On Cooperation Between the Business Community and Academia with the Science Park as Intermediary Environment and Actor

Sammanfattning: The aim of this thesis is to examine interaction between the business community and academia, and consider the Science Park as a brokering environment and actor. The bulk of park-oriented research, like park-related practice, is based on network theory and thinking. Taking such an approach, it is natural to study the intensity and nature of the interactions of the involved parties – in this case, the business community and academia. In practice, this allows us, in designing Science Parks, to create conditions that enable physical proximity and frequent encounters between the involved parties. However, problems still remain in the form of institutional gaps between the parties; a different approach is needed if we are to grasp and expand our knowledge of such aspects. A combination of inter-organisational and new institutional theory has been applied in this study, leading to a number of conclusions. Trans-field interactions constitute a special case, insofar as involved parties act on the basis of disparate rules, standards and values. This can in turn lead to the parties having divergent interaction-related interests and assumptions, which are intimately bound up with their interpretations and translations of the idea of interaction. Three different types of interactions are identified: informal interaction, customer–consultant-related co-operation, and research-based co-operation. Different interpretations of “interaction” can lead to different expectations of both the process and the results, a situation that can cause problems in co-operation. A Science Park plays a role in linking the business and academic communities. A distinction must, however, be drawn between the park as a brokering environment and the park as a brokering actor. The study indicates that an apt mix of activities must be set up in relation to the nature of the park environment. The study also indicates that the brokering role can be developed further by identifying and clarifying the involved parties’ points of departure and institutional characteristics, and by providing support systems suited to the type of interaction in question.