Expansion and import of technoparks and technology transfer offices: The case of Turkey

Technoparks and technology transfer offices in Turkey have started to increase rapidly in recent years. The aim of this study is to examine the diffusion dynamics of technoparks and technology transfer offices in Turkey. The subject examined is how technoparks and technology transfer offices, which can be described as organizational forms, came to Turkey and how they spread. Considering the issue here as the spread of organizational forms, how the first transfers were made and the process of adaptation to the Turkish context gains great importance. The study is built on the basic explanations of the new institutionalist theory on the spread of international management practices and organizational forms. In order to reveal the main purpose, the objectives of the research are to examine how the pioneering technoparks and technology transfer offices in Turkey were established, then to evaluate how these pioneering technoparks and technology transfer offices have evolved, and to explain the spread of these organizations in Turkey. In order to achieve this aim in the research, firstly, the legal context of technoparks and technology transfer offices in Turkey has been revealed. In this context, it has been evaluated how which laws and regulations deal with these two organizational forms. After this legal framework was put forward, the characteristics of the first technoparks and technology transfer offices in Turkey were evaluated, and then the characteristics of the technoparks and technology transfer offices opened in Turkey over time were evaluated. The basic method of the study is survey research. The data created within the scope of the research consists of two parts. In the first part, the characteristics of technoparks in Turkey were evaluated with various criteria. In the second part, the characteristics of technology transfer offices in Turkey were evaluated. Thus, both parts of the generated data were completed and basic patterns were revealed. Finally, interviews were held with the founders of the pioneering technopark and technology transfer offices established in Turkey, and investigations were carried out on its spread in our country. When the literature in Turkey is examined, it is seen that there is a lot of emphasis on the diffusion of management practices, but there are very limited studies on the import of organizational forms. In this respect, the original value of the study is to explain the transfer of technoparks and technology transfer offices as an organizational form or organizational form to Turkey and the spread of these organizational forms in Turkey. Keywords: Technopark, Technology Transfer Office, Organization Form.