Resource-based view of university-industry research collaboration

University-industry research collaboration offers both parties involved recognised benefits. Universities can secure funding for students and researchers, whereas companies can gain access to science and technology to incorporate in improved products. The performance of such collaborations can be closely related to the resources available to the collaborating organisations. Therefore, this paper will examine how university-industry research collaborations can be developed and managed through applying the key concepts of the resource-based view of strategy. The research method is composed of two stages. The first stage involved a series of 32 structured interviews with representatives from companies and the academic sector, which sought to ascertain the resources required for successful university-industry collaborations. Qualitative assessment of the resources according to either being tangible, intangible or human related identified the capabilities required to underpin collaborations between universities and companies. The second stage involved a case study application of these capabilities to a major university-industry research programme. The case study investigation involved reflective analysis of how the resources and capabilities were configured and deployed during the development and management phases of the programme. This allows generation of a set of practitioner oriented recommendations for establishing university-industry collaborations.