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Volume 5 Issue 1, February 2007
Knowledge Creation through University-Industry Collaborative Research Projects
Julie Hermans and Annick Castiaux
University of Namur, Belgium
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It is obvious from a study of the literature that university-industry (U-I) relationships and their subsequent knowledge transfers are topics of high political, economical, managerial and academic interest. Indeed, technological knowledge is seen as a major source of long term economic growth and its transfer to the business firm is critical since it acts as a significant innovation factor. In order to access this knowledge, a portfolio of sourcing strategies is available to the firm: knowledge creation through internal R&D departments, knowledge sharing with suppliers or market relationships, and also transfer from knowledge institutions such as public and private research centres.
In this paper, we recognize that the University is a central source of knowledge but we question the general belief that knowledge is, per se, flowing between private and academic sphere through the conduct of University-Industry relationships. As a result, this paper presents our literature analysis concerning this research topic and explores one particular mean of inter-organizational knowledge transfer, namely the University-Industry collaborative research project. We present findings from an exploratory study which aims at examining knowledge flows and collaborative behaviours at stake in such research projects. This interview survey has been realized with respondents actively involved in Belgian University-Industry (U-I) interactions and provides qualitative data analyzed through the theoretical framework of organizational knowledge creation developed by Nonaka and Takeuchi.
Through this analysis, we found evidence supporting the existence of a knowledge spiral as a dynamic for the whole project. It highlights knowledge-based limits to the reconciliation process between the university´s interests and the company´s needs, leading to limited research diffusion and organizational learning, but it also confirms the importance of the third role of university, namely participation in economic development.
Keywords:
university-industry interactions, knowledge transfer, Nonaka
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