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Abstract:Corporate volunteering (CV) is known to be an effective employee engagement initiative. However, despite the prominence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in academia and practice, research

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Purpose -The purpose of the paper is to analyse empirically research-oriented university-industry relationships based on the incorporation of relationship marketing (RM) and technology transfer theory. Design/methodology/approach -This paper is based on an extensive literature review and initial qualitative research, a conceptual model is presented and tested using structural equation modelling methods. Analysis was conducted, and is reported, in three steps, including path analysis and hypothesis testing, model re-specification and a multi-group analysis comparing university and industry respondents. Findings -Trust, commitment and integration were found to positively influence satisfaction and were confirmed as key drivers of successful university-industry relationships. While trust was the strongest driver of satisfaction, commitment emerged as the strongest predictor of intention to renew. The results also confirmed the proposed interrelationships between the relationship characteristics. Organisational compatibility emerged as positively influencing all relationship characteristics, indicating its relevance for university-industry relationships and suggesting its potential importance for other relationships crossing essentially different organisational environments. Surprisingly, only a weak influence of staff personal experience on commitment was found.Research limitations/implications -The results are limited to Australian relationships and by their cross-disciplinary nature. Furthermore, a potential bias towards positive relationships might exist in the data. Originality/value -The primary contribution of this paper lies in the development of a foundation for research in a new services business context by combining the established theory of RM with the emerging area of technology transfer. Building a thorough empirical basis for future research, the researchers anticipate the development of a comprehensive university-industry relationship research stream.

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Knowledge transfer between universities and organizations is essential, not only for the organizations involved but also for the broader innovation system. Understanding the factors that drive or inhibit this process, thus, becomes a priority. Yet, the increasingly prolific academic literature dealing with university‐business cooperation (UBC) possesses a strong focus on barriers rather than drivers and only examines few of the cooperation activities that exist in practice. This article offers a comprehensive review and analysis of an extensive set of barriers and drivers across seven UBC activities with a large sample of European academics from 33 countries. Results highlight that while the identified drivers significantly affect the development of all cooperation activities, barriers have more diverse effects. While significantly limiting research and valorization activities, they barely impact cooperation in education. Additionally, results show that even if academics perceive no barriers they still may not cooperate with business if there are no drivers in place. This article concludes by discussing the relevant implications for research, management and policy development regarding UBC, leading to directions for future research.

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PurposeThis paper aims to identify the differences between African and European students with regard to their entrepreneurial intentions, attitudes towards entrepreneurship, role models and entrepreneurial experience. It also aims to set the scene for future comparative research between developing and developed countries in the area of graduate entrepreneurship.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative empirical research design was applied, using self‐administered questionnaires. Questionnaires were distributed to first‐year business students at universities in three African countries that are either developing (Uganda and Kenya) or emerging (South Africa) and four European developed nations (Finland, Germany, Ireland, and Portugal).FindingsThe results indicate that students from developing/emerging economies are more likely to envisage future careers as entrepreneurs and are more positive towards entrepreneurship than their industrialised European counterparts, even though motivators for employment/self‐employment are similar across the samples. The type of role models used and the extent of entrepreneurial experience varied between individual countries.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations include the use of a convenience sample and its restriction on the use of statistics, a single data collection point and a sample across seven countries on two continents.Practical implicationsThe results lead to universal and country‐specific recommendations relating to the improvement of student‐oriented entrepreneurship activities within universities.Originality/valueThe paper extends research on graduate entrepreneurship by providing an international comparison of entrepreneurship intentions, attitudes and experiences between developing/emerging and developed nations, leading to suggestions on how to foster an entrepreneurial spirit and assist new‐venture creations for students.