NEW RESEARCH | 5 keys to successful education collaboration between business and academia

Universities and colleges offer a wide range of courses that businesses can take advantage of. Many companies are taking the opporunity, but it is important that the collaboration is right to succeed. Researcher provide the success factors.

New knowledge, support in innovation processes and student recruitment. These are some of the potential benefits of collaborative learning for businesses. Carl-Johan Asplund has been teaching industrial economics at the Faculty of Enginering (LTH) at Lund University for many years, and is heavily involved in the university’s collaboration with the business community. He believes that it contributes to innovation and development for both parties. He recently completed his PhD on the subject.

– I have worked for many years to push through educational collaboration at LTH, and we have conducted about 150 cases with the business community. Examples of companies we have worked with are Alfa Laval, Tetra Pak, Axis Communications and Perstorp,” says Carl-Johan Asplund.

New knowledge for both parties

A classic example of university-business collaboration is students doing their master’s thesis at a company – with real cases. The companies involved usually gain new knowledge and support in innovation processes – and the university gains new knowledge for teaching.

– The flow of knowledge between actors is central to collaboration.

Five success factors

In his research, Carl-Johan Asplund has developed a conceptual model of five factors for successful educational collaboration: environment, context, organization, process and outcome.

– The first factor, environment, relates to the conditions in which higher education institutions and businesses can engage in innovative activities. What is the general innovation climate where they operate, i.e. in Sweden as a whole, but also at regional and municipal level?

For collaboration to be successful, it is essential that there is a good match between universities and companies. That’s what context is all about.

– The research ambition of the institution must match the ambition of the company. It is a strategic choice the university is making, says Carl-Johan Asplund.

Dedicated partners essential

The third factor to consider, organization, concerns contracts and resources. Formal contracts need to be signed, and universities and businesses need to ensure that they allocate sufficient resources for collaboration.

– Above all, both parties need to build a team that believes that educational cooperation between academia and business is important.

Fourth, good processes are needed for the work, which means that there is dedicated leadership and clear time and activity plans.

The results are different

The outcome, the fifth and final factor of collaboration, means that the parties experience some type of value creation.

– The results of collaboration can be tangible. For example, some students were tasked by a company to solve how the springs in the sofas can work even in humid environments without squeaking. And from that solution, the company was then able to take the ideas on how the springs could be used in marine environments further.

– Abstract results, or value creation, can, for example, involve an increase in the general competence of a particular technology within the company.

Mainly larger companies take the chance

Today, it is mainly larger companies that have recognized the importance and value of educational cooperation with universities. They see it as a good source of recruitment and it provides them with support in innovation processes, mainly in the early phases.

– The smaller companies that engage in thesis work are more interested in problem solving in the later part of the innovation process, such as prototyping and testing.

However, the thesis shows a slightly lower interest in training cooperation from SMEs. And that’s something Carl-Johan Asplund wants to change.

– There is a need for more information from universities about the possibility. In addition, stronger incentives are needed for smaller companies to participate. They rarely have the time or resources to be part of the collaboration, but I think this can be partly solved by offering checks for free training collaboration.

What is your top tip for SMEs that are curious to collaborate with universities?

– Contact your local university and propose an informal meeting to discuss your company’s needs and wishes. Try to get a small project going and then discuss lessons learned, says Carl-Johan Asplund.

Contact carl-johan.asplund@design.lth.se

More about the doctoral thesis
Carl-Johan Asplund recently defended his thesis at the Department of Design Sciences, Lund University, with the thesis University-Industry Educational Collaboration : Knowledge spillovers and spillins through student-written cases and MSc theses.

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