University-Industry Collaboration: the Case of Jammerbugt Municipality
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University-Industry Collaboration: The Case of Jammerbugt Municipality Master Thesis MSc in Innovation, Knowledge and Economic Dynamics Casper Donneborg Roed University-Industry Collaboration: The Case of Jammerbugt Municipality August 2012 Title sheet Title: University-Industry Collaboration: The Case of Jammerbugt Municipality Study programme: MIKE-E Aalborg University – Department of Business Studies Semester: 10 th ; Master Thesis Supervisor: Jesper Lindgaard Christensen Date of submission: 6 August 2012 Pages: Project pages: 100 Appendix: CD, containing one appendix of 49 pages ____________________ Casper Donneborg Roed: Master Thesis, Casper D. Roed Page | 2 University-Industry Collaboration: The Case of Jammerbugt Municipality August 2012 1 Preface The 9th semester of my MSc in Innovation, Knowledge and Economic Dynamics was spent as a trainee at Business Centre Jammerbugt - Erhvervscenter Jammerbugt – where primarily I worked on a project of competence development in the organizations in Jammerbugt Municipality, but also I worked on how to facilitate the implementation of strategies in the municipality’s minor organizations. After my traineeship I wrote a semester project on how the business centre fulfilled their objectives for the years 2009-2011. Now, writing my Master Thesis on my 10 th semester, once again I have the opportunity, and pleasure, to collaborate with Business Centre Jammerbugt. Among other things the Business Centre has an objective to enhance the local organizations’ collaboration with knowledge institutions, including Aalborg University. Therefore it is of importance to the Business Centre to examine the factors that influence this knowledge collaboration positively and negatively so they can adjust the way this issue is addressed. The thesis collaboration will therefore provide insight into university-industry collaboration and the barriers associated with this, by e.g. examining the existing literature’s main perceptions of barriers in such collaborations, and compare these to case data from some of the municipality’s organizations. My supervisor on this Master Thesis was Associate Professor Jesper Lindgaard Christensen from the Department of Business and Management at Aalborg University. I would like to express my special gratitude to Jesper for his help and advice during this process. I would also like to express gratitude to Business Centre Jammebugt for the ongoing collaboration throughout the years, which lead up to this Master Thesis collaboration. Special thanks to the former manager of the Business Centre, Povl Bjarne Jensen, without whose support neither my semester as a trainee at the Business Centre nor this Master Thesis collaboration would have become a reality also his help and advice during the entire thesis process and the process of screening possible case organizations. In addition special thanks to Business Consultant Søren Westergaard for his help in screening possible case organizations. Last but not least I would like to express my special gratitude to the organizations, which willingly participated as case studies in this Master Thesis. I very much appreciate the time and effort all the organizations put into helping me in collecting data. Special thanks to; Ibsens Fabrikker (Pilot case), Epoka A/S, Feriecenter Slettestrand, Limitech A/S, Stoltze’s Taxi- og Turistbusser, Blokhus-Hune i Udvikling, PanPac Engineering a/s, Scaniro A/S, MySupply ApS, Kroghs A/S, and Murerfirmaet Jens Jepsen. Master Thesis, Casper D. Roed Page | 3 University-Industry Collaboration: The Case of Jammerbugt Municipality August 2012 Table of Contents 1 Preface ................................................................................................................... 3 2 Abstract .................................................................................................................. 6 3 Introduction/Problem Statement ................................................................................ 7 4 Research Question ................................................................................................. 10 5 Methodology ......................................................................................................... 11 5.1 Methodological Approach .................................................................................. 11 5.1.1 Choice of Methodological Approach .............................................................. 11 5.1.2 Case Study Design .................................................................................... 13 5.1.3 Collecting Case Study Evidence, Preparations ............................................... 15 5.1.4 Collecting Case Study Evidence ................................................................... 17 5.1.5 Methodology for Analyzing Case Study Evidence ........................................... 19 5.1.6 Methodological Approach, Summary ............................................................ 21 5.2 Project Design ................................................................................................ 22 5.3 Delimitations .................................................................................................. 22 5.4 Sources ......................................................................................................... 23 6 Theory .................................................................................................................. 25 6.1 University-Industry Collaboration ...................................................................... 26 6.1.1 University-Industry Collaboration, Motivations .............................................. 26 6.1.2 University-Industry Collaboration, Benefits ................................................... 28 6.1.3 University-Industry Collaboration, Costs ...................................................... 29 6.1.4 University-Industry Collaboration, Barriers ................................................... 30 6.1.5 University-Industry Collaboration, Outline .................................................... 33 6.2 Triple Helix ..................................................................................................... 36 6.3 Rural and Urban Areas ..................................................................................... 40 6.4 Proximity ....................................................................................................... 42 6.4.1 Economic Geography ................................................................................. 42 6.4.2 Types of Knowledge .................................................................................. 46 6.4.3 Industrial Services .................................................................................... 49 7 Implications by Theory on Empirical Data .................................................................. 51 8 Empirical Data ....................................................................................................... 53 8.1 Case Studies................................................................................................... 53 8.1.1 Case Data on Facts and Background Information about Collaboration .............. 53 8.1.2 Case Data on Motivation, Benefit, and Costs ................................................. 58 8.1.3 Case Data on Barriers ................................................................................ 61 8.1.4 Case Data on Economic Geography ............................................................. 64 8.1.5 Case Data on Types of Knowledge ............................................................... 67 8.2 Jammerbugt Municipality .................................................................................. 68 8.3 Business Centre Jammerbugt ............................................................................ 72 9 Discussion ............................................................................................................. 74 9.1 Jammerbugt Municipality and Business Centre Jammerbugt .................................. 75 9.1.1 Jammerbugt Municipality............................................................................ 75 9.1.2 Business Centre Jammerbugt ...................................................................... 78 9.2 University-Industry Collaboration: Motivation, Benefits, and Costs ........................ 79 9.3 University-Industry Collaboration: Barriers ......................................................... 81 9.3.1 Previous Collaboration ............................................................................... 81 9.3.2 Case Study Barriers ................................................................................... 83 9.4 Proximity ....................................................................................................... 91 9.4.1 Economic Geography ................................................................................. 91 9.4.2 Types of Knowledge .................................................................................. 92 10 Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 94 10.1 Research Question, Conclusion ......................................................................... 95 10.2 Hypothesis, A ................................................................................................. 96 10.3 Hypothesis, B ................................................................................................. 97