Title: Knowledge transfer between universities, hospitals and industry: a case study of the traditional Chinese medicine industry

Authors: Marco R. Di Tommaso, Manli Huang

Addresses: Facolta di Economia, Universita degli Studi di Ferrara, Via Voltapaletto, 11 – Ferrara, Italy. ' School of Business Administration, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China

Abstract: New, large and growing segments of Chinese society are expressing new demand for health. In this new environment, the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) industry is experiencing a process of radical re-organisation, upgrading and modernisation. Chinese policy-makers are clearly investing in the TCM industry to defend the health domestic producers from the potential foreign entry and, more generally, because this sector is judged as one of the key industries able to lead the development of domestic production capacity. In this context, the processes of TCM knowledge production and transfer to industry are at the core of all the ongoing government policies and firms strategies. The paper focuses on this scenario and it offers a case study that is considered a best practice from both the firm strategy and the public policy perspectives.

Keywords: universities; university-industry cooperation; industrial collaboration; hospitals; industrial policy; innovation; China; TCM; traditional Chinese medicine; traditional medicine; knowledge transfer; healthcare; business strategy; public policy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHTM.2010.036012

International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management, 2010 Vol.11 No.4, pp.283 - 295

Published online: 12 Oct 2010 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article