Elements that influence knowledge sharing in the university-industry-government collaboration: Case studies in Brazil.
| Autor | Junqueira de Castro, Igor |
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Introduction
It has become clear since the second half of twentieth century that society is increasingly more connected to knowledge development and its practical applications in new technologies. This way, the university assumes a central role, once it stands for three functions: education, research and extension. The first pillar, in a more practical way, looks to develop citizens to generate new knowledge, developing its nation; the second pillar focus on knowledge generation itself, by doing academic research; and the last and third pillar approaches the development of extension activities, searching for a closer connection among university, external stakeholders, society and private companies or organizations.
Technology, as a product and producer of the innovation process, reflects the degree of aggregated knowledge, the set of skills and the ability of learning an organization has in a certain moment. Innovation can be seen as a flow, as it is a transformational process that results from accumulated skills, knowledge and technology. Innovation and technology are gathered through unspoken and by explicit expertise, which result from collaborative learning, that were already created (Dudziak, 2007).
In this context, the Brazilian scenario is still incipient accounting for its social character of generating development through science, technology and innovation (STI). National vision is that application in science, mainly in universities, happens through education and not necessarily innovation or knowledge creation. This method of conducting science has been contested by academic research studies that proof the value of a university able to generate knowledge and actually apply it in society (Brito Cruz and Pacheco, 2004).
However, even with this indifference, it is possible to observe the importance of knowledge development in Brazil. According to data of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2012), investment in research and development (R&D) in the country is close to great centers of research, such as UK, Canada and ahead of others, such as Italy, when comparing the share of GDP invested in R&D.
Nevertheless, more than the creation of knowledge and innovation through R&D, the Modern Age reiterates the importance of a "Third Mission": the economic and social appreciation of knowledge produced by researchers in the universities. The definition of this mission imposes the need for strategies, structures and mechanisms to facilitate and identify knowledge transference to the private sector in many ways: licensed patents, academic spinoffs, startups and others. Therefore, universities would also need to develop a culture more oriented to entrepreneurship, with researchers engaged into this culture (Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff, 1995). Such model also spans the importance of the relationship among three stakeholders: government, universities and companies (Fayolle and Redford, 2014).
Based on this, the need for more entrepreneurial universities becomes clear. Those organizations should alter their strategies, structures, practices and culture to help students and community members to act in a more entrepreneurial way. But, in general, universities are bureaucratic institutions and, as a consequence, present low ability to adapt itself and to adopt new behaviors (Fayolle and Redford, 2014).
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Bibliographic review
In this topic, a literature revision addressing the main topics important for this paper is presented: entrepreneurial university and collaboration among universities, companies and government. The main dimensions and topics that influence those two topics are also approached in this section.
2.1 Entrepreneurial university
Etzkowitz (2003) outlined the concept of entrepreneurial universities to describe a series of changes that reflect the role of universities in promoting academic research knowledge transference in a more direct and active way. However, technology transference is something challenging, once private companies and universities have, in general, distinct missions and mutual suspicion.
Although, not only Etzkowitz approached the concept of entrepreneurial universities, but also different scholars, such as Chrisman et al (1995), Clark (1998a, b) and many others. Even though there is no unique concept about what is an entrepreneurial university, there is a consensus that it is related to knowledge transference with the purpose of causing economic and social development. In other words, every research project and knowledge produced in a lab should aim, somehow, to benefit society, by its economic and social results.
Not only academic researchers, but also OECD approached the theme, synthesizing every concept and knowledge developed by research projects about the topic and created a framework defining what is an entrepreneurial university. The frame describes seven functions: "Leadership and governance," "Organizational capability, people and incentives," "Development of entrepreneurship in the education," "Paths to entrepreneurs," "University company," "External relations for knowledge sharing," "Universities while international institutions" and "Measurement of university impact."
2.2 Critical factors in an entrepreneurial university
Many factors influence the success of an entrepreneurial university strategy implementation. Blok et al (2014) identified, in their study, five macro factors with huge influence: "Strategy," "Resources," "Infrastructure," "Reach" and "Development." Each of those factors is composed by activities and tangible actions, so it is possible to reach a higher level of granularity to design the better strategy to become an entrepreneurial university.
Strategy. The macro factor "Strategy" involves how universities introduce an entrepreneurial education program in their strategy (Niras, 2009). The activities related to this factor are: mission and strategic objective of universities, and operational politics that are unfolded of such objectives in order to improve the strategic program of the entrepreneurial university. The mission and strategy are important to demonstrate an agility to adapt to rapid changes that should present in that kind of organization (Sporn, 2001). Those strategic objectives, previously described, need to be present in every and each level of leadership of the organization and present in the politics of every department (Potter, 2008).
According to Sotirakou (2004), not only the structure of the governance, but also the style of the leadership in the universities should create a scenario where entrepreneurship programs might prosper. It implies programs should be supported by the university employees, and by directors.
Resources. Another crucial factor for the development of an entrepreneurial program is the availability of finance it (Niras, 2009). Specific activities regard the amount of resources, the type of resources available and own income generation to the university, through patents, consulting or even product selling. Many researchers mentioned the importance of finance to develop and execute activities related to entrepreneurship, stating that it is impossible to implement those practices without dedicated funds.
Not only the size of the budget matters, it is also important to understand the availability of resources during a constant period of time, maintaining programs' sustainability (Potter, 2008). Sporn (2001) alerts about the dependence of resources from the government, as it reduces the capacity to adapt to changes in the university environment. Diversification of revenue streams diminishes considerably universities vulnerability (Clark 1998a, b) and increases programs' sustainability (Potter, 2008).
Infrastructure. The third factor influencing on building an entrepreneurial university is the infrastructure offered by the institution, which not only structures to support the education (Niras...
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