Improving industrial performance through research and technology transfer

The discipline of industrial management, unlike exact sciences, is more complex due to uncertainties associated with the discipline. Also, the only experimental laboratory available to the researchers, is the industry itself. Therefore academic and industrial collaboration is essential in order to achieve valuable research results. But there is a conflict between the expectations of the industrial partners and the researchers. Therefore the researchers face a number of challenges. However, a model which demonstrates the mutual benefits to be gained by the academic and industrial partners does exist. The technology development and transfer process can add more value to both the academic and industrial expectation through a more concurrent approach. The researchers do have to appreciate and respond to industrial expectations, but this investment in time pays back many fold. However, the concurrent model is more suited to pre or post competitive research as their results are more readily transferable to practice. For basic research the questions still remain