Key drivers of university-industry relationships: the role of organisational compatibility and personal experience

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to analyse empirically research-oriented university-industry relationships based on the incorporation of relationship marketing (RM) and technology transfer theory. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based on an extensive literature review and initial qualitative research, a conceptual model is presented and tested using structural equation modelling methods. Analysis was conducted, and is reported, in three steps, including path analysis and hypothesis testing, model re-specification and a multi-group analysis comparing university and industry respondents. Findings – Trust, commitment and integration were found to positively influence satisfaction and were confirmed as key drivers of successful university-industry relationships. While trust was the strongest driver of satisfaction, commitment emerged as the strongest predictor of intention to renew. The results also confirmed the proposed interrelationships between the relationship characteristics. Organisational compatibility emerged as positively influencing all relationship characteristics, indicating its relevance for university-industry relationships and suggesting its potential importance for other relationships crossing essentially different organisational environments. Surprisingly, only a weak influence of staff personal experience on commitment was found. Research limitations/implications – The results are limited to Australian relationships and by their cross-disciplinary nature. Furthermore, a potential bias towards positive relationships might exist in the data. Originality/value – The primary contribution of this paper lies in the development of a foundation for research in a new services business context by combining the established theory of RM with the emerging area of technology transfer. Building a thorough empirical basis for future research, the researchers anticipate the development of a comprehensive university-industry relationship research stream.