Using Absorptive Capacity to Optimize Value Creation from University-Industry Partnerships

Overview:

University-industry partnerships are collaborations in which companies and public institutions innovate together. By bundling expertise and sharing costs, university-industry partnerships can be an attractive innovation option for companies. However, a firm needs absorptive capacity to effectively use outcomes. To improve innovation performance in practice and contribute to theory, this article explores how companies can increase value derived from university-industry partnerships by increasing its absorptive capacity. We used a qualitative, multiple case study approach to study selected university-industry partnerships at Royal DSM—a multinational corporation active in health, nutrition, and bioscience. These cases revealed three main vulnerabilities to absorptive capacity for DSM: high reliance on single managers to run university-industry partnerships, limited formulation of desired value from them, and insufficient resource dedication to transform their outcomes into valuable products. We offer specific managerial recommendations to increase the effectiveness of university-industry partnerships.

Keywords::

• Absorptive capacity
• Open innovation
• Knowledge transfer
• University-industry partnerships

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Roelof Pieter Douglas van Herk

Roelof Pieter Douglas van Herk is a project manager in sustainable mobility. Coming from a transdisciplinary academic background, he holds a BSc in liberal arts and science with a focus on environmental policy and sociology and a MSc in innovation management. He has experience in consultancy in the private and public sectors. Currently, he works for Dutch regional government helping local businesses and governments implement sustainable mobility policies and solutions. Driving innovation in practice, he combines technical and organizational knowledge to enable colla­borative problem solving. [email protected]

Vincent Johannes van Buul

Vincent Johannes van Buul is a strategic global innovation leader at DSM and registered nutritional scientist. He has international experience in delivering innovation pipelines, growing teams, and managing university-industry collaborations. He earned a BSc in life sciences and a MSc health food innovation management at Maastricht University. He completed a PhD in behavioral nutrition from the Open University in The Netherlands. At DSM, he currently manages an innovation portfolio of profitable new products and services in the Health, Nutrition, and Care group. Before joining DSM, he worked in the food industry and in venture capital, ensuring that promising innovation ideas came to fruition. [email protected]