The Implement and Impact of University-Industry Partnerships

QUESTION

Developing strategic partnerships are currently at the forefront of place-based education efforts. Review the literature on forming partnerships in education. Provide a synthesis and critique of the theory. In doing so, consider some recommendations for successful partnership building and sustainability.

Please take note of the hurdle requirements. It is expected that you start reading and identifying resources on the task.

The way you unpack it and describe the issues of setting up partnerships in education settings.

For example, if you examined industry (for profit) and school partnerships you would find a HUGE amount of literature about the reasons for and against this which would very nicely fit into an in depth SWOT analysis… much like the group analysis.

You could break that down into a few hundred words on what we know currently about industry and school partnerships (via literature) and then you could pretty much paragraph by paragraph talk about all the smaller issues that have to happen to make partnerships work and all of the hurdles they may face that we discussed in class – this would also give you a lot of literature to already use.

The refrences must be literature not any website.

ANSWER

The Implement and Impact of University-Industry Partnerships

Executive Summary

Over the past twenty years, the world has seen the rise of various types of partnerships and collaborations between academia and industry (Anderson, 2001). The most common types of partnerships include industry-academia technology transfer, industry-specific inter-firm research consortia, and industry-university research centers. The development of university-industry strategic partnerships has been fostered by various government and university programs. The recent trends in the global research environment in academia and industry have greatly influenced the development of such partnerships, especially over the last decade. Global industrial research is facing increasing pressure to minimize the time-to-market for innovations and new inventions. It also faces increased pressure to identify changing consumer needs and conduct research that is specific to the needs of customers. As a result, the conventional basic industrial research activities, carried out in corporate labs, have been phased out.

Industrial research today has to be exploratory and has to be directed at creating new scientific knowledge, rather than focusing on applied research activities. In order to meet this need, many organizations establish extensive partnerships with other research organizations, which include universities and small businesses (Fairweather, 1991). These partnerships are a great way of identifying and capturing innovations that are produced by various university institutions, innovations that have not been implemented by other organizations or companies (Anderson, 2001). Universities require funding, which may come from the government or from other organizations, in order to conduct research. Organizations require innovations and new inventions to remain relevant and provide customers with the best value. Government funding is sometimes difficult to come by and inadequate, especially in developing countries. For this reason, universities are interested in developing partnerships with industry to obtain necessary funding support for research.

University relationships with industry may include licensing university innovations and inventions to companies, housing collaborative research facilities, and conducting research activities for specific companies (Fairweather, 1991). Industry sees relationships with universities as a great source of innovations and inventions, supporting operations and increasing value for customers. Universities see industry research funding as a replacement for government funding, with reduced government support and increasing interest among firms in developing partnerships with universities. It is important that industrial investment in research is linked to tangible outcomes, which can only be achieved through the formation of strong relationships with universities and collaborative research efforts with academic organizations. Industry-academia relationships and partnerships bring many benefits to both universities and firms (Roshani et al., 2015). These benefits include access to specialized skills, research risk pooling or risk sharing, research cost sharing, and access to complementary capabilities.

The partnerships also benefit academic institutions and companies through increased access to the latest technology, access to state-of-the-art research facilities, and access to new markets and suppliers. It also results in the creation of new opportunities for technological learning. All these benefits support long-term research and improve research efficiency and effectiveness. The various benefits, disadvantages, and challenges facing university-industry partnerships are discussed in this paper.

The Importance of Industry-University Partnerships

Industry-University strategic partnerships are an organizational form that is designed to integrate different pools of intellectual capital to meet research needs. The participants in the partnerships bring very diverse and different skills, capabilities, and contexts to the table (Roshani et al., 2015). The partnership grows into a shared innovation community and each participant joins a wider network of researchers, developing a new context – new common norms, values, and vocabulary. Knowledge and information from each participant are integrated within the new context and utilized by each participant to accomplish individual learning goals. Academia-industry partnerships play a huge role in the increasing significance of innovation in the industry. Linkages and information flow between business organizations and external sources of knowledge, universities, is crucial for the achievement of innovation and inventions.

Today’s global economy is evolving towards knowledge-based and innovation-based competition. Industry-university partnerships form a good mechanism for the facilitation of revolutionary innovation by knowledge sharing. The diversity in these relationships may result in the lack of a common language of sharing knowledge effectively. However, for dynamic organizational learning, such diversity and cultural differences can be an added advantage. Diversity in partnerships that are successful may result in more than just learning at the technical knowledge level. It may result in learning at the organizational structure level, where the participants can adopt or borrow some organizational routines of their colleagues, which results in greater efficiency. Organizations in university-industry partnerships have a huge potential of achieving radical and incremental changes in culture and organizational structure, which may result in increased radical innovation.

