MAPPING THE UNIVERSITY TECHNOLOGY-TRANSFER PROCESS

Transfer of technologies from the universities to the private sector i s increcrsingly regarded as playing a significant role in new business starts, growth of existing businesses, and new job creation. Further, there are numerous models describing the process of technology transf er. Some of the existing models represent this process as a linear pro gression of steps: from idea generation and technology development at the university, to patenting the technology and then establishing a un iversity-private firm link through a formal search process. The proces s culminates in patent rights transfer. Other models describe technolo gy transfer in terms of networking arrangements and emphasize not so m uch formal search as the role of long-term relationships between the t wo parties. Still other studies indicate that it is possible to combin e the two approaches-formal search and informal networking arrangement s-to ensure successful transfer. Business firms involved in transfer a lso may be classified into several groups. Transfer could occur betwee n the University and an established firm, between the university and a recently created new venture, or transfer could result in the creatio n of a new company. Technology, for example, could be transferred to a large company that uses the transferred technology as a basis for jus t one of many product lines, or to a small fir ln that makes the trans ferred technology a cornerstone of its product strategy. Are there any differences among the transfer processes used when large or small fir ms are involved, or when technology is transferred to an existing comp any or results in the creation of a new firm? To address these questio ns, rue mapped the technology transfer processes of 23 different techn ologies developed at the University of Minnesota from 1983 to 1993. Mo re than half of the technologies studied went to large companies and w ere used either to upgrade existing products or to extend existing pro duct lines. In eight cases technologies were transferred to small firm s. In three cases technologies were transferred to venture capital fir ms or intermediaries and had not been commercialized at the time the s tudy was completed. In the rest of the cases new firms were created by the inventors/university scientists themselves and served as vehicles for marketing their inventions. None of the firms of the latter group have grown beyond a part-time employment opportunity for the inventor s, and only one firm provided evidence that additional hiring would be , necessary in tile near future. Only four cases involved transfers of technologies that have been del eloped and patented by the university to firms that did not have any relationships, with the university pri or to the transfer. In these four cases the firms used some form of se arch strategy to find a needed technology. However, there is no eviden ce that any of the firms had a well-developed formal search procedure. On the overwhelming majority of cases some form of relationship exist ed between the university (or individual inventors) and tile private f irm prior to the transfer. These relationships ranged from long-term f riendships and/or cooperation to such less involved forms as interacti on at research seminars and university-sponsored events. Further, in f our cases, the technologies rt ere initially developed by private comp anies, whereas the university's role was to assist in refinement or te sting of the technology. The research yielded a number of additional f indings that deserve further investigation and discussion. Specificall y, the study did not provide any evidence that the successfully comple ted technology transfers made any substantial contribution to either n ew business creation or the generation of new jobs. This finding sugge sts that scholars and policy makers should proceed with caution before accepting a notion that new or high technology firms will have any di rect Economic impact. The study findings hold specific implications fo r entrepreneurial behavior and public policy. The ''formal search and shopping'' for a technology model suggests that both business and acad emic/government laboratories publicize, respectively, their requiremen ts and offerings, and that opportunities for creative brokerage ought to exist. We found that in the majority of cases technology was transf erred not through formal search, but through some prior relationships among individuals. This observation suggests that the ability to build extended networks of relationships not only within the business world but also with the university community is an important skill that own ers and managers of the technology-based businesses need to possess. E ntrepreneurs seeking to start businesses based on new technologies may need to reevaluate how much of their limited rime to allocate to buil d and maintain networks and cooperative relationships, and how much ti me to shop for new technologies through formal channels. Further, publ ic policy and the efforts of die university transfer agencies intended to facilitate transfer may need to shift their emphasis from facilita ting ''shopping'' by organizing and/or paying for ''publicity'' (which is currently the major emphasis) to providing assistance in network b uilding and relationship marketing efforts. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Inc.