Creating a university technology commercialisation programme: confronting conflicts between learning, discovery and commercialisation goals

Alan D. Meyer, Kathryn Aten, Alan J. Krause, Matthew L. Metzger and Samuel S. Holloway

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 2011, vol. 13, issue 2, 179-198

Abstract: Our knowledge-based society is pressing universities to transform from monastic scholarly enclaves into producers of new technologies and incubators of start-up firms. However, converting scientists' curiosity-driven discoveries into commercially viable innovations has proven so difficult that observers liken the journey to crossing a 'Valley of Death'. We conceptualise the challenges of commercialising university inventions in terms of three gaps: the technology discovery gap, the commercialisation gap, and the venture launch gap. We chronicle the inception and evolution of a technology commercialisation programme at the University of Oregon, relating how the university confronted and dealt with the three gaps, and describing the intra-organisational partnerships developed to address them. We find that negotiating the gaps requires assimilation of a technology commercialisation mission into the traditional academic missions of education and scientific discovery. To do this, universities must confront fundamental contradictions between learning, discovery, and commercialisation.

Keywords: university commercialisation; technology transfer; multidisciplinary education; university spinouts; regional economic development; university research; universities; technology discovery; venture launch; new ventures; learning; academic mission; higher education. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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