Internationalization and technological strategies of companies: diffusion, transfer and protection of metallurgical engineering technologies.

Summary In the global market of metallurgical engineering for cast iron production technologies, European companies are increasingly confronted with competitors from emerging countries. In response to this challenge, they are developing a specific strategic sales behavior, which is studied by the author, based on practical experiences in industry. Innovation, which is at the heart of this strategy, is deployed, not through technology transfer, i.e. in the form of autonomous industrial property transfer, but through technology diffusion where the transfer vector is the physical equipment, manufactured directly or indirectly by the firm. Global competitive practices are thus undermining traditional technology protection and transfer tools.