-opment and regulation processes in the countries covered. Efforts byregional economic communities and bodies such as the New Partnershipfor Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the African Union, among others,would in this regard be handy.

In the final chapter, the book takes a close look at how countries canbuild ‘public confidence’ in the face of technological opportunities broughtabout by modern biotechnology. It is not clarified here what ‘public’entails, but the inescapable assumption for this section is that it is this lackof ‘public’ confidence which is one of the bottlenecks for the developmentof appropriate policies for ‘maximising the benefits and minimising therisks of modern biotechnology’. On the other hand, the lack of ‘politicalwill’ to push processes forward has been bemoaned by many researchersand policy actors in the continent, and it would be crucial to understandfrom both empirical and theoretical perspectives to what extent ‘politi-cians’ identify themselves as being part of the ‘public’ and how they wouldtherefore be happy to be part of the proposed ‘broad-based’ platforms.These and the clearly positivistic and science-led approach proposed inthis final chapter are well worth reading to understand the authors’ per-spective, especially in the backdrop of socially-constructed and context-ledinterventions in the cases presented.

Understandably, not all issues in the highly integrative area of scienceand technology, broadly, and biotechnology, specifically, could be coveredin just one volume. This book thus represents an effort to bring togetherand illuminate these elusive issues which are emerging from as well asshaping an ever-changing context. Continuous and more such efforts canonly help in the quest for effective policy decisions.

This book is a must-read for all stakeholders in the science and tech-nology policy arena.Reviewed by Julius Mugwagwa, Development Policy and Practice, Open University.

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International Journal of

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International Journal of Technology Management & Sustainable Development Volume 7 Number 1 – 2008

Articles

3–17 Assessing a rural innovation system: Low-input rice in Central China J. David Reece

19–38 Determinants of the adoption of technological innovations by logisticsservice providers in China

Chieh-Yu Lin

39–58 Innovation and entrepreneurship in Brazilian universities Mariza Almeida

59–70 Knowledge proximity and technological relatedness in offshore oil and gas and offshore wind technology in the United Kingdom

Zahid A. Memon and Roshan S. Rashdi

71–89 Partenariat public-privé en Tunisie: Les conditions de succès et d’échec Amira Bouhamed and Jamil Chaabouni

Event Report

91–93 Global student innovators workshop: Opening the way for product inspiration and sustainability

Caroline Cottrill and Tony Houghton

Book Reviews

95–98 Reviews by James Smith and Julius Mugwagwa

9 771474 274006

ISSN 1474-2748 7 1

The International Journal of Technology Management and Sustainable Development is published with the cooperation of the Association of Commonwealth Universities

International Journal of Technology Management and Sustainable Development: Volume: 7 | Issue: 1

Documents

Transcript of International Journal of Technology Management and Sustainable Development: Volume: 7 | Issue: 1