1. Introduction

Enterprises can acquire new knowledge and know how in several different ways:

• Own research and technical/technological development
• Acquisition of hi-tech enterprises
• Purchasing of patents and/or know how
• License agreements

Organization of the process of implementation of more complex new activities after the Systems Management approach the following phases can be distinguished:

• Strategic orientation
• Conceptualization
• Specification Development
• Technical Development phase
• Final Design phase
• Prototype phase  - in parallel Market Introduction Preparation
• Pilot Production  - in parallel Market Introduction
• Full Production  - Marketing and Sales

In parallel of the Prototyping and the Pilot Production phases the production facilities are erected and installed, and Maintenance starts.

 Universities generally spoken do not have facilities and they have too limited cost awareness to complete the Technical Development phase and later. Besides important contributions in industry outsourced R&D work the role of the universities as a generator of inventions is restricted up till somewhere in the Technical Development phase.

Exceptions are there if unique science content is present in combination with a unique market position in which no substitutes are available. In university periphery small Hi-Tech firms can start their activities where industry is still hesitating to take over the ideas.

Financing in all cases is most of the time the dominant stumbling block.

2. What comes before the Product Life Cycle

In the Systems Management approach of new developments all parts of the process from the idea generation up till the end of the life cycle are considered to be part of the project. In terms of cost allocation the initial expenses, costs and investments consist of:

• Up till the specification phase     2 -   5 % of total costs
• Technical Development costs     5 - 15 %
• Design costs      15 - 25 %
• Costs of Prototyping     15 - 25 %
• Pilot Production costs     15 - 30 %
• Marketing costs up till introduction   10 - 25 %
• Running in costs       5 - 15 %

On top of this the expenses in investments of production means and necessary facilities have to be realized before any income out of product sales is effected. In the case of product modification these expenses can be rather limited, however if technology changes are involved the above summed up cost items easily start in the M$-range.

Furthermore from the NASA project analyses of Tischler it appears that in the case of real innovations (here defined as projects with a high technical risk) the budgeted project costs are easily exceeded by factors ranging from 3,5 till 6,5. Sayles ¹) concluded those exceedings resulted mainly from overestimations in the conception phase. Although more recent investigations are not available there are hardly reasons to assume that this situation has improved considerably.

So, a new idea by definition asks for large amounts of money. Therefore it is understandable that especially in the case that this idea does not originate from the organization itself, a great hesitation for acceptance is there. The NIH (Not Invented Here) syndrome again proves its presence. From inventor's side another disappointment, because they were thinking the whole world was waiting for their idea.

 3. Interaction of Universities and Industry

Restricting ourselves to the University as The Inventor we have to face the situation that the universities' possibilities to invest in innovation projects are limited. University resources in most cases are not sufficient to fulfill the demands in new equipment and materials, conference visits and other ways of scientific exchange. Contract research has been internationally accepted as a way of improving the budgetary situation for these purposes.

Before considering the type of cooperation, the typical differences between University and Industry Research could be defined as ²):

• University Research investigates the borders of possibilities, looks for thrusting the frontiers of knowledge
• Industrial Research investigates the possibilities to transform the proven scientific achievements into market demands

In this formulation the black and the white zones are defined, leaving enough gray area for cooperation at the boundary of the typical roles of both university and industry. As a spin off of the scientific research future engineers as a natural process see practical implementations.

Via the graduates working in industry some knowledge on university activities is always available.  For the cooperation in outsourcing of R&D as well as for Idea Acquisition a sound information supply is needed. The possibilities of the internet facilitate transparency and accessibility of necessary information. Universities as well the industrial world have excellent ways for publishing and for searching.

Summarizing the most common formalized patterns of cooperation between universities and industry ³):

• Buying know-how and inventions from the university
• Outsourcing of research and development by the industry
• Traineeships of students and staff in the firms
• Advisorships of professors and scientific staff members

• In more intensive cooperation industry finances professorial chairs in the
university.

4. The missing link

As argued in pars. 1 and 2 managerial problems in process structuring and financing are of vital importance in bringing implementation of an invention to a success.

 As prime management concern the following items are to be considered:

• Is the idea under consideration in conformity with our (core) business and with our incentives and objectives
• Have we project management and a project manager available (on the needed term) capable mastering planning and budgeting
• What is the capital demand for this project
• How do we finance and how do we realize the budget control

These items ask for an advanced managerial approach. As advanced knowledge is available at the management faculty of the university, the university is in a position together with the technical know how to supply managerial backgrounds either.

A multidisciplinary approach, covering all project aspects improves acceptance of a future recipient. Such a multidisciplinary team could also be the critical nucleus for a future member of the universities' Hi-Tech Park.

5. Conclusions

Technology Transfer implies a seller as well as a recipient. Especially in those cases where experience and knowledge should be transferred the selling process becomes more complex. The Technology Transfer is merely a cooperation than a selling process in the classical sense. Partner selection is more important than looking for a buyer.

The recipient is faced with a (sometimes large) investment program before he can expect any revenues. A sharing profits agreement is therefore in most cases more preferable than a lump sum payment. A profit share ensures the recipient also the sometimes needed long term support.

The university as a technology supplier needs to integrate all efforts necessary to fulfill the demands of a project. In most cases an interdisciplinary setup, a support from more than one faculty is needed. A central coordination point at the university level is needed for this. As a result, with such a Transfer Center the university also is more accessible for industrial partners.

Active information supply has to be provided in an accessible way, preferably in a modern medium as the internet. As the strength of the Belarusian local industry is limited internationalization is needed. As an example: Belarusian university inventions will be available in the Dutch Innovation Center Data bases, providing information for Dutch SME. Extension of such towards more West European countries should be promoted.

1.  Sayles, L.L.  "The innovation Process; an organizational analysis"   Journal of Management Studies, October 1974
2.  Treffers, M.A.  "Industrial Research and its Relation with Academic Research" Philips Research  Opening Seminar of BSUIR "Philips Computer Science  Laboratory", Minsk, March 1999
3.  van Kemenade, A.W.C.  "Cooperation of Universities and Production Firms"  Proc. BGU Conference, Minsk, October 1998