The market for technical services in India: an empirical study

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of a mail survey study of 132 firms covering seven industrial sectors: auto parts, machine tools, foundry, polymers, pharmaceuticals, textiles and software. The study examines the nature of usage of technical services by the surveyed firms, the sources from which the services are obtained, and the benefits and problems associated with sources. The most commonly used services were found to be; standards and testing, education and training, and information. Sectoral differences were found in the usage of some services. Locational concentration was found to be associated with a higher degree of usage of certain sources of technical services. Amongst the various organizational characteristics it was found that size, technological orientation and technical capabilities influences the choice of sources of technical services.