When two worlds collide : research partnerships between academia and the private sector

There is an increasing need for greater collaboration between academe and industry partners. To attract research funds, academics often market the potential value of empirical research to the private sector and form partnerships While the outcomes of these partnerships have potential value for both parties, the process can be fraught with a plethora of paradigmatic difficulties. To raise awareness around some of these issues, the present paper reports on some of these, including disparate perspectives, limited insight into each other's expertise, false expectations about roles and a limited understanding of conventional organisational practice within each partner. It culminates with a number of recommendations, including a multi-levelled approach to communication between the two key stakeholders. In an epoch where collaborative research efforts are becoming increasingly essential for both funding-starved academics and entrepreneurs wanting to market evidence-based practice, the content of this paper is both timely and informative. It provides the potential to strengthen relationship foundations, particularly between two bodies that seek the benefit offered by well-informed research efforts - that is, when two worlds collide.