Title: University technology transfer office success factors: a comparative case study

Authors: Anne S. York; Mark J. Ahn

Addresses: College of Business Administration, Creighton University, 2500 California Plaza, Omaha, NE 68132, USA. ' Adkinson Graduate School of Management, Willamette University, 1120 NW Couch Street Suite 450, Portland, OR 97209, USA

Abstract: This study reviews the literature involving critical factors contributing to university technology transfer office success and then examines those factors within a stratified sample of four comparative case studies of peer university technology transfer offices. Two models of relative success and failure emerged, based on similarities and differences along the eight factors identified in the literature. Two additional success factors emerged during the course of the research. The ways in which technology transfer offices organised the commercialisation process, along with the degree of focus on both internal and external website utility, also seemed to play a significant role in university technology transfer office success.

Keywords: university technology transfer; critical success factors; CSFs; university research commercialisation; technology transfer websites; organisational structure; technology transfer offices; technology commercialisation structure; technology management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTTC.2012.043910

International Journal of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation, 2012 Vol.11 No.1/2, pp.26 - 50

Accepted: 15 Oct 2010
Published online: 21 Nov 2014 *

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