Technology transfer and its impact on innovation and firm performance: empirical evidence from Turkish export companies
ISSN: 0368-492X
Article publication date: 28 September 2020
Issue publication date: 13 July 2021
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to determine the relationships between technology transfer, innovation and firm performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The relationship between technology transfer, innovation and firm performance is examined by using data obtained from 252 Turkish export firms, which are among the top 1,000 firms in terms of export volume in Turkey. To examine these relationships, a theoretical framework is empirically tested using structural equation modeling and tested via an empirical study of Turkish export companies.
Findings
The results of this study can benefit policymakers in government at the national level and company decision-makers at the firm level. Furthermore, an understanding of the relationship between technology transfer, innovation and firm performance may help firms to make correct technology transfer decisions and focus on the correct type of innovation to increase firm performance in practice. The findings indicate the positive effects of technology transfer on innovation and firm performance. In addition, innovation mediates the relationship between technology transfer and firm performance in Turkish export companies. This study suggests that decision-makers should transfer the right technology because well-realized technology transfers lead to the improvement of corporate innovation capacities and improvement of firm performances for export companies.
Originality/value
There is no study that fully examined the relationship between technology transfer, innovation and firm performance. The proposed literature-based theoretical framework in this study is novel for Turkish export companies.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions that have significantly improved the paper.
Citation
Cinar, O., Altuntas, S. and Alan, M.A. (2021), "Technology transfer and its impact on innovation and firm performance: empirical evidence from Turkish export companies", Kybernetes, Vol. 50 No. 7, pp. 2179-2207. https://doi.org/10.1108/K-12-2019-0828
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited