Transfer of knowledge between university and company: influence of university conditions

Abstract

The objective of the research was to analyze the influence of university conditions on the performance of knowledge transfer (KT) between the largest federal public university of Minas Gerais and its partner companies. Qualitative research was developed based on the instrumental case study method applied at the largest federal public university in Minas Gerais (elected in 2016 the Brazilian institution that most filed patent applications at the National Institute of Industrial Property). The results of the study lead to the understanding that some organizational conditions of the investigated University favored KT, while others represented challenges in the process. It has been noted that an intense effort, in the investigated institution, has been made to improve the interaction of the university with the productive sector based on policies and actions promoted, in particular, by the Technological Transfer Coordination of the University. However, there are still internal challenges regarding the transfer of knowledge from the University to the productive sector, a situation that is also noticeable in other Brazilian universities. The research results also indicate that the transfer performance is hindered when there is less flexibility of the rules related to the KT and the absence of incentive policies in the university context that encourage the teacher to transfer his knowledge to the productive sector. Regarding its theoretical contribution, the study advances by pointing out critical factors of knowledge transfer between UE, contributing to elucidate how university context factors influence the performance of this process, a research topic considered contemporary.