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Research and Technology Institutes (RTIs) are today facing the challenges of restructuring. New demands are being placed upon them in an increasingly uncertain financial and innovation environment. This paper, which is based upon a review of nine of the most successful RTIs in Europe, North America and East Asia, provides a framework for assessing RTIs and understanding how RTIs need to function to meet user needs within the context of national systems of innovation. The paper suggests some simple tools for identifying and classifying user needs as well as for assessing the strengths and weaknesses of RTIs. It is argued that this type of analysis is a prerequisite for the strategic planning and management of such institutes. The paper points out some of the operational aspects of RTI management where improvement opportunities are often possible. M 90

The development of technological capabilities results from an extended learning process and external policy agents can play an important role in its development. This paper outlines trends in governmental and non-governmental policy initiatives and the use of concepts such as capability and absorptive capacity, which are positioned within generic-staged models of capability maturity. This paper describes the development of a technology capability assessment/audit tool that has been designed to help locate firms within four archetypes based upon their level of maturity on nine key dimensions of the management of technology. The tool is intended to help bridge the gap between our theoretical understanding of the principles of technology management and policy practice – allowing policy makers to design mechanisms that focus resources in areas of greatest need through the appropriate selection of policy mechanisms and the targeted design of policy. The use of this tool in field experiments is described along with the implications for policy making

Although substantial research shows the importance of transnational corporations (TNCs) to export led growth in some developing countries, it cannot be assumed that TNC subsidiaries will automatically upgrade their capabilities through time or in a uniform fashion. This paper explores the pattern and pace of a sample of exporting TNC subsidiaries operating in the electronics industry in Thailand. The analysis reveals a wide variety in capability building approaches through time, with some subsidiaries failing to develop capabilities and remaining as 'assembly only' plants. Other more dynamic plants developed process engineering and product design skills, investing heavily in capability building. One common determinant in capability building appears to be the overall technology strategy of the parent plant. In those subsidiaries which did not upgrade beyond assembly, technology decisions and processes were tightly controlled within the parent headquarter (HQ) locations. By contrast, the more dynamic plants exercised more discretion over local capability building. The latter were relatively decentralised and more open to policies to encourage upgrading. The study suggests that governments should tailor upgrading policies not only according to the approximate level of capabilities attained by local subsidiaries, but also according to how receptive firms are to upgrading, arguing that capability building and policy receptiveness go hand-in-hand. Other countries hoping to upgrade the quality of foreign direct investment might also wish to focus policies on the more technologically capable, ambitious and receptive categories of foreign subsidiary.3

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