A process typology of knowledge transfer between academics and practitioners in joint product development projects

Abstract

A grounded process typology of knowledge transfer between academics and practitioners emerged from a synthesis of case study research involving forty interviews of participants involved in twelve university-industry joint product development projects. Initial combinations of contextual and technical knowledge levels of participants in relation to the actual product development project requirements were found to set four different ideal types of knowledge transfer processes in such projects. The term contextual knowledge refers to an understanding of the actual application context required to develop the product, while the term technical knowledge refers to an understanding of the actual technology to be applied to develop the product. The four identified ideal types were descriptively labeled as Collaborative Technical Development, Interactive Contextual Consulting, Collaborative Contextual Development and Interactive Technical Consulting. Each ideal type in the proposed typology, set within a proposed typology frame, represents a synergistic combination of initial conditions that led to an effective process of knowledge transfer between academics and practitioners in such projects. Given initial combinations of levels of contextual and technical knowledge of the academic and the practitioner, the ideal type descriptions and the case based illustrations of each ideal type, can be tentatively used as templates by academics and practitioners for predicting and guiding the course of knowledge transfer within their joint product development projects. Apart from contributing to a process based understanding of knowledge transfer between academics and practitioners within such projects, this research can also guide policy makers in initiating and facilitating appropriate knowledge transfer processes while structuring university-industry joint product development projects.