Technological capability: An index model and application to wheat agro-industrial complex firms

Abstract

Technological capability is a determining factor in the efficiency and effectiveness of the production processes of companies and directly influences their degree of innovativeness. Quantifying this capability can help organizations to evaluate their capacities to absorb, use, adapt, generate, develop, transfer and disseminate technologies. This article develops a model for measurement of technological capability and applies this model to wheat agro-industrial companies (wheat farms, mills and pasta manufacturers). The index model is based on five macro index components: (i) resources, (ii) technological upgrading, (iii) processes and routines, (iv) learning mechanisms, and (v) coordination and accessibility. The index is a weighted sum of the values of quantitative and qualitative variables and uses the AHP multicriteria analysis method to compose the weighting. Importance-performance matrix analysis and spider charts are used to present and examine the data. To evaluate the index, interviews were conducted with personnel at 20 farms, 5 mills and 3 pasta manufacturing plants.