Abstract
Abstract : The transfer and commercialization of technologies from South African publicly-funded universities to small medium enterprises (SMEs) offer technology-reliant SMEs valuable technology and technical know-how. The university-SME technology transfer (TT) opportunity represents a win-win scenario for both parties. SMEs lack most of the resources and skills which they need to develop their core technologies in-house. By engaging in TT, universities contribute to technology innovation, economic growth of the country, derive additional income and also develop their research and academic programs. A research survey-based study has been conducted in order to establish the factors that enable and restrain the transfer and commercialization of technology from universities to SMEs as well as to recommend how identified restraining factors could be addressed. The chosen sample consists of researchers, inventors and innovation support managers drawn from six Gauteng publicly-funded universities as well as from SME technology entrepreneurs associated with these universities. Using the Likert-scale based questionnaire, the respondents were asked to rate each of the ten literature-derived enabling factors and ten literature- derived restraining factors to technology transfer and commercialization from universities to SMEs. The findings of the research indicate that the top four enabling factors to be: absorptive capacity of the technology user (SME); technology developer’s attitude towards TT and commercialization; communication between the university technology developer and technology user (SME); and the disseminative capacity of the technology developer. The top four restraining factors are: university bureaucracy; university performance evaluation system that does not stimulate university staff to engage in technology transfer and commercialization; lack of complementary assets, capabilities and resources within the technology transfer office (TTO); and huge outcome-impact gap between the university and SME. Some measures on how to deal with these top four restraining factors are suggested. This descriptive study provides some useful insights into the area of technology transfer and commercialization from South African universities to SMEs.
M.Ing. (Engineering Management)