A Sustainable Zimbabwe University – Industry Collaboration Framework

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume V, Issue VI, June 2021 | ISSN 2454–6186

A Sustainable Zimbabwe University – Industry Collaboration Framework

Stanley Murairwa
Africa University, Mutare, Zimbabwe

Abstract: The collaboration between a knowledge hub and a product incubator is increasingly perceived as a vehicle to enhance innovation and business incubation through knowledge and technology exchange. This is evidenced by a significant increase in researches that investigate the collaboration phenomenon from different perspectives. However, the body of knowledge is still fragmented and lacking an efficient comprehensive view that can widely be considered as the engine of economic growth. A sample of volunteered (Murairwa, 2015) 12 knowledge hubs and 60 product incubators was selected. The research employed systematic procedures to review the literature and analyse researchers’ perspectives on the collaboration between industry and universities. The research designed a questionnaire with closed and a few open-ended questions and collected data from volunteering knowledge hubs and incubators. The data was analysed in Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS). The research discovered key aspects underpinning the collaboration theory. These aspects were integrated into an overarching pragmatic knowledge hub and product incubator collaboration (PKHPIC) framework that can provide a substantial contribution to the understanding of the university – industry collaboration and literature in the research area.

Keywords: University-Industry Collaboration, Knowledge Hub, Product Incubator, Framework, Technology

JEL: I2, I21 – I26; O3, O31 – O38

Paper classification: Research paper

I. INTRODUCTION

The importance of collaboration for knowledge exchange between a knowledge hub (university) and a product incubator (industry) has long been widely recognised as a significant economic development phenomenon. The knowledge and technology exchange was identified as the major objective of collaborating by Ankrah and Al-Tabbaa (2015) and Birchall and Shanaron (2006). The efficiency of the economies and innovation levels of industrialised countries are due to production of knowledge and its use in industries, thereby achieving competitive advantages in the global markets (Mascarenhas, Ferreira, & Marques, 2018). Thus, the collaboration between a knowledge hub and a product incubator can facilitate knowledge transfer; stimulate the production of new knowledge and technology (Freitas, Marques, & Silva, 2013;

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