University-industry partnerships also promote the development of trust between educational institutions and industry (Hall, 2004). In most partnership cases, the participants are not after gaining resources from the partnership. Firms involved in the partnership may receive similar knowledge from the interaction but will develop it and use it in the building of different organization-specific capabilities, deriving mutual benefit for each participant. The importance of university-industry partnerships can be indicated by the new organizational forms and increasing rate of innovation across the world. There seem to be very strong forces that are encouraging the formation of these relationships across different economies and economic systems. Even though university-industry relationships in different economies or regions have unique traits that are shaped by the existing environment, they have a tendency to share structures and processes in governance, membership, and interaction. Therefore, the key success factors of such partnerships are common for all university-industry partnerships across the world.

Traditionally, universities collaborated with industry on research projects that were marketable. In the United States, for instance, firms sought partnerships with universities as a way of identifying and training their future employees (search for talent). With a shift in the global economies, organizations seeking partnerships with universities were after access to faculty or experts who could develop cutting edge technology and knowledge that could help them develop competitive edges (Hall, 2004). Research on technology and knowledge requires huge capital investment, which was traditionally availed by governments. However, with increased government spending and competition for government funds, investment in research declined over the years, forcing universities to seek other sources of funding. Industry has grown to become the largest provider of research funding, making contributions in terms of grants, collaborative training programs, and contracts.

Areas such as agriculture, chemistry, biotechnology, engineering, computer science, and medicine largely benefit from these partnerships. The partnerships between universities and industry are interdependent, enabling both participants to ensure growth in their environments (Roshani et al., 2015). While the firms depend on the university researchers for innovations and inventions, universities benefit by acquiring the necessary funding for research purposes to sustain the research needs and faculty productivity. Governments have historically promoted university-industry partnerships through various funding programs. In the United States (Hall, 2004), The National Science Foundation (NSF) is a government institution that sponsors The Industry-University Research Centers Program (I/URCP). In addition, The National Science Foundation (NSF) provides necessary funding for university-industry partnerships in the engineering field (Hall, 2004).

Industry-university research partnerships merge applied research and basic research to improve value and meet research objectives. While product development and incremental research are conducted in industrial laboratories, involving university researchers in the breakthrough research is important as it results in the acquisition of an improved understanding of the knowledge that underlies the discoveries made. Industry-academic collaborations may take many different forms, besides contracts and collaborative training. For instance, some organizations gift universities with scientific equipment necessary for studies and research. In return, the organizations expect that the universities will repay their generous contributions by notifying them of any cutting-edge knowledge or research findings, in order to gain a competitive or innovation edge. Cutting edge research findings can be used by companies to create new and develop existing products.

The collaboration may also take the form of provision of a population for trials, especially in the field of medicine for devices and drugs. In such a partnership, the universities provide the necessary technical expertise, physical space, and patients for the carrying out of clinical trials. The companies provide the necessary equipment, funding, and drugs for the carrying out of trials.

Benefits of University-industry Partnerships

Industry-university relationships have many advantages and benefits to the universities involved, the companies involved, and to the society

Benefits to the Society

The community or society develops from university-industry research partnerships through the provision of innovative technologies and products. The university research, which is sponsored by companies, is usually developed into practical applications that are beneficial to society (Roshani et al., 2015). Such applications include new and improved medical techniques and devices; innovative electronic technologies such as improved computers; and development of efficient energy. University-industry partnerships may also result in the development of new industries and products, which can improve the competitive advantage of a country globally. In addition, such industrial expansion results in the expansion of tax bases for both local and national governments, increasing the amount of funding available for community and national development activities.

Benefits to Universities

Partnerships between universities and industry are usually well-thought out and pay attention to the benefits that universities will accrue. Most universities enter partnerships because of the financial rewards, licenses, and patents that will be received as a result of the commercialization of university research. Such financial gains are necessary to minimize the gap left by government funding. The patents and licenses generated through university research sponsored by companies are, most of the time, shared between the parties (Sherwood et al., 2004). Universities use such patents and licenses to earn revenues that are necessary to support other teaching activities that are not market-oriented. The university faculties also benefit through access to the latest technology and scientific equipment that is not available in the university laboratories. Such equipment and technology enable universities to conduct additional research that can be beneficial to the institution and that can increase the productivity of faculties.

