Knowledge transfer in R&D collaboration between university and industry: a multiple-case study of corporate partners of Aalto University

Abstract

Despite the fact that knowledge transfer has been intensively studied in prior research, the fundamentals that lie at heart of knowledge transfer - people, collaboration forms, and tools have not been paid much attention. The objective of this study was to explore common collaboration forms and commonly used tools to transfer knowledge with an aim to develop a broad overview of knowledge transfer in the context of R&D collaboration between U-I. The research problem was to find out how collaboration forms and tools support knowledge transfer between university and industry. This problem was addressed from two angles. First, the study was set to find out what are common R&D collaboration forms between U-I and how knowledge transfer is supported by each of those forms. Second, the study aimed to discover commonly used tools to transfer knowledge and how they are utilized.

The qualitative research was conducted with a multiple-case study approach of five Finnish corporate partners of Aalto University, in which it only shed light on the companies’ perspectives. Thematic data analysis was deployed to analyse data gathered from seven structured interviews, including two main themes: (1) common R&D collaboration forms, and (2) commonly used tools to transfer knowledge.

The study showed that R&D collaboration with universities plays an important role in companies’ innovation strategies. Knowledge transfer between university and industry is supported by the collaboration form of contract research, joint research program, and mobility of people. The findings demonstrated that all six steps (identification, recognition, sharing, acquisition, assimilation, and application) of knowledge transfer process occur before, during, and after the collaboration respectively. Face-to-face communication with IT supports and utilization of existing personal contacts is commonly used to transfer knowledge between two organizations whereas web-based platform is not. Besides that, digital platform and database are used to transfer knowledge, yet only for internal use within companies.

This research offers a broad overview of knowledge transfer in the context of R&D collaboration between U-I by revealing different common collaboration forms and commonly used tools to support knowledge transfer and condensing them into a theoretical model supported by empirical evidence. As a practical implication of the research, besides utilizing common collaboration forms and tools to support knowledge transfer between university and industry, exploration of new forms and tools is strongly recommended. Although many challenges are to encounter, there are great benefits that new collaboration forms and tools promisingly have to offer.