Skills for the Future

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission

Which are the main barriers or difficulties for businesses in cooperating with the academic world?

The workshops' participants have identified the following ideas (causes/effects) related to this theme:

  • Business authorities mainly employ and study with experienced people in their subject areas. This situation causes newly graduated people to get difficulties in entering business.
  • Another barrier of business area is related with the apprenticeship education. Business authorities should reinforce the relations with universities by contributing apprenticeship education of prospective students.  
  • In general, the business class still remains a little bit adverse with the cooperation and partnership with universities. This situation can be motivated by the fear of making known some of their "trade secrets" and with that becoming harmed. On the other hand the style of management present in most organizations, where the strategic planning is at least incipient, also leads to not appreciate a closer cooperation between universities and enterprises
  • Time, investigation costs, availability of materials and resources
  • Lack of investment on IDI
  • Unfavorable economic situations (investment contraction) and difficulties in establishing efficient communication interfaces between the two areas
  • Science as Ivory towers
  • Fear of giving out secrets
  • Mental and budgetary constraints.
  • Perspective of immediate profit.
  • Intellectual stigma felt by the academy
  • Lack of trust in others and very individualistic spirit
  • Patents or trademarks - exclusivity or monopoly business
  • Mistrust on both sides, by mutual ignorance
  • Barriers: Different work cultures pose a material barrier for the cooperation (business – task-oriented, university – job oriented). This concerns both university administration and academics
  • Skills and abilities of academics and researchers are not transformed into products and services for enterprises, in other words they are not able “to commercialise” their knowledge;
  • Communication codes are not always compatible.

Common aspects: in addition to the different work cultures (and different communication codes used)  which pose a material barrier in the reciprocal cooperation and then a reciprocal mistrust, it must be considered the actual economic situation that is not favourable to the relationship.

There are two important aspects stressed by partners: the fear of enterprises of making known some of their "trade secrets" in case of a strong relationship with universities and the inability of academics and researchers to transform their ideas into products and services for enterprises, in other words they are not able to commercialize their knowledge.  

 

 

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