We often speak of technology being transferred or knowledge migrating,
but are seldom precise about the process involved.2 Precision is
important because technology as an abstraction cannot move—things
and people are transferred.
Technology can be transferred in two basic forms. One form embraces
physical items such as drawings, tooling, machinery, process information,
specifications, and patents. The other form is personal contact. Put
simply, knowledge is always embodied in something or somebody, the
form being important for determining the transfer process and its costs.
The process is simpler if knowledge is embodied in purely physical