Industry-to-university knowledge transfer in ecosystem-based academic entrepreneurship: Case study of automotive dynamics & control group in Tsinghua University

Abstract Academic entrepreneurship (AE) is becoming an increasingly important engine in technological development and economic growth for both developed and developing countries. Despite the fact that AE has been well established in literature with regard to its knowledge transfer from university to industry (U-I), the opposite knowledge flow from industry to university (I-U) in the AE ecosystem is rather neglected. In particular, how I-U knowledge transfer from different sources dynamically contributes to AE has not gained enough attention. To address this gap, we conducted a case study of Automotive Dynamics & Control Group affiliated to Tsinghua University in China and investigated how academic entrepreneurs from this group learnt from industry how to successfully commercialize their Anti-Lock Braking System and Automated Mechanical Transmission technologies. Our study shows how I-U knowledge transfer from three distinct sources are of great significance for university researchers engaging in commercialization, including personal industry experiences, commercialization partner firms, and leading customers, each transferring specific sorts of knowledge during a specific phase of AE. Our research synthesizes literature on I-U knowledge transfer and extends knowledge on the dynamics of AE from an ecosystem-based perspective.

[1]  Klaus Fichter,et al.  Sustainability-profiled incubators and securing the inflow of tenants – The case of Green Garage Berlin , 2017 .

[2]  William H. A. Johnson.  Managing university technology development using organizational control theory , 2011 .

[3]  Peter J. Lane,et al.  Complementary Technologies, Knowledge Relatedness, and Invention Outcomes in High Technology Mergers and Acquisitions , 2009 .

[4]  A. Langley.  Strategies for Theorizing from Process Data , 1999 .

[5]  Susana Elena Pérez,et al.  An Intellectual Capital framework to measure universities' third mission activities , 2017 .

[6]  Cristina Sousa,et al.  How to commercialise university-generated knowledge internationally? A comparative analysis of contingent institutional conditions , 2017 .

[7]  S. Sedita,et al.  How Do Collaborations with Universities Affect Firms' Innovative Performance? The Role of "Pasteur Scientists" in the Advanced Materials Field , 2009 .

[8]  D. Teece.  Profiting from technological innovation: Implications for integration, collaboration, licensing and public policy , 1993 .

[9]  Eric von Hippel,et al.  Task Partitioning: An Innovation Process Variable , 2015 .

[10]  Rajshree Agarwal,et al.  Knowledge sources of entrepreneurship: Firm formation by academic, user and employee innovators☆ , 2014 .

[11]  Matthew S. Wood.  A process model of academic entrepreneurship , 2011 .

[12]  Bernard J. Jaworski,et al.  Market Orientation: The Construct, Research Propositions, and Managerial Implications , 1990 .

[13]  A. Link,et al.  Toward a model of the effective transfer of scientific knowledge from academicians to practitioners: qualitative evidence from the commercialization of university technologies. , 2004 .

[14]  Gerard George,et al.  Academics or entrepreneurs? Investigating role identity modification of university scientists involved in commercialization activity , 2009 .

[15]  R. Merton.  Priorities in scientific discovery: A chapter in the sociology of science. , 1957 .

[16]  Fabrice Pirnay,et al.  A stage model of academic spin-off creation , 2002 .

[17]  A. Pettigrew.  Longitudinal Field Research on Change: Theory and Practice , 1990 .

[18]  Rebecca Henderson,et al.  Special Issue on University Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer: Putting Patents in Context: Exploring Knowledge Transfer from MIT , 2002, Manag. Sci..

[19]  David C. Mowery,et al.  Universities in National Innovation Systems , 2006 .

[20]  Paul R. Milgrom,et al.  The Economics of Modern Manufacturing: Technology, Strategy, and Organization , 1990 .

[21]  Rosa Grimaldi,et al.  How intermediary organizations facilitate university–industry technology transfer: A proximity approach , 2017 .

[22]  H. Etzkowitz.  Research groups as ???quasi-firms???: the invention of the entrepreneurial university , 2003 .

[23]  Toke Bjerregaard.  Industry and academia in convergence: Micro-institutional dimensions of R&D collaboration , 2010 .

[24]  Joaquín M. Azagra-Caro,et al.  Dynamic interactions between university-industry knowledge transfer channels: A case study of the most highly cited academic patent , 2017 .

[25]  Barry Bozeman,et al.  Academic careers, patents, and productivity: industry experience as scientific and technical human capital , 2005 .

[26]  S. Venkataraman,et al.  The distinctive domain of entrepreneurship research: An editor''s perspective , 1997 .

[27]  M García-Murillo,et al.  Customer knowledge management , 2002, J. Oper. Res. Soc..

[28]  M. Knudsen.  The Relative Importance of Interfirm Relationships and Knowledge Transfer for New Product Development Success , 2007 .

[29]  Ron Adner.  Match your innovation strategy to your innovation ecosystem. , 2006, Harvard business review.

[30]  K. Eisenhardt.  Building theories from case study research , 1989, STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI.

[31]  Dorothy Leonard-Barton,et al.  A Dual Methodology for Case Studies: Synergistic Use of a Longitudinal Single Site with Replicated Multiple Sites , 1990 .

