Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Research in Management and Economics
Year: 2023
DOI:
[PDF]
Key Success Factors Influencing the Sustainability of university-industry Partnerships in South Africa
Upaasna Ramraj
ABSTRACT:
Due to the inability of stakeholders to address local and global challenges independently, there is a rising need for partnerships between academia and industry. Higher education institutions are key role players in developing future employees, necessitating intervention strategies with industry. Conversely, industry is eager to absorb these employees in an effort to identify solutions to their ongoing concerns. As a result, establishing symbiotic relationships with one another becomes critical, since such partnerships have been known to address a wide range of challenges. This study, therefore, investigated factors that influence the sustainability of university-industry partnerships by means of a quantitative survey. Some of the survey findings with exit-level higher education students and industry managers include solidification of contracts, dynamic stakeholder engagement, strategic planning initiatives and fostering commitment in successfully sustaining partnerships resulting in re-engineered business processes and bespoke education.
keywords: partnerships, collaboration, university-industry partnership, higher education, success factors and sustainability