Best practices for industry-university research collaborations
Author(s)
Pertuzé Salas, Julio Alberto![Thumbnail](/bitstream/handle/1721.1/52756/501820032-MIT.pdf.jpg?sequence=5&isAllowed=y)
DownloadFull printable version (758.6Kb)
Other Contributors
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Technology and Policy Program.
Advisor
Edward M. Greitzer and William A. Lucas.
Terms of use
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This thesis reports a study of industry-university collaborations aimed at the development of best practices to enhance the impact of such collaborations on company competitiveness. The data sample involves twenty-five research-intensive multinational companies which engage in collaborative research on a regular basis. Over 100 different collaboration projects are analyzed through interviews with the responsible project managers and with senior technology officers. The interviewees provided both quantitative and qualitative information about the success and lack of success of the collaborations. Based on these data, seven best practices for managing collaborations have been defined which, when taken together, significantly contribute to the long-term success of the collaboration. These practices are: 1) select collaboration projects that complement company R&D; 2) select university researchers who understand specific industry goals and practices; 3) select project managers with strong boundary spanning capabilities; 4) promote longer collaboration timeframes; 5) provide appropriate internal support for project management; 6) conduct regular meetings at the company between university and industry researchers; and 7) build awareness of the university project inside the company.
Description
Thesis (S.M. in Technology and Policy)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2009. This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. Includes bibliographical references (p. 56-59).
Date issued
2009Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division; Technology and Policy ProgramPublisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Keywords
Engineering Systems Division., Technology and Policy Program.