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The purpose of this paper is to review the answers to the question posed in the introduction to the themed issue: how can effective university‐industry partnerships be developed?

The paper consolidates the findings of various studies featuring in this theme issue on effective university‐industry partnerships. It addresses the aspects which contribute to effective partnerships and also challenges the issues around such partnerships.

The paper discusses the range of best practices for building effective university‐industry partnerships.

There are lessons for industry, universities and policy makers.

The paper provides multiple perspectives on university‐industry partnerships from various geographies.

Little is known about how subsidies enhance both collaborative and opportunistic behaviours within subsidized industry–university partnerships, and how partners' behaviours influence the intellectual capital dynamics within subsidized industry–university. Based on these theoretical foundations, this study expects to understand intellectual capital’s (IC's) contribution as a dynamic or systemic process (inputs?outputs?outcomes) within subsided university–industry partnerships. Especially to contribute to these ongoing academic debates, this paper analyses how collaborative and opportunistic behaviours within industry–university partnerships influence the intellectual capital dynamics (inputs, outputs and outcomes) of the subsidized projects.

By combining two sources of information about 683 Mexican subsidized industry–university partnerships from 2009 to 2016, this study adopted the structural equation modelling (SEM) to analyse the effect of collaborative vs opportunistic behaviours in intellectual capital dynamics within subsidized projects.

Our results show three tendencies about the bright/dark side of subsidies within the Mexican industry–university partnerships. The first tendency shows how collaborative behaviours positively influence intellectual capital dynamics within subsidized industry–university partnerships. The second tendency shows how opportunistic behaviours influence intellectual capital impacts (performance) and return to society (job creation). The third tendency shows how initial inputs of subsidized projects generate some expected socio-economic returns that pursued the subsidies (mediation effect of intellectual capital outputs).

This research has three limitations that provide a future research agenda. The main limitations were associated with our sources of information. The first limitation, we did not match subsidized partnerships (focus group) and non-subsidized partnerships (control group). A qualitative analysis should help understand the effect of subsidies on intellectual capital and partnerships' behaviours. The second limitation, our measures of collaborative/opportunistic behaviours as well as intellectual capital dynamics should be improved by balancing traditional and new metrics in future research. The third limitation is that in emerging economies, the quality of institutions could influence the submission/selection of subsidies and generate negative externalities. Future research should control by geographical dispersion and co-location of subsidies.

For enterprise managers, this study offers insights into IC dynamics and behaviours within subsidized industry–university partnerships. The bright side of collaboration behaviours is related to IC's positive impacts on performance and socio-economic returns. The dark side is the IC appropriation behind opportunistic behaviours. Enterprise managers should recognize the relevance of IC management to capture value and reduce costs associated with opportunistic behaviours. For the university community, this study offers potential trends adopted by industry–university partnerships to reinforce universities' innovative transformation processes. Specifically, these trends are related to the legitimization of the university's role in society and contribution to regional development through industry–university partnerships' outcomes. Therefore, university managers should recognize the IC benefits/challenges behind industry–university partnerships.

For policymakers, the study indirectly shows the role of subsidies for generating/reinforcing intellectual capital outcomes within subsidized industry–university partnerships. The bright side allows evaluating the cost-benefit of this government intervention and the returns to priority industries. The dark side allows for understanding the need for implementing mechanisms to control opportunistic behaviours within subsidized partnerships. Accordingly, policymakers should understand the IC opportunity-costs related to industry–university partnerships for achieving the subsidies' aims.

This study contributes to three ongoing academic debates in innovation and management fields. The first debate about how intellectual capital dynamic is stimulated and transferred through the collaborative behaviour within industry–university partnerships in emerging economies. The second debate is about the “dark side” of partnerships stimulated by public programmes in emerging economies. The third debate is about the effectiveness of subsidies on intellectual capital activities/outcomes.

Although it is clear that there are many benefits of academic–industry partnership through project-based learning (PBL) courses offered by universities, however, there are challenges in establishing such partnerships that if not addressed, may result in either failure of such collaboration or an unpleasant experience for parties involved. Accordingly, this study aims to address this knowledge gap in the PBL literature by identifying the essence of partnership management and offering insights to managing such partnerships effectively.

This study aims to develop a framework that highlights the essence of partnership management in a PBL setting and validate the framework by conducting a focus group study on a university in Singapore (UNIS)’s PBL programmes called UNIS-X and UNIS-XO.

The results suggest that the key features of partnership management include a value proposition, depth of collaboration, knowledge creation and exchange and continuous feedback. In addition, the findings offer useful insights to managing effective partnerships when engaging industry partners in a PBL programme.

For researchers, this paper contributes to the PBL literature by identifying and validating the key features of effective partnerships in PBL. This serves as one of the first exploratory and validation studies in examining key features of partnership in the PBL literature. For educators, this study offers useful insights to understanding effective partnership management when engaging industry partners in a PBL course. With the knowledge, educators can devise useful actions to ensure these features of a partnership are established and maintained throughout the project.

Despite the fact that most studies have been pointing to high failure rates, collaboration remains increasingly popular as an organisational form of economic activity, particularly in technology‐intensive industries. This paper aims to present a cross‐industry qualitative study of the motives and drivers, the decision‐making process, and the success/failure factors of partnership formation.

The results of interview data collected in the computer, telecommunications and media industries (CTMI) indicate that the need to utilise the full value‐creation potential of the firm's resources has greatly contributed to the increasing popularity of partnerships in these industries.

Behavioural characteristics, e.g. commitment, coordination and communication among others, are found to play a more significant role in explaining overall partnership success compared with organisational characteristics such as structure and control mechanisms.