[32]  Maribel Guerrero,et al.  Entrepreneurial universities in two European regions: a case study comparison , 2014 .

[33]  Julian Birkinshaw,et al.  When Does University Research Get Commercialized? Creating Ambidexterity in Research Institutions , 2008 .

[34]  Eric von Hippel,et al.  How learning by doing is done: problem identification in novel process equipment☆ , 1995 .

[35]  R. Yin.  Case Study Research: Design and Methods , 1984 .

[36]  Scott Stern,et al.  Complementarity Among Vertical Integration Decisions: Evidence from Automobile Product Development , 2007, Manag. Sci..

[37]  C. Moorman.  Organizational Market Information Processes: Cultural Antecedents and New Product Outcomes , 1995 .

[38]  Stefan Krabel,et al.  What drives scientists to start their own company?: An empirical investigation of Max Planck Society scientists , 2009 .

[39]  Ron Adner,et al.  Value Creation in Innovation Ecosystems: How the Structure of Technological Interdependence Affects Firm Performance in New Technology Generations , 2009 .

[40]  A. Salter,et al.  Academic Engagement and Commercialisation: A Review of the Literature on University-Industry Relations , 2012 .

[41]  Ciara Fitzgerald,et al.  Technology transfer offices as a nexus within the triple helix: the progression of the university's role , 2015, Int. J. Technol. Manag..

[42]  A. Joshi,et al.  Customer Knowledge Development: Antecedents and Impact on New Product Performance , 2004 .

[43]  Mike Wright,et al.  Academic Entrepreneurship: Time for a Rethink? , 2015 .

[44]  Anastassios Pouris,et al.  Industry work experience and inventive capacity of South African academic researchers , 2007 .

[45]  Philip E. Auerswald,et al.  Valleys of Death and Darwinian Seas: Financing the Invention to Innovation Transition in the United States , 2003 .

[46]  Marco Iansiti,et al.  Technology Integration: Making Critical Choices in a Dynamic World , 1997 .

[47]  Nicholas S. Vonortas,et al.  Quality comes first: university-industry collaboration as a source of academic entrepreneurship in a developing country , 2018 .

[48]  Keun Lee,et al.  Explaining the “University-run enterprises” in China: A theoretical framework for university–industry relationship in developing countries and its application to China☆ , 2006 .

[49]  Paul D. Guild,et al.  Commercializing inventions resulting from university research: Analyzing the impact of technology characteristics on subsequent business models , 2011 .

[50]  Robert G. Cooper,et al.  Stage-gate systems: A new tool for managing new products , 1990 .

[51]  Alice Lam,et al.  What motivates academic scientists to engage in research commercialization: ‘Gold’, ‘ribbon’ or ‘puzzle’? , 2011 .

[52]  Özlem Kunday,et al.  Critical assessment of entrepreneurial and innovative universities index of Turkey: Future directions , 2017 .

[53]  B MilesMatthew,et al.  Qualitative Data Analysis , 2018, Approaches and Processes of Social Science Research.

[54]  Jeongsik Lee,et al.  The impacts of science and technology policy interventions on university research: Evidence from the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative , 2014 .

[55]  Alice Lam.  Knowledge Networks and Careers: Academic Scientists in Industry-University Links , 2007 .

[56]  Robert G. Cooper,et al.  Perspective: The Stage‐Gate® Idea‐to‐Launch Process—Update, What's New, and NexGen Systems* , 2008 .

[57]  Li Xing-kun.  Study on Inference of Driver's Intentions Based on Fuzzy Reasoning , 2005 .

[58]  Mike Wright,et al.  From Human Capital to Social Capital: A Longitudinal Study of Technology–Based Academic Entrepreneurs , 2007 .

[59]  Michael D. Santoro,et al.  Facilitators of Knowledge Transfer in University-Industry Collaborations: A Knowledge-Based Perspective , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[60]  B. Flyvbjerg.  Five Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research , 2006, 1304.1186.

[61]  J. V. Maanen,et al.  Toward a theory of organizational socialization , 1977 .

[62]  I. Nonaka,et al.  How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation , 1995 .

[63]  P. Toh,et al.  Pawn to Save a Chariot, or Drawbridge Into the Fort? Firms' Disclosure During Standard Setting and Complementary Technologies Within Ecosystems , 2017 .

[64]  G. Dalmarco,et al.  The Silent Run: New Issues and Outcomes for University-Industry Relations in Brazil , 2011 .

[65]  Yi Xu.  ELECTRCAL FRICTION AND WEAR PROPERTIES OF CNT-Ag-G COMPOSITE , 2006 .

[66]  Ulrich Schmoch,et al.  Interaction of Universities and Industrial Enterprises in Germany and the United States-A Comparison , 1999 .

[67]  J. Barney.  Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage , 1991 .

[68]  John P. Walsh,et al.  Special Issue on University Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer: Links and Impacts: The Influence of Public Research on Industrial R&D , 2002, Manag. Sci..

[69]  Joseph Friedman,et al.  University Technology Transfer: Do Incentives, Management, and Location Matter? , 2003 .

