HOW TO MANAGE THE IMPEDIMENT OF DEPARTMENT AUTONOMY WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF UNIVERSITY-INDUSTRY TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER: THE CASE OF UNIVERSITY OF LJUBLJANA

Managing university-industry technology transfer (UITT) leads to changes in university’s organisational structure. The success of new, specialized university technology transfer (TT) units is affected also by its positioning of this unit inside this system. The article will present the organisational impediments to collaboration between university and industry, focusing on the degree of autonomy of the departments and faculties in relation to the TT-units. Three factors: a) the role of the university and faculty management boards and the autonomy of individual departments, b) the support from national policies, and c) the design and incentives of the organisational structure (top-down vs. bottom-up approach) are examined.
The theoretical analysis starts with Mintzberg’s ideas about the theory of organisation and then builds on the modern concepts of knowledge management and technology transfer. The concept of TT-units is introduced to designate all organizations established by university (and / or its faculties) for the transfer of knowledge and technology. Typology of TT units with emphasis on Western and Central Europe is presented. The analysis merges theoretical exercise with on-field research, built on interviews and surveys targeting associate deans for research at different faculties of the University of Ljubljana.
The case study of the University of Ljubljana applies the findings from the literature to reveal misconceptions about technology transfer and consequent organisational overlapping at the university. Finally, suggestions to improve the organisational structure will be described and analysed.