Knowledge creation through University-Industry collaborative research projects

In order to access knowledge, a portfolio of sourcing strategies is available to the firm: knowledge creation through internal R&D departments, knowledge sharing with suppliers or market relationships, and also transfer from knowledge institutions such as public and private research centres. In this paper, we recognize that University is a central source of knowledge but we question the general belief that knowledge is per se flowing between private and academic sphere through the conduct of University-Industry relationships. As a result, this paper presents our literature analysis concerning this research topic and explores one particular mean of inter-organizational knowledge transfer, namely the University-Industry collaborative research project. We present findings from an exploratory study which aims at examining knowledge flows and collaborative behaviours at stake in such research projects. This interview survey has been realized with respondents actively involved in Belgian university-industry (U-I) interactions and provides qualitative data analyzed through the theoretical framework of organizational knowledge creation developed by Nonaka and Takeuchi. We found evidence supporting the existence of a knowledge spiral as a dynamic for the whole projects and identified some knowledge-based limits to the reconciliation process between university's interests and company's needs.