University-industry relationship: From the perspective of small firms

Abstract

This thesis investigates university-industry relationships from the perspective of small firms. Traditionally university-industry relationships research features large firms rather than small firms, which leaves the strategies applied by small firms to establish and develop relationships with universities poorly understood. This thesis begins with a comprehensive theoretical review, which subsequently leads to the development of a research model and research questions. The review shows that small firms face a number of challenges when it comes to establishing and developing relationships with universities. Production and distribution of knowledge is increasingly taking place in reflexive systems of innovation and follow non-linear patterns. This suggests that small firms need to manage their relationships with universities in a similar dynamic way. Small firms are also subject to rapid technological progress and to constantly changing organisational forms. It is under these circumstances that this thesis proceeds with empirical studies on how small firms manage their relationships with universities. The empirical work of this study is based on an explorative research design involving interview data and secondary information from 30 small firms. The findings from this study are presented in three research papers (chapters 8, 9 and 10). The first paper investigates how small firms choose which university to partner up with. The second paper examines how the increasing focus on research commercialisation forces small firms to rethink how they govern their university relationships. The final paper explores the relationship between social capital and value-capturing in university-small firm relationships. This study contributes to existing research on university-small firm relationships by exploring how small firms can establish and develop relationships with universities from a dynamic perspective. Firstly, small firms’ strategies to partner selection are affected by accumulation of collaboration, partner and technical experience. Secondly, small firms need to develop governance mechanisms towards technology transfer offices and the individual scientists simultaneously to ensure successful relationships with universities. Thirdly, small firms need to adjust their social capital over time to ensure continuing value-capturing in university relationships. These three contributions are combined at the end of this study to develop an analytical model to guide future research on university-small firm relationships.