Creating university-industry interactions: how can university management connect various types of interactions?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7433/s101.2016.06Keywords:
university-industry interaction, case study, typology, cooperation, collaboration, relationshipAbstract
Purpose of the paper: University-Industry interactions (U-I interactions) - such as joint collaboration projects - are currently perceived as one important answer to innovation. However, the detailed dynamics of these interactions remain unknown, especially when it comes to universities’ efforts to create such interactions (Perkmann and Walsh, 2007). By analysing two interaction-stimulating tools deployed by a Swedish university, this paper addresses two research questions: 1) which different types of U-I interactions are created by these tools? and 2) how does the university management connect different types of U-I interactions?
Methodology: Embedded case study methodology comprising of participant observation and over 60 in depth semi-structured interviews.
Results: For the first question, we have found that four types of U-I interactions were created, namely “participation”, “cooperation”, “collaboration” and “relationships”. For the second question, we have found that creating successful U-I interactions requires that the university management intervene on all the various interaction types.
Research limit: The research questions posed here are based on two specific U-I interaction tools in one specific context. To be able to draw a more generalizable conclusion, further research is needed from other societal contexts and universities.
Practical implications: University management’s aim towards achieving deeper and long-term interactions may be hindered by the companies’ and academic researchers’ emphasis on simply exchanging knowledge or building contact networks, rather than gaining tangible outputs from U-I interactions.
Originality of the paper: Current research lacks detailed descriptions and analyses of U-I interactions, especially of universities’ efforts to create such interactions from scratch, that is, before they become established relationships. This paper addresses this gap.
References
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STUART T.E., DING W.W. (2006), “When do scientists become entrepreneurs? The social structural antecedents of commercial activity in the academic life sciences”, American Journal of Sociology, n. 112, pp. 97-144.
PHAN P.H., SIEGEL D.S. (2006), “The effectiveness of university technology transfer: lessons learned from qualitative and quantitative research in the US and UK”, Foundations and Trends in Entrepreneurship, vol. 2, n. 2, pp. 66-144.
ROTHAERMEL F.T., AGUNG S., JIANG L. (2007), “University entrepreneurship: a taxonomy of the literature”, Industrial and Corporate Change, vol. 16, n. 4, pp. 691-791.
SELLENTHIN M.O. (2009), “Technology transfer offices and university patenting in Sweden and Germany”, The Journal of Technology Transfer, vol. 34, n. 6, pp. 603-620.
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BARALDI E., FORSBERG P., SEVERINSSON K. (2013), Crafting University-Industry Interactions: A typology and empirical illustrations from Uppsala University, Sweden, Proceedings of the 2nd University-Industry Interaction Conference, Amsterdam.
BONACCORSI A., PICCALUGA A. (1994), “A theoretical framework for the evaluation of university-industry relationships”, R&D Management, vol. 24, n. 3, pp. 229-247.
BOARDMAN P.C., PONOMARIOV B.L. (2009), “University researchers working with private companies”, Technovation, n. 29, pp. 142-153.
BELL D. (1999) (originally published in 1973), The coming of Post-Industrial Society - A venture in social forecasting, Basic Books, New York.
BERCOVITZ J., FELDMANN M. (2006), “Entrepreneurial Universities and Technology Transfer: A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Knowledge-Based Economic Development”, Journal of Technology Transfer, vol. 31, n. 1, pp. 175-188.
BERCOVITZ J., FELDMANN M. (2008), “Academic entrepreneurs: organizational change at the individual level”, Organization Science, n. 19, pp. 69-89.
BROWN J.S., DUGUID P. (1991), “Organizational Learning and Communities-of-Practice: Toward a Unified View of Working”, Organization Science, vol. 2, n. 1, pp. 40-57.
BRYMAN A. (2012), Social research methods. 4th ed. Oxford University press inc. New York.
CLARYSSE B., WRIGHT M., LOCKETT A., VAN DE VELD E., VOHORA A. (2005), “Spinning out new ventures: a typology of incubation strategies from European research institutions”, Journal of Business Venturing, vol. 20, n. 20, pp. 183-216.
DEBACKERE K., VEUGELERS R. (2005), “The role of technology transfer organizations in improving industry science links”, Research Policy, vol. 34, n. 3, pp. 321-342.
D’ESTE P., PERKMANN M. (2011), “Why do academics engage with industry? The entrepreneurial university and individual motivations”, The Journal of Technology Transfer, vol. 36, n. 3, pp. 316-339.
DUBOIS A., GADDE L.E. (2002), “Systematic combining: an abductive approach to case studies”, Journal of Business Research, n. 55, pp. 553-560.
EDQVIST O. (2003), “Layered Science and Science Policies”, Minerva, vol. 41, n. 3, pp. 207-221.
EISENHARDT K.M., GRAEBER M.E. (2007), “Theory Building from Cases: Opportunities and Challenges”, Academy of Management Journal, vol. 50, n. 1, pp. 25-32.
ETZKOWITZ H. (2008), The Triple Helix - University-Industry-Government Innovation in Action, Routledge, New York.
ETZKOWITZ H., WEBSTER A., GEBHARDT C., TERRA B.R.C. (2000), “The future of the university and the university of the future: evolution of ivory tower to entrepreneurial paradigm”, Research Policy, vol. 29, n. 2, pp. 313-330.
