SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS AS A NEW METHODOLOGICAL TOOL TO UNDERSTAND UNIVERSITY–INDUSTRY COOPERATION

Miguel Linhares Pinheiro (), Cândida Lucas and José Carlos Pinho
Additional contact information
Miguel Linhares Pinheiro: School of Economics and Management & Center of Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA), University of Minho, Portugal
Cândida Lucas: Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA), University of Minho, Portugal
José Carlos Pinho: School of Economics and Management, University of Minho, Portugal

International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), 2015, vol. 19, issue 01, 1-22

Abstract: Purpose: This work tests the use of social network analysis (SNA) as a new methodological approach to better understand university–industry (U–I) relationships in the context of research and development (R&D) cooperation networks for innovation.Methodology: Following a thorough review of the literature on U–I links from the last two decades, focusing on methodologies, SNA was applied to data on work relationships, obtained through a survey of the participants from University and Industry, engaged on a FP7 project.Findings: SNA is suggested as a useful and relevant tool to understand and examine U–I R&D cooperation at both personal and organizational levels. In support of this statement, several examples and an empirical illustration are provided. The assessment of the processes underlying the establishment and maintenance of U–I relationships within R&D cooperation with SNA suggested that interpersonal relationships are crucial for the establishment of successful cooperative activities. Unlike other tools, SNA allows the recognition of preferential relationships between institutions, and reveals asymmetries from within the U–I R&D network.Originality/value: This paper addresses the interactional dynamics embedded in U–I links. Most studies regarding U–I links focus on describing the downstream processes associated with technology transfer and commercialization. This study applies SNA to understand the ex ante establishment and maintenance of U–I relationships within R&D cooperation. The high volatility of these relationships, in view of the importance of the expected outcomes, justifies the need to understand the fundamentals of successful cooperation.

Keywords: Innovation; university–industry links; R&D cooperation; social network analysis; research methodologies; technology transfer (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S1363919615500139
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wsi:ijimxx:v:19:y:2015:i:01:n:s1363919615500139

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from

DOI: 10.1142/S1363919615500139

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim) is currently edited by Joe Tidd

More articles in International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim) from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Tai Tone Lim ().