The study pays particular attention to the necessity to deal with contradictory interests across the firm's partnerships. Balancing numerous relationships is a thorny managerial act and an issue which must be incorporated in the literature on collaboration. In addition, the findings of the research provide some fundamentals for maximising the benefits of partnering activities in the light of practical management.

This article outlines the experience and approach of an Australian university in developing and managing education program partnerships within industry.

Describes how the university has established a specialist Strategic Partnerships unit for managing the customisation and delivery of postgraduate award programs and executive education to industry. Discusses some of the key issues that have contributed to the management of industry partnerships.

Some of the key issues that have contributed to the management of industry partnerships include project management of industry programs and flexibility in developing and delivering education programs to industry from a university perspective.

Provides an illustration of the growth of university and corporate education partnerships in an Australian context.

The aim of this paper is to present a model of a university–industry partnership in gaming education and research. It analyzes the interactions and knowledge transfer between the two parties in Macao.

This paper adopts a qualitative case study approach to share experiences of a university based in Macao as a single case to present its informal partnership with the industry in the area of gaming education and research.

This paper has shown that the partnership has provided clear benefits to both parties and the government is an influential power that can enhance collaboration. Although the informal partnership involves considerable time and efforts, it is flexible in comparison to the formal approach. Despite this, the knowledge transfer tends to focus on general issues to avoid being appropriated by competitors.

This demonstrates how a public university in Macao has achieved an informal industry–university partnership, which requires the commitment and understanding of both parties for the bi-directional exchange of knowledge. Such knowledge needs to be value-enhancing for the industry to keep the partnership grow and prosper.

This study puts forward an original approach to an informal industry–university partnership in the area of gaming education and research.

The purpose of this paper is to report on how the University of Central Florida's (UCF's) Rosen College of Hospitality Management (RCHM) has established a long‐term and successful partnership with the hospitality and tourism industry in Central Florida.

A case study approach was followed and the findings and examples reported in this paper were drawn from official documents and the authors' personal experiences.

The RCHM, one of the leading hospitality and tourism colleges in the world, has established and maintained successful partnerships with hospitality and tourism organizations in the Central Florida region. Over the years, industry partners have committed significant resources to the RCHM. In return, the RCHM has supported the industry by providing trained students and graduates, along with numerous research and consultancy projects. These successful partnerships were accomplished through mutual trust, an understanding of each other's needs and expectations, and successful collaboration between key industry owners/executives and senior administrators of the RCHM and UCF.

This study implies that the establishment of strong partnerships between hospitality and tourism organizations and hospitality colleges requires college administrators to work closely with industry owners/executives to build mutual trust, personal friendships, and a common understanding of industry needs and expectations. Future studies may investigate similar successful industry‐university partnerships.

This study provides examples on how a hospitality college can form long‐term and successful partnerships with hospitality and tourism organizations.

There are few studies that provide evidence of successful partnerships between hospitality colleges and hospitality and tourism organizations.

The purpose of this study is to investigate university–industry partnerships in Armenia from the viewpoint of universities. By doing so, it contributes to the existing literature on university–industry collaboration by identifying and addressing the specific challenges that impede the establishment of successful university–industry partnerships in Armenia and other post-Soviet countries.

A comprehensive literature review was conducted to examine the barriers, benefits and institutional, functional framework of collaboration. Additionally, this study used a survey methodology to gather data from faculty managing staff members at six Armenian higher educational institutions on various aspects of university–industry collaboration as well as the perceptions and experiences of the participants.

The results show that the effectiveness and applicability of the university–industry collaboration channels and institutional structures in six higher educational institutions are limited. Specifically, the channels that rely on academic entrepreneurship and innovation were found to be currently unviable. Moreover, the existence of spin-offs and start-ups is notably absent. Furthermore, limited access to funding and inadequate entrepreneurial support systems pose significant barriers to developing university–industry partnerships in Armenian reality.

This study represents a pioneering effort within the context of Armenian higher educational institutions, as it is the first time a survey has been organized to specifically investigate the topic of university–industry partnerships. Before this study, there was a lack of empirical research and data collection on this topic in Armenian higher education settings. Therefore, this research holds significant originality and contributes to filling the existing gap in knowledge regarding university–industry partnerships in Armenia. The research is shedding light on a previously unexplored area and providing a valuable contribution to the field of university–industry collaboration research in Armenia and other post-Soviet countries.

We discuss the ‘gloomy’ side of firms’ embeddedness in networks of inter-firm partnerships. We propose a nested understanding of the effects of three levels of overembeddedness – environmental, inter-organizational and dyadic overembeddedness – on subsequent inter-firm partnership formation and argue for a joint examination of these three levels and their interactions over time. As a whole, increases in firms’ embeddedness will generate decreasing returns to the firms involved, prompting (i) the search for and attachment to novel partners and (ii) the dissolution of extant partnerships. On the flipside, overembeddedness thus sparks network evolution – by cueing firms to look beyond their embedded partnerships.

Collaborations between universities and industry to develop and deliver customised corporate education programs are increasing. The purpose of this paper is to assist managers to make an informed decision on the structure and approach to their corporate education programs by exploring a range of qualitative factors in university‐corporate education partnerships.

This paper presents the findings of a series of qualitative interviews with six senior corporate managers from diverse industries and three university managers on the factors they regard as important in university‐corporate education partnerships.

The research highlights the needs for both universities and corporations to take the time to learn and understand the requirements and expectations of each other and, as in any good relationship, provide flexibility to accommodate these requirements and expectations. The research findings are intended to provide a starting‐point for understanding the nature of the working relationship between universities and corporations in order to successfully develop and deliver corporate education programs in industry.

Most papers on university‐corporate education partnerships are based on opinion or case studies. The originality of this research provides an objective insight into factors that influence the success of university‐corporate education partnerships.