IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/tefoso/v218y2025ics0040162525002550.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Impact of the ambidexterity of University Technology Transfer Offices on their performance: The Spanish context

Author

Listed:
  • Fernández-Alles, Mariluz
  • Rodríguez-González, Tamara
  • Villanueva-Flores, Mercedes
  • Díaz-Fernández, Mirta

Abstract

University Technology Transfer Offices (UTTOs) are units created to promote knowledge transfer. They assist academics by creating academic spin-offs (ASOs) and managing contracts, consulting, licenses, and patents. These units have grown in size, age, experience, and professionalism, thereby gaining resources and networks to improve UTTOs’' performance. However, neither the creation of these units nor the presence of these characteristics are sufficient to improve transfer performance. Organizational UTTO ambidexterity, as a dynamic capability, and individual UTTO ambidexterity, as the individual orientation of UTTO employees, seems necessary to address two exploitative and explorative orientations to improve knowledge transfer. Exploitative orientation aims to provide UTTO services by seeking improvement, efficiency, and incremental innovation. Explorative orientation is oriented toward seeking new opportunities to provide new UTTO services and identify new customers for radical innovation. This study analyzes the impact of organizational and individual ambidexterity of Spanish UTTOs on their transfer performance. The regression analysis indicates that the organizational ambidexterity of UTTOs is critical for the number of ASOs. In addition, individual ambidexterity is relevant for obtaining higher contract and consultancy incomes and licenses. By contrast, the impact of organizational and individual ambidexterity on patents is yet to be determined.

Suggested Citation

  • Fernández-Alles, Mariluz & Rodríguez-González, Tamara & Villanueva-Flores, Mercedes & Díaz-Fernández, Mirta, 2025. "Impact of the ambidexterity of University Technology Transfer Offices on their performance: The Spanish context," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:218:y:2025:i:c:s0040162525002550
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2025.124224
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162525002550
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.techfore.2025.124224?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.

    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:eee:tefoso:v:218:y:2025:i:c:s0040162525002550. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00401625 .

    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.