Title: Mission impossible? Institutional barriers to the diffusion of the ''third academic mission'' at German universities

Authors: Georg Kruecken

Addresses: Department of Sociology, University of Bielefeld, PO Box 100131, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany

Abstract: The intensification of university-industry relations and the role universities play in a knowledge society are widely discussed. Some even argue that economic development through technology transfer has become a ‘||third academic mission||’ on a par with universities| traditional missions of teaching and research. Institutional barriers to the diffusion of that mission, however, are largely ignored. With the aid of some conceptual and theoretical tools from research in organisational analysis the paper focuses on these barriers. Empirical evidence is drawn from a study on technology transfer offices at German universities.

Keywords: technology transfer; universities; third academic mission; transfer offices; diffusion; institutional barriers.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2003.003087

International Journal of Technology Management, 2003 Vol.25 No.1/2, pp.18-33

Published online: 11 Jul 2003 *

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