Organizational Structures of Knowledge Transfer Offices: An Analysis of the World’s Top-Ranked Universities

Universities are central actors in the production and delivery of new knowledge, and they play a unique role in National and Regional Innovation Systems. Almost all research universities have established Knowledge Transfer Offices (KTOs) to pursue their so-called ‘third mission’. This paper analyses the organizational structure of KTOs by discussing how universities organize their knowledge transfer activities, and by considering what factors may impact on the choice of specific organizational structures. We examine the KTO structures of the top 200 ranked universities in the world and highlight the presence of three knowledge transfer organizational models (internal, external, and mix) and six configurations of these models.