SMILE projectfirst results

research seminar May 16th, 2013

Mars 2013

Mars 2013SMILE project

SMILE (Schools of Management-Industry Links for Excellence)

In the frame of the INTERREG partnership with Southampton University

A team of 4 researchers : L.Warren, H.Karjalainen, P.Loux, J.-D. Culié

A first output: developmental paper accepted at British Academy of Management (BAM), Liverpool, September 2013

Mars 2013Research object

What are the leverages allowing a Business School to develop its relationships with the economic world (firms, institutional partners?)

A theoretical gap: few research conducted in the social sciences field

The theoretical frame: the dynamic capabilities (Teece, Pisano, Shuen, 1997)

Mars 2013Methods

A comparative study of two Business schools: South of UK, North of France

40 interviews (24 on the French side, 16 on the British side) with:

Internal actors Representatives of organizations partners of each

Business School (firms, associations) Representatives of institutional partners A thematic analysis, from descriptive to interpretative

codes

First results (1)

Conditions to develop relationships between Business Schools and business world:

• Succeeding in matching diverging interests (between students and institutional partners, between students and firms)

• Specific roles (the « gatekeeper », the « translator ») played by individuals within the Business Schools

First results (2) Two exchange logics: transactional, gift/counter-gift Benefits for stakeholders:

• development of competencies (all)• reputation (Business Schools, academics, firms)• employability (students)• retaining talents (firms, institutional partners)• financial (Business Schools, academics, firms)

Obstacles to the development of the relationships:• Difficulties of understanding between academic and business worlds• Poor knowledge of the Business Schools’ offer• Time-scale differences: short term (business), mid and long term

(Business Schools)

Next steps

Articulating the results with the theoretical frame

Academic paper