Abstract:
Foundations have existed for hundreds of years and have been the subject of a significant amount of research (Anheier & Daly, 2006; Anheier, 2001; European Foundation Centre, 2007; Gouwenberg et al., 2015; Wijkström, 2004). Despite extensive efforts, such as Gouwenberg et al. (2015) EUFORI study, to map, define and study the activities of foundations in Europe there is a lack of understanding of what the motives are for establishing a foundation and how these motives may influence the governance structures. The aim of this study was to carry out an exploratory investigation into the motives and governance structures of foundations with a specific objective of funding research. This aim was determined by a gap in existing foundation literature that fails to explore the motives for establishing a research-funding foundation, or how founders intend to use a foundation to achieve their vision or how founders intend to govern their foundation effectively. The researcher employed a case study methodology of two newly established Swedish researcher-initiated foundations and two long-standing and prominent Danish industrial foundations. The main findings of this exploratory study are that the motive for establishing the two industrial foundations was simply to benefit society by solving societal health challenges whereas the motive of the two researcher-initiated foundations was to maintain control of their research, disrupt current technology transfer models and provide consistent funding to their ongoing research. Underpinning all four foundations was the idea of a sustainable entity that funded research to solve societal problems. A board of directors governed all four foundations. The size, selection process and professionalism of these boards differed among the four foundations depending on their age and size. The motives and vision of the founder, which are enshrined in the written statutes of the foundation, lie at the forefront of all four foundations and influence their governance. The implications of this study are that the two researcher-initiated foundations explored in this study have adopted an already successful industrial foundation model, and it appears as though they are now potentially at the forefront of developing a revolutionary technology transfer model.
