The evolvement of triple helix interactions : process perspectives on university - industry relationships

The primary aim of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework for investigating how university – industry relationships evolve over time. Based on theoretical perspectives on the dynamics of interorganizational relationships, this paper investigates the development of several cases of university – industry collaborations. The exploratory study presented investigates the start-up phase of university-industry relationships, emphasizing e.g. the heterogeneity when it comes to rationales for collaboration, partner selection, and organization of particular partnerships. Furthermore, the empirical analysis shows that university-industry partnerships unfold in several distinct ways that are partly dependent upon the initial collaboration conditions, but also that particular partnerships carry several different modes of collaboration and exhibit strong internal variety.