IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0304519.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Managing institutional conflicts: Stakeholder accounts of communication between conflict of interest and technology transfer offices

Author

Listed:
  • Matthew S McCoy
  • Michaela Ward
  • Rebecca Neergaard
  • Steven Joffe
  • Julia E Szymczak

Abstract

There have been repeated calls for academic institutions to develop policies and procedures to manage institutional conflicts of interest (ICOI) arising from technology transfer activities. While prior research has examined adoption of ICOI policies by medical schools and universities, little is known about how these institutions handle ICOI in practice, hindering the development of evidence-based recommendations to improve ICOI management. To address this gap, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 25 senior administrators responsible for research integrity and conflict of interest issues at academic institutions. Data were analyzed using a descriptive qualitative content analysis approach, combining flexible coding to index the interview data with close examination, interpretation, and synthesis of coded content. Participants identified communication and information sharing between conflict of interest (COI) and technology transfer (TT) offices as a critical factor in the effective management of ICOI and suggested several strategies to strengthen coordination between these offices. These findings suggest that academic research institutions could strengthen COI programs by taking measures to improve communication and information sharing between COI and TT offices.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew S McCoy & Michaela Ward & Rebecca Neergaard & Steven Joffe & Julia E Szymczak, 2024. "Managing institutional conflicts: Stakeholder accounts of communication between conflict of interest and technology transfer offices," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(8), pages 1-12, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0304519
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0304519
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0304519
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0304519&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0304519?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    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. Walsh, John P. & Huang, Hsini, 2014. "Local context, academic entrepreneurship and open science: Publication secrecy and commercial activity among Japanese and US scientists," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 245-260.
    4. Michelle M Mello & Lindsey Murtagh & Steven Joffe & Patrick L Taylor & Yelena Greenberg & Eric G Campbell, 2018. "Beyond financial conflicts of interest: Institutional oversight of faculty consulting agreements at schools of medicine and public health," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(10), pages 1-13, October.
    5. Brantnell, Anders & Baraldi, Enrico, 2022. "Understanding the roles and involvement of technology transfer offices in the commercialization of university research," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Aydemir, Nisa Yazici & Huang, Wan-Ling & Welch, Eric W., 2022. "Late-stage academic entrepreneurship: Explaining why academic scientists collaborate with industry to commercialize their patents," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    2. Natalya Radko & Maksim Belitski & Yelena Kalyuzhnova, 2023. "Conceptualising the entrepreneurial university: the stakeholder approach," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 955-1044, June.
    3. Peter T. Gianiodis & William R. Meek, 2020. "Entrepreneurial education for the entrepreneurial university: a stakeholder perspective," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(4), pages 1167-1195, August.
    4. Hsieh Ru-Mei & Kelley Donna, 2020. "A Study of Key Indicators of Development for University-Based Entrepreneurship Ecosystems in Taiwan," Entrepreneurship Research Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 10(2), pages 1-17, April.
    5. Laura Kreiling & Ahmed Bounfour, 2020. "A practice-based maturity model for holistic TTO performance management: development and initial use," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(6), pages 1718-1747, December.
    6. Daniela Bolzani & Federico Munari & Einar Rasmussen & Laura Toschi, 2021. "Technology transfer offices as providers of science and technology entrepreneurship education," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 335-365, April.
    7. Massa, Lorenzo & Ardito, Lorenzo & Messeni Petruzzelli, Antonio, 2022. "Brokerage dynamics in technology transfer networks: A multi-case study," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    8. O'Kane, Conor & Mangematin, Vincent & Zhang, Jing A. & Cunningham, James A., 2020. "How university-based principal investigators shape a hybrid role identity," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    9. Gümüsay, Ali Aslan & Bohné, Thomas Marc, 2018. "Individual and organizational inhibitors to the development of entrepreneurial competencies in universities," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 363-378.
    10. El-Awad, Ziad & Brattström, Anna & Breugst, Nicola, 2022. "Bridging cognitive scripts in multidisciplinary academic spinoff teams: A process perspective on how academics learn to work with non-academic managers," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(10).
    11. Delorme, Donatienne, 2023. "The role of proximity in the design of innovation intermediaries' business models," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    12. Ileana Palaco & Suk Kyoung Kim & Min Jae Park & Jae Jeung Rho, 2022. "Exploring capabilities of international technology transfer intermediaries between emerging and developed countries," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 307-352, February.
    13. Conor O’Kane & James A. Cunningham & Matthias Menter & Sara Walton, 2021. "The brokering role of technology transfer offices within entrepreneurial ecosystems: an investigation of macro–meso–micro factors," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 46(6), pages 1814-1844, December.
    14. Ollila, Susanne, 2025. "In-between identity work: Transcending boundaries in university-industry collaboration," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    15. Carsten Schultz & Oliver Gretsch & Alexander Kock, 2021. "The influence of shared R&D-project innovativeness perceptions on university-industry collaboration performance," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 46(4), pages 1144-1172, August.
    16. Halilem, Norrin & Diop, Balla, 2025. "“Meet me at the backdoor”: A multiple case study of academic entrepreneurs bypassing their technology transfer offices," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(2).
    17. Modic, Dolores & Suklan, Jana, 2022. "Multidimensional experience and performance of highly skilled administrative staff: Evidence from a technology transfer office," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(10).
    18. Pohle, Anna & Villani, Elisa & Grimaldi, Rosa, 2022. "Personnel motivation in knowledge transfer offices: The role of university-level and organizational-level antecedents," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    19. Albats, Ekaterina & Alexander, Allen T. & Cunningham, James A., 2022. "Traditional, virtual, and digital intermediaries in university-industry collaboration: exploring institutional logics and bounded rationality," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    20. Soares, Thiago J. & Torkomian, Ana L.V., 2021. "TTO's staff and technology transfer: Examining the effect of employees' individual capabilities," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:plo:pone00:0304519. 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: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    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.