Advancing new technologies are critically important for an organization’s success and survival. While
new technologies can be created through both intra- and inter-organizational initiatives, increased turbulence
in organizational environments has shifted the current emphasis towards inter-organizational collaboration.
This study focuses on one particular type of inter-organizational relationship, those between industrial firms
and universities (I/U relationships). The focus here is on I/U relationships for the purposes of facilitating the
firm’s ability to advance new technologies and for addressing the common fundamental research issues related
to these new technologies.
A conceptual framework is proposed illuminating the key factors important to industrial firms
interested in establishing and sustaining industry-university technology relationships. Exploratory data were
used to validate the conceptual model and hypotheses while survey questionnaire data were used for hypotheses
testing. In-depth, structured interviews were conducted to confirm and validate these findings.
Results show that an industrial firm’s culture, flexible university policies for IPR, patents, and licenses,
and the presence of I/U champions are particularly important for establishing higher intensity I/U relationships.
Results also show that higher levels of tangible outcomes and the firm’s trust of its university research center
partner are especially important for sustaining higher intensity I/U relationships. This study adds to our
knowledge of what's important to industrial firms in establishing and sustaining higher intensity I/U technology
relationships. The results found here offer implications for scholars, managers, and public policy.
Click on the link below for the final report in pdf.