Title: Service-related science-to-business collaborations: case studies from Germany

Authors: Matthias Gouthier, Christoph Kleppel, Rembert Schulze Wehninck, Achim Luhn, Anja Kremer

Addresses: Ingolstadt School of Management, Catholic University Eichstaett-Ingolstadt, Auf der Schanz 49, 85049 Ingolstadt, Germany. ' Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, HighLight Towers, Mies-van-der-Rohe-Str. 6, 80807 Munchen, Germany. ' Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, HighLight Towers, Mies-van-der-Rohe-Str. 6, 80807 Munchen, Germany. ' Siemens Business Services, Otto-Hahn-Ring 6, 81730 Munchen, Germany. ' IBM Deutschland GmbH – Business Consulting Services, Wilhelm-Fay-Str. 30-34, 65936 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Abstract: The emphasis of this article is on approaches to service-related science-to-business collaborations. We show the experiences of three international consulting firms – Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, Siemens Business Services and IBM – in terms of service-related science-to-business collaborations. Based on these experiences, we identify several existing deficiencies in service-related science-to-business collaborations such as highly personalised organisation forms, divergent incentive systems, cultural barriers, and different time horizons. Furthermore, we describe requirements of service-related science-to-business collaborations, which can be structured into requirements based on aspects of content, and requirements based on aspects of structure.

Keywords: knowledge-intensive services; science-to-business collaboration; case studies; transdisciplinary approach; services science; Germany; knowledge transfer; innovation services; university-industry collaboration; commercialisation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTIP.2006.011305

International Journal of Technology Intelligence and Planning, 2006 Vol.2 No.2, pp.142 - 159

Published online: 14 Nov 2006 *

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