Stephen C. Betts

Making Industry-University Partnerships Work

OVERVIEW: University research centers have proven to be beneficial partners for industrial firms seeking new ideas and new technologies. The centers, especially those with flexible and creative policies for intellectual property rights, patent ownership and licensing, are attracting large numbers of industrial partners. While many firms initially seek out centers with the most lucrative policies, others are beginning to take an active role in shaping center policies that can meet their specific needs. An empowered I/U champion at the firm can be especially effective in facilitating this process, particularly when he or she focuses on each organizations unique contributions and the possibilities they afford for complementary synergies.

Champions and Trust as Drivers of Industry/University Collaborations: A Relationship Marketing Perspective

Champions and Trust as Drivers of I/U Collaborations The contributions of a champion and trust show mixed support as drivers of successful Industry/University (I/U) relationships despite agreement that university researchers and their industrial partners often have overlapping but different sets of desired outcomes and measures of success. However, the concept of different desired outcomes is an important aspect of the role of champions and trust as well as recent relationship marketing approaches to I/U collaboration. In this article we will examine the way in which champions and trust can facilitate various outcomes in I/U relationships such as technology and learning by underpinning our work using the dynamics and frameworks found in relationship marketing literature.