Benefits and Barriers of University Industry Collaborations from a Researcher's Perspective: Development of Formative Scales and Cluster Analysis

Thomas Kilian, Petra Schubert, Niels Bjørn-Andersen

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    Abstract

    This article extends previous empirical research on the benefits and barriers for researchers in the field of Information Systems (IS) to engage in University-Industry Collaboration (UIC), a term that is used to describe the active engagement of a company or government agency in a joint research project with academics. The objectives and motivations of UIC have been discussed widely and controversially in the literature. We were particularly interested in the perceived benefits and barriers that influence an individual researcher to engage (or not engage) in a joint research project. An in-depth literature analysis showed that a very small number of research articles contain empirical data and that there are serious methodological issues. In order to address these issues, we collected primary data from 328 IS researchers with experience in UIC and conducted an explorative study. We developed parsimonious formative measures for the benefits and barriers of UIC and we found that academic and economic benefits positively influence the intention to conduct UIC in the future, while economic barriers negatively influence the intention to engage in UIC. A cluster analysis found five clusters (groups of researchers) that differ in their perception of benefits and barriers and the future intention to conduct UIC. However, the majority of the researchers have a very high intention to conduct UIC in the future.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationECIS 2015 Proceedings
    EditorsJörg Becker, Jan vom Brocke, Marco De Marco
    Number of pages14
    Place of PublicationAtlanta, GA
    PublisherAssociation for Information Systems. AIS Electronic Library (AISeL)
    Publication date2015
    Article number101
    ISBN (Print)9783000502842
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2015
    EventThe 23rd European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS) 2015 - Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Münster, Germany
    Duration: 26 May 201529 May 2015
    Conference number: 23
    http://www.ecis2015.eu/

    Conference

    ConferenceThe 23rd European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS) 2015
    Number23
    LocationWestfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster
    Country/TerritoryGermany
    CityMünster
    Period26/05/201529/05/2015
    Internet address
    SeriesProceedings of the European Conference on Information Systems
    ISSN0000-0034

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