TECHNOLOGY PARK PERFORMANCE: THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

RAHIMI ABIDIN NORLENA HASNAN CHE SOBRY ABDULLAH UUM College of Business Universiti Utara Malaysia

ABSTRACT
One of the key challenges in Malaysia National vision, namely Vision 2020 is to develop a strong foundation of science and technology. Malaysia will not only be a user of but also a contributor to scientific and technology advancement. Technology transfer is regarded as a crucial factor in realizing this vision. Therefore, technology transfer system that ensures efficient transfer of knowledge and technology from the R&D system to the industry and business sectors is essential. Malaysia has mounted elaborate strategies to identify and act upon strategic technologies. The existing strategic resources are very important, however, it might not be sufficient for the local technological upgrading to take off. To enhance technology transfer process, the government provides necessary infrastructure through Technology Park as an incubation centre and knowledge-base infrastructure facilities provider. However, there are various challenges faced by the government, park administrators and companies involved in the technology parks. Due to the problems occur it is remain unclear whether the transfer of technology turns out successfully.

INTRODUCTION
Malaysia has put in place many initiatives and policies to strengthen various industries to enhance the nations competitiveness in the world. One of the key challenges in Malaysia National vision, namely Vision 2020 is to develop a strong foundation of science and technology. Malaysia will not only be a user of but also a contributor to scientific and technology advancement. Technology transfer is regarded as a crucial factor in realizing this vision. Therefore, technology transfer system that ensures efficient transfer of knowledge and technology from the R&D system to the industry and business sectors is essential. Technology transfer is the application of information into use (Gibson &Harlan, 1995). The technology transfer process usually involves moving a technological innovation from an R&D organization to a receptor organization (such as a private company). A technological innovation is fully transferred when it is commercialized into a product that is sold in the marketplace (Rogers, Takegami & Yin 2000).
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In the direction of enhancing technology transfer process, the government provides necessary infrastructure through Technology Park as an incubation centre and knowledgebase infrastructure facilities provider. Lai and Yaps study (2004) regard science and technology parks as one of the strategic resources that have been utilized in the course of the countries technological development together with human capital, R&D, foreign technology transfer and government research institutes (GRIs). According to International Association of Science Parks, a science park or technology park is a property based initiative which: has formal and operational links with a university or other higher education institution or major centre of research; is designed to encourage the formation and growth of knowledge-based businesses and other organizations normally resident on site; has a management function which is actively engaged in the transfer of technology and business skills to the organizations on site.

The Department of Town and Country Department (DTCP) of Ministry of Housing and Local Government, Peninsular Malaysia define technology park as: "An exclusive real estate development which encourages the formation and growth of the commercial and industry sectors based on knowledge, encourage the transfer of high technologies and skills to the organizations while having formal and close links to universities, institutes of higher learning and research institutes." The definition of technology park suggest that technology transfer is an important aspect that need to be given serious effort by the stakeholder as it is one of the technology park's roles. As the successful transfer of the technologies is one of the factors of the success of technology commercialization, this paper reviews on the importance of technology transfer effectiveness in order to achieve technology parks goals which is to provide a nurturing environment in encouraging the formation and growth of knowledge-based business.

