IESE Insight
The benefits of science collaborations
Some of the most important commercial products of the 20th century owe their success to the university researchers who gave them technological birth.
There is considerable evidence that firms with links to external science and research are more likely to be at the forefront of innovation – and more often named on patent applications – than those lacking similar ties. These ties, dubbed “science linkages” by researchers, vary in quantity, style and complexity, but corporations may create them by accessing publicly available scientific information; partnering with universities and public research centers; citing scientific literature in patent applications; and publishing their own scientific literature, often in cooperation with university researchers.
The IT giant Indra is one example of a company that is conducting a series of University Collaboration Projects in conjunction with several Spanish universities. Each project focuses specifically on innovating a new product designed to make it easier for those with physical disabilities to access today’s technologies. One example is the Headmouse, which enables physically disabled users to control their computer simply by moving their heads. Not only does the collaboration naturally complement the firm’s corporate vision and create a niche market, it also has the added benefit of boosting the company’s positive PR.
Sounds good, so why aren’t more firms doing it? There’s certainly no shortage of science in Europe, but for some reason European firms have generally lagged behind those in the United States when it comes to connecting industry and science. In the U.S., industry support of university research accounts for some 10 percent of all research performed by colleges and universities there, more than double what it was a decade ago, according to one estimate by Charles F. Larson of the Industrial Research Institute in Washington, D.C. In these restrained times, many U.S. companies are retrenching by sticking to their core competencies and contracting additional capabilities through partnerships with universities: this is especially true for technology, which has always posed complex and expensive challenges to develop, and is only getting more so.
As Luis R. Mejia and Kirsten Leute noted in the book, The Creative Enterprise, “In today’s globally competitive environment, it is more imperative than ever that (industry) increase the rate of utilization of university-based research results. … (Companies) can leverage university technology to bring new and better products to the market faster and cheaper than if they continue to try to innovate all their product pipeline needs themselves. Indeed, companies do not have to look hard to find clear evidence that commercializing university-spawned technologies can be an astute corporate strategy. Some of the most important commercial products of the 20th century owe their success to the university researchers who gave them technological birth.” The authors cite Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, MIPS, Yahoo and Google, along with one of the best-known partnerships, the knowledge transfers between Stanford University and industry players that gave rise to “the Silicon Valley creature.”
Though Europe has not yet matched the United States in terms of sheer volume, the continent is by no means unaware of the advantages of leveraging university ties to create high-impact businesses. As a consultant to the European Commission and the Belgian government on matters of innovation policy, as well as my work with company executives on matters of innovation strategy, I have been keen to explore the value of science linkages to companies further. One study analyzed 842 Flemish manufacturing firms about their engagement in a variety of research partnerships with either universities or governmental research centers. Another looked at 52 R&D partnership projects worldwide started between 1998 and 2003 by ST Microelectrics, Europe’s largest and one of the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturers. For both these studies, my colleagues and I examined the varying types of science linkages prevalent in each firm, and the relationship of the types and quantity of those linkages to the quantity and quality of the firm’s innovations.
Having explored the potential costs, complexities and components of successful university/ industry collaborations, I believe that we have identified the key considerations that will help stimulate more of these connections and make them work for your firm.
This article is published in IESE Insight Isue 2 (Q3 2009).
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