Through industry-sponsored research and the revenue obtained from patents, faculties can pursue various unrelated research activities and make increased publications, which increase productivity and improve faculty reputation (Sherwood et al., 2004). The reputation of a university is very important, as it enables it to attract talented top students and acquire necessary public funding. A good reputation enhances university prestige and enables a university to establish its legitimacy. Lastly, through these partnerships, universities are able to enhance opportunities available for their students to get future employment through university-industry connections (Saad et al., 2017).

Benefits to Companies

Partnerships between universities and industry stimulate companies’ research and development activities and programs. Universities assist industrial scientists in the identification of research that might be important for the development and design of innovative products and processes. Such research provides companies with a competitive edge over competitors, as it minimizes the time taken to move a potential new product from the lab to the market (Ankrah & Omar, 2015). This strengthens international competition and improves business operations. University-industry partnerships improve the reputation of a company. In most cases, the university and the company researchers co-author journal articles describing research findings. Such joint publications can be utilized by companies as a public relations tool, improving their reputation.

Basically, an organization involved with university researchers and acquires access to new and innovative ideas is able to build many trade secrets, which can lead to the development of new and potentially highly-profitable patents and products (Ankrah & Omar, 2015). In addition, when a university develops a new patent, the firm that sponsored the research resulting in the patent benefits by gaining the right of refusal to give licenses to the product (Filippetti & Savona, 2017). Such a company will, therefore, become an industry leader. Companies also benefit from gaining access to inexpensive laboratory space for purposes of industrial research. This is particularly critical in medical research. Medical firms use university collaborations to carry out clinical trials of medical devices, drugs, and new medical techniques. This enables them to conduct clinical research at a low cost, as universities have ready access to a large number of patients. Lastly, industry-university partnerships for research strengthen company research and development, either by a reorganization of industrial development to highly profitable products or through the development of innovative products from present research. Through partnerships, universities help industry scientists to solve technical and design problems, enabling companies to learn new techniques for research and product improvement (Saad et al., 2017).

Disadvantages of University-Industry Partnerships

Even though university-industry relationships have numerous advantages for society and the participants, there are various disadvantages that arise as a result of the partnerships. These disadvantages show significant issues that are related to academia. Due to industry-academia partnerships, a university ends up getting caught between two important interests: abiding by the traditional academic duty to approach research with no regard for its commercial benefits, as well as sharing research results with experts and peers for validation; and meeting industry needs. A balance between the academic duty and the fulfillment of industry needs has to be struck in order to sustain academia-industry relationships (Ankrah & Omar, 2015). Over the past decade, legal disputes and high-profile agreements have resulted in the development of concerns that universities may not be setting their own research agendas or fulfilling their academic duty.

Topics for research today are based on the university needs and the availability of funding, which is a problem since universities require academic freedom to pursue any form of research or topic, independent of where it may lead or whether it may result in commercialization. Where the university or a company sets the research agenda to be pursued, many social benefits that are important are neglected and resources are directed solely to activities that will result in income or revenue generation. Another disadvantage of these partnerships is that ownership issues may arise between companies and universities. This is often resolved by the development of formal partnerships between universities and companies through contracts that stipulate ownership of data and interest in products that may be developed from the industry-sponsored university research.

A company may develop a contract that, for instance, stipulates that the university cannot share any data or materials for research with other universities or companies who may request them (Ankrah & Omar, 2015). In such a contract, the research conducted by the university contains proprietary information. Such contracts usually extend to publications and documents. Publications are usually delayed until the company and the researchers are able to develop patent applications and acquire patents. Delays in publications also arise because companies have to approve journal articles before they are published, which can be very problematic where research findings show unfavorable results about a product. In such a case, the university may have entered a contract enabling the sponsor company to block the publication of any damaging research results.

While the decision to prevent publication of research result journals that contain negative findings of products may be good for a company dealing with the product, it is a huge disadvantage for universities that need to make publications in order to generate revenues for other types of research (Gregory, 1997). Companies are concerned with profitability and market edge. They use secrecy to protect their trade secrets and knowledge acquired from university-industry research projects. This practice of secrecy is contrary to the academic duty of universities, where researchers and students publish results obtained from their studies for verification and review by other scholars (Bowie, 1994).

