Over the past century or so, three resources have emerged on the business scene as most significant differentiating factors in the competitiveness of firms and nations. These resources are the human resource, technology and capital. Companies and countries that develop their human resources, utilize the most suitable technologies to leverage their efforts in creating value and secure the funds sufficient to affect value creation activities have consistently outperformed their competitors and brought prosperity and growth to their stakeholders.
No where do these three resources converge to leverage an entity's efforts as in the process of transferring technologies from their sources of creation to destinations of utilization. In the petroleum industry new realities are emerging, that further emphasize the importance of technology transfer. This is especially true within the regions of most significance (Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and South America). It is clear that a powerful and differentiating competitive advantage exists with those who transfer, and those who receive the right technologies to the right destinations at the right time. Companies that identify the technological needs of host countries, develop new and align existing technologies to meet these needs effectively and efficiently, and bring the required resources to affect the transfer, are more likely to prosper than those that continue to operate under the scarcity theories of the past. Similarly, countries that recognize their technological needs and indigenous capacities, pursue alliances with entities that bring to bear the needed technologies and resources to affect the leveraging of their natural and human resources, are more likely to prosper and develop than those that do not. And for both sets of entities, companies and countries, to achieve such a competitive advantage, they must begin with a thorough understanding of what is technology transfer, who does it well and how is it done properly. Once this understanding is developed, the entity must evolve processes that continuously updates the elements of alignment between what is needed and what is made available, in terms of the right technologies. Furthermore, mechanisms needed to continuously transfer the right technologies to the right place at the right time should be developed, monitored and continuously improved.
This paper presents the fundamentals of creating a competitive advantage out of the processes of technology transfer in the petroleum industry, utilizing examples from the experiences of one world leading petroleum country and one world-class, petroleum company. The paper would address methods and policies of developing the right technologies for the right purposes and processes to t
