NEW RESEARCH | How industry succeeds with collaborative projects – 5 tips along the way

Industrial companies have a lot to gain from collaborative projects with universities. But success requires the right methods.

As digitization, AI and climate change transform the business world, collaborations between academia and industry are becoming increasingly important. But many industrial companies don’t know how to make the most of these complex collaborations. A new doctoral thesis sheds light on what actually works – and why.

– Many industrial companies don’t really understand what they get out of the collaboration. My research therefore focuses on how knowledge is shared and utilized within and outside these collaborations – from an industrial perspective, says Ehab Abu Sa’a, Linköping University.

He has studied a variety of collaborative projects between industry and academia in Sweden and Denmark, and identified several key factors that are crucial to the success of the collaborations.

Structures matter – but in different ways

A key insight from the thesis is that different types of collaborative structures have varying strengths. More formal, research-oriented collaborations with predefined goals and reporting requirements tend to enable long-term impacts such as new educational programs and technical standards.

– These structures facilitate the sharing of systematic knowledge between businesses and academia.

On the other hand, more informal and networked collaborations – often initiated by the industry’s own needs – can create an openness and trust that promotes knowledge sharing across sectors. Several companies in the thesis testify to how they have succeeded in solving common problems together with actors from completely different sectors.

– It shows the strength of environments where competition is put aside and where the openness to share even failures becomes an asset, says Ehab Abu Sa’a.

Knowledge stuck in silos

One of the most worrying findings of the thesis is that much of the knowledge created in collaborative projects between industry and academia is never used internally in companies.

– Some companies had industrial PhD students with cutting-edge expertise, but their knowledge never benefited the companies because no one internally had a mandate to make use of it.

To counter this, internal structures are needed to ensure that knowledge is disseminated and used. Successful companies often have steering committees and inter-departmental and middle management reviews with a clear mandate to translate research results into business value.

A key piece of the transition puzzle

The thesis highlights collaborative projects between industry and academia as a powerful tool to tackle today’s major societal challenges. But a conscious strategy is needed to realize the potential.

– Digitization, electrification and AI are challenges that no company or university can tackle alone. Collaboration can be an important piece of the puzzle – but we first need to understand how they actually work in practice, emphasizes Ehab Abu Sa’a.

More about the thesis
Ehab Abu Sa’a will defend his doctoral thesis Leveraging Co-created Knowledge in Multi-sector University-Industry Collaboration on May 21 at Linköping University.

Read more:
A holistic approach is needed for innovation in manufacturing
5 keys to successful education collaboration between business and academia
Collaborative projects create more impact than other research