Developing university-business interactions

When institutions are the objects of selection (as opposed to individuals), this can evolve in a
number of diff erent and contrasting ways. Institutions are often the ‘hosts’ of individuals with
whom the company wishes to work based on prior history or because they are identifi ed as
leaders in their particular fi eld. Institutions may be selected because they have a critical mass of
expertise and are likely to continue to do so because of their international pre-eminence and the
consequent expected longevity of the critical mass of relevant expertise.


In the cases studied there are no examples of individual projects where we can identify that
the selection of the mode of interaction was considered separately from the formulation of the
objectives of the project, except where a company decided to join an existing consortium. There
may however be a strategic assessment of the modes of interaction based on experience which
predisposes a company to interact in a particular way.