Adjunct professors at professional service firms: Just links between the industry and the academy or…?

• The present study aims at contributing to the literature on university-industry relations by examining professional service firms’ motives and beneficial outcomes related to their involvement in relations with universities. As a study context a specific form of such relations – appointment of firms’ key employees as adjunct professors – is chosen. The study adopts a qualitative research strategy and relies mainly on collecting data via semi-structured interviews with both top managers and adjunct professors employed by five engineering consultancy firms operating in the construction industry in Sweden.Preliminary findings suggest that motives and benefits of professional service firms, related to engagement in this particular type of interactions with universities, differ from those which have been reported for manufacturing firms in university-industry relations literature. While stability seeking motives are major determinants for professional services to engage in such partnerships with universities, which is quite similar to previous evidence reported in the literature for manufacturing firms, professional service firms highpoint the significance of reciprocity and legitimacy motives, which have been reported to be of lower importance for manufacturing firms. When it comes to benefits, professional service firms seem to benefit substantially from engagement in such a partnership with universities, both in terms of tangible and intangible outcomes. The most significant outcomes are attributed to firms’ core capabilities development.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Företagsekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Business Administration (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

adjunct professors

university-industry interactions

motives

benefits

outcomes

professional services

construction industry

Sweden

Business administration

Företagsekonomi

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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