Exploring the development of strategic University-Industry relationships: The Unilever-University of Liverpool relationship

This paper aims to enhance understandings of how long-term strategic relationships between industrial and academic partners emerge and develop over time. The investigation is based on the ongoing relationship between Unilever... [ view full abstract ]

This paper aims to enhance understandings of how long-term strategic relationships between industrial and academic partners emerge and develop over time. The investigation is based on the ongoing relationship between Unilever and the University of Liverpool (UoL). This relationship is constituted of several forms of collaboration, from sponsored research to co-created research facilities. Furthermore, collaborative interactions occur across various faculties and disciplines, from materials science to behavioural neuroscience. The study adopts a process perspective , insofar as the primary concern of the investigation is the emergence and development of the relationship between industry and academic partners over time. A process perspective is adopted because it allows for an effective analysis of the dynamic interplay between the actions of individuals and organisational, political and institutional contexts from which university-industry relationships manifest. This study employs events as the primary unit of analysis. The analysis of events and the interconnections between them enables the exploration of relationship development at various contextual levels. It is anticipated that this relatively novel approach to the study of university-industry collaboration can generate new insights into the functional dynamics of such collaborative partnerships.