University relationship management: An introductory overview

In recent decades, firms to get competitive advantages have increased their relationships with universities as the main generators of science and technology in modern societies. Various goals and drivers inspire firms to engage in such relationships. These goals and drivers along with several facilitators, in turn, indicate different types of relationships between firms and universities. The relationships are characterized by different features such as trust, commitment, and communication between firm and university. It is very important, for the firms, to manage the level of different features of the relationship for different types of interactions. We call this strategic management activity of the firm as university relationship management (URM). The main purpose of this paper is to propose a generic framework for URM, and to discuss the most important antecedents and consequences of URM. Finally, conclusions and avenues for future research are provided.