Aligning University–Industry Interactions: The Role of Boundary Spanning in Intellectual Capital Transfer

In the UK, the boundary spanning role has taken on greater significance as successive governments emphasize how universities should play in direct knowledge transfer and changing academics’ visions over third mission functions. Studies in the UK have focused on the relative performance of technology transfer organizations (TTOs)/knowledge transfer organizations (KTOs) or their use by academics and external organizations. Compared to their US and international counterparts, TTOs/KTOs at UK universities exhibit low-levels of absolute efficiency. Therefore questions remain relating to how to raise the efficiency and productivity of these units, how to attract and train staff with suitable qualifications/capabilities and how to change adverse attitudes towards knowledge exchange by some academics. Currently, there is a lack of a holistic view of these functions and the way they complement each other or coordinate their activities. This study addresses this gap in theory and practise and advances how universities should provide consistency in both the internal and the external interfaces, by the offer of a framework and key stakeholder insights.