Metrics, Incentives, Rewards, and Culture for Impact

This chapter explores metrics, incentives, rewards, and culture for impact by drawing lessons and insights from IBM’s history of University-Industry (UI) relationships. While there is a rich and growing literature on these UI topics in general, the diversity of interactions and factors driving change have created both exciting opportunities and ongoing challenges for large, global Information Technology (IT) firms. The lessons learned from IBM’s Global University Programs (GUP) provide a foundation for all enterprises undergoing digital transformation. This general framework describes several models of engagement classified by the typical monetary investment and the goals and metrics associated with them. The array of engagement models allows the potential academic or industrial partner to assess which model best suits them. While the topics, such as Intellectual Property (IP) agreements and access to a future hiring pipeline may be common to many models, some topics are more specific to the parties, such as near-term and long-term research goals. IBM’s experience suggests that engaging academia for short-term gains does not serve the purpose of creating a culture of research, long-term strategy and skills development. The framework emphasizes “six Rs”: research, readiness, recruiting, revenue, responsibility, and regions. We show how the six Rs are applied in recent small, medium, and large UI partnerships. Finally, the impact of emerging AI capabilities on UI partnerships and collaborations are assessed. In summary, while the six Rs have stood the test of time, a seventh R (Refresh) is emerging as critical to creating and maintaining a long-term strategic relationship that nurtures UI relationships.