IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i12p4675-d188976.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Co-Evolution of the University Technology Transfer: Towards a Sustainability-Oriented Industry: Evidence from Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Paola M. A. Paniccia

    (Department of Management and Law, Tor Vergata University of Rome, 00133 Rome, Italy)

  • Silvia Baiocco

    (Department of Management and Law, Tor Vergata University of Rome, 00133 Rome, Italy)

Abstract

Industry is continuously evolving, reflecting changes in society. An important aspect of this evolution concerns how new digital technologies are used and their effects on innovation and sustainability. Thus, the relationship between university, industry, and government grows stronger, shifting the focus on technology transfer processes from university to industry, at local and national levels. To increase our understanding of how these processes take place, more theoretical and empirical research is required. This paper aims to respond to this call by examining the university technology transfer through a co-evolutionary approach. The study analyses the dynamics of the relationships at different organisational levels within universities able to create sustainability-oriented innovative university spin-offs and start-ups, through the Italian National Innovation Award case. The findings show that the creation of these spin-offs and start-ups are the result of effective multi-level co-evolutionary adaptations within universities, and among university, industry and government. The article contributes to the further understanding of the management of technology transfer by combining some elements from the literature about the co-evolution of social organisations and their environment with some elements from the Triple Helix model of innovation. Moreover, both theoretical and managerial implications emerge, together with suggestions for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Paola M. A. Paniccia & Silvia Baiocco, 2018. "Co-Evolution of the University Technology Transfer: Towards a Sustainability-Oriented Industry: Evidence from Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-29, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:12:p:4675-:d:188976
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/12/4675/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/12/4675/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Johann Peter Murmann, 2013. "The Coevolution of Industries and Important Features of Their Environments," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(1), pages 58-78, February.
    2. Michela Piccarozzi, 2017. "Does Social Innovation Contribute to Sustainability? The Case of Italian Innovative Start-Ups," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-28, December.
    3. Daniela Bolzani & Riccardo Fini & Rosa Grimaldi & Maurizio Sobrero, 2014. "University spin-offs and their impact: longitudinal evidence from Italy," ECONOMIA E POLITICA INDUSTRIALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2014(4), pages 237-263.
    4. Arie Y. Lewin & Henk W. Volberda, 1999. "Prolegomena on Coevolution: A Framework for Research on Strategy and New Organizational Forms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(5), pages 519-534, October.
    5. Wouters, Marc, 2009. "A developmental approach to performance measures--Results from a longitudinal case study," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 64-78, February.
    6. Paola M. A. Paniccia & Luna Leoni & Silvia Baiocco, 2017. "Interpreting Sustainability through Co-Evolution: Evidence from Religious Accommodations in Rome," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-19, December.
    7. Henry Etzkowitz & Chunyan Zhou, 2006. "Triple Helix twins: innovation and sustainability," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 33(1), pages 77-83, February.
    8. Frank T. Rothaermel & Shanti D. Agung & Lin Jiang, 2007. "University entrepreneurship: a taxonomy of the literature," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 16(4), pages 691-791, August.
    9. Gideon D. Markman & Donald S. Siegel & Mike Wright, 2008. "Research and Technology Commercialization," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(8), pages 1401-1423, December.
    10. Riccardo Fini & Kun Fu & Marius Tuft Mathisen & Einar Rasmussen & Mike Wright, 2017. "Institutional determinants of university spin-off quantity and quality: a longitudinal, multilevel, cross-country study," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 361-391, February.
    11. Tina C. Ambos & Kristiina Mäkelä & Julian Birkinshaw & Pablo D'Este, 2008. "When Does University Research Get Commercialized? Creating Ambidexterity in Research Institutions," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(8), pages 1424-1447, December.
    12. Phan, Phillip H. & Siegel, Donald S., 2006. "The Effectiveness of University Technology Transfer," Foundations and Trends(R) in Entrepreneurship, now publishers, vol. 2(2), pages 77-144, November.
    13. Abatecola, Gianpaolo, 2014. "Research in organizational evolution. What comes next?," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 434-443.
    14. Ron Boschma & Ron Martin, 2010. "The Aims and Scope of Evolutionary Economic Geography," Chapters, in: Ron Boschma & Ron Martin (ed.), The Handbook of Evolutionary Economic Geography, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. Giorgio Calcagnini & Ilario Favaretto & Germana Giombini & Francesco Perugini & Rosalba Rombaldoni, 2016. "The role of universities in the location of innovative start-ups," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 41(4), pages 670-693, August.
