Authors: Cândida Lucas; José Carlos Pinho; Miguel Pinheiro
In order to be competitive in their target markets, companies need to secure an adequate level of innovation in their products, services and processes. The development of innovative solutions can be achieved through the combination of activities performed by the company and research collaborations with other institutions, and thus companies located in specific positions of interorganizational networks that include research institutions may be better positioned to access tacit and strategic knowledge (and other resources) that can help foster innovation.The literature on University-Industry Links (UIL) has shown how universities can be valued partners for companies’ research activities leading to an increase in radical innovation as well as lower R&D expenses for both parties.In recent decades, scholars researching UIL have focused extensively on the issue and processes of transferring technology but have not yet done a great deal of research into the relational aspects of innovation between the actors involved, as well as their activities, and thus a comprehensive approach to the relationship established between those partners is lacking.In light of the above considerations, this paper addresses this research gap on UIL looking simultaneously at the contribution of two major research streams: the Actors-Resources-Activities (ARA) Model and the Commitment-Trust Theory. In both research backgrounds, Cooperation assumes a central role and, as a result, can be used as the link between the two theories.This paper therefore uses both the Commitment-Trust Theory and the ARA model to examine the following research questions: i) How may the configuration of the network influence the nature and type of cooperation between partners in terms of strategic resource acquisition?: ii) How may the level of trust and commitment influence the cooperation between partners in terms of strategic resource acquisition?: iii) How may the nature and type of cooperation between partners in terms of strategic resource acquisition impact the development of innovative products and services?To explore the relationships depicted in our research questions we will follow a qualitative approach using interviews with relevant individuals from both universities and companies.This paper aims to shed some light on the importance of trust and commitment, combined with the structural positioning of actors, as enablers of innovation in University-Industry cooperation, particularly in collaborative R&D activities. Together with the structural positioning of actors, these variables have not been tested as enablers of innovation in the context of interorganizational networks involving universities and companies
Journal: n.a. (n.a. – n.a.)
Web Address: n.a.
Publish Year: 2012
Conference: Rome, Italy (2012)