Construction of knowledge commercialization scale for universities and its accreditation in Guilan University

Purpose: The present research was conducted with the purpose of building a scale of commercialization of knowledge for universities and validating it in Guilan University. Materials and methods: The present research was conducted with a mixed strategy of exploratory type. The participants in the research were deans, group managers and university professors, specialists of academic growth centers and science and technology parks in Guilan province. To conduct the research, in the qualitative stage, 30 people were selected as the research sample using purposeful sampling, and in the quantitative stage, 230 people were selected using stratified random sampling. In the qualitative stage, in-depth interviews were conducted with the samples until the theoretical saturation of the subject was achieved, and in the quantitative stage, the participants were asked to answer the research questionnaire. To analyze the data of the qualitative stage, the grounded theory was used, and for the quantitative data analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics and SPSS and AMOS software were used. In order to test the validity of the questionnaire, using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, the validity (structure, convergent, divergent) and reliability of the instrument (Cronbach's alpha coefficient, composite reliability) were examined. Discussion and conclusion: In the qualitative stage, using the inductive content analysis of the interviews and the systematic approach of Strauss and Corbin during three stages of open, central and selective coding, 146 primary concepts, 23 secondary concepts and 9 major categories (intellectual capital, productivity In the university, organizational policies and capabilities, institutionalization of commercialization, platform creation, networking, knowledge creation, achieving competitive power, and knowledge commercialization capability) were extracted. In the central coding stage, the concepts obtained from the open coding stage were linked together in the form of causal conditions, central phenomenon, contextual factors, intervening factors, strategies and consequences. Finally, as a result, the final form of the questionnaire was set as follows: causal factors through 22 items, central phenomenon or knowledge commercialization components through 6 items, background conditions factor (suitable platform and context) for the implementation of knowledge commercialization through 32 items, intervenor and inhibiting factors were measured through 10 items, the factor of knowledge commercialization strategies through 15 items, and the factor of knowledge commercialization implementation consequences were measured through 15 items. The results of the factor analysis showed the good fit of each of the items with the factors and showed that each of the factors has a suitable factor load to predict the main dimensions of the questionnaire, and as a result, the designed tool has high reliability and validity and has the ability to measure the commercialization of knowledge in universities. Due to the lack of native measurement tools for commercialization of knowledge, it seems that the designed questionnaire can solve this gap, so this questionnaire can be used in the researches that will be conducted from now on the commercialization of knowledge in universities.