TECHNOLOGY ALLIANCES : ANATOMY, RATIONALE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR SINGAPORE

Abstract

"In the old culture, Ford people probably would not have been willing to work with Mazda". -Bob Reilly, Ford's executive director for strategy (Lewis, 1990). Allowing niche technologies to be made known to other firms is, by logic, the last thing that any sane COE would attempt to do. Yet this phenomenon seems to dilute at a rapid pace as more and more firms come together to share their existing technological knowledge, or to collaborate in breaking new technological frontiers. This researchseeks to examine the incentives for, types and implications of technology alliances in other countries. More importantly, issues such as should technology alliances be relentlessly pursued in Singapore, and what are some of the gains and losses involved, provide the primary motivation for this research.