    16. Etzkowitz, Henry & Leydesdorff, Loet, 2000. "The dynamics of innovation: from National Systems and "Mode 2" to a Triple Helix of university-industry-government relations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 109-123, February.
    17. de Sousa Jabbour, Ana Beatriz Lopes & Jabbour, Charbel Jose Chiappetta & Foropon, Cyril & Godinho Filho, Moacir, 2018. "When titans meet – Can industry 4.0 revolutionise the environmentally-sustainable manufacturing wave? The role of critical success factors," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 18-25.
    18. Ahrens, Thomas & Chapman, Christopher S., 2006. "Doing qualitative field research in management accounting: Positioning data to contribute to theory," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(8), pages 819-841, November.
    19. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    20. Ron Boschma & Ron Martin (ed.), 2010. "The Handbook of Evolutionary Economic Geography," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12864.
    21. Mustar, Philippe & Renault, Marie & Colombo, Massimo G. & Piva, Evila & Fontes, Margarida & Lockett, Andy & Wright, Mike & Clarysse, Bart & Moray, Nathalie, 2006. "Conceptualising the heterogeneity of research-based spin-offs: A multi-dimensional taxonomy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 289-308, March.
    22. Debra R. Comer & Michael Schwartz, 2017. "Highlighting Moral Courage in the Business Ethics Course," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 146(3), pages 703-723, December.
    23. Elias G. Carayannis & David F.J. Campbell, 2010. "Triple Helix, Quadruple Helix and Quintuple Helix and How Do Knowledge, Innovation and the Environment Relate To Each Other? : A Proposed Framework for a Trans-disciplinary Analysis of Sustainable Dev," International Journal of Social Ecology and Sustainable Development (IJSESD), IGI Global, vol. 1(1), pages 41-69, January.
    24. Szulanski, Gabriel, 2000. "The Process of Knowledge Transfer: A Diachronic Analysis of Stickiness," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 9-27, May.
    25. Carliss Y. Baldwin & Kim B. Clark, 2000. "Design Rules, Volume 1: The Power of Modularity," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262024667, December.
    26. Roberto Parente & Rosangela Feola & Valentina Cucino & Gemma Catolino, 2015. "Visibility and Reputation of New Entrepreneurial Projects from Academia: the Role of Start-Up Competitions," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 6(3), pages 551-567, September.
    27. Rasmussen, Einar & Mosey, Simon & Wright, Mike, 2014. "The influence of university departments on the evolution of entrepreneurial competencies in spin-off ventures," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 92-106.
    28. Debackere, Koenraad & Veugelers, Reinhilde, 2005. "The role of academic technology transfer organizations in improving industry science links," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 321-342, April.
    29. Min Xu & Jeanne M. David & Suk Hi Kim, 2018. "The Fourth Industrial Revolution: Opportunities and Challenges," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 9(2), pages 90-95, April.
    30. Udo Zander & Bruce Kogut, 1995. "Knowledge and the Speed of the Transfer and Imitation of Organizational Capabilities: An Empirical Test," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 6(1), pages 76-92, February.
    31. Bryan Campbell, 2010. "Environment And Sustainable Development," CIRANO Papers 2010n-04speciala, CIRANO.
    32. Sara Poggesi & Michela Mari & Luisa Vita, 2016. "What’s new in female entrepreneurship research? Answers from the literature," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 735-764, September.
    33. Bozeman, Barry, 2000. "Technology transfer and public policy: a review of research and theory," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(4-5), pages 627-655, April.
    34. Roberto Cafferata, 2016. "Darwinist connections between the systemness of social organizations and their evolution," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 20(1), pages 19-44, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dan He & Manxin Zheng & Wei Cheng & Yui-yip Lau & Qingmei Yin, 2019. "Interaction between Higher Education Outputs and Industrial Structure Evolution: Evidence from Hubei Province, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-19, May.
    2. Adriano Mesquita Soares & João Luiz Kovaleski & Silvia Gaia & Daiane Maria de Genaro Chiroli, 2020. "Building Sustainable Development through Technology Transfer Offices: An Approach Based on Levels of Maturity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-22, February.
    3. Noelia Franco-Leal & Carmen Camelo-Ordaz & Juan Pablo Dianez-Gonzalez & Elena Sousa-Ginel, 2020. "The Role of Social and Institutional Contexts in Social Innovations of Spanish Academic Spinoffs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-24, January.
    4. Călin S. Vac & Ileana Andreica & Ioana A. Roman, 2023. "Prospects for Research, Development, Innovation and Technology Transfer in Romanian Horticulture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-26, June.
    5. José Bestier Padilla Bejarano & Jhon Wilder Zartha Sossa & Carlos Ocampo-López & Margarita Ramírez-Carmona, 2023. "University Technology Transfer from a Knowledge-Flow Approach—Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-21, April.
