Purpose: The study aims to test the success of university-industry (U-I) collaboration in terms of innovation process efficiency. Then, this study explores the moderating role of a set of organizational routines in the U-I relationship, which can help in overcoming the issues undermining the collaboration success. Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on an international Open Innovation (OI) survey. The survey investigated the items to build the main variables of the conceptual framework, measured through seven-point Likert scales. Steps to ensure the reliability and validity of the variables were conducted. Then, hypotheses were tested with an ordinary least squares regression. Findings. Results show that the higher the collaboration intensity (depth) with universities, the higher the innovation process efficiency. Furthermore, organizational routines aimed at improving firms’ assimilation absorptive capacity further strengthen the positive effects of intensive collaboration on innovation process efficiency. Practical implications: Findings indicate that R&D managers should strive to build deep collaborations with universities to enhance process efficiency and invest in the quality of these relationships. Managers should create and maintain an internal environment that further enhances the positive effects of intensive collaboration on innovation process efficiency. Originality/value: The OI literature has not reached a shared view on the positive contribution of universities toward industrial firms’ innovation performance. The study adopts a process-efficiency view, rarely used by other OI studies usually focused on output indicators; this study unpacks, respectively, the role of the intensity of collaboration and the organizational routines, thus disclosing the benefit of U-I collaboration on innovation efficiency.
- Collaboration with universities and innovation efficiency
- Valentina Elena Lazzarotti (Author) - Università Carlo Cattaneo - LIUC, Research fields: Industrial engineering and information engineeringGloria Puliga (Corresponding Author) - Università Carlo Cattaneo - LIUC, Research fields: Industrial engineering and information engineeringRaffaella Manzini (Author) - Università Carlo Cattaneo - LIUC, Research fields: Industrial engineering and information engineeringSalvatore Tallarico (Author)Luisa Pellegrini (Author)Mohammad H. Eslami (Author)Muhammad Ismail (Author)Harry Boer (Author)
- European journal of innovation management, Vol.28(2), pp.608-630
- 2025
- 09/08/2023
- Emerald; Bingley
- 1460-1060; 1758-7115
- A stampa ; Online
- 23
- English
- Tutti i diritti sono riservati ai legittimi detentori del copyright. L'Università Carlo Cattaneo - LIUC pubblica i dati relativi alle pubblicazioni di ricerca realizzate dai propri affiliati. La presenza nell'archivio ARL di testi completi non determina in alcun modo la libera riproduzione degli stessi, ma esclusivamente la possibilità della loro consultazione sul sito di ARL.
- Research fields: Industrial engineering and information engineering; Research field: Management science
- Journal article
- 991000983481205126