Challenges Facing University-Industry Partnerships

Industry-academia collaborations face several problems and barriers. These barriers may either be cultural, operational, or institutional barriers (Hall et al., 2001). Companies and universities have cultures that are fundamentally different, as can be seen in time orientation, terms and languages used, assumptions, and goals that are divergent. The universities and companies sometimes deal with abstract, ambiguous, and complex work. Most of the knowledge involved is tacit in nature, and the time available between the initiation of research and the achievement of results may be difficult to approximate (Bowie, 1994).

University researchers may have more concern for research validation issues than the exploration of models and concepts, while companies may be interested in the development of models and concrete applications. This often results in misunderstandings and conflict between the participants, causing challenges in sharing of knowledge. The gap that exists between industry representatives and the university researchers and the presence of unclear boundaries in projects that are interdisciplinary may also result in conflict and disagreements between the participants because of expectations that are not precise. Industry is prone to unexpected radical changes in operations (Hall et al., 2001). Unexpected changes such as mergers, bankruptcy, and acquisitions may affect industry-academia relationships already in existence. For universities, there is the threat of research focusing a lot on research that is applied and not paying adequate attention to basic research, when sponsorship comes from companies. The progress and outcome of the research may also be affected by the company’s expectations.

For university researchers involved in industry-university research, graduating may take a lot of time and the quality of research results may be influenced by the expectations, which may mean that academic requirements require extra work. The quest or need to solve company problems may result in researchers not conducting studies with academic interest (Gregory, 1997). As such, teaching and general research may lose relevance due to the need to acquire revenue from solving company problems. Moreover, accepting funding from companies may result in conflict over the use of intellectual property and ownership, as discussed in the disadvantages section.

The benefits achieved from the research partnerships may not be significant compared to the efforts invested in the joint research. When this occurs, any promised transfer of technology may not occur. The university researchers and the industry scientists may not be committed to the partnership, which results in poor performance. The companies involved cannot be sure that the university faculties are committed or that they pay attention to their specific needs. In addition, the universities may not be willing to let unfinished research or products out of their hands, even where the product or research is already enough for the company. This results in conflict and waiting for finalization may be too time-consuming. Lastly, universities engage in partnerships with many competing companies. This often results in unintended knowledge transfer or flow. Proper management of research results in, therefore, crucial for the survival or the company-university partnership (Sherwood et al., 2004).

Conclusion

In conclusion, partnerships or collaborations between universities and companies have been in existence for many years. However, these partnerships have increased in recent years as a result of the increasing need for industrial innovation and the need to fill the funding gap that is left by government funding for university research activities. The current partnerships are complex and take various forms. University-industry relationships have numerous benefits and a number of disadvantages. There are also a number of challenges that face these partnerships. However, with the development of formalized partnerships with companies, universities can alleviate the challenges experienced and benefit from these partnerships.

References

Anderson, M. S. (2001). The complex relations between the academy and industry: Views from the literature. The journal of higher education, 72(2), 226-246.

Ankrah, S., & Omar, A. T. (2015). Universities–industry collaboration: A systematic review. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 31(3), 387-408.

Bowie, N. E. (1994). University-Business Partnerships: An Assessment. Issues in Academic Ethics. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 4720 Boston Way, Lanham, MD 20706 (paperback, ISBN-0-8476-7897-0: $24.95; hardcover, ISBN-0-8476-7896-2: $64.50).

Fairweather, J. S. (1991). Managing Industry-University Research Relationships. Journal for Higher Education Management, 6(2), 7-14.

Filippetti, A., & Savona, M. (2017). University-industry linkages and academic engagements: individual behaviours and firms’ barriers. Introduction to the special section. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 42(4), 719-729.

Gregory, E. H. (1997). University-Industry Strategic Partnerships: Benefits and Impediments. Industry and Higher Education, 11(4), 253-254.

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Hall, B. H., Link, A. N., & Scott, J. T. (2001). Barriers inhibiting industry from partnering with universities: evidence from the advanced technology program. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 26(1-2), 87-98.

Roshani, M., Lehoux, N., & Frayret, J. M. (2015). University-Industry collaborations and open innovations: an integrated methodology for mutually beneficial relationships. CIRRELT.

Saad, M., Datta, S., & Razak, A. A. (2017). University-industry relationships in developing countries: Opportunities and challenges in Algeria, Indonesia, Malaysia, and India. International Journal of Technology Management & Sustainable Development, 16(2), 175-190.

Sherwood, A. L., Butts, S. B., & Kacar, S. L. (2004, October). Partnering for knowledge: A learning framework for university-industry collaboration. In Midwest Academy of Management, 2004 Annual Meeting (pp. 1-17).