IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jknowl/v6y2015i2p385-401.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Industry PhD Schemes: Developing Innovation Competencies in Firms?

Author

Listed:
  • Taran Thune
  • Pål Børing

Abstract

The paper addresses the question of how firms develop innovation-related competencies, by looking at innovative firms and their partnerships with universities. We argue that university partnerships are a strategy taken by innovative firms to develop technological competencies and innovation capacity, rather than an approach to source externally developed knowledge. Based on resource dependence theory, we argue that firms of different sizes and investment in R&D have different competence needs, this likely influences the extent to which they collaborate with universities. To investigate this, we carried out a mixed methods study of firms that collaborate with universities to develop innovation competencies by participating in Industry-PhD projects. The analyses show inconsistent results. The qualitative study indicated that small and large firms behave different along the patterns expected. However, analyses based on a survey of firms found that the firms where more similar in their approach to university partnerships than expected; and that development of broader competencies, knowledge in core technological areas, R&D competencies and innovation capability were key results in all firms. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Taran Thune & Pål Børing, 2015. "Industry PhD Schemes: Developing Innovation Competencies in Firms?," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 6(2), pages 385-401, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jknowl:v:6:y:2015:i:2:p:385-401
    DOI: 10.1007/s13132-014-0214-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s13132-014-0214-7
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13132-014-0214-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Butcher, Juliette & Jeffrey, Paul, 2007. "A view from the coal face: UK research student perceptions of successful and unsuccessful collaborative projects," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 1239-1250, October.
    2. Fritsch, Michael & Lukas, Rolf, 2001. "Who cooperates on R&D?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 297-312, February.
    3. Bodas Freitas, Isabel Maria & Geuna, Aldo & Rossi, Federica, 2013. "Finding the right partners: Institutional and personal modes of governance of university–industry interactions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 50-62.
    4. Lokshin, Boris & Gils, Anita Van & Bauer, Eva, 2009. "Crafting firm competencies to improve innovative performance," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 187-196, June.
    5. Laursen, Keld & Salter, Ammon, 2004. "Searching high and low: what types of firms use universities as a source of innovation?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(8), pages 1201-1215, October.
    6. D. Schartinger & C. Rammer & J. Fröhlich, 2006. "Knowledge Interactions between Universities and Industry in Austria: Sectoral Patterns and Determinants," Springer Books, in: Innovation, Networks, and Knowledge Spillovers, chapter 7, pages 135-166, Springer.
    7. Santoro, Michael D. & Chakrabarti, Alok K., 2002. "Firm size and technology centrality in industry-university interactions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(7), pages 1163-1180, September.
    8. Kafouros, Mario I. & Buckley, Peter J., 2008. "Under what conditions do firms benefit from the research efforts of other organizations?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 225-239, March.
    9. Wesley M. Cohen & Richard R. Nelson & John P. Walsh, 2003. "Links and Impacts: The Influence of Public Research on Industrial R&D," Chapters, in: Aldo Geuna & Ammon J. Salter & W. Edward Steinmueller (ed.), Science and Innovation, chapter 4, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. Miotti, Luis & Sachwald, Frederique, 2003. "Co-operative R&D: why and with whom?: An integrated framework of analysis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1481-1499, September.
    11. Bercovitz, Janet E.L. & Feldman, Maryann P., 2007. "Fishing upstream: Firm innovation strategy and university research alliances," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(7), pages 930-948, September.
    12. Perkmann, Markus & Tartari, Valentina & McKelvey, Maureen & Autio, Erkko & Broström, Anders & D’Este, Pablo & Fini, Riccardo & Geuna, Aldo & Grimaldi, Rosa & Hughes, Alan & Krabel, Stefan & Kitson, Mi, 2013. "Academic engagement and commercialisation: A review of the literature on university–industry relations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 423-442.
    13. Aldo Geuna & Ammon J. Salter & W. Edward Steinmueller (ed.), 2003. "Science and Innovation," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2831.
    14. Rudi Bekkers & Bodas Freitas, 2008. "Analysing preferences for knowledge transfer channels between universities and industry: To what degree do sectors also matter?," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-01487467, HAL.
    15. Bekkers, Rudi & Bodas Freitas, Isabel Maria, 2008. "Analysing knowledge transfer channels between universities and industry: To what degree do sectors also matter?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(10), pages 1837-1853, December.
    16. Gulbrandsen, Magnus & Mowery, David & Feldman, Maryann, 2011. "Introduction to the special section: Heterogeneity and university-industry relations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 1-5, February.
    17. James Hayton & Saloua Sehili & Vida Scarpello, 2010. "Why do firms join consortial research centers? An empirical examination of firm, industry and environmental antecedents," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 35(5), pages 494-510, October.
    18. Vila, Luis E. & Pérez, Pedro J. & Coll-Serrano, Vicente, 2014. "Innovation at the workplace: Do professional competencies matter?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(5), pages 752-757.
    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. Plantec, Quentin & Cabanes, Benjamin & le Masson, Pascal & Weil, Benoit, 2023. "Early-career academic engagement in university–industry collaborative PhDs: Research orientation and project performance," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(9).
    2. Jens Butschan & Sven Heidenreich & Benjamin Weber & Tobias Kraemer, 2019. "TACKLING HURDLES TO DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION — THE ROLE OF COMPETENCIES FOR SUCCESSFUL INDUSTRIAL INTERNET OF THINGS (IIoT) IMPLEMENTATION," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(04), pages 1-34, May.
    3. Quentin Plantec & Benjamin Cabanes & Pascal Le Masson & Benoit Weil, 2019. "Exploring Practices In University - Industry Collaborations: The Case Of Collaborative Doctoral Program In France," Post-Print hal-02152927, HAL.
    4. Quentin Plantec & Benjamin Cabanes & Pascal Le Masson & Benoit Weil, 2021. "Market-Pull Or Research Push? Effects Of Research Orientations On University-Industry Collaborative Ph.D. Projects' Performances," Post-Print halshs-03190142, HAL.

