Technology Transfer to Supplier-dominated Sectors. Lessons from the Diffusion of CAD in the Fashion Industry

The growing interest in the mechanisms of technology transfer (TT) and the underlying factors derives from the fact that TT is widely recognised to be at the heart of the growth of productivity and competitiveness in many industries, especially those labelled as supplier-dominated. In this case, since it is a new process technology that has to be transferred to an industrial sector from an external source, useful suggestions about the forces which drive the transfer can be gathered by the innovation diffusion theory. Nevertheless, in order to understand the absolute importance of each factor and the interactive effects among them, lessons from empirical evidence are needed. Taking this into consideration, the paper investigates the history of the diffusion of CAD in the Italian fashion industry. Indications about the variables which have affected the spread of these systems are drawn, and guidelines for governing TT are formulated.