Abstract:

Universities and businesses have been working together for over a hundred years, but the growth of the global knowledge economy has intensified the need for long-term and strategic partnerships that go beyond traditional funding of discrete research projects. These partnerships are characterized by long-term functioning, greater investment, 'looking' ahead, and they constitute an important aspect of strengthening the competitiveness of businesses, universities as well as the regions. Linked to research, universities are an important center of competences which help address social challenges represent the drive of economic growth. Under the conditions of effective functioning, strategic partnerships combine the discovery-based university culture with an innovation-based business environment. There is also a link to the state and shaping of its national and regional policy towards sustainability and prosperity of regions and the state.

The objective of the proposed paper is to identify and present the aspects of partnership as an integral and important part of university business model including the outcomes of detail analysis of current status of the problem solving in Slovakia.

Research problem has been defined within the primary research, referring to identification of selected aspects of partnership process within the business model at relevant universities. Six research goals and 12 research assumptions were defined in relation to such specified research problem. Primary research was conducted via electronic inquiries in the form of structured questionnaire. Respondents were allowed to tick more than one answers to the selected questions within the questionnaire.

The primary research found that the initiator of the partnership of each of the Slovak universities surveyed was, in most cases, an industrial partner. This was done mainly on the basis of recommendations from other partners with positive experiences. Each of the partners bears its own costs, resulting from the subject of the partnership. The research activities within the partnership take place within the research infrastructure of the university. The important factor in evaluating a partnership is the approach and professionalism of the stakeholders in the partnership.The result is the creation of a model for the application of the partnership tool implemented at the university. Within the discussion and in relation to the outcomes, we should state that partnerships represent continuously developing processes. The proposed partnership implementation model at the university, aimed at ensuring sustainability and prosperity, should not be understood as a static model but the dynamic one. Considering overall development in the society that we live in and will be a part of also in the future, certain processes will also inherently develop and improve.

Keywords:

University-industry partnership, business model, stakeholders, transfer of knowledge and technologies,