Managing university-industry research partnerships through a process of alignment

University-industry research partnerships provide a mechanism for enhanced knowledge transfer thereby contributing to improved technology development within industry as well as providing a secure source of research funding at universities. However, misalignment of objectives, difficulties in the negotiation of research contracts, and challenges arising from research co-ordination are just some of the issues that can be encountered. Therefore, following a review of the literature a management framework has been developed to help practitioners manage these issues. The framework is based on the need for alignment in three core areas, namely technical, commercial and social. The alignment mechanism will be explored through case study investigations of three research partnerships, which included two successful partnerships and one that encountered difficulties. The case studies will be compared and contrasted to help identify management strategies and supporting activities that can be undertaken to underpin the development and subsequent management of university-industry research partnerships. The findings include a need for clear leadership of partnerships including boundary spanning; robust commercial arrangements including the allocation of intellectual property rights; effective governance mechanisms and performance measurement; and the significance of companies’ absorptive capacity.