Initiating Industry-University Collaborations Through theUniversity-Appointed Office of Relationship Manager/s: A Conceptual Model

Abstract

This conceptual paper applies Lewin’s (1951) forcefield approach of change management to emphasize the importance of a key driver to change in the literature regarding Industry-University Collaborations (IUCs) that are replete with barriers and drivers to establishing successful relationships. It draws insights offered by Darabi and Clark’s (2012) model of initiating collaborations using the Vangen and Huxham’s (2003) ‘trust-building loop’, Rybnicek and Königsgruber’s (2018) conceptual model, and Nakagawa et al.’s (2017) ‘trading zone framework’ for an IUC, to establish the most common enabler in most studies, identified as the element of relationship management, as a vital driving force to overcome much of the barriers to successful IUCs, or what Lewin calls the restraining factors. Then, a new IUC conceptual model is proposed with the role of relationship manager/s emphasized in bridging between the two sectors to overcome barriers and strengthen the driving forces to establish successful IUCs.