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Technological innovation is today considered the highest impact component of the changes that are happening within companies. However, in spite of the technology to be recognized thoroughly as being essential to the competitiveness, technology management has been representing one of the most difficult activities among the managers' attributions. This paper analyzes the behavior of companies from Minas Gerais state in relation to "importing knowledge from outside of the company". This activity focuses the external assets of the companies, which are represented by the company connections with its environment, including relationships with partners, competitors, suppliers, customers, professional associations, R&D institutes, universities and the community in general. It is presented the results of a survey based on a questionnaire sent through the internet and answered by participating companies. They show that the participating companies are attentive to the technological atmosphere in which they are inserted.