KTP Associates: Facilitators and Hindrances of Knowledge Transfer for University and Industry Collaboration Projects?

In University-industry collaborations, boundary spanners play a key role in knowledge transfer between different individuals. Management Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (mKTPs) are significant university-industry collaborations in the UK, however, limited scholarly attention has been given to their boundary spanners. This paper aims to explore this role in knowledge transfer in university-industry collaborations. Thirty respondents from four groups of KTP actors involved in mKTPs were interviewed: eleven academics, nine business supervisors, seven KTP associates and three KTP advisors. Using Gouldner’s framework of Locals and Cosmopolitans, this study identifies four distinct boundary spanner roles that KTP associates play in knowledge transfer: the dedicated facilitator, true bureaucrat (change controller), empire (career) builder and outsider. The dedicated KTP associates recognise the knowledge and individuals within the host organisations, perceiving themselves as essential boundary spanners in knowledge transfer between universities and businesses. In contrast, some KTP associates describe themselves as outsider, isolated from host companies, thereby disengaging in knowledge transfer. The true bureaucrat (change controller) and empire builder present contingent boundary-spanning roles, with their engagement in knowledge transfer being context-dependent. When provided with sufficient support from academic and business supervisors, such as leadership and opportunities for individual career growth, KTP associates are committed to the current boundary-spanning roles of mKTPs, thereby engaging in knowledge transfer, similar to the dedicated facilitator (a positive dynamic). Conversely, in the absence of such support, they will disengage or selectively transfer knowledge, gradually becoming outsiders of mKTPs, obstructing knowledge transfer (a negative dynamic). The identified four roles and their dynamics have demonstrated different influences on knowledge transfer: facilitation, hindrance or contingent context-dependency. Based on these findings, this paper develops a conceptual framework that offers novel insights into boundary spanners by revealing a multifaceted, dynamic, context-dependent nature in knowledge transfer. The paper offers important implications for research on boundary spanners and university-industry collaborations.