LETTER TO KENNETH R. ANDREWS FROM ADMIRAL B. R. INMAN RE ARTICLE ON "TAPPING EASTERN BLOC TECHNOLOGY,"

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83M00914R002800050059-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 27, 2007
• Sequence Number: 59
• Publication Date: March 18, 1982
• Content Type: LETTER

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Mr. Kenneth R. Andrews, Editor
Harvard Business Review
Boston, Massachusetts 02163
Dear-Mr. Andrews:
Thank you for your letter of March 2, 1982, calling to my
attention the article by John W. Kiser III, on "Tapping Eastern
Bloc Technology," which is scheduled to be in your Review for March-
April.
I gave Mr. Kiser's article to this Agency's analysts who are
responsible for technology transfer. They found the article readable
and informative.
Mr. Kiser has performed a useful service for American business
by thoroughly researching the sale of licenses of Soviet and East
European commercial technology, and also for pointing out that U.S.
businessmen should not ignore the Eastern Bloc as a potential source
of knowledge on better ways of doing things. With a few outstanding
excepti_ops, the overall record of technology sales has been relatively
dismal when compared to Western technology flows. Mr. Kiser's research
shows that from the mid- to late 1960s East Bloc licensing sales
amounted to only one percent of the "roughly 50,000 international
licensing agreements in force. This finding hardly sparks one's
confidence that a more aggressive pursuit of East Bloc contacts would
have resulted in many more commercial licensing opportunities.
Certainly, U.S. capabilities for processing and manufacturing of
civilian products are demonstrably superior to those in the USSR and
Eastern Europe. As P?1r. Kiser infers, U.S. manufacturing and marketing
skills were often critical in bringing many East Bloc licenses to
successful commercial application. while one obviously cannot attribute
a monopoly on innovative S&T ideas to the west, the disincentives inherent
in Communist economic systems have left the USSR and Eastern Europe_
woefully short of technologically-innovative entrepreneurs.
I appreciate your interest in my views on this interesting subject.
Distribution per ES:
Orig - Adse.
1 - DDCI
1 - DDI
1 - OGC
ER
B. R. INMAN
Admiral, U.S. Navy
STAT
Approved For Release 2007/03/27: CIA-RDP83M00914ROO2800050059-7