Sustainability of university research product commercialization at the Malaysian Technical University Network (MTUN): An analysis from academic perspectives

Commercialization of the university product has become one of the strategic focuses in Malaysian universities. As Malaysia aspires to become a high-income and developed nation, commercialization of the research product is treated as one of the key enablers and becomes critical for the country's socio economic development. Thus, there are considerable attention has been given to the growth of research commercialization in the university. There are many programs and initiatives put forward by the government to encourage and emphasize commercialization activities in the university since the launch of the Commercialization Year in 2014. Despite many programs and initiatives, commercialization of the research products has not been successfully sustained in the marketplace. This is because commercialization is a complex process and fragmentary that requires a lot of commitment, especially from academic researchers. Thus, this study aims to discuss factors that support a sustainable successful commercialization of the research product in the university. This study employs a qualitative study by conducting semi structured interviews with eight selected academic researchers from the Malaysian Technical University Network (MTUN). The findings show three main factors related to the academic researcher’s orientation and strategy for commercialization, creating a commercially viable research product, and a strategic partnership and collaboration with the industry partner. This study is significant in contributing to new knowledge related to sustainable factors for the commercialization of research products in the university. This study also provides insight for universities to take a strategic approach to commercialize their research product. Furthermore, this study contributes significantly to universities, industries, governments, and communities through impactful research with high commercial potential.