Academy-industry cooperation: towards a new convenant for Indian business competitiveness

Abstract

The role that knowledge plays in competitiveness in the market place, has increased dramatically over the last two decades. This has been arguably one of the most significant economic trends Of the late 20th century-a process linked closely with the rapid internationalization of business and finance, and the emerging dominance of knowledge-intensive companies in the global economy. In India, the business leadership has now recognized the need for knowledge, mainly because the economic liberalization policies of the 1990s have exposed Indian companies to the fhreat of competition. The competitiveness-enhancing knowledge that business firms require is mainly of two types-organizational and technological. The first category of knowledge is that embodied in managerial, organizational and strategic skills, while the other is technological knowledge. On both these dimensions, Indian companies find themselves confronted by the need to change, in order to adapt better to the altered "rules of the game". From where will Indian companies source their new requirements of knowledge? By virtue of their charter and mission, the activities of Indian management institutes or institutes of technology are dominated by an applied orientation. Hence, one may expect that such institutions are most likely to be prepared to meet this need. Does it then make sense for Indian business organizations and such academic institutions in India to forge mutually beneficial cooperative arrangements? Answers to these questions, focusing on management institutes, are explored in this paper.