TECHNOLOGY PARK IN MALAYSIA

Technology park is a large-scale projects that house everything from corporate, government or university labs to very small companies. The building area of technology parks offers infrastructure and a number shared resources, such as uninterruptible power supply, telecommunication hubs, management offices, reception and security, restaurant, sport facilities, etc. Two well mentioned technology incubation centres are Technology Park Malaysia (TPM) in the south of the capital Kuala Lumpur and the Kulim Hi Tech Park (KHTP) in the Northwestern State of Kedah. The other technology parks in Malaysia are Senai Hi-Tech Park, Perak Hi-Tech Industrial Park and Cyberjaya. Technology Park Malaysia, under the purview of Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) is a premier incubation centre and knowledge-based infrastructure facilities provider in Malaysia, poised to propel Malaysia into the innovation powered economy. It is one of the regions most advanced and comprehensive centre for research and development for the knowledge-based industries. Technology Park Malaysia (TPM) has been
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established to promote an environment which brings together key stakeholders in technology commercialisation which included the technology providers (universities/research institutions), the business community (industry), and the financial institutions (venture capital companies). The countrys first, fully-integrated high technology park is Kulim Hi-Tech Park. Kulim Technology Park Corporation (KTPC) the developer of KHTP joint partnership with the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) and the Kulim Industrial Tenants Association (KITA) representing the tenants of the KHTP to develop a Skills Development Centre in KHTP. The collaboration is to develop institutional capability to provide training programs, materials and resources for the industry in KHTP, and to promote exchange of personnel for training and research. With the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) status, the Malaysian technology parks are provided with advance information and communication technology (ICT) facilities. Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) initiative launched in 1996 was aimed at attracting leading ICT companies to locate in the MSC and undertake research and development of new products and technologies and export from this base. A set of innovative incentive package comprising fiscal and non-fiscal incentives are provided to MSC status companies. Advance ICT facilitate the transmission of knowledge, know-how and technology across national borders. The (MSC) Central Incubator at Cyberjaya has been identified as the nucleus for the National Incubator network centers which include Technology Park Malaysia, UPM-MTDC Incubator and Kulim Hi-Tech Park. The ministry responsible in the establishment of technology parks is Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI). Four other ministries involved in the incubation are Ministry of Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Agrobased Industries, Ministry of Higher Learning and Ministry of Art, Culture and Heritage. Several institutions that involve in achieving the technology park objectives are Malaysian Technology Development Centre (MTDC), Malaysian Industries of Government High Tech (MIGHT), and Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (SIRIM), and Malaysian Institute of Microelectronic System (MIMOS) to name a few.

A REVIEW ON TECHNOLOGY PARK PERFORMANCE

The performance of technology parks are commonly evaluated on the basis of meeting their goals and objectives. They seek to add value by offering clients a combination of facilities and services that cannot be so easily obtained from other sources. The nature of these services and the way in which they are delivered will usually have an important influence on the success of their tenants. Remedios and Cornelius (2003) stated that the key elements in the success of a new venture located in an incubator are the sponsoring institution, the incubator services and the entrepreneur. Small firm research has examined many of these elements individually, eg., the effect of the entrepreneurs personality and experience on venture success (Cooper and Gascon, 1992; Lee and Tsang, 2001). The steps in the transition from small business to listed company analyzed by several researchers (Churchill & Lewis, 1983; Scott and Bruce, 1987) to name a few.
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While there are vast literatures on the performance of technology parks, the literature on the development of technology parks in less developed countries such as Malaysia is very limited (Robani, 2008). Most works related to Malaysian technology parks focuses on the performance of MSC; Sarif (2006); Ramasamy, Chakrabaty,& Cheah (2004); Lai & Yap (2004); Bunnell (2002); and Schreiner (1999) . Robani (2008) emphases that the enhancement of the strategies to further develop R&D and innovation, indigenous technology and technology transfer, knowledge workers, public-private smart partnership, regional as well as globally, international publications and Intellectual Property Rights are essential to accelerate the development of knowledge economy in the technology parks. Although the impact of technology parks in terms of R&D development is still very low, there are the potential impacts of high technology parks in terms of job creation and technology transfer on regional development (Badarulzaman. 1998). The technology parks or technopolies around the world such as Silicon Valley in Northern California; Tsukuba in Japan; the Route 128 complex near Boston Massachusetts; Bangalore and Hydrabab, India; and Cambridge, England create jobs and wealth, and are a mechanism for economic development. During 1990s, it is found two-thirds of the increase in economic growth in US was due to high-technology industry, fueled in turn by spin-off companies from research universities, federal R&D laboratories and corporate laboratories. According to Rogers, Takegami and Yin, (2000) the answers of how these metropolitan regions such as Silicon Valley, can harness such technology transfer for their economic development lie in an improved thoughtful of the technology transfer process.

