Abstract:

Knowledge transfer or technology transfer is a part of the global process of commercialization and it is presented as the transfer of intellectual capital and knowhow between organizations with the goal of building innovation.

The literature defines different factors that may affect the knowledge transfer performance in terms of obtained income from their applied research activity, from an institutional level (government policies) up to an individual level (each researcher has his/her own personality). In between, we can find different factors related to the universities/research institutions or research teams performance.

In the area of Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain), the research policy that the government has defined to encourage the most active research teams, in terms of knowledge transfer consists of the recognition of those teams with a quality label network (TECNIO). In order that a research team can apply to become part of this network, the government requires that they implement a research management strategy, which includes a quality standard, a marketing plan and an internal public relations plan. In exchange, the government offers funding during the first 1000 days of joining the TECNIO network, which also gives recognition and institutional value to the research team, increasing its capacity to collaborate with companies, as well as motivating the research team members.

In this paper we present the most relevant factors that the literature has identified at a research team level to promote knowledge transfer. We also describe, analyse and asses the research management strategy of six different research teams belonging to the TECNIO network and identify common patterns and good practices that can be implemented in order to optimize and enlarge research structures.

Keywords:

Knowledge transfer, research management, university-industry cooperation, technology transfer, technology management, innovation management.