    6. Oleksandr Davydiuk & Iuliia Ostapenko & Volodymyr Shekhovtsov & Iryna Sukhodubova & Yurii Senyk, 2023. "Identifying directions for improving means of technology transfer safety regulation," Eastern-European Journal of Enterprise Technologies, PC TECHNOLOGY CENTER, vol. 5(13 (125)), pages 88-97, October.
    7. Lisa Craiut & Constantin Bungau & Paul Andrei Negru & Tudor Bungau & Andrei-Flavius Radu, 2022. "Technology Transfer in the Context of Sustainable Development—A Bibliometric Analysis of Publications in the Field," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-16, September.
    8. Gianpaolo Abatecola, 2021. "Prioritizing Short-Termism in Behavioural Strategy: Lessons from Enron – 20 Years On," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 14(4), pages 1-60, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. O’Kane, Conor & Mangematin, Vincent & Geoghegan, Will & Fitzgerald, Ciara, 2015. "University technology transfer offices: The search for identity to build legitimacy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 421-437.
    2. Conor O'Kane & Vincent Mangematin & Will Geoghegan & Ciara Fitzgerald, 2015. "University Technology Transfer offices : the search for identity to build legimacy," Post-Print hal-01072998, HAL.
    3. Muscio, Alessandro & Ramaciotti, Laura, 2019. "How does academia influence Ph.D. entrepreneurship? New insights on the entrepreneurial university," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 82, pages 16-24.
    4. Victoria Galán-Muros & Peter Sijde & Peter Groenewegen & Thomas Baaken, 2017. "Nurture over nature: How do European universities support their collaboration with business?," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 184-205, February.
    5. Good, Matthew & Knockaert, Mirjam & Soppe, Birthe & Wright, Mike, 2019. "The technology transfer ecosystem in academia. An organizational design perspective," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 82, pages 35-50.
    6. Annelore Huyghe & Mirjam Knockaert & Mike Wright & Evila Piva, 2014. "Technology transfer offices as boundary spanners in the pre-spin-off process: the case of a hybrid model," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 289-307, August.
    7. Stefan Marc Hossinger & Xiangyu Chen & Arndt Werner, 2020. "Drivers, barriers and success factors of academic spin-offs: a systematic literature review," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 70(1), pages 97-134, February.
    8. Alejandro Bengoa & Amaia Maseda & Txomin Iturralde & Gloria Aparicio, 2021. "A bibliometric review of the technology transfer literature," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 46(5), pages 1514-1550, October.
    9. Christopher S. Hayter & Andrew J. Nelson & Stephanie Zayed & Alan C. O’Connor, 2018. "Conceptualizing academic entrepreneurship ecosystems: a review, analysis and extension of the literature," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 1039-1082, August.
    10. Compagnucci, Lorenzo & Spigarelli, Francesca, 2020. "The Third Mission of the university: A systematic literature review on potentials and constraints," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    11. Fini, Riccardo & Grimaldi, Rosa & Meoli, Azzurra, 2020. "The effectiveness of university regulations to foster science-based entrepreneurship," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(10).
    12. Rasmussen, Einar & Borch, Odd Jarl, 2010. "University capabilities in facilitating entrepreneurship: A longitudinal study of spin-off ventures at mid-range universities," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 602-612, June.
    13. Marvello Yang & Norizan Jaafar & Abdullah Al Mamun & Anas A. Salameh & Noorshella Che Nawi, 2022. "Modelling the significance of strategic orientation for competitive advantage and economic sustainability: the use of hybrid SEM–neural network analysis," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 1-28, December.
    14. Tom Broekel & Marcel Bednarz, 2018. "Disentangling link formation and dissolution in spatial networks: An Application of a Two-Mode STERGM to a Project-Based R&D Network in the German Biotechnology Industry," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 677-704, September.
    15. Ferraris, Alberto & Belyaeva, Zhanna & Bresciani, Stefano, 2020. "The role of universities in the Smart City innovation: Multistakeholder integration and engagement perspectives," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 163-171.
    16. Giuliano Sansone & Daniele Battaglia & Paolo Landoni & Emilio Paolucci, 2021. "Academic spinoffs: the role of entrepreneurship education," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 369-399, March.
    17. Paola Giuri & Rosa Grimaldi & Anna Kochenkova & Federico Munari & Laura Toschi, 2020. "The effects of university-level policies on women’s participation in academic patenting in Italy," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 122-150, February.
    18. Bijedić, Teita & Schröder, Christian & Werner, Arndt & Chen, Xiangyu, 2023. "How do working conditions, network relationships, and institutional support offers effect entrepreneurial intentions of German university scientists?," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    19. M. Schoonmaker & E. Carayannis & P. Rau, 2013. "The role of marketing activities in the fuzzy front end of innovation: a study of the biotech industry," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 38(6), pages 850-872, December.
    20. Chai, Sen & Shih, Willy, 2016. "Bridging science and technology through academic–industry partnerships," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 148-158.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:12:p:4675-:d:188976. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.