Evolution of Governance in a Collaborative University–Industry Program

Abstract

This article presents the emergence and evolution of actors and institutions in a collaborative program from the strategic planning to the execution and delivery phase. The ethnographic study of a collaboration revealed that, while formal regulations are prerequisites for initiating collaborations, further drivers of the interactions between program participants are oriented by path dependency, cultural familiarities, and goal sharing. This article shows that many microdynamics exist among actors and institutions inside the governance structure, co-evolving in parallel with the transition through the program’s phases. There are, however, two main drivers orienting these dynamics: formal regulations and trust.