This paper present a case study of international technology transfer, where foreign transnational companies (TNCs) in developing countries provide their local suppliers with technological assistance as part of their on-going business relationships. The analysis is set against a background of...

Summary We use detailed firm-level data from 2008 to show how the world's largest home-furnishing retailer, IKEA from Sweden, provides its suppliers in China and SE Asia with significant technological support to improve their products and processes. This demonstrates that even buyer-driven...

This article deals with the issue whether the ambition by foreign TNCs to secure quality control, technology and knowledge exclusiveness, cost efficiency and delivery terms among its host country suppliers leads to a strategy to tie up the suppliers to a forced dependence on their customers. It...