A process typology of university-industry joint product development projects

Abstract

I propose a process typology of joint product development projects that are initiated by industrial firms and implemented jointly with technological universities or not-for-profit research institutions. The four ideal types of university-industry joint product development projects proposed in this typology were synthesising from in-depth case studies of twelve projects implemented jointly by six firms with seven technology universities or institutions. This paper contributes to research on joint product development by proposing an empirically grounded process typology based on combinations of initial contextual and technical knowledge possessed by the firm and the university. Each ideal type represents a synergistic combination of initial conditions and project implementation process that lead to successful project completion (insurmountable technical difficulties apart). The paper maps the web of mter-linked project processes in each ideal type and indicates their anticipated impacts on firm and university activities. It also provides a comparative analysis of the essential linkage of antecedent conditions and motivations for the initiation of the joint project, to the actual project implementation process in which the two collaborators contribute complementaiy resources, and further to the project's expected consequences, for each ideal type in the process typology. The typology frame, the comparison tables and the accompanying descriptions show the internal consistency within each ideal type and the contrasts across the ideal types. Given initial conditions, the ideal type descriptions can be tentatively used as templates by firms and universities for predicting and guiding tfro course of their joint product development projects.