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The impact of intercultural differences in change agentry interventions in technology transfer

Author

Jessica Klyn de Novelo, University of the Pacific

Date of Award

2012

Document Type

Thesis - Pacific Access Restricted

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Department

Intercultural Relations

First Advisor

Kent Warren

First Committee Member

Laura Bathurst

Second Committee Member

Guy Twombley

Abstract

This qualitative study explored the effects of intercultural differences on technology transfer interventions. More specifically, the emphasis was on key differences between the worldviews of change agents and clients that impact such change agentry attempts. Utilizing frameworks taken from intercultural relations, change agentry, and diffusion of innovations research, the study examined a single case of change agentry-the distribution of cookstoves to a rural community in Peru-in an attempt to answer the following question: How do intercultural differences help shape the results of change agentry interventions in technology transfer attempts?

The focus of this study was the distribution of "improved cookstoves" in rural Andean, Peru, by a rural aid organization based at a university in Lima, Peru. Individuals from both the aid organization and the community were interviewed regarding their experience, including the engineering and technical team responsible for diffusing the technology, as well as community members who adopted the technology, others who did not, and a third group trained by the aid organization to be local "experts" in the use of cookstoves.

The research contributes to a deeper understanding of the relationships between change agents and client recipients by contributing a,n intercultural perspective to discussions of the diffusion of innovations and development interventions.

Pages

134

Recommended Citation

Klyn de Novelo, Jessica. (2012). The impact of intercultural differences in change agentry interventions in technology transfer. University of the Pacific, Thesis - Pacific Access Restricted. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/833