Value co-creation in University-Industry collaboration. An exploratory analysis in digital research projects

Objectives. The article aims to investigate how academic and business actors co-create value when collaborating in digital research projects. Methodology. A qualitative research is conducted adopting a social constructionism approach. Thirty participants selected between Italian university researchers and industry practitioners take part in three focus groups. Findings. The interplay among resources, interactions and outcomes is analyzed across individual, organizational, and institutional layers to provide a comprehensive understanding of value co-creation process between university and industry. Some barriers to co-creation of value also emerge. Research limits. The paper has some limitations related to generalizability of research results. Anyway, these limits provide avenues for future research. Practical implications. The study contributes practically to the debate on value co-creation between university and industry in the context of digitization highlighting some actions aimed to develop successful research collaboration and facilitate the transfer of knowledge between scientific and economic actors. Originality of the study. The entire value co-creation process is examined, as well as both sides of university-industry collaboration are considered simultaneously. A conceptual framework consisting of building blocks and contextual layers is proposed drawing on the Service-Dominant logic perspective.