Success factors in the processes of commercialization of knowledge - relational and communicational aspect

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Success factors in the processes of commercialization of knowledge - relational and communicational aspect

Journal Title: Marketing Instytucji Naukowych i Badawczych - Year 2014, Vol 14, Issue 4

Abstract

The aim of the article is to identify the ways of communication that increase the chances of researchers being at different stages of a scientific career to collaborate with companies. Inefficient communication and the closeness of research units to the environment are considered to be the greatest barriers to the development of R&D cooperation between science and industry. Lack of knowledge results in the formation of negative stereotypes on both young and senior researchers. The former are considered incompetent, while the latter – too little interested in cooperation with companies or holding high financial expectations. However, according to the research outcomes companies prefer to invest their resources in studies carried out by experienced and acclaimed scientists. The higher status has a researcher, the greater variety of contacts with industry he possess. Thanks to contacts developed throughout their scientific career senior researchers usually cooperate with business more frequently. In turn, young scientists are more open to undertaking new forms of cooperation. However, in some cases they have to reduce their engagement as they are overloaded by teaching duties. Considering presented evidence, I assumed that the way of sharing the research findings, that resulted in establishing cooperation with industry, varied at different stages of scientific career. In order to verify this assumption, I used logit regression. The first model constructed examines how different ways of communication affect the likelihood of cooperation with companies in the case of postdoctoral researchers, and the second model – in the case of more experienced researchers, i.e. associate professors and professors. In addition, there is a set of variables that are controlled in each of the models (such as: a type of scientific unit that employed a researcher, a field of science that a researcher represented and a type of research that she/he carried out). I performed the analyses on data obtained from 1960 scientists who participated in a nationwide survey conducted by CAWI and realized by National Information Processing Institute in 2013. The results indicate that associate professors and professors are more likely to cooperate with industry if they establish direct contacts with companies and take part in conferences and symposia in which entrepreneurs participate. Scientists with a doctoral degree have a wider range of communication tools that positively affecting the possibility of their engagement in cooperation with industry; apart from the aforementioned methods it also includes sending offers and publishing in professional or industry press. It is worth to mention that researchers’ activity in the field of scientific publications influences their chances of cooperation negatively.

Authors and Affiliations

Marzena Feldy

Keywords

EP ID EP70791
DOI 10.14611/minib.14.04.2014.08
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