    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. Claudia Fuentes & Gabriela Dutrénit, 2016. "Geographic proximity and university–industry interaction: the case of Mexico," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 329-348, April.
    2. Igors Skute & Kasia Zalewska-Kurek & Isabella Hatak & Petra Weerd-Nederhof, 2019. "Mapping the field: a bibliometric analysis of the literature on university–industry collaborations," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 916-947, June.
    3. Fernández-Esquinas, Manuel & Pinto, Hugo & Yruela, Manuel Pérez & Pereira, Tiago Santos, 2016. "Tracing the flows of knowledge transfer: Latent dimensions and determinants of university–industry interactions in peripheral innovation systems," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 113(PB), pages 266-279.
    4. Joana Costa & João C.O. Matias, 2020. "Open Innovation 4.0 as an Enhancer of Sustainable Innovation Ecosystems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-19, October.
    5. Adele Parmentola & Marco Ferretti & Eva Panetti, 0. "Exploring the university-industry cooperation in a low innovative region. What differences between low tech and high tech industries?," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-28.
    6. Aurora A. C. Teixeira & Luisa Mota, 2012. "A bibliometric portrait of the evolution, scientific roots and influence of the literature on university–industry links," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 93(3), pages 719-743, December.
    7. Victoria Galan-Muros & Todd Davey, 2019. "The UBC ecosystem: putting together a comprehensive framework for university-business cooperation," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 1311-1346, August.
    8. Isabel Maria Bodas Freitas & Aldo Geuna & Federica Rossi, 2011. "University–Industry Interactions: The Unresolved Puzzle," Chapters, in: Cristiano Antonelli (ed.), Handbook on the Economic Complexity of Technological Change, chapter 11, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. R. Núñez-Sánchez & A. Barge-Gil & A. Modrego-Rico, 2012. "Performance of knowledge interactions between public research centres and industrial firms in Spain: a project-level analysis," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 330-354, June.
    10. Adele Parmentola & Marco Ferretti & Eva Panetti, 2021. "Exploring the university-industry cooperation in a low innovative region. What differences between low tech and high tech industries?," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 1469-1496, September.
    11. Charlotta Dahlborg & Danielle Lewensohn & Rickard Danell & Carl Johan Sundberg, 2017. "To invent and let others innovate: a framework of academic patent transfer modes," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 538-563, June.
    12. Yongli Tang & Kazuyuki Motohashi & Xinyue Hu & Angeles Montoro-Sanchez, 2020. "University-industry interaction and product innovation performance of Guangdong manufacturing firms: the roles of regional proximity and research quality of universities," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 578-618, April.
    13. Fernando Alexandre & Hélder Costa & Ana Paula Faria & Miguel Portela, 2022. "Enhancing University–Industry collaboration: the role of intermediary organizations," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(5), pages 1584-1611, October.
    14. Bhullar, Supreet S. & Nangia, Vinay K. & Batish, Ajay, 2019. "Research article: The impact of academia-industry collaboration on core academic activities: Assessing the latent dimensions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 1-11.
    15. Vitaliy Roud & Valeriya Vlasova, 2020. "Strategies of industry-science cooperation in the Russian manufacturing sector," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 870-907, June.
    16. De Fuentes, Claudia & Dutrénit, Gabriela, 2012. "Best channels of academia–industry interaction for long-term benefit," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(9), pages 1666-1682.
    17. Rachel Levy & Pascale Roux & Sandrine Wolff, 2009. "An analysis of science–industry collaborative patterns in a large European University," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 1-23, February.
    18. Fini, Riccardo & Grimaldi, Rosa & Meoli, Azzurra, 2020. "The effectiveness of university regulations to foster science-based entrepreneurship," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(10).
    19. Thomas Wolfgang Thurner, 2017. "TRANSFER REVENUES OF RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY ORGANIZATIONS (RTOs) IN TIMES OF ECONOMIC CRISIS," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 21(02), pages 1-24, February.
    20. Bodas Freitas Isabel Maria & Federica Rossi & Aldo Geuna, 2014. "Collaboration objectives and the location of the university partner: Evidence from the Piedmont region in Italy," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 93, pages 203-226, November.

    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:spr:jknowl:v:6:y:2015:i:2:p:385-401. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.