[70]  A. Strauss,et al.  The Discovery of Grounded Theory , 1967 .

[71]  Henning Kroll,et al.  Spin-off enterprises as a means of technology commercialisation in a transforming economy—Evidence from three universities in China , 2008 .

[72]  M. Polanyi,et al.  The Study of Man , 1959 .

[73]  M. Perkmann,et al.  Why do academics engage with industry? The entrepreneurial university and individual motivations , 2009 .

[74]  Will Mitchell,et al.  Complementarity, capabilities, and the boundaries of the firm: the impact of within‐firm and interfirm expertise on concurrent sourcing of complementary components , 2009 .

[75]  Martin C. Euwema,et al.  From “transplant with the soil” toward the establishment of the innovation ecosystem: A case study of a leading high-tech company in China , 2017, Technological Forecasting and Social Change.

[76]  Scott Paquette,et al.  Customer Knowledge Management , 2011, Encyclopedia of Knowledge Management.

[77]  Mike Wright,et al.  Critical junctures in the development of university high-tech spinout companies , 2004 .

[78]  B. Latour,et al.  Laboratory Life: The Construction of Scientific Facts , 1979 .

[79]  R. Cooper,et al.  Maximizing Productivity in Product Innovation , 2008 .

[80]  M. Fischer,et al.  Knowledge interactions between universities and industry in Austria: sectoral patterns and determinants , 2002 .

[81]  David B. Balkin,et al.  Entrepreneurship and university-based technology transfer , 2005 .

[82]  H. Etzkowitz.  The norms of entrepreneurial science: cognitive effects of the new university-industry linkages , 1998 .

[83]  Mike Wright,et al.  The Evolution of Entrepreneurial Competencies: A Longitudinal Study of University Spin‐Off Venture Emergence , 2011 .

[84]  Isaac Oluwajoba Abereijo,et al.  Transversing the “valley of death” , 2015 .

[85]  Mike Wright,et al.  Creating value in ecosystems: Crossing the chasm between knowledge and business ecosystems , 2014 .

[86]  Odd Jarl Borch,et al.  University capabilities in facilitating entrepreneurship: A longitudinal study of spin-off ventures at mid-range universities , 2010 .

[87]  U. Schmoch,et al.  Science-based technologies: university-industry interactions in four fields , 1998 .

[88]  Shaker A. Zahra,et al.  Entrepreneurship in global innovation ecosystems , 2011 .

[89]  Vadim Grinevich,et al.  The nature of academic entrepreneurship in the UK: Widening the focus on entrepreneurial activities , 2013 .

[90]  M. Wright,et al.  The transformation of network ties to develop entrepreneurial competencies for university spin-offs , 2015 .

[91]  Magnus Klofsten,et al.  Comparing Academic Entrepreneurship in Europe – The Case of Sweden and Ireland , 2000 .

[92]  Nathan Rosenberg,et al.  An Overview of Innovation , 2009 .

[93]  S. Ankrah,et al.  Universities-Industry Collaboration: A Systematic Review , 2015 .

[94]  Ammon Salter,et al.  The impact of entrepreneurial capacity, experience and organizational support on academic entrepreneurship , 2011 .

[95]  D. E. Stokes.  Pasteur's Quadrant: Basic Science and Technological Innovation , 1997 .

[96]  Mike Wright,et al.  Academic and Surrogate Entrepreneurs in University Spin-out Companies , 2001 .

[97]  Yuhai Wang,et al.  INTEGRATED INFERENCE OF DRIVER'S INTENTIONS AND DRIVING ENVIRONMENT AND REAL-TIME ALGORITHM , 2006 .

[98]  C. Mason,et al.  ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEMS AND GROWTH ORIENTED ENTREPRENEURSHIP , 2014 .

[99]  Kim B. Clark,et al.  The Interaction of Design Hierarchies and market Concepts in Technological Evolution : Research Policy , 1985 .

[100]  Kathleen M. Eisenhardt,et al.  Theory Building From Cases: Opportunities And Challenges , 2007 .

[101]  Li Yong.  A Study on the Algorithem of Anti skid Braking System of Vehicle Based on the Braking Decay Power , 2002 .

[102]  V. Grinevich,et al.  Gender patterns in academic entrepreneurship , 2017 .

[103]  Sarfraz A. Mian,et al.  Entrepreneurial universities: emerging models in the new social and economic landscape , 2016, Small Business Economics.

[104]  M. Feldman,et al.  Entpreprenerial Universities and Technology Transfer: A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Knowledge-Based Economic Development , 2006 .

[105]  A. Link,et al.  An Empirical Analysis of the Propensity of Academics to Engage In Informal University Technology Transfer , 2007 .

[106]  Maryann Feldman,et al.  Academic Entrepreneurs: Organizational Change at the Individual Level , 2008, Organ. Sci..

[107]  M. Wright,et al.  Entrepreneurial innovation: The importance of context , 2014 .

[108]  Pablo D'Este,et al.  University-industry linkages in the UK: What are the factors underlying the variety of interactions with industry? , 2007 .