Innovation strategies for successful commercialisation in public universities

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study was to explore the strategies performed by innovation actors to ensure commercialisation success, and to determine which of these strategies significantly predict a successful commercialisation within a public university context. Design/methodology/approach The strategies conceptualised for this study included open innovation, strategic leadership and collaborative advantage. A total of 222 public university academics participated in an anonymous survey and were asked to provide responses on their innovation strategies. These responses were then explored to assess the construct validity of the survey instrument and further analysed using a hierarchical multiple regression technique to test the hypotheses and to compare several regression models. Findings The results suggested that strategic leadership and open innovation strategies are significant predictors for successful commercialisation with coefficient of multiple determination (R2) of 21 per cent. This study, however, found that collaborative advantage does not significantly determine commercialisation success. Research limitations/implications The study was limited by the empirical evidence that was based on cross-sectional survey data of public university academics. A qualitative study with other groups of participants such as from the industries would further confirm the relationship between innovation strategies and commercialisation success. Future research should replicate this study in other settings to improve the generalisation of the findings. Originality/value This study discovered strategic leadership as the most dominant predictor for commercialisation success in a public university context followed by open innovation strategy. It confirms the strategic roles of leaders in innovation attempts and provides further understanding about the openness strategy in innovation.