The role of university-industry contract research narratives in determining resourcefulness

Johnson, D. , Geiger, M. and Gianiodis, P. T. (2022) The role of university-industry contract research narratives in determining resourcefulness. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2022(1), 12394. (doi: 10.5465/AMBPP.2022.12394abstract)

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Abstract

Narratives are an important facilitator of entrepreneurial resourcefulness. Specifically, entrepreneurial narratives are a conduit to persuade individuals to part with resources to support entrepreneurial action. We investigate the narrative discourse of university-industry contract research proposals. University-industry contract research depends on the individual academic’s decision to contract with the venture. Of particular importance, is the speed at which the academic decides to contract with the venture, which we define as speed to decision. Ventures that can increase the speed to decision are able to gain access to valuable resources quicker, which supports their orchestration. Utilizing Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software, we explore the narrative content of 3,420 industry-initiated contract research proposals submitted to Scottish Universities to understand how the narratives of contract research proposals determines the speed of contract research acceptance or rejection (i.e., the speed to decision). Our findings reveal that contract research proposals associated with entrepreneurial-orientated language (EOL) and specific cognitive-orientated language (COL) determines decision-making speed which, in turn, determines contract research proposal outcome/acceptance. Additionally, the interaction effects of EOL and COL within contract research proposals influences decision-making speed. Our research imparts important contributions to entrepreneurship theory, as well as having practice and policy implications.

Item Type:Articles
Keywords:University-industry engagement, narratives, speed to decision, resourcefulness, linguistic properties, LIWC.
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Johnson, Dr David
Authors: Johnson, D., Geiger, M., and Gianiodis, P. T.
College/School:College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Management
Journal Name:Academy of Management Proceedings
Publisher:Academy of Management
ISSN:0065-0668
ISSN (Online):2151-6561
Published Online:06 July 2022

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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
310765Not in my Job Description: Academic Research Contracting as Positive Entrepreneurial DevianceDavid JohnsonThe Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland (CARNEGTR)RIG009851BS - Management