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

The technology transfer process usually involves moving a technological innovation from an R&D organization to a receptor organization (such as a private company). A technological innovation is fully transferred when it is commercialized into a product that is sold in the marketplace (Rogers, Takegami & Yin, 2000). There are a number of channels of communication for technology transfer to take place such as spin-off, publications, meetings, cooperative R&D agreements and licensing. An effective technology transfer will satisfy several criteria such as economic sustainability, social acceptability, environmental abatement or mitigation sustainability, and technological sustainability (Amin, 2005). Technological innovationdevelopment is often described as a linear process, from basic research, to applied research, to development, to commercialization, to diffusion, and to the consequences of the innovation. A linear model of the innovationdevelopment process may not fully take into account external environmental factors, such as market demand or regulatory changes, which may influence the technological innovation process. The technology transfer process spans the stages from R&D to commercialization and beyond, but with particular focus on the interface between R&D (often by a university research center, a corporate unit, or by a government laboratory) and commercialization (often carried out by a private company). A technological is fully transferred when it is commercialized into a product that is sold in the marketplace.
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The various roles in technology transfer may be driven by different goals of the individuals and organisation. In other words, these various perspectives generated a large number of potential measures. According to Spann et al (1995), an effective management of transfer programs may depend on some degree of convergence among transfer players on the goal of their transfer efforts. All parties must work together to achieve the goal of their transferring technology while each party achieves its individual goals as well. However the adopters goal and measures must be central to the transfer process. The overall effectiveness only can be improved by satisfying the adopters goals and recognizing the adopters measure of success.

THE CHALLENGES
Although Malaysia has established good policies and infrastructures to develop the technopreneurs, there are various challenges faced by the government, park administrators and companies involved in the technology parks. The challenges can be categorised derived from management and financial assistance, threat from the foreign investors, human capital and linkage with the relevant entities particularly academic-industry-government networks. Jusoh (2008) list out among the problems that need to be addressed by the government are: 1. The incubators are not properly managed. There are many infant companies that could not survive and got out from the business. Technopreneurs suffer from lack of funding opportunities. Many venture capital companies and banks in Malaysia reluctant to finance the technopreneur companies due to their risk-averse attitude towards technology-related investment. Furthermore, it is quite frustrating for the technopreneurs as the application for loans may take months and tedious. The various funds provided by the government are not properly disbursed. This could be due to difficult bureaucratic measures or due to intransparent selection of the companies which resulting the grants issued to the non-deserving companies. Conflicts due to the various supervisions. Technopreneur development in Malaysia is undertaken by numbers of ministries and agencies. This may result in lack of coordination or wastage or resources. Different ministries and agencies may have different objectives and goals. This can hindered the optimization of utilizing the resources. Duplications and wastage also exist in the creation of technology parks.

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Due to the problems occur it is remain unclear whether the transfer of technology turns out successfully. The benefits and costs of the programs in the technology parks are subject to debate in theory and practice (Chan & Lau, 2005). The impact of differing institutional backers is still unknown. There is a gap in our knowledge about how an organization develops in the protected environment of a technology park. Although the increasing number of technology parks and the research conducted on their effectiveness and performance, there is still uncertainty about whether these incubation programs are achieving their goals and exactly what their impact is on their tenants. Most literature on technology parks mainly covered the developed countries of OECD and it is
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obvious that there is a lack of evidence about the role of science and technology parks in the less developed countries.

CONCLUDING REMARKS
One of the important roles of technology parks is to enhance the technology transfer process. An effective technology transfer will develop the technological sustainability, economic sustainability, social acceptability and environmental abatement. This paper highlighted one of the important aspects that need to be considered in improving technology park performances. It is apparent that research indicating the effectiveness of technology transfer programs is essential. An empirically investigating on the technology transfer process in technology parks and the impacts of the effectiveness on incubating companies is necessary. There are several questions are remain unanswered, do the technology parks meeting its goal to actively engaged in the transfer of technology and business skills to the organizations on site? To what extent the effectiveness of technology transfer programs force the incubating companies performance? And how the technology parks can harness the technology transfer for their economic development? The answer may lie in an improved understanding of the atmosphere in the technology parks and the technology transfer process.

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