This paper aims to help professionals and academics involved in collaborative university-industry R&D programs and projects, by presenting a conceptual social media tool that can be used to improve communication and collaboration between internal stakeholders. The social media tool conceptualization was developed based on a case study research strategy. The case selected was a large publicly funded R&D collaborative program that covers 30 R&D projects carried out by a university and an industry partner. During the case study analysis three research methods were applied: participant observation, document analysis, and focus groups. The social media tool is conceptualized in seven functional building blocks: identity, relationships, sharing, presence conversations, reputation and groups. For each building block, its main objectives and requirements are detailed, within this particular context of collaborative university-industry R&D programs and projects.
Keywords-Program and project management; social media tools; communication; university-industry R&R collaboration
I. INTRODUCTIONCollaborative university-industry Research and Development (R&D) projects are increasing and their importance to innovation and national economies growth is gaining more and more recognition [1]. In fact, there are several benefits resultant from these collaborations [2]. Literature research concerning university-industry collaboration has concentrated primarily on the existence and effects of the socalled cultural gap. However, the majority of the problems associated with the cultural gap can be alleviated by good project management (PM) [3].PM has become an essential element of increased value to organizations in general [4,5]. Regardless of the industry, the organizations continuously strive to improve their systems and business processes, to preserve a competitive advantage [6]. The success in PM encompass not only the adoption of best practices but also its institutionalization, i.e. it is only the routine use of the PM practices and the strong contextualization (customization) and integration with other contextualized management practices in the organization, and the sense of 'ownership' facilitated by the staff involvement at all levels, that result in PM practices embeddedness in the organization [7].Communication practices in PM context are essential for projects success, as it is recognized in the main PM bodies of knowledge [8][9][10]. There are different dimensions in PM where communication is used as a strategic tool, especially regarding its implications in human interaction, knowledge exchange, team work, and creativity enhancement or innovation development [11]. In fact, human action is always supported by communication and its process is permanently outlined by the social and cultural conditions of the organization where it occurs [12].In projects, several stakeholders need information from different sources to perform their work, which implies the organization and sharing of project information. Projects with higher com...