Factors affecting the selection of academic research commercialization strategy in the faculties of Islamic Azad University, Rasht branch

Academic Thesis for Master's Degree

Field: Business Management Internal Orientation

Abstract

Until a while ago, university scientists and researchers refused to commercialize research and considered their main mission to be simply the production of knowledge without considering its application in the field of production. Until knowledge became the unique source of competitive advantage. Today, universities have shown a great desire to commercialize academic research, and it can be seen that the commercialization of intellectual assets has become the institutional goals of many university systems. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of identifying the factors affecting the commercialization of academic research in Rasht Azad University, which is of a mixed type from the perspective of practical purpose and from the perspective of data collection. The research method is descriptive-survey in the quantitative part and exploratory in the qualitative part. The statistical population in this research is all faculty members of Rasht Azad University. In order to collect information in the qualitative stage, a semi-structured interview with experts was used and in the quantitative stage, a questionnaire was used, which is one of the common tools and a direct method for obtaining research data. Based on the findings of this research, 26 components were observed in the four dimensions of environmental factors, institutional, organizational and individual factors, respectively, in the dimension of environmental factors, policies related to intellectual assets, environmental and regional infrastructures, the availability of investors, the university environment, the density of companies in a region and their selection, the presence of capable and expert human resources, factors related to the government, the existence of incubators, and the existence of supporting laws in the dimension of institutional factors, university culture, university and department. Incentives, laws and regulations for the protection of new products and technologies and approvals for the protection of intellectual property, university mission, university goals, past activities and past contracts of the university with industry and university policy have been identified. In the dimension of organizational factors, costs related to knowledge transfer, defective structure of the university, valuing non-applied research, valuing non-applied research and university resources (allocated revenues and budgets for commercialization of research, technical support, physical infrastructure, communications) and also in the dimension of individual factors, indicators of individual motivations of the researcher, demographic characteristics (such as the researcher's age), psychological characteristics, work experiences and the individual's social network were observed.

Key words: commercialization of research, factors affecting Commercialization of commercialization strategies

In recent years, as a result of expectations from economic development and internal pressures in order to create new sources of income, universities have turned more and more to using the creation of a company as a tool to take advantage of academic innovations (Feldman et al. [1], 2003). Universities are increasingly faced with increasing commercialization of new research and decreasing old activities such as teaching and research. The expansion of commercialization of academic research has led to the privatization of scientific commons and scientific advances (Chang et al. [2], 2009). Studying the commercialization of research and technology and its dimensions is very important because such analyzes provide important evidence for more efficient decision-making by managers and policy makers. Indeed, the issue of commercialization as a new field has been moving forward and has been the focus of researchers (Rosermel et al. [3], 2007). On the other hand, in most countries, governments are reducing their role in providing funding for universities, so universities should be towards national independence and find ways to provide the funds needed for their activities so that their mission, missions, norms and values ??are not harmed. The transformation of knowledge into a major competitive advantage in today's world prompts countries to pay special attention to centers of knowledge production and its transfer to other areas and to undertake fundamental reforms in their processes, missions and functions (Siegel et al. [4], 2004). Universities have shown a great desire to commercialize academic research.  So that universities, in addition to research and education, play a role in the direction of the new mission of participation in the economic development of the society.Research findings play a significant role in improving the quality of human life and developing the welfare level of society and economic and social developments. But these findings will not have the necessary importance until they find a practical aspect and are not put on the market or available to the applicants, and they will not compensate the research costs (Zare, Yadalhi; 2013).

Despite the acceptance of the issue of commercialization by researchers, numerous evidences from around the world indicate that although a large number of researches have been technically successful, only a small percentage of them have achieved success in the field of commercialization, which shows It complicates the commercialization process. The commercialization of academic research has become an undeniable necessity, and the entry of Iranian universities into the knowledge trade has turned from an advantage into a necessity, and this is despite the fact that Iranian universities have not yet been able to commercialize their research and establish an effective interaction between the industry and the university (Zare, Yadalhi; 2013). Determining the real cause of this problem requires conducting fundamental studies in relation to the factors influencing the selection of academic research commercialization strategy, which is an emphasis on the necessity of future research. Failure to recognize the factors affecting the selection of academic research commercialization strategy in different sectors causes the country's energy and capital to be wasted, as well as the cost of opportunity and lost time to the country. By identifying the factors affecting the commercialization of academic research, the complexity of this process is reduced and its success rate is increased, and students, faculty members, and other researchers can identify the right paths for research and take full advantage of its successes.

Choosing a commercialization strategy is the heart of the development of innovation and a determination of the path by which the organization gains income and profit from an innovation and the products obtained from it (Servo [5], 1998). Researchers have suggested several ways in which universities interact with the private sector regarding technology (Cohen et al., 1998). People such as Siegel (2004), Berkowitz and Feldman [7] (2004) have paid attention to the role of patent registration and licensing of findings in the commercialization of academic research, and people such as Shin [8] (2004) and O'Shea [9] (2005) have paid attention to the importance of forming reproductive companies in the commercialization of academic research. Therefore, our goal in this work is a comprehensive review of transfer methods and strategies. Knowledge and commercialization of academic research and identification of factors affecting it, so that a suitable strategy for commercialization of academic research in the Islamic Azad University of Rasht branch can be presented. Factors such as globalization, along with other factors, as a part of the general trend towards the rapid development of the knowledge market, have fundamentally changed the relationship between industry and university. University is an institution that is at the top of the pyramid of scientific institutions in society. The proper functioning of the university, on the one hand, brings development and progress to the society, and on the other hand, the development of the society as a positive feedback, transfers the university to a higher and more responsible place. In the academic sector of the country, the use of research results and their commercialization are considered important priorities, because national interests require the use of important and significant resources in the form of expert forces, credits and time to conduct research in this sector, maximum exploitation is done and the society benefits from the results of this research in various social and economic sectors (Fakour, 2016). On the other hand, currently, in most countries, the focus of policies is directed towards the role of the relationship between industry and academia in strengthening entrepreneurship in new and fast-growing industries (OECD, 2002). Therefore, universities are considered as the most important players in the knowledge-based economy, and the commercialization of academic research and innovations related to research and development are considered as the most important factors of the economic stability of countries (Arora et al.[10], 2001).  Changing the role of universities from producing knowledge to creating capital from knowledge, which is aimed at improving the performance of the national or regional economy as well as the resulting financial advantages for the university and its professors (Etzkowitz et al. [11], 2000). It has led to an increase in commercialization related activities in the last two decades.