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Boundary spanning roles in cross‐border university‐industry collaboration: the case of Chinese multinational corporations
Author(s) -
Corsi Simone,
Fu Xiaolan,
KülzerSacilotto Cintia
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
randd management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.253
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1467-9310
pISSN - 0033-6807
DOI - 10.1111/radm.12431
Subject(s) - multinational corporation , boundary spanning , business , bridge (graph theory) , dual (grammatical number) , boundary (topology) , knowledge management , public relations , political science , computer science , medicine , mathematical analysis , mathematics , finance , art , literature
This paper contributes to open innovation (OI) and boundary spanning literatures by providing a first understanding of industry‐based boundary spanners in university‐industry (U‐I) collaboration through case studies of Chinese multinational corporations (MNCs) and their international OI platforms. Organisational roles created by these platforms within the MNCs and their activity of bridging between organisations are examined. The analysis of 25 in‐depth interviews in two MNCs located in eight countries, along with internal documents, sheds light on U‐I collaboration practices implemented by Chinese MNCs. Two new boundary spanning roles are identified: Dual Cultural Bridger – as these OI platforms bridge organisational and national cultural gaps to prevent and solve problems in the collaborative process; and International Network Enhancer – as these OI platforms act as trust building and local knowledge listening posts for the MNC’s global network. Managerial and policy implications are provided.