Abstract:
Industry-academia collaborative research has become a subject of increasing
interest in recent years to academics, industrialists and policymakers due to
greater awareness of the importance of such links for innovation and the
knowledge-based economy. However, such collaborations are not always
successful for reasons which are poorly researched. The main objective of this
thesis is to identify the main factors that impede or enhance successful
research collaboration. The research agenda is guided by a review of the
current literature which indicates that the effectiveness of industry-academia
collaborative research depends to some extent on the following factors: (i) the
motivations/objectives for collaborative research, (ii) the modes of
communication between collaborative partners, and (iii) the management of the
collaborative process. The influence of each of these three factors on
collaboration effectiveness is investigated using a conceptual model and two
pieces of complementary fieldwork.
The conceptual model illustrates the relationship between the three factors and
the structure of collaboration, the collaborative process and the attitudes of
collaborative participants. The fieldwork activities, which provide data on
individual perceptions of industry-academia collaborative research experience,
comprise an interview survey of collaborative research facilitators, and a
questionnaire survey of students working on projects jointly supervised by
academics and industrialists. Findings from these two activities are analysed in
terms of their contribution to the existing literature on industry-academia
collaboration and their conformity with the conceptual model. The perspectives
of the research facilitators are also directly compared with those of the students.
The results support current awareness in the literature that industry-academia
collaborations are difficult to analyse and manage because of their diverse
structures, their dynamic nature and the variety of factors that influence their
effectiveness. Whilst the research findings do provide some indication of why
collaborations succeed or fail and how they can best be managed, the fact that
no two collaborations are the same in terms of motivations, objectives,
structure, process, outcomes, type of participants, etc., precludes prescriptive
generalisations. Suggestions for best practice include adopting an adaptable
management structure and using a 'relationship management' approach for
long term collaborative relationships.