FLORIDA R., COHEN W.M. (1999), “Engine or infrastructure? The university role in economic development”, in Branscomb L.M., Kodama F., Florida R. (Eds.), Industrializing Knowledge: University-Industry Linkages in Japan and the United States, Cambridge: MIT Press, Cambridge, pp. 589-610
GIBBONS M., LIMOGES C., NOWOTNY H., SCHWARTZMAN S., SCOTT P., TROW M. (1994), The new production of knowledge - The dynamics of science and research in contemporary societies, Sage Publications Ltda, London.
GOLDFARB B., HENREKSON M. (2003), “Bottom-up versus top-down policies towards the commercialization of university intellectual property”, Research Policy, vol. 32, n. 4, pp. 639-658.
GRANDIN K., WORMBS N., WIDMALM S. (eds.), (2004), The Science-Industry Nexus. History, Policy, Implications, Science History Publications, Sagamore Beach, MA.
GULBRANDSEN M., SLIPERSÆTER S. (2007), “The third mission and the entrepreneurial university model”, in Bonaccorsi A., Daraio C. (Eds.), Universities and Strategic Knowledge Creation: Specialization and Performance in Europe, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, pp. 112-143.
HAEUSSLER C., COLYVAS J.A. (2011), “Breaking the ivory tower: academic entrepreneurship in the life sciences in UK and Germany”, Research Policy, n. 40, pp. 41-54.
HENREKSON M., ROSENBERG N. (2001), “Designing efficient institutions for science- based entrepreneurship: lesson from the US and Sweden”, The Journal of Technology Transfer, vol. 26, n. 3, pp. 207-231.
HÅKANSSON H., SNEHOTA I. (eds.), (1995), Developing Relationships in Business Networks, Routledge, London.
JONSSON L., BARALDI E., LARSSON L.E., FORSBERG P., SEVERINSSON K. (2015), “Targeting Academic Engagement in Open Innovation: Tools, Effects and Challenges for University Management”, Journal of the Knowledge Economy, vol. 6, n. 3, pp. 522-550.
LEE Y.S. (1998), “University-industry collaboration on technology transfer: Views from the Ivory Tower”, Policy Studies Journal, vol. 26, n. 1, pp. 69-84.
LEE Y.S. (2000), “The Sustainability of University-Industry Research Collaboration: An Empirical Assessment”, Technology Transfer, 25, 111-133.
LINK A.N., SIEGEL D.S., BOZEMAN B. (2007), “An empirical analysis of the propensity of academics to engage in informal university technology transfer”, Industrial and Corporate Change, vol. 16, n. 4, pp. 641-655.
LOCKETT A., WRIGHT M. (2005), “Resources, capabilities, risk capital and the creation of university spin-out companies”, Research Policy, vol. 34 n. 7, pp. 1043-1057.
LOUIS K.S., BLUMENTHAL D., GLUCK M.E., STOTO M.A. (1989), “Entrepreneurs in academe: an exploration of behaviors among life scientists”, Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 34, n. 1, pp. 110-131.
MARKMAN G., SIEGEL D., WRIGHT M. (2008), “Research and technology commercialization”, Journal of Management Studies, vol. 45, n. 8, pp. 1401-1423.
MOWERY D. (2005), “The Bayh-Dole act and high-technology entrepreneurship in US universities: Chicken, egg or something else?”, in Libecap G. (ed.), University entrepreneurship and technology transfer: Process design, and intellectual property, Elsevier, Oxford, UK, pp. 39-68.
MOWERY D.C., SAMPAT B.N. (2005), “Universities in National Innovation Systems”, in Fagerberg J., Mowery D.C., Nelson R.R. (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Innovation, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 209-239
NILSSON A.S., RICKNE A., BENGTSSON L. (2010), “Transfer of academic research: Uncovering the grey zone”, Journal of Technology Transfer, vol. 35, n. 6, pp. 617-636.
O’SHEA R., CHUGH H., ALLEN T. (2008), “Determinants and consequences of university spinoff activity: a conceptual framework”, Journal of Technology Transfer, vol. 33, n. 6, pp. 653-666.
PERKMANN M., WALSH K. (2007), “University-industry relationships and open innovation: Towards a research agenda”, International Journal of Management Reviews, vol. 9, n. 4, pp. 259-280.
PERKMANN M., TARTARI V., MCKELVEY M., AUTIO E., BROSTRÖM A., D’ESTE P., FINI R., GEUNA A., GRIMALDI R., HUGHES A., KRABEL S., KITSON M., LLERENA P., LISSONI F., SALTER A. (2013), “Academic engagement and commercialisation: A review of the literature on university-industry relations”, Research Policy, vol. 42, n. 2, pp. 423-442.
SOBRERO M. (2013), “Academic engagement and commercialisation: A review of the literature on university-industry relations”, Research Policy, vol. 42, n. 2, pp. 423-442.
STUART T.E., DING W.W. (2006), “When do scientists become entrepreneurs? The social structural antecedents of commercial activity in the academic life sciences”, American Journal of Sociology, n. 112, pp. 97-144.
PHAN P.H., SIEGEL D.S. (2006), “The effectiveness of university technology transfer: lessons learned from qualitative and quantitative research in the US and UK”, Foundations and Trends in Entrepreneurship, vol. 2, n. 2, pp. 66-144.
ROTHAERMEL F.T., AGUNG S., JIANG L. (2007), “University entrepreneurship: a taxonomy of the literature”, Industrial and Corporate Change, vol. 16, n. 4, pp. 691-791.
SELLENTHIN M.O. (2009), “Technology transfer offices and university patenting in Sweden and Germany”, The Journal of Technology Transfer, vol. 34, n. 6, pp. 603-620.
YIN R.K. (2014), Case study research: Design and methods, Fifth Edition, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.
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2016-12-22
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