Research on the mode of firm’s technology acquisition based on the growth of technological capability: a case study

To the firms in developing country, the enhancement of technological capability is realized by the technology learning. And the firms are expected to attain the best learning results only if the mode of technology acquisition continuously matches the technological capability. According to the extent to firm´s R&D strength involvement, the mode of technology acquisition can be divided into three types including external purchasing, R&D cooperation and in-house R&D. The technological capability can be divided into three stages including technology imitation, system integration and endogenous innovation from the evolving aspect. A case of the dynamical matching between technological capability and technology acquisition of Ningbo Haitian group has been analyzed. From the case, we concluded that the three stages of technological capability should be sequentially dominated by external purchasing, R&D cooperation and in-house R&D respectively and dynamically evolved with the growth of technological capability.