2013-Ainurul Rosli
Broadening the evidence base on knowledge transfer partnerships (KTPs) in the social sciences
Dr Ainurul Rosli, University of Wolverhampton Business School
Dr Nick Yip, Norwich Business School, University of East Anglia
Dr Federica Rossi, Birkbeck, University of London
Abstract
The project aimed to explore the multiple dimension of KTPs value within the context of the social sciences disciplines. Much evidence suggests that universities interact with businesses and other economic and social stakeholders through many channels, which involve different types of academic knowledge and support a variety of innovation processes. In the current knowledge-based, service-led economy, it is important to look beyond the well-known contributions made by the natural sciences and engineering in order to grasp the important role played by the social sciences in supporting innovation and socioeconomic development. Indeed, what value do social science KTPs generate for businesses and what other direct and indirect impacts they foster, largely remains unaddressed in the literature.
Building upon an extensive study of primary and secondary sources and the analysis of original evidence from case studies, the project set out to develop a conceptual model that explores multiple dimensions of value against traditional “direct” universities–industry interaction impacts. Moreover, since measuring the knowledge transfer impact is a complex process where active participation of all parties is crucial, the study intended to involve a full range of parties engaged in the sampled KTP projects to explore their perspectives on value evaluation. The findings also fit into our agenda of promoting a transition towards more accurate and comprehensive indicators of knowledge transfer impact.